In 1827, the Marnier family founded a fruit liqueur distillery near Paris. In 1880, Louis Alexandre, the third generation of the family, created the famous Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge, the flagship of the brand, by blending French Cognac with the intensity of exotic bitter orange. Grand Marnier is blended from the finest cognacs by Cellar Master. Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge contains 51% of Cognac. The Cognac content enhances the spirit perception versus other traditional liqueurs and underpins the product quality credentials. Since its creation, Grand Marnier liqueur has been made with orange peels of the Citrus Bigaradia originally grown in the Caribbean. Citrus Bigaradia are hand-picked when still green. Oranges are peeled and the peels are sun-dried. Careful blending and quality ingredients together create the perfect Grand Marnier.