I always thought Martin in Remy Martin was pronounced Marta, afterall, it is French, and Martin Guerre was definitely Marta... but clearly I'm wrong, as it is pronounced Martin as in Aston Martin. Celebrating nearly 3 centuries (wow, if those cellar walls could talk, what tales would they tell) of excellence and heritage, this year's "The Heart of Cognac Experience", in conjunction with the Chinese Lunar Year of the Wooden Horse, also pays tribute to its emblem, the Centaur.....for a brief moment, I thought it was for me, since I am a Saggitarian. Well, I guess it's not always about me. Ahem.
Held at the White Box Gallery at Publika, the venue was transformed into a party area, art gallery, laboratory and cellar all at once. The "Centaur Creative Awards" featured paintings of these mythical half man half horse (you know what they say about how horses are hung, so it's a good thing that the half man portion is the top half), which apparently reflect the qualities synonymous with the House of Remy Martin. Boldness, Energy, Generosity & Courage. Guests were to vote on a slip of paper which piece they thought was the best, under "People's choice awards" or "Media choice awards".
Entering a whole new world of wonderful Cognac....Gotta love the props.
The glitterati no less....
After hobnobbing with the socialites of KL, and partaking of dainty canapes, and downing several cocktails created with Remy Martin, (they were deceptively potent), we were ushered into the "laboratory"...
In school, back then, all the good students only get to go to the Science Stream...
Bottles of eaux de vies (water of life) of various ages line the shelves .... To give us an idea of what the cellar master has to go through to create the perfect blend. The current Cellar master is 34 year old Baptiste Loiseau who assumed the role from his mentor, Pierrette Trichet, the first female Cellar Master of the House of Remy Martin.
Fun fun fun!!! Playing with beakers, pipettes, graduated cylinders and Erlenmayer Flasks, (I had to look that up)...the objective of the exercise is to taste the VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale) and "reverse engineer" it so to speak, and try to figure out the various proportions of the different aged eaux de vies.
Participants in various levels of paying attentionness... If thought bubbles were in the pic, I wonder what they would say.
"Let's see, based on the colour, I'd say it's ...like chinese tea", says Ciki.
Brand Ambassador leading us through the process...
Pay attention you, I'm a pharmacist, so mixing these things is easy peasy for me....
Really??? That much 14 year old? Sure boh?????
Watch and learn, you young Sapodilla....Said Ciki to the Ciku
Now try my concoction, and tell me it's not simply the best!!!!!
Apparently the model answer was 20% of the 4, 70% of the 8, and 10% of the 14. At least what's what I scribbled on my press kit, so I presume that was the answer.
Next was the session in the cask room, a replica of the cellars for those who aren't fortunate enough to have a chance to experience the real deal. Taunting us is that really expensive bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII which is really only there for display. I think it costs around RM10K. But we were privileged to sample the Remy Martin Club and the Remy Martin XO Excellence.
Remy Martin Club is a blend of 70% Grand Champagne and 30% Petite Champagne, is a shining amber, and has fruity notes of dried apricots, floral notes of jasmine and oaky notes of toasted almonds and cinnamon.
Brand ambassador extracting from the cask, the Remy Martin XO Excellence, which is 85% Grand Champagne & 15% Petite Champagne. The colour of fiery mahogany, with fruity notes of juicy plums, ripe figs and candied orange, floral notes of jasmine and iris, and oaky notes of cinnamon and hazelnut.
Dipping the pipette deep into the hole...
Thank you again Remy Cointreau for a wonderful fun filled educational evening.
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