LinsFood | by Azlin Bloor

In-Depth Recipes, Food Culture & Food Stories

MENUMENU
  • Home
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Categories
      • Amuse-Bouches, Canapés and Starters
      • Cookies
      • Desserts
      • Dips, Sauces and Gravy Recipes
      • Eggless Recipes (Desserts & Baking)
      • Birthday and Occasion Cakes and Cupcakes
      • Cheese (Types and Recipes)
      • Gluten Free
      • Healthy Recipes
      • Meat Recipes
      • Noodle Recipes from around the World
      • Rice Recipes from around the World
      • Salad Recipes
      • Soups and Stews from around the World
      • Seafood
      • Vegan
      • Vegetarian
    • Seasonal Recipes
      • Winter Recipes
      • Spring Recipes
      • Summer Recipes
      • What's in Season Now?
      • Autumn (Fall) Recipes
    • Festive Recipes
      • Chinese New Year Recipes
      • Valentine's Day Recipes
      • Nowruz Recipes (Persian New Year)
      • Easter Recipes
      • Ramadan Recipes from around the World
      • Eid Recipes from around the World
      • Thanksgiving Recipes
      • Christmas Recipes from around the World
    • Collections
      • Alcoholic Drinks
      • Alcohol Free Drinks
      • Breakfast & Brunch Recipes
      • Cake Decorating 101
      • Fine Dining
      • Gin Recipes
      • Pantry Recipes
      • The Chilli Pepper Page
      • Top 12 Chicken Recipes
  • World Cuisines
    • American
    • British Recipes
    • Burmese Recipes
    • Chinese Recipes
    • East and West African Recipes
    • Eastern and Central European Recipes
    • French Recipes
    • South Asian Recipes (India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka)
      • Kashmiri Recipes
    • Indonesian Recipes
    • Italian Recipes
      • Risotto Masterclass
    • Japanese Recipes
    • Korean Recipes
    • Latin American Recipes
    • Middle Eastern and North African Recipes
      • Persian Recipes
      • Tagine Masterclass
    • What is Singapore and Malaysian Food?
    • Spanish Recipes
    • Thai Recipes
    • Turkish Recipes
    • Vietnamese Recipes
  • Reference
    • Ingredients

      Ingredients
    • The Edible Garden

      The Edible Garden
    • What’s In Season?

      What's In Season?
    • Oven/Cooking Conversions

      Oven/Cooking Conversions
  • Travel
  • Media
  • About
    • About Me

      About Me
    • Online Cooking Courses

      How to cook noodles
    • My Cookbooks

      Singapore Recipes

What is D.O.M. Bénédictine and How to Use It

Published 30/01/2015, updated 17/01/2021 14 Comments

D.O.M. Bénédictine, a review and how to use it. An aromatic drink with a romantic and mysterious past that makes great cocktails!
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
D.O.M. Bénédictine
D.O.M. Bénédictine photography

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

D.O.M. Bénédictine Bottle
D.O.M. Bénédictine

D.O.M. Bénédictine is a drink with a romantic and mysterious past with history that includes an old Bénédictine monk, The Philosopher’s Stone, a French king, the French revolution and a catastrophic fire that would have defeated all but the most resilient. Very much the proverbial Phoenix.

Table of contents

  • D.O.M. Bénédictine History
  • D.O.M. Legend
  • A Review
  • What does Bénédictine taste like?
  • More Bénédictine Cocktails
  • Palais Bénédictine
  • More Drink Reviews, Infusions and Cocktails

D.O.M. Bénédictine History

The original recipe for D.O.M. Bénédictine was created in 1510, in the Abbey of Fécamp, by an old Bénédictine monk, Dom Bernardo Vincelli, a scholar and an alchemist, and was consumed as a tonic and a medicinal elixir.

It quickly became known in the region as a drink of outstanding taste, and even François I of France (1515-1547) was reputed to have been a huge fan, claiming it to be the best drink he’d ever tasted.

This elixir enjoyed a huge popularity for almost three hundred years but disappeared during the French Revolution when the abbey was destroyed.

But all good stories need a hero, right?

D.O.M. Legend

So, along comes Alexandre Le Grand, a wine merchant. One day, as he was going through old documents in his family’s treasure of a library, he came across an aged manuscript for the study of hermeticism and alchemy that inevitably included the search for the elusive and legendary Philosopher’s Stone, the desideratum for almost every alchemist of that time.

Within the pages of this invaluable manuscript, he came across the recipe for this once popular drink, and it took Monsieur Le Grand about a year to work through the language and another year or so to finally replicate the old recipe.

Wanting to pay homage to the drink’s origins, our wine merchant  obtained permission to use the name and the coat of arms of the Benedictine Abbey in Fécamp and called his liqueur BÉNÉDICTINE®.

