Courvoisier

For other uses, see Courvoisier (disambiguation).

A bottle of Courvoisier VS (Very Special) cognac

Courvoisier (French pronunciation: [kuʁvwɑzje]) 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'.^[1]

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..

Bottlings

• Courvoisier VS
• Courvoisier VSOP Fine Champagne
• Courvoisier VSOP Exclusif
• Courvoisier Napoleon Fine Champagne
• Courvoisier XO Imperial
• Courvoisier Initiale Extra
• Courvoisier Succession JS
• L'Esprit de Courvoisier

References

1. ^ courvoisier.com
2. ^ History and current situation of Courvoisier

External links

Media related to Courvoisier at Wikimedia Commons

• Courvoisier Homepage
• Courvoisier U.S. Site
• Courvoisier Reviews