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  • 40cm x 34cm  Limerick Martell is a Cognac house founded in 1715 by Jean Martell (1694–1753). It is part of the Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët subsidiary of the French wines and spirits conglomerate Pernod Ricard.
    House and distillery of Martell
    In 1715, Jean Martell, a young merchant originally from Jersey, created his own trading business at Gatebourse in Cognac, on the banks of the Charente, and thus founded one of the first cognac houses. Martell used grapes from the vineyards in the Borderie subregion, and used Tronçais oak for its casks, this made a combination that resulted in an exceptionally smooth cognac.After his death in 1753, his widow and then his two sons and grandson continued this tradition and developed the export business to make Martell the number one in England in 1814. In 1831, Martell created his first "VSOP" (Very Superior Old Pale) cognac and continued its international expansion. Its fame spread throughout the world, with the first exports to Japan and other Asian markets, such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Korea. On the coat of arms are what appear to be three small martels or war hammers, but could also be keg mallets. Cordon Bleu, created in 1912, is certainly the company’s most famous product. Martell was served aboard the Queen Mary in 1936 and even on Concorde in 1977. In 1987, Seagram took control of the French manufacturer for $1.2 billion. Since the acquisition of some of the Seagram Group’s spirits in 2001, Martell has belonged to the French spirits group, Pernod Ricard. In the 2000s, Martell created new cognacs: "Martell XO" in 2005, "Martell Création Grand Extra" in 2007, in a bottle designed by the artist and glass designer Serge Mansau. In 2009, Martell cognac launched its signature cognac, "L'Or de Jean Martell". In 2011, Martell expanded its "ultra-prestige" range with an exceptional cognac, "Martell Chanteloup Perspective", a tribute to the know-how of the cellar masters and to the Domaine de Chanteloup. In 2006, Martell joined the Comité Colbert, an association that promotes French luxury houses on an international scale. In 2010, Martell renewed its sponsorship with the Palace of Versailles, which began in 2007, by supporting the restoration of the Queen’s antechamber. In 2012, Martell Cordon Bleu, which was launched by Edouard Martell in 1912 at the Hotel de Paris in Monaco, celebrated its 100th birthday in the same place.
    Map of the Cognac region
  • We at the Irish Pub Emporium are very fond of a drop of Brandy (especially combined with Baileys Irish Cream Liquor!) so it would be remiss of us not to include this classy retro Hennessy Cognac Advertising print which is set off in a beautiful pastel coloured frame.Also remembering Hennessy was founded by the Irishman Richard Hennessy in 1765. 70cm x 57cm         Abbeyleix Co Laois Hennessy was born in 1724 to James Hennessy and Catherine Barrett at Ballymacmoy House, Killavullen, a small village in County Cork, Ireland. His paternal family were of Gaelic Irish stock; the Hennessys were anciently of the Laighin and claimed descent from a junior branch of the O'Dempsey family. Specifically with Richard's family, his family were able to restore themselves to a level of prominence through his grandfather's marriage to a daughter of the Norman descended Sir Richard Nagle. Growing up an Irish Catholic to a family of some ambition, in the aftermath of the Revolution of 1688, whereby Anglo-Protestant hegemony was operative in Ireland, the young Richard Hennessy at the age of 19 elected to leave the country for Bourbon France. Here he joined the Clare Regiment of the Irish Brigade in the French Army, serving as an officer. This was in the service of king Louis XV of France. Shortly after the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745 he became familiar with the Charente region, famous for its cognac production. Using money he had earned in his military career, he decided to become involved in cognac investment from afar, without much success initially.

    Richard Hennessy and his cousin James Hennessy went to Ostend in Flanders in 1757 to learn how to trade. Upon returning to France in 1765 he decided to settle in the Charente area permanently with his wife Ellen Barrett (an aunt of the political philosopher Edmund Burke) and their son Jacques Hennessy (11 October 1765 – 22 April 1843). With the assistance of some of the banking houses in Paris, he and two business partners by the name of Connelly and Arthur began trading in cognac from his house. During this time the trade in alcoholic spirits were booming, popular not only with French customers, but also with foreigners, especially people from the British Empireshowing interest, leading to a massive boom in cognac in the 1760s. Indeed, in Hennessy's homeland, the Kingdom of Ireland, spirits from the European Continent were popular, because customs duties were much lower than those imposed in the Kingdom of Great Britain. As well as this there was a shortage of rum due to the Seven Years' War and "implied that the growing taste for alcohol could only be satisfied by increased imports." Hennessy expanded his customer base by shipping the product from Cognac to London, Dublin and Flanders. He also had clients at the Court of the King of France, such as the Prince of Soubise, familiar with the Charente. However, the Hennessy House was still of negligible importance in the 1770s, and Richard Hennessy left the city in 1776 to settle in Bordeaux, where he had associates, as a distiller, in association with alderman George Boyd. It was only in the context of the revolutionary decade that "the Hennessy, until then a minor house, reached the rank of great." Two marriage covenants with an older and firmly established house, the Martells, allowed and endorsed both this promotion in the last decade of the century.  
  • An eclectic Brandy Mirror but the association between the Irish and French in the production of the finest in spirits warrants this mirrors inclusion !   42cm x 46cm  Cork Already renowned in the art of brandy making, who better than the Master Distillers of Maison Daucourt to create an entirely new category of whisky. The roots of Maison Daucourt run deep through the world of spirits.
    The family owns a vineyard and a distillery in a prestigious appellation of Cognac. With a French father and an Irish mother, in order to discover the origins of the spirits, Jean-Marc Daucourt went to work in a famous Scottish distillery as a young man,There he learned how to perfect the art of making whisky.
    Born out of a rich heritage, BASTILLE 1789 has taken many years of work by Maison DAUCOURT to distill a singular whisky with a unique French “Savoir faire”, and a perfect balance. This passion has filtered down from generation to generation...
    Naturally, Jean-Marc taught his know-how and experience to his nephew Charles Daucourt. As the brand manager and master distiller too, Charles Daucourt brings a new feeling for the spirit business. The combination of both generations makes BASTILLE 1789 Whisky a unique experience.
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