Yellow Chartreuse Liqueur 43% ABV

Yellow Chartreuse (Chartreuse Jaune) French Herbal Liqueur — 43% ABV

Price

$109.95

✔ Authenticated by the house — seal, fill level, and label inspected before release
✔ Documented provenance on every bottle
✔ Climate-safe, collector-grade packaging

Age: 0 | Region: Entre-Deux-Guiers, Isère, France | Proof: 86.0

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Vault-to-door shipping

Adult signature (21+) at delivery

43%

ABV

Proof

130

Botanicals

1840

Created

700mL

Format

Yellow Chartreuse (Chartreuse Jaune) is a French herbal liqueur of the Carthusian monks, made from 130 plants, bark, roots, spices and flowers, created in 1840 and bottled at 43% ABV (86 proof). Distilled at the Aiguenoire distillery and aged at length in oak vats, it is lower in strength than Green Chartreuse and known for its sweetness, its soft structure and its natural yellow color.

Nº 01

The Elemental Distinction

Made to the Carthusian monks' own formula: the plants are ground at the Grande Chartreuse monastery, in the monks' plant room, and only a small number of monks know the whole recipe.

Built from 130 plants, bark, roots, spices and flowers; the house dates it to 1840 and names the recipe of the Elixir Végétal as its inspiration.

Bottled at 43% ABV (86 proof), against 55% ABV for Green Chartreuse; the house describes the yellow by its sweetness, its spicy scents and its soft structure.

At the Aiguenoire distillery in Entre-deux-Guiers the plants are distilled for aroma and macerated for their active principles; a long maturation in truncated cone-shaped oak vats follows.

Its yellow is natural color drawn from the plants by maceration; the ingredients are alcohol, sugar, water and the plant substances.

Bottling does not end its development: the house says the liqueur keeps changing, and growing more complex, in the bottle.

Nº 02

Monastic Heritage

The Elixir of Long Life

In 1605 François-Annibal d'Estrées gave the Carthusian monks of Paris a manuscript whose source is still unknown, setting out plants and instructions for an elixir of “long life.” Brother Jérôme Maubec completed the elixir's formula in 1755. The yellow liqueur belongs to the next century: in 1838 Brother Colomban Mure-Ravaux, who died soon after, left a new and gentler pale-yellow blend, and Chartreuse dates Yellow Chartreuse to 1840, crediting the Elixir Végétal's recipe as its inspiration. Once the liqueur had caught on, Father Garnier, who oversaw the liqueurs, made Chartreuse Jaune its official name, and in 1852 he registered Chartreuse as a trademark. Today the full formula is known to only a small number of monks.

Nº 03

The Sensory Arc

Official tasting notes & serving

Sensory Profile

Chartreuse's own tasting note: intense yellow in the glass; a fresh, spicy nose; a soft structure; scents of turmeric, citrus and anise; and floral notes that linger.

Serving & Position

Chartreuse recommends it as a digestif, served chilled to 12–13°C or on ice, and advises against the freezer, which keeps the aromas from opening fully. Bartenders have mixed with it since the 19th century — George Kappeler's Widow's Kiss of 1895 calls for it — and it is the Chartreuse in the Alaska and in Joaquín Simó's Naked & Famous, created at Death & Co in New York.

Nº 04

Provenance & Production

The collector's picture

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Production Held Level

In 2021 the Carthusian monks decided not to increase production of the Chartreuse liqueurs. Chartreuse Diffusion set out their reasons in a letter to its trade partners — a monastic life given to solitude and prayer, and an environment that a far larger output would harm — and said it would supply only its core, historic markets.

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The Aiguenoire Distillery

Production has been transferred from Voiron to the Aiguenoire distillery at Entre-deux-Guiers, in the Chartreuse massif, which Chartreuse inaugurated on August 30, 2018. Voiron had been the distillery's home since a landslide destroyed the Fourvoirie site in 1935; of the liqueurs, only Foudre 147 still ages there.

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Expulsion and Return

The monks lost the Grande Chartreuse in 1792, when the French state expelled them from every monastery in the country; in 1903 they had to leave again and took the distillery to Tarragona, in Spain. They returned to the Grande Chartreuse in June 1940.

Collector indexChartreuse Jaune

Liqueur: Yellow Chartreuse (Chartreuse Jaune)
Producer: Les Pères Chartreux · Chartreuse Diffusion
Origin: Chartreuse massif, Isère, France
Strength: 43% ABV (86 proof)
Botanicals: 130 plants, bark, roots, spices & flowers
Aging: Oak vats, then evolves in the bottle
Created: 1840

Beyond the whiskey, it stands on the Other Spirits shelf beside cognac, gin and vodka in the Midnight Whiskey vault.

Nº 05

Technical Specifications

Specification	Detail
Liqueur	Yellow Chartreuse (Chartreuse Jaune)
Category	French Herbal Liqueur / Digestif
ABV / Proof	43% ABV (86 proof)
Recipe	130 plants, bark, roots, spices & flowers
Ingredients	Alcohol, sugar, water, plant substances
Coloring	Natural, from maceration of the plants
Maturation	Truncated cone-shaped oak vats; keeps developing in the bottle
Created	1840
Producer	Les Pères Chartreux (Carthusian monks); Chartreuse Diffusion
Distillery	Aiguenoire Distillery, Entre-deux-Guiers
Country	France
Format	700 mL (70 cl)

Nº 06

Records & Assurance

Production Methodology

Yellow Chartreuse starts at the Grande Chartreuse monastery, where the monks grind the plants in their plant room. At the Aiguenoire distillery in Entre-deux-Guiers, distillation captures the aroma and a series of macerations draws out the plants' active principles and the liqueur's natural color. Into the liqueur go alcohol, sugar, water and the plant substances — 130 plants, bark, roots, spices and flowers. A long maturation in truncated cone-shaped oak vats precedes bottling at 43% ABV (86 proof), and the liqueur keeps developing in the bottle.

Authentication & Vault Preservation

Every bottle sold through Midnight Whiskey is sourced as an authentic, sealed product and inspected before it ships. Orders are packed with padded, glass-rated handling and require an adult signature (21+) on delivery; we do not ship to anyone unable to verify legal drinking age. For our full sourcing and handling protocols, see our editorial and authentication standards.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Yellow Chartreuse differ from Green Chartreuse?

Yellow Chartreuse is bottled at 43% ABV (86 proof) and Green Chartreuse at 55% ABV (110 proof). Chartreuse Diffusion describes the yellow by its sweetness and soft structure, with scents of turmeric, citrus and anise and floral notes, and the green by a nose that is powerfully herbaceous and peppery and a fresh palate with mint, pine sap and citrus.

How do you drink Yellow Chartreuse?

Chartreuse Diffusion recommends Yellow Chartreuse as a digestif, served chilled between 12 and 13°C or on ice, with the bottle cooled a few hours ahead and kept out of the freezer, where its aromas cannot fully open. It has also been a cocktail ingredient since the 19th century and is the Chartreuse in classics such as the Widow's Kiss and the Alaska.

Why did the monks who make Yellow Chartreuse limit production?

In 2021 the Carthusian monks who make Yellow and Green Chartreuse decided not to increase their production volume. Chartreuse Diffusion, the company that markets the liqueurs, told its trade partners in a letter that the monks wished to protect a monastic life of solitude and prayer and that a far larger output would be at odds with today's environmental situation, and that it would supply only its core, historic markets.

Midnight Whiskey · The Vault Chartreuse Diffusion · 43% ABV

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Yellow

The Elemental Distinction

Monastic Heritage