Courvoisier () is a brand of cognac, with production based in the town of Jarnac in the Charente region of France. It is the youngest and smallest of the "big four" cognac houses (the others are Hennessy, Rémy Martin, and Martell). Courvoisier has also been described as the most untypical of the big four. It controls every step of its production process but does no distilling of its own, changes the process for different vintages and regional variations in eaux-de-vie, and has never owned vines. In 2019, it exported approximately 1.4 million nine-litre cases of its cognacs. The brand is owned by Beam Suntory, a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Osaka, Japan. History in 1835, Frenchman Emmanuel Courvoisier started a wine and spirit company in the Parisian suburb of Bercy with Louis Gallois, then the mayor of Bercy. Originally, the pair would act as traders for the best cognacs of the region. Eventually they decided that the only way they could guarantee the very finest cognac was relocate to the region and become producers themselves. The 200-year-old crafting process has not changed since Courvoisier's establishment in Bercy. Napoleon Bonaparte visited Bercy in 1811 as documented in a historic painting by Etienne Bouhot, and later was credited with saying he wanted his artillery companies to have a ration of cognac during the Napoleonic Wars. Legend has it that Napoleon I later took several barrels of cognac with him to St Helena, a treat much appreciated by the English officers on the ship, who named it "the Cognac of Napoleon". In 1869, Napoleon Bonaparte's heir Napoleon III personally requested Courvoisier and bestowed the honourable title of "Official Supplier to the Imperial Court" which is still displayed at the Courvoisier museum in Jarnac. In 1828, Felix Courvoisier and Jules Gallois, the sons of Emmanuel and Louis, wanted to improve the quality of cognac, moving the company to the heart of the Cognac region in the town of Jarnac. After Felix's passing in 1866, his nephews, the Curlier brothers, took over the management of the business. By 1909, the business was sold to the Simon family from England, but still maintained its production and headquarters in the Jarnac region. Located ten minutes from the town of Cognac, the main Courvoisier business operations still operate from the Château on the banks of the Charente river which was established in the 1870s. Courvoisier sources eaux-de-vie from