Benedictine Liqueur 1L

Bénédictine's story begins in 1510, when Dom Bernardo Vincelli, a botanist and Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Fécamp on the Normandy coast, is said to have formulated the original elixir. The recipe reportedly earned royal approval after François I visited Fécamp to sample it in 1524, and the monks continued producing it until the French Revolution destroyed the abbey and scattered its monks. The manuscript survived through a trustee who had received the abbey's library, and in 1863 wine merchant Alexandre Le Grand discovered it in his family's collection. He spent roughly a year deciphering and refining the formula before launching the liqueur commercially, trademarking it in 1864 and building the Palais Bénédictine in Fécamp, which still houses the distillery today.

The liqueur is made from a secret blend of twenty seven plants and spices, drawn from both the nearby Caux plateau and distant sources, including angelica, hyssop, lemon balm, saffron, juniper, myrrh, and vanilla from Madagascar. The recipe is divided into four separate botanical infusions, each distilled individually in copper pot stills before being blended together. The combined liqueur is then aged in large oak casks for about eight months, sweetened with honey and colored with saffron, before resting further and undergoing filtration and bottling, a process that takes more than two years from start to finish.

The color is a deep amber gold. On the nose, warm baking spice mingles with honey and citrus. The palate is sweet and herbal, layering cinnamon, saffron, and stone fruit over a smooth, lingering finish. It's traditionally sipped neat or over ice as a digestif, and serves as a key ingredient in cocktails such as the Vieux Carré and Singapore Sling.