$40,000 Rare Cognac Rests In Long Island’s Café Nuovo

In February, last year, we had encountered the fine Cognac Cuvee 1888. In early March, I had written about the historic Louis XIII cognac carafe from Remy Martin to be on display at the Master of Spirits event at Singapore’s Changi Airport. This month, it is the turn of the Remy Martin Louis XIII Black Pearl.

This rare cognac is currently placed within Café Nuovo in Providence, Long Island. The bottle is a fine example of Baccarat crystal that has been hand-blown. It is worth some $40,000.

The Louis XIII Black Pearl was blended in 1960 from a collection of 1,200 brandies that were aged between 40 to 100 years. The blending took place in a single oak barrel. It was bottled in 2007 – an exclusive collection of only 358 bottles, of which, the one in Café Nuovo is No. 181.

An unnamed regular customer of the Rhode Island restaurant requested that Café Nuovo should purchase the above bottle and make it available during special occasions. However, making such a purchase will not be easy. According to Sean Scannell, the manager of Café Nuovo, Remy Martin will undertake several checks before deigning to sell the Louis XIII Black Pearl to the restaurant. Scannell admitted that Remy Martin would consider whether Café Nuovo’s location is good enough for an exclusive bottle like the Remy Martin Louis XIII Black Pearl.

Scannell described the rare cognac as a “living beautiful thing”. It must be, for not only does it cost $40,000 for the whole bottle, but a measly one-and-a-half ounces costs a whopping $1,500.