Martell is a brand of cognac and claims to be “the oldest of the great Cognac houses,” with a heritage spanning three centuries. The company was founded in 1715, when English merchant Jean Martell (1694–1753), a native of the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands, arrived in France, leaving his home to start trading eaux-de-vie in Cognac. For nearly forty years, Jean Martell devoted his life to the trade. After his death, his widow, Rachel, took over the business, which at that point was by far the largest exporter to the rapidly developing London market. In 1775, Martell’s two sons, Jean and Frédéric, continued the family legacy. Martell’s first shipment of cognac arrived in the United States shortly thereafter. The nineteenth century saw Martell cede its dominance to Hennessy, but it remained a major producer and exporter. After being sold to Seagram’s in 1988, Martell became part of the Pernod-Ricard portfolio in 2001. It is the second largest of the “big four” cognac houses, after Hennessy.
The brand is known for using a high percentage of eaux-de-vie from the Borderies region in its blends, much of it distilled in house. Borderies is the smallest of the cognac crus, and its eaux-de-vie are prized for their rich, nutty, and often floral aromatics. In 1912, Édouard Martell created what would become the house’s signature cognac, Martell Cordon Bleu.
cognac and eau-de-vie.Faith, Nicholas. Cognac: The Story of the World’s Greatest Brandy. Oxford: Infinite Ideas, 2013.
Martell Cognac website. http://www.martell.com/en-us/ (accessed October 23, 2015).
By: Kara Newman