Benedictine Distillery

One emerges from the Palace into a gorgeous Gothic/Renaissance/ArtNouveau warehouse/museum surmounting the actual distillery. The show continues...

Thus

Our founder

The complex burned down in the early 1890s, but le Grand
rebuilt it even more opulently

Portrait of le Grand

Helpful model of the present complex

Beautiful unsigned painting of Fecamp

Six giant stained glass windows in the roof
illuminate the warehouse/museum

"Imitated but never equalled"--Benedictine has had more
than a thousand imitators and knock-offs; here, a sampling,
and not a few from the Etats Unis

Part of a wonderful collection of posters, including

This great 1898 Mucha

Another

Another of the beautiful ceiling lights

And a look back at the Salle Alexandre le Grand

Now entering the industrial part of the place...waiting for our
guide; a collection of ceramic containers for the 27 botanicals

Touch and sniff

The process

In the distillery

Big vats

Aging...not very long actually; the flavor here is in the ingredients,
not the barrels or age

Only about 4% is consumed in France...the rest in Asia, North
America and Europe, in that order; currently they make
standard Benedictine liqueur, B&B (Benedictine and brandy;
mostly for the American market), and a Benedictine/Cognac
mixture called 1868

The cafe; a tasting is included in the tour; I had the 1868, of
course

And at the end of the tour/tasting, you can do
the breathalyzer thing; this is France; with WC
Fields, I always say, if you can lie down on the
floor without holding on, you're not drunk