Rémy Martin XO is built on scale, but not in the conventional sense.

Rather than being defined by a single vintage, vineyard or barrel, Rémy Martin XO Fine Champagne Cognac is assembled from hundreds of individual eaux-de-vie, with Rémy Martin describing the blend as containing up to 400 different components. Each contributes something to the final balance of fruit, flowers, spice, oak and mature richness.

The HTFW expression is presented in a 70cl bottle at 40% ABV, while the house describes XO as full-bodied, complex and opulent, progressing from white flowers and candied fruit through ripe plum, dried fig and orange into nutmeg, hazelnut, roasted cocoa and honeyed gingerbread.

It is also a Cognac Fine Champagne, an important distinction that has nothing to do with sparkling wine. Rémy Martin uses eaux-de-vie from only Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne, the two chalk-rich crus at the heart of the Cognac region. For the Fine Champagne designation, Grande Champagne must account for at least 50% of the blend.

For anyone exploring XO Cognac, Rémy Martin XO, Fine Champagne Cognac or the difference between VSOP and XO, this is one of the defining bottles in the category.

Explore Rémy Martin XO Fine Champagne Cognac at Hard To Find Whisky or browse the wider Rémy Martin collection at HTFW.

Rémy Martin XO at a Glance

• Producer: Rémy Martin
• Category: XO Cognac
• Designation: Cognac Fine Champagne
• Growing regions: Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne
• Bottle size: 70cl at HTFW
• ABV: 40%
• Blend: Hundreds of eaux-de-vie, with Rémy Martin stating up to 400
• Minimum age: Every eau-de-vie contributing to an XO must be at least 10 years old
• Oak: French oak, with Rémy Martin principally using Limousin oak
• Created: 1981
• Style: Full-bodied, fruity, floral, spicy and long
• Key flavours: White flowers, plum, dried fig, candied orange, nutmeg, hazelnut, roasted cocoa and honeyed gingerbread
• Serving: Neat, over ice or in an Old Fashioned.

What Is Rémy Martin XO?

Rémy Martin XO is the house's signature Extra Old Cognac Fine Champagne, created through the blending of hundreds of mature eaux-de-vie from Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne.

That word blend is crucial.

Unlike a whisky carrying a single distillation year, the identity of Rémy Martin XO comes from the Cellar Master's ability to combine a very large library of eaux-de-vie of different ages, vineyard origins and maturation characteristics into one consistent style.

Rémy Martin currently describes its XO as being made from up to 400 different eaux-de-vie. Some bring ripe fruit. Others contribute floral character, spice, oak, nuttiness or the deeper flavours that develop during long maturation.

The finished Cognac is therefore less about one component standing out and more about creating aromatic complexity through blending.

That is what separates XO from a simpler question of age.

What Does XO Mean in Cognac?

XO means “Extra Old”.

Since 2018, the youngest eau-de-vie included in an XO Cognac must have spent at least ten years ageing in oak. An XO can contain eaux-de-vie considerably older than that minimum; the rule simply establishes the age of the youngest component permitted in the blend.

This is an important distinction.

Rémy Martin XO is not a 10 Year Old Cognac in the same sense that a Scotch whisky carrying a 10-year age statement is described.

Instead, ten years is the legal minimum for the youngest eau-de-vie. Rémy Martin confirms that some elements within its XO are older.

That larger palette gives the Cellar Master considerably more material to work with when building the final blend.

What Does “Fine Champagne” Mean?

The words Fine Champagne are frequently misunderstood.

Rémy Martin XO does not contain Champagne wine, nor does the term refer to bubbles.

In Cognac, Cognac Fine Champagne is a legally recognised designation referring to a blend of eaux-de-vie from the Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne crus, with Grande Champagne contributing at least 50%.

Rémy Martin has an unusually strong relationship with these two areas. In 1948, André Renaud decided that the house would exclusively produce Cognac using eaux-de-vie from Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne.

The word Champagne in this context refers to the chalk-rich limestone soils of the region rather than the famous sparkling-wine region further north.

For Rémy Martin, Fine Champagne is therefore not simply wording on the label.

