Martell Cordon Bleu (700 ml) Year of the Horse (Limited Edition)

Founded in 1715 by Jean Martell, the house made one defining technical wager that no rival has replicated: distilling exclusively from clear, lees-free wines, stripping the base distillate of all sediment before the alambic Charentais pot still fires — a deliberate choice that places the entire burden of character-building on oak rather than on the raw spirit. Cordon Bleu is the direct expression of that philosophy at its most ambitious. The blend draws from the Borderies cru — the smallest of Cognac's six crus, planted on silica-clay soils that yield a distinctively floral, candied-violet aromatic register found nowhere else in the appellation — supplemented by Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, and Fins Bois components. Martell purchases 50–60% of the entire Borderies cru's output, a market dominance that amounts to a proprietary terroir position. In the cellar, 100+ individual eaux-de-vie are aged in fine-grained cecillus (Tronçais-style) French oak, lightly toasted to a minimum 17–20 minutes bousinage, with the oldest components reaching 25–30 years; once peak maturity is judged, reserves transfer to glass demijohns to arrest further wood extraction. The Year of the Horse edition presents the standard Cordon Bleu blend in a collectible limited livery — the liquid itself unchanged. Bottled at 40% ABV; drink now through the medium term.