Notorious Beam Team

According to Luxist:

"Cognac buyers are still buying the expensive bottles in China. Blloomberg reports that Chinese buyers have snapped up all the available bottles of Pernod Ricard SA's Martell L'Or cognac. As I mentioned back in April, this pricey potable sells for $3,600 per bottle. The cognac, which includes eaux-de-vie dating back to 1871, was introduced in China at the end of last year. L'Or was Martell's answer to ultra-premium products available from Hennessy and Remy Martin for similar prices. The immediate status factor of a rare and old liquor contained in a crystal bottle seems to be irresistible thus far for China's newly wealthy."

But on closer inspection the story is less clear. As JIMI comments:

"What a tall story. I heard from a liquor distributor in China that they were flown to Paris for the launch of L'Or and had to each place a few crates order if they want to retain their distributorship. Basically the stock of L'Or went onto the dealer's warehouse and is still sitting there as the market for high-end liquor in China has collapse because of the recession."

I don't know what to believe. But I suspect that JIMI might be onto something. But putting that to one side, well done Martell for building a brand in China that is capable of pulling this off.