According to the ultimate fashion oracle, Coco Chanel, “The best things in life are free. The second-best things are very, very expensive.” So, by that reasoning, the $400 cocktail at Sofitel Melbourne on Collins is bound to be the very best thing you’ve ever sipped.

The Classique Sensation comprises Richard Hennessy Paradis Cognac balanced with French aperitifs, Marc de Champagne, a rare champagne liqueur, and accented with 24K gold leaf.

It’s part of the Coco Chanel-inspired cocktail menu and in keeping with the theme of the notable fashion house, the cocktail comes with its own miniature custom couture cocktail jacket.

The luxurious material for the jacket is sourced from the same tweed houses used by the design house today. If you compare the cocktail to a five-figure Chanel jacket, you’ve got yourself a fashionable bargain.

For those that covet the high-fashion lifestyle, but can’t quite bring themselves to spend a week’s rent money on a drink, there’s the Little Black Dress. At $120, it’s what you’d pay for a decent frock but instead of cost-per-wear, it’s cost-per-sip. For that kind of cash you get a blend of Taittinger Nocturne Champagne, Chateau du Tariquet Blanche Armagnac, Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur, house-made black cocoa syrup, egg white and edible camellia sugar flower.

The glass is also adorned in its own couture black dress. As you do.
Think of these cocktails as the showstoppers of a couture show – big, bold and outrageously expensive. The rest of the collection is akin to a fashion label’s diffusion line and more accessibly priced.

Cocktail 35, $38, is made of Gin Mare, Massenez Créme de Violette, St Germain Elderflower Liqueur, Bergamot Liqueur, Licor 43 and rose water.
Le Mélange Unique, $32, blends French whisky and Michel Couvreur “The Unique” liqueur with Australian botanicals and aperitifs like Autonomy Distillers Davo Plum Bitters.

La Collection Rose, $30, has taste notes of toasted Szechuan peppercorn and Massenez Liqueur de Chataignes alongside Ciroc Vodka, topped with an edible ruby chocolate handbag.

The limited-edition cocktails are available until April 26 at the hotel’s signature bar on level 35, The Atrium.

Sofitel Melbourne
25 Collins St, Melbourne
03 9653 0000
sofitel-melbourne.com.au

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