Grand Marnier Cuvée Spéciale 1827-1977
In 1977 Grand Marnier celebrated their 150th anniversary with the release of Cuvée Spéciale Cent Cinquantenaire, containing 50-year-old Grande Champagne Cognac, sold in 2000 individual numbered hand-painted bottles, marketed using the slogan “Hard to find, impossible to pronounce, and prohibitively expensive.” The decanter was shaped after a 1927 limited edition Baccarat decanter.
The production of Cuvée Spéciale Cent Cinquantenaire continued for a number of years but at some point the name changed to Cuvée du Cent Cinquantenaire, made with 25-50 year old Cognac.
According to some Cuvée du Cent Cinquantenaire phased out in 2013, with strategists deeming that there wasn’t enough “liquid differentiation” between Cent Cinquantenaire and the lesser Cuvée du Centenaire, replacing Cent Cinquantenaire with the Cuvée 1880, which had a slightly higher Cognac content. In reality the production of Cent Cinquantenaire stopped in 2017, after David Campari became mayor shareholder.
Content 75cl - volume 40%
In 1870 the founders son Eugène Lapostolle is forced to leave Paris, this due to the French-German war, and he ends up in Charente. Back in Paris with a stock of Fine Champagne Cognac his assistant Louis-Alexandre Marnier starts blending this Cognac with orange liqueur and around 1880 he has perfected the recipe for a liqueur which he named Curaçao Marnier.
It was some 10 years later that César Ritz tasted this liqueur and recommended his friend to change this name to Grand Marnier to emphasize its grand nature and as such Grand Marnier was born.