Grand Marnier is said to go back to its luxury roots and emphasize its connection with cognac. As you may know, Grand Marnier is made with cognac, and it is originally a cognac brand which became much more famous for its liqueur.
I could even venture to say that they kind of gave up on cognac a while back.
Grand Marnier was still part of the Marnier-Lapostolle family until last year in 2016 when Campari acquired it for $760 million.
Campari intends to take advantage of the current cognac boom and join in with the cognac association to Grand Marnier, and probably getting back into the cognac category.
The USA is Grand Marnier’s biggest market after France with 77% of its international sales.
Here is an excerpt from Shanken Daily News:
..."To capture some of the buzz around the Cognac category, Grand Marnier’s message will highlight that the core Cordon Rouge expression is 51% Cognac and 49% distilled bitter orange. “On-premise will continue to be a particular focus as we work to increase trial and reintroduce Grand Marnier to a new generation, many of whom don’t realize that Grand Marnier is more than half Cognac,” Batchelor explains.
While core label Cordon Rouge ($39.99) makes up the majority of the brand’s depletions, Grand Marnier’s portfolio has broadened over the years to include high-end marques that offer higher Cognac content. The brand’s Centenaire ($199.99), Cuvée 1880 ($349.99) and Quintessence ($899.99) extensions all use older eaux-de-vie and tweak the Cognac ratio, going all the way up to 91% Cognac for the Cuvée 1880. Although Cognac’s popularity has reached such a height that some brands—notably Hennessy—are seeing shortages, Grand Marnier master blender Patrick Raguenaud isn’t worried about stocks running dry, citing century-long relationships with grape growers throughout the region. “We have a collection of 450 winegrowers who supply Grand Marnier,” adds Batchelor. “Those strong and genuine relationships are at the core of Grand Marnier’s commercial activities."..."