It is central to the house's identity.

Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne

Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne are two of Cognac's six recognised growth areas.

Both are notable for their chalk-rich soils and for eaux-de-vie with strong ageing potential. Rémy Martin specifically values these crus because their spirits can develop for long periods in oak while retaining elegance and aromatic complexity.

That matters particularly for XO.

Younger Cognacs can rely heavily on immediate fruit and freshness. XO requires spirit capable of carrying much longer maturation without simply becoming dominated by wood.

Rémy Martin's entire modern range is built around this relationship with Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne, from Rémy Martin VSOP through 1738 Accord Royal and ultimately XO.

How Is Rémy Martin XO Made?

The journey begins with wine.

Cognac is produced from dry, acidic white wine that is then double distilled in copper pot stills. Rémy Martin distils its wines with the lees, a technique the house uses to contribute additional richness and aromatic character.

The resulting clear spirits are known as eaux-de-vie.

Rémy Martin's tasting committee evaluates enormous numbers of these individual spirits. The house says that more than 1,000 winegrowers submit eaux-de-vie each year, with the committee tasting more than 2,000 samples across the season in search of the fruit, richness, elegance and harmony associated with the Rémy Martin style.

Those selected for maturation then spend years developing in French oak.

For XO, the Cellar Master can eventually draw upon hundreds of these mature components when constructing the final Cognac.

The Importance of French Oak

Rémy Martin says its casks are principally made from the type of oak found in the forests of Limousin.

This wood has a relatively open grain, encouraging interaction between the eau-de-vie, oak and air during maturation. Rémy Martin associates that oak with the development of richness and vanilla character.

The house also notes that individual eaux-de-vie may be transferred into progressively older casks as they mature. Different cellar conditions, wood ages and levels of humidity all influence how the spirit develops.

This is another reason XO cannot be reduced simply to “ten years in a barrel”.

It is the result of active maturation management across a very large inventory of individual eaux-de-vie.

What Does Rémy Martin XO Taste Like?

Rémy Martin describes XO as balancing freshness and intensity, despite its considerable maturity. Its profile develops progressively rather than arriving as one dominant flavour.

Appearance

The house describes Rémy Martin XO as a fiery mahogany colour with opal tones.

The appearance suits the richer style of the Cognac, although colour alone should never be used as a measure of age or quality.

Nose

The aroma begins with an explosion of flowers and fruit, with jasmine and other white-floral tones among the signatures associated with XO.

Expect the fruit to move through ripe and candied territory rather than remaining purely fresh.

Palate

The palate becomes increasingly opulent, with Rémy Martin highlighting ripe plum, dried fig and candied orange, followed by nutmeg and freshly ground hazelnut.

The progression is important.

There is fruit first, then the maturation character begins to appear through spice and nuts.

Finish

The later stages move towards roasted cocoa beans and honeyed gingerbread, giving the finish a darker, more gourmand character. Rémy Martin describes the body as smooth, full and long-lasting.

Overall, the flavour moves approximately from flowers and candied fruit → plum and fig → orange → spice and hazelnut → cocoa and gingerbread.

Why Are Hundreds of Eaux-de-Vie Used?

Because consistency and complexity are both part of the objective.

Every harvest is different. Every vineyard parcel is different. Each eau-de-vie also develops differently depending on its cask and cellar conditions.

Rémy Martin's Cellar Master therefore has access to an enormous library rather than relying on a single batch. The house's Merpins cellars hold around 140,000 casks of Cognac Fine Champagne eaux-de-vie, giving the blending team an extraordinary range of mature spirit from which to work.

Rémy Martin says the role of the Cellar Master is not simply to create new blends, but to recreate the established house expressions consistently from year to year, even though the underlying vintages and individual eaux-de-vie change.

That is where blending becomes a genuine craft rather than merely combining liquid.

Who Is Rémy Martin's Cellar Master?

Rémy Martin's current Cellar Master is Baptiste Loiseau, who took up the position in 2014 at the age of 34 after working closely with his predecessor, Pierrette Trichet.

