Remy Martin X.O Excellence Cognac 750ml

Rémy Martin was founded in 1724 and remains the only major cognac house dedicated exclusively to Fine Champagne production, sourcing every drop from the region's two most prized crus. In 1981, cellar master André Giraud set out to create an XO that would fully express that Fine Champagne character, assembling a blend built around roughly eighty-five percent Grande Champagne eaux-de-vie and fifteen percent Petite Champagne, a formula the house has maintained since.

XO Excellence draws on more than four hundred individual eaux-de-vie, double distilled from mostly Ugni Blanc grapes in traditional Charentais copper pot stills. The components are matured separately, some for as long as thirty years, in French oak before Rémy Martin's cellar master blends them into the final assemblage, a process meant to build the long, layered structure and rancio character the house is known for.

The color runs a deep, fiery mahogany. On the nose, ripe late-summer fruit, plum, and candied orange meet white floral notes of jasmine and iris, with cinnamon and hazelnut woven throughout. The palate is rich and velvety, carrying that same fruit and spice into a long, warming finish. It is best appreciated slowly, neat in a tulip glass or over a single large ice cube.