[Event]

 

Done well, secret venue parties can have quite a mysterious allure as the intrigue surrounding the venue often adds to the excitement. I haven’t attended one since the Carlsberg Where’s The Party? parties (click here to read about them) some years back therefore I was pretty excited to receive the invite to the Martell “Light Up!” party on 25 November 2016.

The meet up point for this event was in Amcorp Mall in Petaling Jaya and we boarded busses to head over to the “mystery” venue. After about an hour battling the Thursday evening jam, we finally arrived at the Royal Selangor Yacht Club in Port Klang. I’m no stranger to the place as I’ve been sailing there before (which you can read here – https://timchew.net/2014/08/03/sailing-day-at-royal-selangor-yacht-club-guardians-of-the-galaxy-review/) however I was amazed with the decor of the place which was totally transformed into a club with motion sensors in a light tunnel, glow-in-the-dark spray paint, copper mapping imagery and a convoy of Light-Up bikes.

 

 

The House of Martell has come up with various expressions of cognac for about 300 years now and their latest is the Martell NCF (Non Chill- Filtered). Most cognacs are filtered below 0°C , but Martell NCF is filtered at room temperature which results in a smooth easy to drink cognac with expressive aromas when served with ice.

The new expression was officially launched by the Martell and Pernod Ricard Malaysia team while guests used the specially developed Martell Light Up app to officially light up the giant Martell NCF bottle. Once successfully lighted up, we got to see a fireworks display over the marina which lit up the night sky!

The rest of the night had performances which included a female DJ battle featuring DJ Pennie, DJ Nikki, DJ Bluwie, Cassie D (Indonesia), DJ Wie (Korea), DJ MissFlorie (Philippines) and DJ Sfefanya Morgan (Indo/US). We also got to drink seven (7) different cocktails, each designed to bring out the Martell NCF’s fresh and fruity notes. Being someone who really doesn’t know how to appreciate cocktails, I opted to have my Martell NCF on the rocks and it was quite a pleasant drink.

 

 

Martell NCF is pretty smooth with fresh and fruity notes, and can be served on its own, with a mixer (e.g. soda water) or a dash of freshly squeezed orange juice with ice. The development of Martell NCF goes against the grain as it is the first time a cognac house is using the Non Chill-Filtered technique to create a cognac.

The bottle features a light-reflective metallic copper coating and is translucent at the top, fading to full transparency at the base of the bottle to revealing the amber-gold of the cognac. The transparent label evokes the filtration process with a series of glossy white lines, which glow in the dark under UV lights.

Two unique serving rituals have been developed to reflect the dynamic style of Martell NCF. The Martell Ice-Pool is a two-tier tray. When a tab is pulled, the Martell NCF shot glasses on the top drop into the mixer on ice in highball glasses at the bottom. The Martell Frappé ritual, meanwhile, focuses on a cutting-edge shaker which lights up when it is shaken.

“Tonight, Martell invites you to ‘Enjoy the Unsuspected’ at this secret location. We are taking this big step in reaching out to you with Martell Non Chill- Filtered with a different taste, look, and experience. More surprises are in store for you to Light up the Night! Light up the Taste! Light up the Party! Light Up yourself,” shared Sébastien Mouquet, Managing Director of Pernod Ricard Malaysia.

 

 

For more info, head over to www.martell.com

 

Photo credits: Perno Ricard Malaysia, Hibbie, Denise Ang and author’s own.

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