He also retained the acronym D.O.M., which in Latin, stands for Deo Optimo Maximo (God infinitely good, infinitely great) and is also a reference to the Latin word Dominus (Master), given to Benedictine friars.

pouring golden liqueur over ice photo
just look at that colour!

A Review

So, what of the drink itself, what is D.O.M. Benedictine, I hear you ask. Well, let’s start with the fact that D.O.M. Bénédictine is made up of a secret blend of 27 herbs and spices that includes saffron, cinnamon, angelica, hyssop, juniper and myrrh from five continents!

So secret that only a handful of people know the recipe, this select group includes the Master Herbalist and the Master Distiller.

D.O.M. Bénédictine weighs in at 40% abv (alcohol by volume), making it a very potent spirit, perhaps there is some truth in the stories that the old abbot’s ghost is seen from time to time at the distillery?!! Sorry, couldn’t resist that one!

Now, despite this high level of alcohol, it is remarkably smooth and quite sweet, with a decidedly herbal scent, quite reminiscent of a cough mixture at times!

D.O.M. Bénédictine in a glass
D.O.M. Bénédictine on ice can be a little intimidating for some

What does Bénédictine taste like?

Nose – as mentioned, D.O.M. Bénédictine is very herbal, after the first hit of alcohol fumes! Definite hints of orange, honey and an indefinable herbal mix – very, very pleasant indeed.

Personally, I never drink it neat, finding its character a little too intimidating. It is one of the defining ingredients in the Singapore Sling (click for recipe) and I certainly think that its strength lies in its ability to quite transform but never dominate whatever cocktail you use it in.

Singapore Sling
The Singapore Sling (click image for recipe)

If you do want to have it on its own, add some ice cubes to it and let it settle for a couple of minutes. I find that this releases its aromatic constituents, letting one appreciate its mysterious bouquet even more.

It goes rather splendidly with brandy, giving the simple but exquisite Benedictine and Brandy, B & B by Bénédictine, a proprietary blend since 1937. Ernest Hemingway was supposedly the first to mix the two.

Now, I definitely spy orange in there, so I think Cointreau or any other Triple Sec is the perfect companion for it; next time you have Cointreau and Orange (one of my favourite combinations), add a shot of D.O.M. Bénédictine and you’ll see how it enhances the blend, in fact I think anything citrus is the perfect balance to its sweetness.

Just remember, a little goes a long way; it’s robust and it’s sweet, a touch is all you need for it to enhance and not dictate the flavours.

More Bénédictine Cocktails

  • The Benediction, a Benedictine Cocktail
    The Benediction, a Benedictine Cocktail
  • Cointreau and Orange with D.O.M. Bénédictine
    Cointreau and Orange with Bénédictine

Palais Bénédictine

One last thing before I leave you. If you find yourself in Normandy, a visit to the Palais Bénédictine is a must! Purpose built to house the D.O.M. Bénédictine distillery, as the original was burned down in 1892.

The replacement, completed in 1898, the year Alexander Le Grand died, is both splashy and ornate at the same time, with gothic and renaissance characteristics at play.

The tour is well worth the effort, especially if you appreciate history and beauty. There is a certain sense of surrealism as you are shown the old copper stills the drink is distilled in and as you continue on your tour, there is a definite sense of walking on hallowed grounds.

One word of advice, be sure to get the real thing, as with anything so well known, there are many fakes out there! In fact the palais displays hundreds of fake bottles that have been seized over the years, in a special “hall of shame”!

Incidentally, the world’s largest consumer of D.O.M. Bénédictine is a gentlemen’s club in Burnley, right here in the UK!

There you go folks, sally forth, grab a bottle, take a sip or cook up a cocktail! I’d love to hear what you make of it.

And this is how to enjoy it best, on its own!

More Drink Reviews, Infusions and Cocktails

  • Cointreau Orange Liqueur
    Cointreau
  • Chambord
    Chambord
  • Polish Krupnik
    Polish Krupnik, spiced honey vodka
  • B-52, layered shooter drink
    B-52, a Baileys Cocktail

♥ If you enjoyed the article, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! 😉 Merci! ♥

And if you buy it or use, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood.

Lin xx

D.O.M. Bénédictine

What is D.O.M. Bénédictine and How to Use It

D.O.M. Bénédictine, a review and how to use it. An aromatic drink with a romantic and mysterious past that makes great cocktails!
5 from 72 votes
Print Pin Add to Collection Go to Collections
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: French
Keyword: liqueur
Prep Time: 3 minutes
Total Time: 3 minutes
Servings: 1
Calories: 180kcal
Author: Azlin Bloor

Ingredients

This is just how to enjoy the full on flavour and aroma of D.O.M. Bénédictine, served on ice. For Bénédictine cocktails, click on the links below.

