OUR GRAND history and heritage
UNIQUE FROM THE BEGINNING.
LOUIS-ALEXANDRE MARNIER LAPOSTOLLE HAD THE GRAND IDEA TO CREATE AN AVANT-GARDE YET SOPHISTICATED BLEND. THIS LIQUEUR CONTINUES TO CAPTIVATE THE WORLD SIX GENERATIONS LATER. DISCOVER OUR GRAND HISTORY.
ITS FOUNDING
THE ORIGINS OF GRAND MARNIER BEGAN NEARLY TWO CENTURIES AGO, WHEN JEAN BAPTISTE LAPOSTOLLE BUILT A HIGH QUALITY FRUIT LIQUEUR DISTILLERY IN NEAUPHLE-LE-CHÂTEAU, A SMALL CITY OUTSIDE OF PARIS. HIS ORIGINAL DISTILLERY QUICKLY GAINED AN OUTSTANDING REPUTATION.
THE ALLIANCE
IN 1876, LOUIS-ALEXANDRE MARNIER MARRIED JULIA, GRANDDAUGHTER OF JEAN-BAPTISTE LAPOSTOLLE. THE MARNIER FAMILY WERE WINE MERCHANTS WHO DISTRIBUTED LAPOSTOLLE’S PRODUCTS IN THE SANCERRE REGION IN FRANCE. THEIR UNION BECAME TRULY A FAMILY AFFAIR CREATING LA MAISON MARNIER-LAPOSTOLLE.
“GRAND MARRIAGE”
IN 1880, LOUIS-ALEXANDRE MARNIER LAPOSTOLLE HAD THE GRAND IDEA TO COMBINE COGNAC WITH THE HIGHEST QUALITY BIGARADE ORANGES. THE IDEA OF BLENDING THEM WAS NOT ONLY UNPRECEDENTED, BUT AVANT-GARDE. THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE GRAND MARNIER LIQUEUR, A RECIPE WHICH HAS REMAINED UNALTERED EVER SINCE.
THE NAME
WHEN LOUIS-ALEXANDRE CREATED HIS RECIPE, HE NAMED IT CURAÇAO MARNIER. CÉSAR RITZ, HIS LOYAL FRIEND AND LEGENDARY FOUNDER OF THE RITZ HOTEL, SUGGESTED A NEW NAME. AT THE TIME, THE FASHION IN PARIS WAS FOR EVERYTHING TO BE “PETIT”. SO HE CAME UP WITH THE NAME “GRAND MARNIER”: “A GRAND NAME FOR A GRAND LIQUEUR!”
A UNIQUE ICON
LOUIS-ALEXANDRE TRADEMARKED A NEW ICONIC BOTTLE SHAPE, INSPIRED BY THE SILHOUETTE OF A TRADITIONAL COGNAC STILL. IT WAS DESIGNED BY THE CRYSTAL SPECIALISTS AT BACCARAT, THE FINEST MAKER OF CRYSTAL GLASSWARE IN FRANCE. LOUIS-ALEXANDRE ALSO INTRODUCED THE WAX SEAL AND RIBBON, FIRST IN YELLOW BEFORE DECIDING ON THE ICONIC RED. THESE ELEMENTS BECAME THE SIGNATURE OF THE CORDON ROUGE.
LA BELLE EPOQUE
AT THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY, PARIS WAS IN THE HEART OF ‘LA BELLE ÉPOQUE’ WHICH SAW THE EIFFEL TOWER, MÉTRO AND OPERA ALL BUILT WITHIN THREE DECADES. DURING THESE EXCITING AND TRANSFORMATIVE TIMES, GRAND MARNIER TOOK CENTRE STAGE WITH ITS UNIQUE BLEND.
THE SPECIAL EDITIONS
IN 1927, TO COMMEMORATE THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HOUSE OF MARNIER LAPOSTOLLE, A SPECIAL CUVÉE WAS CREATED IN VERY LIMITED QUANTITIES: GRAND MARNIER CUVÉE DU CENTENAIRE. COMPOSED OF XO COGNACS FROM THE MOST EXCEPTIONAL CRUS, IT WAS RELEASED IN LIMITED EDITION BOTTLES, DESIGNED BY SOME OF THE WORLD’S FINEST ARTISTS.
THE 20th CENTURY. COCKTAILS IN DEVELOPMENT
IN 1969, JOE GILMORE, THE HEAD BARTENDER AT THE AMERICAN BAR AT THE SAVOY, CREATED THE MOONWALK COCKTAIL USING GRAND MARNIER TO CELEBRATE THE FIRST STEPS TAKEN ON THE MOON. THIS WAS JUST THE BEGINNING OF GRAND MARNIER’S GLOBAL TRACTION. IN 1970, MAJOR EXPORTS BEGAN, MAINLY TO THE US. THE GRAND MARGARITA BECAME A BIG SUCCESS IN THE 80S; A NEW ERA FOR COCKTAILS WAS UNDERWAY.