Bid to root out the ‘Elixir of Life’

Jean Marc Roget samples the Chartreuse liquor It’s one of the most closely guarded secrets in the world – and now English Heritage staff at Mount Grace Priory are having a stab at unravelling a centuries old mystery.

The 600-year old priory, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, is the best preserved Carthusian ruin in the country, complete with its original layout of 15 cells where monks once lived a hermit-like existence. 

But while the brothers were evicted and pensioned off by Henry VIII in 1539, their brethren on the continent survived, combining prayers with business nous. They were given the secret recipe for what became Chartreuse liquor – supposedly the ‘elixir of life’ – and still control the sale of the product, using the proceeds to fund the Order.  Only two monks know all of the 130 flowers and herbs that make up the tipple and the complex method used in the distilling process.

But now a restored medieval herb garden adjoining one of the restored cells at Mount Grace is to be planted with a selection of the most important herbs thought to make up Chartreuse.  Amongst the plants taking root are liquorice, fennel and wormwood. 

Monastic origins

Becky Wright, Visitor Operations Manager at Mount Grace Priory, said:  “Many liqueurs had monastic origins, such as Benedictine, but only Chartreuse retains its historic link. We’ve planted what we reckon are the key ingredients, although some people might disagree.  But they will have a chance to make up their own minds.  We plan to stock small bottles of yellow and green Chartreuse in the Priory shop in homage to the Carthusian monks who didn’t speak much, but who brewed a lot.”

Fermented or distilled drinks were often regarded as a safer way to quench thirst rather than drinking possibly tainted water.  Today the man who heads up the global Chartreuse enterprise, Jean Marc Roget, the first non-monk to hold the post, visited the priory to cast his eyes over the herbs, while taking a sip of the perfumed drink in the garden.  Custodians looked on eagerly for any signs that they are barking up the right tree – or plant.

Although Chartreuse came along after the monks quit the idyllic North Yorkshire site, they too were seemingly keen on a nightcap.  During excavations the remains of a still were found in one cell and the ruins of a brewhouse survive in the grounds.  Fermented or distilled drinks were often regarded as a safer way to quench thirst rather than drinking possibly tainted water.  Many were also thought to possess medicinal attributes, as was the case with Chartreuse.  The Carthusian monks were given an already ancient manuscript entitled "An Elixir of Long Life" in 1605, which proved so complex that it took them until 1737 to unravel the recipe. It was then sold as a medicine in the Grenoble area of France.  But unlike most remedies, it proved incredibly tasty, so much so that the monks adapted it to make a milder beverage which we know today as Green Chartreuse.  The rest, as they say, is history.