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Alexandre Le Grand (merchant)
Alexandre-Prosper-Hubert Le Grand (6 June 1830 – 25 June 1898) was a wine merchant and industrialist of the 19th century who in 1863 invented the liqueur known as Bénédictine from a mixture of native herbs and exotic spices. Biography Born in Fécamp as the son of a sea captain, Le Grand discovered, in 1863, an old grimoire in the library of the Abbaye de la Trinité de Fécamp, abbey of Fécamp containing medicinal and herbal recipes collected by the monks of the abbey. With the aid of a pharmacist, he developed the recipe for the liqueur that would make him famous. Inheriting a habit of eclecticism from his father, Alexandre Le Grand raised the Palais Bénédictine, a building whose architectural style was a mélange of Gothic architecture, Gothic, Renaissance, and art nouveau, and which in 1888 he made into the headquarters of the Bénédictine company. This building still exists and contains, in addition to the distillery, a museum dedicated to the liqueur. In recognitio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bénédictine
Bénédictine () is a herbal liqueur produced in France. It was developed by wine merchant Alexandre Le Grand in the 19th century, and is reputedly flavored with twenty-seven flowers, berries, herbs, roots, and spices. A drier version, B&B, blending Bénédictine with brandy, was developed in the 1930s. History In 1863 Alexandre Le Grand developed a recipe for an herbal liqueur, helped by a local chemist, from old medicinal recipes that he had acquired from a religious foundation where a maternal grandparent had held office as a fiscal prosecutor. To market it, he embellished a story of it having been developed by monks at the Benedictine Abbey of Fécamp in Normandy, and produced by them until the abbey's devastation during the French Revolution. He began production under the trade name "Bénédictine", using a bottle with a distinguishing shape and label. To reinforce his myth, he placed the abbreviation "D.O.M." on the label, for "" ("To God, most good, most great"), use ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
