Martell V.S (700 ml)

Founded in 1715 by Jean Martell, the house made a deliberate and enduring technical choice that no other major Cognac producer replicates: distilling exclusively from clear, fully settled, lees-free wines before a single drop enters the still. That decision strips the raw distillate of textural weight and funk, placing the entire burden of character-building on the barrel. The primary terroir anchor is the Borderies cru — the smallest of Cognac's six crus — where silica-clay soils yield eaux-de-vie of distinctively floral, violet-tinged aromatic character that Grande Champagne-dominant rivals cannot replicate. Martell purchases 50–60% of the entire Borderies cru's output, a market dominance with no parallel in the appellation. Distillation runs through traditional copper alambic Charentais pot stills at the Gallienne Distillery in the Borderies heartland, with gas pressure adjusted hourly along the proprietary 'Martell Curve'; tails are cut deliberately early for a clean, neutral heart. Aging for VS reaches a minimum two years in fine-grained cecillus (Tronçais-style) French oak, lightly bousinage-toasted for 17–20 minutes, in a mix of new and seasoned 'red' barrels. The special feature: where peers build flavour from lees-rich distillate, Martell VS builds it almost entirely from wood and Borderies terroir alone. Bottled at 40% ABV; once peak maturity is reached, eaux-de-vie are transferred to glass demijohns to arrest further development.