Trichet was herself historically significant as the first woman appointed Cellar Master at a major Cognac house. Loiseau spent years working alongside her, learning the established blends and participating in the tasting and selection of eaux-de-vie before succeeding her.

This succession system matters because an established Cognac such as XO must retain a recognisable identity across generations.

The bottles change.

The eaux-de-vie change.

The harvests change.

The target flavour does not.

When Was Rémy Martin XO Created?

Rémy Martin introduced its XO in 1981.

The house's historical timeline describes its creation as a response to strong demand for a more opulent and sophisticated expression within the range.

That makes XO relatively modern compared with the Maison itself.

Rémy Martin's history stretches back to 1724, when the young winegrower Rémy Martin began selling Cognac under his own name.

Several milestones followed: King Louis XV granted Rémy Martin the right to plant new vines in 1738; the Centaur became the house emblem in 1870; Rémy Martin launched its Cognac Fine Champagne VSOP in 1927; Fine Champagne gained legal recognition in 1938; and the decision to focus entirely on Grande and Petite Champagne eaux-de-vie followed in 1948.

XO therefore sits within a much longer story, even though the expression itself dates from 1981.

Why Is the Centaur on Rémy Martin Bottles?

The Centaur emblem dates to 1870.

Paul-Émile Rémy Martin selected it as the house expanded internationally. Rémy Martin says he was a keen astronomer and that the Centaur also referenced his star sign, Sagittarius.

It has since become one of the most recognisable visual identifiers in Cognac.

The symbol links modern bottles such as XO to the period when Rémy Martin was beginning to establish itself well beyond France.

Rémy Martin XO vs VSOP

The clearest way to understand XO is to compare it with Rémy Martin VSOP.

Both are Cognacs Fine Champagne at 40% ABV, but their age requirements and flavour profiles are markedly different. VSOP requires its youngest eau-de-vie to be at least four years old, while XO requires a minimum of ten.

Rémy Martin VSOP is brighter and more immediately fruit-led, with vanilla, dried apricot, candied pear and liquorice. The house describes it as structured, layered and silky.

XO goes further into mature complexity: white flowers and fruit lead into plum, dried fig, candied orange, nutmeg, hazelnut, cocoa and gingerbread.

In broad terms, VSOP emphasises freshness, versatility and fruit, while XO introduces substantially greater maturity, richness and aromatic depth.

Rémy Martin XO vs 1738 Accord Royal

The Rémy Martin 1738 Accord Royal occupies useful middle ground.

Its profile is notably oak-driven, with plum, fig jam, toffee, brioche and toasted bread on the nose, followed by spiced butterscotch, dark chocolate and nutty character.

Compared with XO, 1738 feels more directly focused on oak, toast and creamy richness.

XO is broader.

Its hundreds of eaux-de-vie create a more expansive progression from flowers and fruit through spice, nuts and darker mature flavours.

Someone moving through the core range can therefore think of it as:

VSOP for vibrant fruit and versatility, 1738 Accord Royal for rounded oak and toasted richness, and XO for mature aromatic complexity.

How Should You Drink Rémy Martin XO?

Despite its prestige position, Rémy Martin does not insist that XO must only be consumed in one way.

The house recommends enjoying it neat, over ice or in an Old Fashioned. Cellar Master Baptiste Loiseau has specifically suggested XO over ice as an aperitif, allowing its aromatic range to open gradually as the temperature and dilution change.

For detailed tasting, neat is the logical starting point.

Give the Cognac several minutes in the glass and explore the floral and fruit notes before taking the first sip. After tasting it neat, a single large piece of ice can reveal a different side of the blend.

For such a complex Cognac, there is no reason to rush.

What Food Goes With Rémy Martin XO?

Rémy Martin recommends pairings including chocolate, figs, dried fruit and Parma ham.

Those combinations make sense against the flavour profile.

Dark chocolate reinforces the cocoa notes. Dried figs mirror the fruit at the centre of the palate. Cured ham provides salt and savoury contrast against the richer fruit and honeyed character.

The best pairings do not need to overpower the Cognac.

They simply pick up one part of an already very broad aromatic spectrum.

