Martell House is one of the oldest among the great cognac houses with a 300-year history of passionate dedication and meticulous work of the Martell family. In 1715, Jean Martell, a young entrepreneur from Jersey Island, started his own business by establishing one of the very first cognac houses in the Cognac region. For almost 40 years, Jean Martell devoted himself to studying and perfecting the art of crafting cognacs. He traveled across the province in search of the finest spirits, fostering relationships with local winemakers who inherited their craft from ancestors.
After Jean's death in 1753, his widow Rachel took over the production with the same attentive care as her late husband. Thanks to active export development, Martell became the number one cognac in England in 1814. In 1831, the company introduced its first VSOP cognac and continued its expansion into the international market. Jean and Frederic, sons of Jean and Rachel, inherited the thriving business.
The iconic Cordon Bleu, created in 1912, is considered the company's most famous product. Martell cognac was served on board the "Queen Mary" ship in 1936 and even on the "Concord" plane in 1977. In 1987, Seagram acquired the French company for 1.2 billion dollars. Since the acquisition by the Seagram group of companies in 2001, Martell has been owned by the Pernod Ricard group. In the 2000s, Martell House introduced new cognacs to the market: Martell XO (2005) and Martell Création Grand Extra in a bottle designed by glass artist Serge Manso (2007). In 2009, the signature cognac L'Or de Jean Martell was presented, and by 2011, the company expanded its range of "super-prestigious" products by adding the exclusive Martell Chanteloup Perspective cognac ‒ paying tribute to the Martell cognac production masters.
Martell embodies the French art of living passed down through generations, savoring the beauty of every moment and deriving maximum pleasure from it. A rich history where craftsmanship serves the taste: Martell cognac has been enjoyed and admired for three centuries – at grand coronations, in Hollywood movies, on polar expeditions, at aristocratic weddings... and beyond.