  • 2 shots D.O.M. Bénédictine
  • some ice
  • a slice of orange (or lemon or lime)

Instructions

  • Mix it all together to enjoy the delights it has to offer.

Bénédictine Cocktails

  • The Benediction
    The Benediction
  • Cointreau and Orange with Bénédictine
    Cointreau and Orange with D.O.M. Bénédictine
  • Singapore Sling
    Singapore Sling

Nutrition

Serving: 60ml | Calories: 180kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g
Did you make this recipe?Mention @azlinbloor and tag #linsfood!
Made it? Upload your photosMention @azlinbloor and tag #linsfood!

Comments

  1. Charles Grant says

    25/08/2017 at 12:05 pm

    This is a really good write up. I enjoyed reading every minute of it! Thanks for the Sling recipe too, I’ve always been curious about it, I’m sure my wife will love it!

    Reply
    • Azlin Bloor says

      17/12/2017 at 5:31 pm

      Thank you Charles, let me know if you do make the Sling!

      Reply
  2. Gary Woods says

    23/08/2017 at 5:16 pm

    This is really great stuff! Lol, both the drink and your review/article! I really enjoyed reading all of that, as well as your description of the drink and your suggestions. Thanks for the cocktails too, going to check them out after this.

    Reply
    • Azlin Bloor says

      23/08/2017 at 5:32 pm

      Thank you Gary, I appreciate it, it is in fact one of my favourite posts on this site!

      Reply
      • Karen Giom says

        24/10/2019 at 3:17 pm

        Thanks for the history on DOM! Now I know! I recently gave birth and DOM is the must-have post natal drink recommended by friends & family. I didn’t dare to drink it after my first child but this second one I feel I should try it to reap all the benefits people talk about and I just took 2 table spoons. Indeed it is sweet and I like it!

        Reply
        • Azlin Bloor says

          25/10/2019 at 8:19 am

          Congratulations on the baby! And you are very welcome. I grew up in Singapore, and for many of my Chinese friends there, it is also very traditional to have DOM after having a baby. Glad you like the taste. My mum said that she was given Guinness by the British nurses (in Singapore) when she had my older sister!

          Reply
  3. Peter Quinn says

    17/08/2017 at 3:10 pm

    Marvellous write up! So much here that I didn’t know, and thanks for the cocktails too. I’ve bookmarked this page to check out out periodically for more!

    Reply
    • Azlin Bloor says

      23/08/2017 at 5:32 pm

      Thank you Peter, I appreciate it. Let me know what you think of the cocktails.

      Reply
  4. Simon Graves says

    13/08/2017 at 2:30 pm

    Bravo! Such an entertaining article, I really enjoyed reading it, and cocktail recipes, please. Much obliged.

    Reply
    • Azlin Bloor says

      13/08/2017 at 11:52 pm

      Thank you Simon. Just added a link to The Benediction, a super simple DOM Benedictine cocktail.

      Reply
  5. Marial FG says

    07/08/2017 at 9:21 am

    Great review and background, thank you!

    Reply
    • Azlin Bloor says

      07/08/2017 at 3:02 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  6. John Crowley says

    04/08/2017 at 2:13 pm

    Wow, what a fantastic write up! I was looking for a review of this drink, the history and all the other info is a great bonus! Do you have any other cocktails that uses this? That would be great, as I just got a bottle.

    Reply
    • Azlin Bloor says

      07/08/2017 at 3:06 pm

      Thank you John, yes, I certainly do! Look out for the links to them on this page, as I post them.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




LinsFood | by Azlin Bloor

Hey folks, I’m Azlin Bloor; former chef, culinary instructor and mum of 4.
Click here to read more about me!

Language

ArabicMalayFrenchSpanishHindiChinese (Simplified)ItalianRussianEnglishGerman

My Latest Posts!

  • Marmalade Duck with Sichuan PeppercornsMarmalade Roast Duck with Sichuan Peppercorns (perfect Chinese New Year Recipe)
  • Vegan Mapo Tofu on white rice, in a bowlVegan Mapo Tofu (perfect Vegan Chinese New Year Recipe)
  • Kashmiri chilli powderWhat is Kashmiri Chilli? (Essential Ingredient in the South Asian Kitchen)
  • sage, onion and chorizo stuffingSage, Onion and Chorizo Stuffing
my foodgawker gallery
Tasty Query - recipes search engine
Foodies100 Index of UK Food Blogs
Foodies100

Cook with me on Udemy!

Cook With Me

LinsFood contains affiliate links. This means that we earn a commission off any purchases that you might make by clicking on some of the product links.

Contact Me     Privacy Policy     Cookie Policy
Copyright Azlin Bloor | LinsFood.com 2011-2021
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.