Martell Cognac is celebrating its 100th anniversary with the launch of limited-edition Cordon Bleu Centenary in key Asian duty free locations.

The Martell Cordon Bleu Centenary edition features the centenary’s visual code, the infinity sign, which also represents the figure 100.

The Martell Cordon Bleu Centenary cognac is also available as a special edition, presented in a wooden giftcase with silver trims and a magnetite opening system.

Global sales of duty-free products reached $46 billion in 2011, up a staggering 17.9 percent, calculated duty free analyst Generation Research.

Although the results are still preliminary and currency fluctuations may bring the growth figure down, 2011 may turn out to have been a record-breaking year.

Unsurprisingly, Asia Pacific was the star growth region, with sales rising 22.9 percent and buyers helping to fuel a resurgence in alcohol sales.

Hennessy, a spirits division of LVMH, has launched its new limited-edition Hennessy Beauté du Siècle cognac with Schiphol Airport Retail at Amsterdam Schiphol airport.

The cognac marks the centenary of Kilian Hennessy, the sixth generation after the founder of the cognac house.

Beauté du Siècle is a contemporary interpretation of a traditional liqueur chest containing a carafe of cognac, created by master blender and taster Yann Fillious and more than 10 artists and craftsmen.

A shopper has broken the record for duty-free purchases at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport by splurging nearly 50,000 euros on six bottles of exclusive wine.

The shopper, who was identified only as “an Asian”, bought a bottle of Romanee Conti 1995, a Chateau Margaux 2003, two bottles of Chateau Lafitte 1982 and two bottles of Petrus 1980, worth a total of 49,905 euros ($66,000).

The airport did not say when the purchases had been made, but noted that high-quality wines “sell better at the end of the year”.

Louis Vuitton has made a spectacular airport debut in association with The Shilla Duty Free at South Korea’s Incheon International Airport.

The 550sq m Incheon store is dedicated to Louis Vuitton’s passion for travel.

It features leathergoods, women’s and men’s shoes, belts, ties, textiles, fashion, jewellery, sunglasses, watches and other accessories.

Champagne Piper-Heidsieck has wrapped its new limited-edition Bodyguard in a “sexy red crocodile skin” for its launch this month in selected travel retail outlets.

The 75cl bottle of Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Brut can be described as having “springtime citrus aromas with notes of apples and pears”.

Piper-Heidsieck reveals that the the flavour of Bodyguard is reminiscent of the Pinot Noir grape from which it derives its “distinctive flavour”.