Courvoisier

Courvoisier (French pronunciation: ​[kuʁvwazje]) is a brand of cognac owned by Beam Inc. The production is now based in the town of Jarnac in the Charente department of France. Although no evidence exists that Courvoisier cognac was the favorite drink of Napoleon Bonaparte, who died in 1821, before Courvoisier was officially established by Felix Courvoisier in 1835, the company website claims the following:

The origin of our history goes back to the beginning of the 19th century with Emmanuel Courvoisier and his associate, Louis Gallois, running a wine and spirit merchant company, in the Parisian suburb of Bercy. In 1811 Napoleon visited their warehouses in Bercy and he was hosted by Louis Gallois, the Mayor, and Emmanuel Courvoisier. Legend has it that Napoleon I later took several barrels of cognac with him to St Helena, a treat much appreciated by the English officers on the ship who named it 'The Cognac of Napoleon'.

 

In 1964 Courvoisier[2] was acquired by the Canadian spirits group Hiram Walker, which helped to increase international sales. Hiram Walker was then acquired by Allied Lyons in 1986; when Pernod Ricard acquired Allied Domecq, Courvoisier was divested to the holding company Fortune Brands, which spun off various product lines in 2011 to form the spirits company Beam Inc.

 

 

French cognac began enjoying a revival after a mention in Busta Rhymes' 2002 song, Pass the Courvoisier, Part II. [4] Courvoisier was mentioned in the opening of RuPaul's song, "Tranny Chaser" when RuPaul requested a "Courvoisier; Straight Up". During the recording of the classic Fleetwood Mac Rumours album Stevie Nicks claimed that Courvosier made for an 'excellent singing potion' and regularly used it to prepare her voice for the studio recordings[5] .

[edit]Accolades

 

Liquor ratings aggregator Proof66 lists the Courvoisier 21 among the Top 20 rated brandies/cognacs in the world.[6]