‘These are masterpieces,’ Rémy Martin cellar master Baptiste Loiseau says of the Louis XIII bottles headed auction.
"It's history in a glass," pronounces Baptiste Loiseau, Rémy Martin's cellar master, as he holds aloft a snifter of rare cognac to better show off its amber glow. "You can't put a price on it."
Or can you?
The outcome of that debate will be determined in September when the first of three bespoke bottles containing an exclusive blend of Louis XIII – Rémy Martin's premier offering – goes on the auction block in New York.
Sotheby's is overseeing the one-lot sale that will be repeated in Hong Kong in October and London in November. The starting price is $100,000 (U.S.)
Loiseau, who created the thick and aromatic blend from 1,200 eaux de vie, some as young as 40 and others older than a century, all of them aged in Limousin oak casks in the Cognac region of southwest France, anticipates that the winning bid will likely be 10 times the asking price.
"It's an investment in heritage," he said at a launch event here last May.
The limited edition cognac lies at the centre of a package that includes accessories contributed by French luxury brands Hermès, Saint-Louis and Puiforcat. L'Odyssée d'un Roi, as the collaboration is called, translates as the Journey of the King, a reference to Louis XIII's status as the king of cognacs and its presence in fine drinking establishments around the world.
Four years in the making, l'Odyssée d'un Roi employed more than than 50 artisans who poured more than 1,000 hours of manual labour into creating the custom Saint-Louis decanters and glasses etched with vintage maps of the Americas, Asia and Europe and the sterling silver Puiforcat pipette to be used as part of the serving ritual. The leather coffret that Hermès made to carry it all recalls the steamer trunks that were a fixture of luxury travel past.
Highlighting the travel theme, an exhibition documenting Louis XIII's heritage opened in New York last May after touring Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Again on the road, the Louis XIII-An Ode to Adventure exhibition appears next in Singapore, Paris and London, international cities where the cognac has held pride of place for generations.
As one of the world's most coveted Grande Champagne cognacs, Louis XIII has been associated with luxury travel from the beginning, appearing in the storied bar car of the Orient Express, the first-class lounge of the S.S. Normandie ocean liner and the plush cabins of the faster-than-sound Concorde airplane. It remains a fixture in bars around the world today, coveted by connoisseurs and hip hop artists alike. A 700-millilitre bottle in Canada is priced at $3,100 (Canadian).
Pricier still is the $35,000 Louis XIII Rare Cask 42.6, a reference to the cognac's unadulterated alcohol content, bottled in a Baccarat black crystal decanter. Available at Toronto's Shoushin Restaurant where a half ounce serving costs $1,000, the cognac comes from a rediscovered 1929 blend that had been served on the Orient Express en route to Constantinople, or what is now Istanbul.
"These are masterpieces," Loiseau said. "They have a quality that can withstand the passage of time."
All proceeds from the l'Odyssée d'un Roi auction will go to The Film Foundation, the organization fronted by U.S. filmmaker Martin Scorsese that is committed to preserving and restoring classic movies from the past.
"The Film Foundation echoes what we are doing," Loiseau explained at the private tasting and launch event in New York. "We both have an interest in preserving history."
Scorsese, addressing the well-heeled crowed by video link, shared that he was grateful for the recognition. "The partnership with Louis XIII is an excellent way to highlight the foundation's preservation, education and exhibition programs," Scorsese said.
So what does history in a glass taste like? It's hard to distill it down to a single word. Even Loiseau, who grew up in the Cognac region where he lives still, has trouble describing the experience in less than a dozen words. He nosed the blend before eyeing it critically against an overhead light, leaning his head to one side holding the glass close.
After allowing its contents to kiss his lips, he closed his eyes to describe the cognac's many nuanced flavours. "Dried roses and jasmine," he said, warming up. "Candied fruits like plums, dates and figs. Heavy notes and floral notes, licorice and delicacy. It's a discovery every time."