My favorite digestif is Chartreuse Tarragona. This is not Chartreuse Yellow VEP.
We first discovered it at Alain Chapel many years ago. For the full story see here:
https://lizziee.wordpress.com/category/general/incredible-service-chapel/
“In 1903, the Chartreuse monks were expelled from France. The father distillers in charge of the liqueurs went to Spain and opened a new distillery in Tarragona. It took less than one year for Chartreuse to be back on the world market. But not in all countries, as the French government has “nationalised” the brand name and the distillery and sold them to a group of private investors. In France, if one wanted the “real” Chartreuse made by monks and not an imitation, one asked for a “Tarragona”. Everyone knew what it was even though “Tarragona” was no more than a nickname.”
“This Tarragona distillery operated until 1989. During the 86 years of its existence, the two monk distillers worked alternatively there, in Marseille, in Fourvoirie (until its destruction) and finally in Voiron.”
We subsequently have had some of this wonderful Chartreuse at Georges Blanc, Ducasse in Paris and La Pyramide in Vienne. Of course, the challenge became to find a place that sold it in Paris. Lucky us, we were dining at Lucas Carton for lunch (now Senderens) some years ago and noticed a wine shop across the street, Au Verger De La Madeleine, 4 Boulevard Malesherbes, 75008 Paris. They had the real Chartreuse Tarragona and the ratio of the dollar to the euro was reasonable at the time. So yes, we bought a couple of bottles and still have some left.
Unfortunately, I think it is prohibitively expensive right now and very hard to locate. For the record Gilles Mony is the new owner of Au Verger De La Madeleine.
Wonderful stuff.
Refined Palate 