One of London’s most celebrated product designers, Lee Broom has long garnered acclaim for his deft use of light and reflections across an award-winning portfolio of fashion-inspired lighting and furniture. His latest feat is no different, putting his own spin on Rémy Martin’s XO decanter—the medallion-like bottle’s first rework since debuting in 1981—with subtle touches that pay homage to the Cognac Fine Champagne House’s long-running original.
“I wanted to convey the opulence of Rémy Martin XO, but also the experience of serving it on ice, which is a beautiful way to taste cognac,” Broom says. He carved hundreds of fine “starburst” cuts into the indents of the decanter’s solar shape, each symbolizing one of the hundreds of eaux-de-vie within the Rémy Martin XO blend. “The cuts convey a sense of icicles as well as radiance around the circumference of the bottle,” Broom explains, coupling the detail with the array of aromatic flavors revealed when adding a single ice cube. They include plum, mature fig, and candied orange, opening on spicy notes with a hint of cinnamon and freshly crushed hazelnuts and finishing on gourmet notes of roasted cocoa beans, honey, and ginger. Broom’s rework gives us another reason to raise our glass.