130 years of Martell in Malaysia

Get ready for a year-long celebration by Martell, which is celebrating its 130-year history in Malaysia. 

Kicking it off is an interactive, multi-sensory, AI-enabled pop-up experience for the whole month of December, 10 am to 10 pm daily, at the concourse of  Pavilion Bukit Jalil. 

 

Welcome to Malaysia, Grazia Di Franco!

Grazia Di Franco, Maison Ferrand's new Southeast Brand Ambassador, popped by to introduce herself and the range of Maison Ferrand products available in Malaysia. 

Martell Hosts Remy Savage at Bar Trigona, Malaysia

Maison Martell recently hosted legendary bartender, Remy Savage, for an exclusive masterclass and special guest shift at Bar Trigona, Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur.

L: Malaysia Martell Brand Ambassador Bastien Michaud R: Remy Savage

Savage was named the ‘World’s Most Imaginative Bartender’ in 2014, the ‘Best European Mixologist’ in 2018, and the ‘Best International Bartender of the Year’ in 2022 and is currently Martell's Master Mixologist.

Hennessy Declassified

Hennessy created an interactive experience to show invited guests how the cognac was brought to life through a a super elaborate simulated distillery tour that built on the 50th floor of the Platinum Park Tower, Kuala Lumpur.  Held from 11th -16th Dec 2017, the tour was divided into 5 zones which ends in a free-flow lounge bar.

A post shared by Fireangel (@fireangel80) on Dec 12, 2017 at 7:04am PST

Did you know: A brandy can only be called cognac if it's:
1) produced in the Cognac region
2) made with grapes produced from the cognac region (mostly a white grape called Ugni Blanc)
3) distilled in a copper pot still, twice to produce a fruit wine (eau-de-vie) of at least 70% ABV
4) aged in french oak casks for at least 2 years.

At Hennessy, their casks are still hand-labelled by their coopers (the guys in charge of casks) who are specially trained in a specific calligraphy style that's been handed down from generations.

Image: Hennessy Malaysia

Also, did you know that Hennessy has a tasting committee of 7 people that meet PRECISELY at 11am everyday to taste anything between 40 to 100 samples of eau de vie for blending. It takes no less than 10 years of training before one can even think about sitting on that table.

Image: Hennessy Malaysia

At the end of the tour, we had a little treat of the Hennessy Paradis Imperial. It's a recreated blend of a once historic eau-de-vie made for royalty. An average of only 10 out of 10,000 eaux de vie goes into this blend, making it pretty damn rare. How does it taste? On the nose - a bouquet of flowers, like a luxurious perfume with a hint of warm spice. In the mouth it's creamy, viscous, full - with some tannins that made my mouth water. In a word - Divine. No surprises now that it retails for about RM6,400 a bottle!

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The afterparty at the lounge was a perfect way to end of the night - plied with free flowing drinks (neat Hennessy and Hennessy-based cocktails by local and international bartenders), delicious small bites (rounds and rounds of fresh raw oysters!) and being crooned by a live band. Wish I brought my cigars!

Image: Hennessy Malaysia

Thanks for the jio!

- Jon

#Becurious at H.O.M.E. by Martell

Martell recently invited us to explore our curious side through its #BeCurious event at its first Martell H.O.M.E. pop-up located at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club, beckoning us to explore the cognac with a different lens.

From the entrance to exit, the tent had plenty of curiosities to keep us.. well, curious.

The dark, laser-filled first room led us to Zelda (not her actual name), where our fortunes will be met from the magic sphere ball. Shaking the magic sphere ball will open a magic drawer for the cocktail ingredients in little straw pouch.

Entering another door led us to the cocktail lounge room with 5 Martell-based cocktails and the option of having the VSOP neat.

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Then it was time for some food. The Be Curious menu was designed by maestro Chef Nathalie of Nathalie Gourmet Studio. Naturally, the menu was conceptualised with the pairing of 4 Martell's signature drinks; The VSOP, Cordon Bleu, Cordon Bleu Extra and the XO.

At the end of the dinner, our rather enigmatic host, Martell brand ambassador Pierre Boyer invited  us for a cocktail mixing session. We were encouraged to mix our own cocktail under the careful guidance of the mixologists and the reward was a certification of curiosity by Martell signed by Pierre himself:

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One can't keep FA away from the bar :/

With this as their first H.O.M.E. by Martell event in the country, Martell Malaysia hopes it will further encourage the appreciation and discovery of cognac through unexpected experiences and the spirit of curiosity.

Stay tuned and curious for more updates by following Martell Malaysia’s Facebook page or their H.O.M.E website here https://www.martell.com/en-my/be-curious

- Jon

Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilège Collection 6 Launch

Hennessy VSOP has some dazzling new clothes made by Peter Saville, an English graphic designer, and some of us were invited to check it out.

Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilège Collection 6 by Peter Saville (Image: MHDM)

Martell Celebrates its 300th Birthday.

Born 1715, Martell is 300 years old this year.

Of course a huge fabulous party was thrown, if I lived to 1/3 of that, I would too!

Just to put things into perspective for you, the (recorded) oldest human being that ever lived was 122 years old.

This means that Martell lasted at least 3 (human) generations!

Elegantology all decked up with exclusive limited edition martell bottles for the party. Did you know that Martell is the patron for Elegantology? Read it up here! (Picture credit: Martell)

The IBA Project: Sazerac

The Sazerac cocktail with Cognac.

The Grandfather Story:

• Originated around the 1830s. 
• Could've been America's first known cocktail.
• Antoine Peychauds was an apothecary from New Orleans who created the now famous Peychaud's bitters, was said to have created the original Sazerac for a cure, not as a cocktail.
• The drink is named after its original base spirit, a cognac named Sazerac de Forge et Fils.
• It was originally a cognac based cocktail, but it seems like rye whisky is the popular base now. 
• The reason for the shift to rye whisky was either 1) cognac suddenly became scarce due to a bug problem or 2) American whiskey was readily available and very popular (and also very preferred by its local drinkers) so it was used in everything then.

Fun fact: In 2008, New Orleans proclaimed it to be its official cocktail.