Chartreuse Green Liqueur (700ml)

Rumours of a coming Chartreuse shortage have turned out to be true. The reason? Sales grew a whopping 47 percent over 2023 compared with the twelve months prior and the monastery can’t keep up, even though they’re churning out more of the elixir than they have in over a century. Demand is partly due to surging global enthusiasm for cocktails. The Carthusian monks who produce Chartreuse could ramp up production, but they don’t care about constant growth and aren’t interested in living lavish lifestyles. Instead their response has been to keep business activity on a human scale so as to “…protect their monastic life…not looking to grow the liqueur beyond what they need to sustain their order.”  In the meantime, export volumes will remain the same (50% goes to France, the remainder the rest of the world). If America takes the majority and international demand continues, don’t expect small markets like Australia to maintain a steady supply. Chartreuse might be just one reason why customers visit bars and drink cocktails, but at the same time, any bar without it simply wouldn’t feel complete.

Chartreuse has two primary expressions: the so-called 'Green' is more pungent, higher in alcohol and more expensive than Yellow. Their spiritous, herbal, multilayered profiles include notes of liquorice, anise, violets, spearmint, basil, candied banana and peppermint. Both expressions have long been bar staples - no surprise given that the brand dates back to 1605. Its creation still employs 130 herbs, plants and flowers with the resulting liquid aged in oak casks, and less than a handful of monks can blend and distill the recipe. They're also the only ones who know which plants they have to macerate to produce the natural green and yellow colours. Other versions of Chartreuse are also available, the most notable being the “V.E.P.” bottlings. These are essentially the same as Green and Yellow Chartreuse but they're aged for a longer period and the ABVs will vary. The objective is to elevate the liqueur to an extra level of integration, refining the flavours in large oak vats. The much sought after White Chartreuse, the sweetest version of all was discontinued many decades ago.

Other reviews... This lime-green, anise-scented liqueur is sweet at first sip, then herbaceous in the middle, showing fennel, pine, tarragon and mild floral notes. The finish is spicy and warming, with anise, white pepper and ginger heat. It's a bit too viscous and fiery for straight-up sipping, but it's beautifully complex and a key ingredient for the classic Last Word and other cocktails. 93 points - winenethusiast.com

...A wildly different expression, Green Chartreuse claims to be the only naturally green liqueur on the market. (Presumably, absinthe is not a liqueur.) There’s a connection here with absinthe, as Green Chartreuse is racy with alcohol and offers notes of anise up front, with hints of menthol and citrus peel following from there. The liqueur offers a clear vanilla character and even some elusive chocolate notes on the finish — though the overall impact is much less sweet and more palate-cleansing than the Yellow version. Green Chartreuse stands better on its own than Yellow — though it’s still a great choice to include in any number of cocktails as a flavoring agent. 110 proof. - drinkhacker.com

...Almost syrup like entry, flowing slowly, almost ponderously, across the lips and tongue, followed by a jumbled charge of herbal,floral and to some degree citrus or aromatic flavors, cloves, pine, gentian, genepi, fennel, rosemary, sage, wormwood, an herbal and spice carpet bombing of your senses. This is not to mean we don’t love the stuff, it is just a very intense experience for all your senses all at once, in a good way. -  spiritsreview.com