🥃 Hennessy

Hennessy is a cognac house in the town of Cognac, in the French department of Charente. It was founded in 1765 by Richard Hennessy, an Irish officer living in exile in France. Today the house is part of Moët Hennessy, the wine and spirits division of the LVMH group, in which the British company Diageo holds 34%.

The founder's business was continued by his son James. He invited Jean Fillioux to be the blender, and since then the house's master blender has always come from that family: Renaud Fillioux de Gironde represents the eighth generation. In 1870 Maurice Hennessy created the X.O cognac, whose name stands for “extra old” and has become a general age designation. The house later merged with the champagne house Moët & Chandon and then joined LVMH.

Like any cognac, Hennessy is made under the AOC Cognac rules: white wine from grapes grown in the region is distilled twice in a copper Charentais pot still and aged in oak barrels for at least two years. The master blender combines eaux-de-vie of different ages and origins. According to LVMH, the house works with about 1,600 growers, has its own 180-hectare vineyard for testing sustainable methods, and in 1998 became the first spirits producer to receive ISO 14001 certification.

The house's main cognacs are named after age designations: in V.S the youngest eau-de-vie is at least 2 years old, in V.S.O.P at least 4, and in X.O at least 10. There are also older blends, such as Paradis.

Why it matters to you. V.S, V.S.O.P and X.O are not brand names but age designations shared by all cognac: the years are counted by the youngest eau-de-vie in the blend. The word “Cognac” on the label guarantees origin in a defined region around the town of Cognac and double distillation. The WHO reminds us that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.