Mandarine Napoléon carries a recipe with imperial origins. Antoine-François Fourcroy, Napoleon Bonaparte's chemist and member of the Council of State, first created a concoction of macerated mandarins blended with cognac—his diaries describe sharing it with Napoleon himself.

The exact recipe was lost until 1892, when Belgian chemist Louis Schmidt rediscovered it in Fourcroy's diary. He created Mandarine Napoléon: Grande Liqueur Impériale, which was first marketed in Brussels before achieving worldwide distribution throughout the 20th century.

Today crafted by De Kuyper using Sicilian mandarins macerated in alcohol, blended with aged cognac and 20 secret botanicals, then aged in oak barrels for up to two years. With no industrial flavorings and only natural coloring, Mandarine Napoléon remains true to its noble heritage.