Is Rémy Martin XO a Good Choice for Whisky Drinkers?

It can be a particularly interesting crossover for drinkers accustomed to mature whisky.

Rémy Martin itself positions XO as the expression within its collection most likely to appeal to malt-whisky enthusiasts because of its full body, complexity and mature flavour profile.

There are familiar reference points: oak, dried fruit, nuts, spice, chocolate and long maturation.

But Cognac introduces a distinctly different foundation.

Instead of malted barley, the starting point is wine.

Instead of whisky's cereal and distillation profile, the spirit brings grape-derived fruit and florality.

A whisky drinker may therefore recognise many of the maturation flavours while encountering them around an entirely different spirit character.

Is Rémy Martin XO a Single Vintage?

No.

Rémy Martin XO is deliberately a multi-eau-de-vie blend, not a vintage Cognac. The house uses hundreds of different eaux-de-vie to maintain the style and aromatic complexity of the expression.

That makes its provenance fundamentally different from a single-cask whisky or vintage wine.

Its identity comes from blending rather than isolation.

The skill lies in making many individual spirits taste like one coherent Cognac.

Frequently Asked Questions

What percentage is Rémy Martin XO?

The Rémy Martin XO listed by HTFW is bottled at 40% ABV.

How old is Rémy Martin XO?

XO does not carry a single age statement. By law, the youngest eau-de-vie in an XO blend must be at least ten years old, and Rémy Martin confirms that some components in its XO are older.

How many eaux-de-vie are in Rémy Martin XO?

Rémy Martin says XO is created from hundreds of eaux-de-vie, with the house citing up to 400 different components.

What is Cognac Fine Champagne?

Cognac Fine Champagne must combine eaux-de-vie from Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne, with at least 50% coming from Grande Champagne.

Does Fine Champagne Cognac contain Champagne?

No. The term refers to the Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne crus of Cognac and their chalk-rich soils, not to sparkling Champagne wine.

What does Rémy Martin XO taste like?

Its official profile includes flowers, ripe plum, dried fig, candied orange, nutmeg, hazelnut, roasted cocoa and honeyed gingerbread, with a smooth, full-bodied and long-lasting finish.

When was Rémy Martin XO launched?

Rémy Martin XO was created in 1981.

When was Rémy Martin founded?

The house traces its history to 1724, when Rémy Martin began selling Cognac under his own name.

Who is Rémy Martin's Cellar Master?

Baptiste Loiseau has served as Cellar Master since 2014.

Can Rémy Martin XO be served with ice?

Yes. Rémy Martin recommends XO neat, on the rocks or in an Old Fashioned.

Where can I buy Rémy Martin XO?

You can view Rémy Martin XO Fine Champagne Cognac at Hard To Find Whisky or browse the wider Rémy Martin range at HTFW.

Final Thoughts

The appeal of Rémy Martin XO Fine Champagne Cognac lies in how many individual elements are made to work together.

There are eaux-de-vie from Grande Champagne and Petite Champagne, the two crus upon which Rémy Martin has concentrated its production since 1948.

There are hundreds of individual eaux-de-vie, potentially as many as 400, each contributing fruit, flowers, spice, oak or mature complexity.

Every component satisfies the minimum ten-year requirement for XO, with older eaux-de-vie extending the Cellar Master's palette still further.

And the resulting flavour has a clear progression: floral aromas and candied fruit move towards plum, fig and orange, followed by nutmeg and hazelnut, before roasted cocoa and honeyed gingerbread take over on the long finish.

For a brighter introduction to the house, Rémy Martin VSOP emphasises vanilla, apricot and pear. For a richer oak-led step upwards, 1738 Accord Royal brings plum, toffee, brioche and dark chocolate. XO takes the next step into the complexity made possible by substantially older eaux-de-vie and an exceptionally broad blend.

Created in 1981, it has become the house's defining Extra Old expression – a Cognac built not around one barrel or one vintage, but around the Cellar Master's ability to bring hundreds of mature spirits into balance.

Explore Rémy Martin XO Fine Champagne Cognac at HTFW or discover the wider Rémy Martin collection at Hard To Find Whisky.