History

The history of the distillery and it's savoir-faire

The history of the distillery, like that of the liqueur, is intimately linked to that of the territory of Châteaurenard in Provence.

The Prémontrés Monks

In 1858, the white fathers of the order of Prémontré settled in the abbey of Saint-Michel-de-Frigolet. They regularly made potions and plant elixirs there, from their gatherings in the surrounding hills. The production was neither regular nor standardized, so their recipes had to evolve with the seasons, some falling little by little into oblivion.

Isoard era

En 1865, Joseph Isoard, distillateur-liquoriste expérimenté, s’établit à Châteaurenard. Dès 1883, il commença à s’intéresser aux diverses préparations des moines. Les décoctions, macérations et potions des ecclésiastiques attisèrent sa curiosité. Il s’en inspira donc pour mettre au point une recette et un procédé de fabrication uniques. Il obtint une liqueur exquise, dorée comme le soleil provençal. Le Frigolet était né.

The Inisan era

In 1961, the distillery was transferred to the Inisan family. Rolland Inisan recovered the walls, but also the production tool, the patents and the secret recipe for the exquisite elixir. He decided to perpetuate the tradition and continued to produce Frigolet according to the traditional methods: a fine selection of ingredients, the distillation in a wood-heated copper still, an addition of a honey syrup and a long maturation in oak casks, Assembly.  

His son François took over in the 1980s and decided to bring his contributions to the business. He first decided to modernize the production tool, opting for a stainless steel still and an oil-fired boiler. He also decided to open the doors of the Châteaurenard distillery by organizing visits and sales there. However, he insisted on conserving the precious heritage: perpetuating artisanal production, prioritising quality over quantity and preserving the mystery surrounding the recipe of the divine liqueur.