Beverage of the Week (B.O.W)
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BOW for the Week of: December 21 to January 3, 2011/12
Having a hard time finding a gift for the person who has everything? We have a delicious idea for you. At nearly $800 a bottle it is surely decadent and equally rare. Just as uncommon is our praise for a luxury priced spirit but this superb liqueur is worthy of an exception.
Grand Marnier is in the unique position, as the world’s premier Cognac based liqueur, to create a limited masterpiece like Quintessence. Created this year, Quintessence is fashioned with a blend of ultra-rare Grande Champagne Cognac ranging in age from 25 to beyond 100 years including some very special 1906 vintage Cognac. More than 20 lots of unique Cognacs are included in the master blend.
Further painstaking refinements occur in the making of the distinctive orange essence. The iconic Grand Marnier utilizes bitter Bigaradia oranges steeped in neutral spirit and then distilled to capture the character of the citrus. When crafting Quintessence they maximize the orange presence by macerating the orange peels in their orange spirit before being distilled a second time. The master distillers refer to this expensive and time-consuming process as “double parfum.” The result is a very refined and delicate orange essence. This essence is blended with the Cognac selection and then precisely sweetened.
Quintessence is the most perfect Grand Marnier creation to date. However, we do realize that the luxury price will push this great liqueur beyond the reach of most consumers. Luckily the original Grand Marnier created by Louis-Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle in 1880 won’t crush the holiday budget ($38 a bottle) while cutting a majestic figure on your table.
