Maison Martell, the oldest of the great cognac houses, has announced a new range of luxury spirits to be launched each year in partnership with a prestigious French château.

L'Or de Jean Martell - Réserve du Château de Chanteloup will be the first of these releases and pays tribute to the estate located in the heart of the Borderies. This estate was chosen by the House over 300 years ago as the embodiment of the House's signature style.

The first release in the series was created by Christophe Valtaud, Martell's cellar master, who approaches the creation of cognac as an artist and not simply as a producer.

It was an achievement after the arduous task of blending more than 1,400 meticulously selected eaux-de-vie aged in fine-grained oak barrels from France's oldest forests.

L'Or de Jean Martell - Réserve du Château de Chanteloup is a respect for tradition that defies convention to present new and exciting ways of making cognac. "It marks a golden age," he said.

Drinking this cognac is a sensory journey through notes of iris, wild carnation and honeysuckle, which merge with rich and sweet aromas of red and black fruits, particularly cherries and blackcurrants. It is worth noting that there are only one thousand numbered bottles in the world.

For the presentation of L'Or de Jean Martell - Réserve du Château de Chanteloup, Maison Martell has collaborated with Baccarat to create a magnificent crystal decanter. Its shape is inspired by nothing less than a pure drop of cognac; the bottle is encased in a wooden box decorated in gold.