Alexandre Le Grand devises the recipe for…

Alexandre Le Grand devises the recipe for the herbal liqueur Bénédictine in Fécamp, France.

A wine merchant born the son of a sea captain in Fécamp, Le Grand discovers, in 1863, an old grimoire in the library of the abbey of Fécamp containing medicinal and herbal recipes collected by the monks of the abbey.

With the aid of a pharmacist, he develops the recipe for the liqueur that will make him famous.

To market it, he concocts a story of it having been developed by monks at the Benedictine Abbey of Fécamp in Normandy, and produced until the abbey's devastation during the French Revolution.

He begins production under the trade name "Bénédictine", using a bottle with a distinguishing shape and label.

To reinforce his myth, he places the abbreviation "D.O.M." on the label, for "Deo Optimo Maximo" ("To God, most good, most great"), used at the beginning of documents by the Benedictine Order to dedicate their work.