There aren’t too many brands that can hit the three hundred mark and still be at the top of their game. But then again, there aren’t too many brands like renowned Cognac house, Rémy Martin. This holiday season let’s raise a toast to one of the four original Cognac houses that is celebrating an exceptional 300 years old.
In 1724, an entrepreneurial winemaker in southwestern France with a catchy name —Rémy Martin—began his journey with distilling the now-famous spirit. The Cognac region, like Champagne, has become eponymous for its most famous export. At the time, brandy wasn’t particularly new. French brandy production dates to the 1300s and started out, like a lot of other spirits, as something intended for medicinal purposes. In the 1700s, Cognac as a commercial product of its own was relatively new to the scene.
Cognac is made by twice distilling fermented wine grapes — typically Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche, and Colombard — in copper pot stills. The distillate, a colorless spirit called eau-de-vie (French for water of life), is then put into French oak barrels where it must spend at least four years aging. Rémy Martin’s award-winning V.S.O.P., the first of its kind when it launched in 1927, is a masterful blend of eaux-de-vie that’s aged nearly four times longer than the AOC requires for that category.
Whatever young Rémy Martin did worked because a mere 14 years later in 1738, King Louis XV was such a fan of his brandy that he gave Martin the trés rare opportunity to plant new grape vines on royally-owned land. The rest is delicious history.
Today, the brand has grown into one of the most successful and distinctive in the world. Not bad for surviving world wars, pestilence, and fierce competition over three centuries.
Resplendent with the theme of ‘We Dream Forward’, they’re reopening the famous doors of the celebrated house after years of renovation to usher in the next three centuries. Throughout the rest of 2024, Rémy Martin is unveiling myriad experiences and exclusive products which connect the past, present, and future of the historic brand.
One way to celebrate the holidays is by gifting a special someone or — let’s be serious, yourself — an extraordinary bottle of Cognac, the 300th Anniversary Coupe. Inspired by the iconic shape of the 250th Anniversary Coupe created in 1974, the glass carafe is enhanced with embossed lines, symbolizing the forward motion of the Rémy Martin Centaur’s javelin, the iconic emblem of the House since 1870. The carafe is presented in a bespoke wooden case containing a special note from the Cellar Master and a unique QR code to access exclusive digital content on RemyMartin.com.
The Cognac, crafted by cellar master Baptiste Louiseau, is a once-in-a-lifetime release. It’s a special blend created from their “Réserve Perpétuelle”, a collection of exceptional eaux-de-vie, passed forward by generations of Cellar Masters before him.
Forging a link between the past, the future, and the present, Loiseau explained that “when a new blend is created, part of it is set aside for future cellar masters…[this] will be the legacy I leave to the next generation. By reserving some eaux-de-vie from this precious Coupe 300th Anniversary, the story will continue for future generations.”
To keep the birthday celebrations going, bartenders around the globe competed for a chance to showcase their creative drink-making skills at the 7th annual Rémy Martin Bartender Talent Academy. Selected as one of 24 finalists, Jessica Neblina, a bartender from Los Angeles, flew to France in September to bring some West Coast flair to the legendary House of Rémy.
Not unlike Rémy Martin throughout the past 300 years, Jessica’s journey wasn’t without its own obstacles.
“I’ve been to Paris before, so I was a little familiar. TSA confiscated one of my ingredients: Tamarind paste. And I also discovered my glassware had broken right before I got on the plane. I ended up literally riding a bike to a shop called Maison du Barman. I’ll never forget it. I was there at 10 AM when they opened right before the train to Cognac,” she says with a laugh.
Following the tricentennial theme of Past, Present, and Future, each bartender presented a high-profile team of judges two cocktails — a three-ingredient highball using the Rémy Martin V.S.O.P. and a neo-classic using the 1738 Accord Royal, Club or V.S.O.P. expressions. In line with the brand’s sustainability efforts, bonus points were awarded for inventive touches like an eco-responsible dimension. The House of Rémy Martin works with and accompanies 800 partner-winegrowers who are constantly adapting their practices to rise to the challenge of climate change and has been certified sustainable since 2007.
Neblina, who has never competed before, wanted to not only represent her bar, but also her background. “I’m still processing. It was a surreal feeling. But this is what I want to be an example for. For Latino culture, for Los Angeles, for women behind the bar. This experience showed me that I’m really doing what I want to be doing and fully representing who I am.”
So this holiday season, raise a glass to Rémy Martin for the past three hundred years, and also the next three hundred.
Santé!
This article is sponsored by Rémy Martin.
