Ultra rare bottle of 60-year-old liqueur set to fetch £4,000 after it was found in attic

21 November 2023 , 08:44

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An 'exceptionally rare' bottle of Charteuse VEP 1964 could earn between £3,000 - £4,000 at auction (Image: Hansons Auctioneers / SWNS)

A grieving son was left stunned to discover his late mother's bottle of Chartreuse VEP had been bought as a gift by his father to mark the day he was born in 1964.

The ultra-rare bottle of French liqueur alcohol bought by a father to celebrate his son's birth almost 60 years ago is now expected to fetch thousands at auction after being found in a loft gathering dust. The IT worker - who has not been named - found the bottle of booze in the attic 59 years later while clearing out his parent's house in Bournemouth, following the death of both of his parents.

The bottle of Charteuse was discovered alongside an emotional note that read: "To my darling wife, for giving me the gift of a beautiful son." And now, the "exceptionally rare" bottle could now earn between £3,000 - £4,000 at Hanson's Auctioneers.

An ultra-rare bottle of 1960s French liqueur bought by a dad to commemorate his son's birth could fetch £4,000 at auction after being found in a loft (Hansons Auctioneers / SWNS)

Stuart Palmer, head of wine, whisky and spirits at Hansons, said he believed the liqueur was one of the rarest of its kind to ever be sold at auction. He explained: “It turned out the bottle had been bought to celebrate his birth in 1964. A note with it, written by his father to his mother, said, ‘To my darling wife, for giving me the gift of a beautiful son’.

“It’s a heart-warming find and a wonderful remainder of his parents who, sadly, are no longer with us. Not only that it’s valuable. Vintage Chartreuse is a collector’s item and this particular bottle is heading to auction with an estimate of £3,000-£4,000.

'I stopped drinking booze on dates and it made life much more exciting'

The bottle of Charteuse was discovered alongside an emotional note (Hansons Auctioneers / SWNS)

“It was quite a surprise for our client to come across something bought to celebrate his arrival. He’s 59 now and had no idea it existed. His father was British and his mother French.

"They met in Grenoble, France in 1956. When their first-born came along in 1964, his father celebrated the occasion by giving his wife the gift. This bottle of Chartreuse 1964 VEP, with its secret recipe of 130 herbs and spices, carries not only the heritage of this popular liqueur but represents family love.

"It’s exceptionally rare, as scarce as any Chartreuse we've ever seen at auction. VEP stands for Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolongé, which translates to ‘Exceptionally Prolonged Ageing’.

"This version of Chartreuse undergoes an extended ageing process, maturing for around eight years. And there's a strong possibility it will surpass its upper estimate.”

Joseph Gamp