Episcopale Du lll eme Millenaire
⏳ Drinking Window
Virtually indefinite; this exceptional liqueur is ready to drink now but will continue to evolve, mellow, and gain complexity in the bottle for decades.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Dark chocolate desserts, Roquefort or other pungent blue cheeses, Apple tarte tatin
✨ Technical Specifications
The 'Episcopale Du IIIème Millénaire' is an exceptionally rare, limited-edition bottling created by the Carthusian Monks to celebrate the dawn of the third millennium in the year 2000. The term 'Episcopale' refers to a traditional, harmonious blend of the monks' two iconic liqueurs: the fiery, herb-forward Green Chartreuse and the sweeter, milder Yellow Chartreuse. Combining the secret recipes of 130 botanicals from both expressions, this special cuvée represents a masterclass in monastic blending. It was presented in an elegant, serigraphed bottle that has since become a legendary prize for spirits collectors worldwide. The resulting liqueur offers a complex symphony of alpine herbs, honey, citrus peel, anise, and gentle spice, mellowed by extended aging in oak casks.
🍾 About the Producer
Chartreuse represents one of the world's most legendary and enigmatic spirit traditions, rooted in an alchemical manuscript for an 'elixir of long life' presented to the Carthusian monks by François Annibal d'Estrées in 1605. Brother Jérôme Maubec and Brother Antoine spent decades unraveling its formula, establishing the Élixir Végétal in 1764 and Green Chartreuse in 1840. While production historically migrated from Fourvoirie to Tarragona during monastic expulsion, and later Voiron, primary distillation moved to the Aiguenoire facility in Entre-Deux-Guiers in 2018. Surrounded by the limestone massifs of the Prealps, only two designated Carthusian monks hold the complete secret formula, overseeing the selection, weighing, and blending of 130 alpine herbs, plants, and botanicals. The complex multi-stage macerations and copper pot distillations age in colossal uncharred oak foudres, creating peerlessly complex liqueurs capable of decades of bottle maturation. Benchmark expressions include the intensely herbal Green Chartreuse (55% ABV), saffron-tinged Yellow Chartreuse (43% ABV), and extended-cellared V.E.P. bottlings.