Courvoisier Erté Inédit - Orient Express Jarnacaise Special Edition

Courvoisier Inedit Erte Cognac. No box. 700ml. 40%.

The rarest of all the famous Courvoisier Erté bottlings, this special edition of Courvoisier Erté is sometimes referred to as Inédit Not For Sale, as it was never officially released.

The legendary Art Deco artist Erté designed the bottle and illustrations for Courvoisier’s Erté collection in 1988, just two years before his death in 1990. The artist’s original seven bottle designs were released annually in editions of 12,000 bottles, with each design depicting a different facet of the Cognac production process, and caused a sensation among Cognac aficionados.

After the initial run of seven releases was complete, Courvoisier decided to release a final Erté Edition as a tribute to the artist. Known as Erté Inédit (Unpublished), the illustration on this bottle was an unused design Erté had submitted during the planning stage that was initially rejected as it featured a bare-breasted woman and was considered too risqué for the American market.

As the very final special release in the series, the hype for the release of Erté Inédit was such that Courvoisier hired the Venice Simplon Orient-Express luxury train from 1st-3rd November 1995 to transport special guests between Verona and Paris and back for the launch event.

During the launch on the train, the guests were introduced to the precious Courvoisier Erté Inédit - which contains some eaux-de-vie dating back to 1892, the year of Erté’s birth - by a nude bodypainted model ‘dressed’ to reproduce the design (with a few strategically-placed grapes).

While the decanter was displayed for the launch, this special edition bottle was produced to serve guests on the train in a standard Jarnac-style (Jarnacaise) cognac bottle.

The exact number of bottles of Courvoisier Erté Inédit Jarnacaise produced is unknown, but as only the most important VIP guests were on the train some sources have estimated that less than 300 of these bottles ever existed. As many of the bottles would have been opened for guests, only a very small number would have been left over and were presumably gifted to staff or VVIPs.

The official release of Courvoisier Erté Inédit was only 4,000 bottles (compared to the main Collection’s 12,000 bottles for each edition) and the original retail price for Inédit was much higher than the previous editions, with today’s auction prices reflecting its rarity.

A beautiful edition with an amazing story, Courvoisier Erté Inédit Jarnacaise is a Holy Grail bottle for Cognac collectors. We’re delighted to have the privilege of auctioning this special Cognac.