The oldest of the four great Cognac houses

In 1715, a young merchant named Jean Martell crossed the English Channel from his birthplace on the island of Jersey and travelled to the small town of Cognac in southwest France. He was twenty-one years old. He set up a trading house dealing in eaux-de-vie — the colourless, twice-distilled wine spirits produced in the surrounding Charente region — and began shipping them under the Martell name to merchants across Europe. The year 1715 places Martell decisively first among the four great Cognac houses: Rémy Martin would not be founded until 1724, Hennessy not until 1765, and Courvoisier not until 1828. By the time the others arrived, Martell had been operating for decades and had developed the foundations of the house style that defines the brand today.

Three centuries later, Maison Martell remains in continuous operation in the same town. The house still distils, ages and bottles in Cognac, still sources its eaux-de-vie from the six designated Cognac crus, and still places Borderies — the smallest and most floral of those crus — at the heart of its house style. The fundamentals haven't changed. What has changed is the scale: Martell is now one of the most globally recognised premium spirits brands in the world, particularly in Asia, where the brand has been a defining presence in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, China and Vietnam for over a century.

Why Martell — the Borderies signature

The Martell house style — elegant, fruit-forward, refined

Across the range, Martell is defined by elegance and ripe fruit. The signature notes — mirabelle plum, apricot, vine peach, candied orchard fruit, soft spice, beeswax, gingerbread, fine oak and the violet-floral Borderies signature — appear in different intensities depending on age and cru selection. The VSOP is the calling card: ripe yellow fruit, soft wood, harmonious balance, the Martell style at its most accessible. The Noblige adds vanilla pod, caramelised grape and a more developed depth. Cordon Bleu introduces candied plum and apple, mocha coffee, toasted almonds, vetiver, gingerbread and beeswax — the most layered Martell expression in the everyday-to-premium tier. The XO reaches fig, walnut, sandalwood, black pepper, fig and red fruit from prestigious Grande Champagne. L'Or de Jean Martell sits above all of them — the rarest stocks in the Martell reserves, blended into a prestige decanter that refreshes annually with the Zodiac calendar.

Stylistically, Martell is the lighter, more elegant, more floral counterpart to Hennessy's heavier oak-and-spice tradition. Both houses produce world-class cognac; the differences between them are precisely what makes the Cognac category interesting. Most serious cognac drinkers eventually own bottles from both — Martell for the elegant occasion, Hennessy for the bold one.

The Martell range

Cordon Bleu — the cognac that invented XO

In 1912, Edouard Martell — a great-great-grandson of founder Jean Martell — created an expression that would change the Cognac category forever. The blend was named Cordon Bleu, after the blue ribbon of distinction. Its defining characteristic was its unusually high proportion of Borderies eaux-de-vie, drawn from Martell's reserves of older stocks. There was no formal "Extra Old" or XO category in 1912; Cordon Bleu simply existed as a more aged, more refined Martell, distinct from the standard. The cognac was so successful, and so different from anything else on the market, that it effectively defined what XO would later mean. The XO age category became formal Cognac legislation decades later, but Cordon Bleu had been quietly setting the standard since 1912. More than a century on, Cordon Bleu remains the bottle most associated with Martell globally, and one of the most consistently celebrated cognacs of the modern era.

The Single Cru Collection — terroir meets cognac

In recent years, Cellar Master Christophe Valtaud — who succeeded long-time predecessor Benoît Fil in 2021 — led Martell into one of the most innovative projects in modern Cognac: the Single Cru Collection. For the first time in Martell's 300-year history, every cognac in the collection is crafted from eaux-de-vie sourced from a single terroir rather than blended across multiple crus. Valtaud retains fewer than 400 of the 11,000 eaux-de-vie available to him in the Martell reserves for the collection, which is why it is genuinely rare. The collection includes Borderies (floral, smooth, the Martell heart), Grande Champagne (powerful, structured, peppery), Petite Champagne (intense and spicy), and Fins Bois (lush, juicy, vibrant fruit). For Cognac drinkers used to thinking of the category in terms of age (VSOP, XO, Extra), the Single Cru Collection is a recalibration: terroir matters as much as time.

Martell vs Hennessy — the two great Cognac styles

Martell and Hennessy are two of the four great Cognac houses, and between them dominate the global Cognac market. But they sit at opposite ends of the stylistic spectrum. Martell — built around Borderies eaux-de-vie, distilled off the lees, and aged in fine-grained well-seasoned oak — is lighter, more floral, more elegant, with prominent ripe fruit and a softer wood signature. Hennessy — built around Grande Champagne and Fins Bois, distilled on the lees, and aged in heavier oak — is fuller-bodied, more robust, with stronger oak character and more dried-fruit-and-spice intensity. The two are often described as the elegant feminine and the bold masculine of the Cognac world. Most serious Cognac drinkers eventually own bottles from both houses; the differences between them are precisely what makes the category interesting.

Awards and global recognition

Martell has been a fixture at the top of major international Cognac competitions for decades. Cordon Bleu has been recognised at the International Spirits Challenge, the World Spirits Competition and the IWSC across multiple decades, and remains one of the most-awarded cognacs in continuous production. Martell XO has won gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition multiple times. The Single Cru Collection received critical acclaim upon launch as one of the most innovative Cognac releases of the modern era. L'Or de Jean Martell Zodiac editions have been recognised as among the most prestigious annual collectible cognacs. Beyond the awards, Martell's defining achievement is one of longevity: 310 years of continuous operation as the oldest of the four great Cognac houses, with the Borderies-led house style still recognisable across centuries of bottlings.