If you're still trying to figure out a way to impress your guests who will be visiting your home for this coming Chinese New Year season, perhaps this might be what you're looking for. Something that suits the festivity in style with the Chinese Year of the Dragon in a form of a cognac.
An excellent cognac inspired by the animal of the zodiac is released annually by Maison Martell as a tribute to its longstanding relationship with China. The Year of the Dragon, which occurs in 2024, is arguably the most representative of all the animals in the Chinese zodiac and is most widely connected to China. The House now offers L'Or de Jean Martell Zodiac Edition - Assemblage du Dragon, a cognac that softly alludes to this most venerated of the Chinese zodiac animals while maintaining the fundamental qualities of the original blend. Only 750 pieces of this incredibly rare and renowned edition, each with a unique number, are available.
L’Or de Jean Martell Zodiac Edition – Assemblage du Dragon opens with an explosion of fresh, vibrant floral aromas – lily, lilac, pansy – which merge deliciously into intense and generous notes of candied fruit, including tamarind, lotus seeds and longan, also known as dragon’s eye. These are complemented by aromas of dried fruit and nuts, then notes
of red and black fruit, notably wild strawberry, blackberry and blackcurrant. As the cognac evolves, spices and noble woods – Chinese cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, cedar and sandalwood – heighten the sensation of warmth, while aromas of earth and rancio evoke the atmosphere of the legendary Jean Martell cellar, where Maison Martell’s most precious eaux-de-vie are kept. Finally, exceptional length on the palate suggests the immortal nature of the Chinese dragon, which particularly inspired Christophe Valtaud.
The personality of the dragon embodied by an exceptional blend…
For Martell Cellar Master Christophe Valtaud, the challenge was to enrich L’Or de Jean Martell without modifying its essence, but while bringing to the fore certain attributes – power, perseverance, nobility and immortality – associated with the dragon. He thus made a careful selection of very old eaux-de-vie drawn from different Years of the Dragon, and combined them with the original blend – a complex harmony of more than 1,400 eaux-de-vie from the four finest terroirs in the Cognac region. The result is a pure masterpiece of blending, which unites the unprecedented intensity and elegance of the original cognac with unparalleled warmth, generosity and aromatic balance, evoking the controlled and benevolent power associated with the dragon.
… and a magnificent, flamboyant design
To showcase L’Or de Jean Martell Zodiac Edition – Assemblage du Dragon, Maison Martell created in collaboration with Baccarat – one of France’s most revered manufacturers of fine crystal, founded in 1764 – an object of exquisite elegance: a decanter whose sleek lines evoke a single, pure drop of cognac, complementing to perfection the richness and refinement of the blend within. The decanter, whose neck is embellished with engraved 19-carat gold, is crowned by a sculptural representation of a dragon’s head, completely unique and perfect in every vibrant detail, which is signed Martell x Baccarat. Inside a beautifully crafted box whose red metal doors are embossed with a pattern suggesting dragon’s skin, the decanter rests on a gold-tone pedestal finely engraved with tiny scales. This magnificent ensemble is displayed against a dramatic, gold-colour backdrop decorated with motifs of grapevines, oak barrels and Martell swifts around a flamboyant Chinese dragon – a poetic evocation, not only of the Year of the Dragon, but also of the enduring friendship between Maison Martell and China.
Maison Martell is the oldest of the great cognac houses, founded by Jean Martell in 1715, Maison Martell is renowned throughout the world for the finesse and elegance of its cognacs, the result of a legacy of savoir-faire handed down through nine generations. Together with a passion for its craft and a profound attachment to the terroir, Maison Martell is defined by the audacity with which it has challenged convention to create new expressions of cognac, including the icon Martell Cordon Bleu in 1912. The free spirit of the House is symbolised by its historic emblem: the swift.
To find out more info or latest updates on Martell, head on to their official website here.
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