Cognac "Richard Hennessy": brand history and some information about the product

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Hennessy is an incredibly high quality, extremely tasty and the most expensive cognac in the world. Every person knows this, even those who are absolutely indifferent to alcohol. Only this product managed to demonstrate to everyone what the true taste of cognac should be. This legendary and reference drink is the pride of France, although its creator was a native of Ireland. Richard Hennessy became the man who managed to become famous thanks to the creation of an alcoholic elixir that conquered the planet.

Freelancer who created cognac

Richard Hennessy in 1765 was employed by the army of Louis XV. As they say today, he was a freelancer. At the same time, at the age of 36, a man was wounded. He was sent for treatment to the island of Re, located next to the French city of Cognac. The guy managed to prove himself in the army from the best side, and the honor of his family was not tarnished. Passing through rehabilitation, Richard could not resist visiting the famous city. There he tasted brandy, which soon completely turned the history of thisdrink.

After discharge from the hospital, Richard Hennessy moves to live in the same city of Cognac. There he registers his own company and starts selling such a delicious drink. Then the Irish entrepreneur did not use his last name as the name of the enterprise. At that time, few French people knew that there was such a type of alcohol as cognac. In general, this product was practically unknown to the world. Thanks to his Irish connections, Hennessy was able to gain access to the UK, where liquor is held in high esteem. Sales began to grow at lightning speed. European vocabulary has been enriched with one more word - "cognac", which now began to denote not only a settlement, but also an alcoholic drink for famous gentlemen.

How he conquered the world

At that time, Hennessy Richard cognac was sold not in bottles with the family coat of arms, but in ordinary barrels. Therefore, the product began to be actively counterfeited. There was a huge difference in taste between natural and counterfeit alcohol. But many people did not notice this. Richard immediately positioned his elixir as a drink of aristocrats, rich people who are able to allow themselves such a luxury. At the end of the 18th century, London became the export center for the company. From here, the drink is distributed to all countries. Hennessy began shipping to the US in 1794.

Richard Hennessy (the founder of the company) died at the beginning of the 19th century. The management of the firm was taken over by his son Jacques. He immediately named the company after his family - Jas Hennessy & Co. But those timesfor cognac were not the best. And all due to the fact that during this period Napoleon began to conquer Europe and the countries began to refuse to acquire everything that was in any way connected with France. Cognac sales resumed again after the defeat of the emperor and the plague of 1832. Doctors started prescribing this alcohol as a preventive measure.

From barrels to bottles

In the second half of the 19th century, bottled Hennessy Richard cognac began to be mass-produced. Then the head of the company was Morris Hennessy. In 1864, this man opens the first factory in France for the mass production of a drink that has already become a legend. It is Morris who launches the product in the long-awaited bottles of an unusual shape. The family crest served as a decoration for the container.

Also, Morris introduces another important innovation for the cognac business - the star rating system for the drink. Today, this marking is also successfully used in the hotel business. Five stars were awarded to the oldest alcohol, and one to the youngest. Under Morris, another outstanding event for the company took place - a new variety of Hennessy appeared - Extra old, which eventually turned into a completely new category of cognacs.

What product are we talking about

What is the cognac "Richard Hennessy", the price of which is simply obscenely high? It contains cognac spirits from the cellars of the founder of the company. Full-bodied, rich and smooth drinkcharacterized by a very long aftertaste with a gradual overflow of fruit. The product has an amber hue, it is hearty and warm. Hennessy is a harbinger of a palette of emotions and endless power. The aroma of the elixir is filled with an ensemble of expensive oriental spices, nutmeg, fennel and delicate flowers.

Over the long years of growing up in oak barrels, cognac acquires a luxurious amber of Havana cigars, forest fruits and mossy hop with dried mushrooms. Hennessy is beautiful everywhere, it is a drink without time and place.

Varieties of Hennessy

Distinguish these types of cognac "Hennessy":

• Hennessy VSOP is a drink created for the British King George IV in 1817. The cost starts from 5 thousand rubles.
• Hennessy XO is a product designed by Morris Hennessy for friends in 1870. Price: from 15 thousand rubles. for 700 ml.
• Hennessy Library - personalized alcohol, designed in the style of retro books. Can be purchased for 16 thousand rubles.
• Hennessy Private Reserve is another signature product designed by Émile Filho in 1873. Cost: 75 thousand rubles.
• Hennessy Paradis Extra is another personalized spirit elixir from 1979. 400 ml. can be purchased for 6 thousand rubles.
• Cognac "Richard Hennessy" 4 years old - a product created in 1996.
• Hennessy Timeless is a drink from a limited edition, the price of which is 150 thousand rubles.
• Hennessy Ellipse is a cognac that differs from its other "brothers" in that it containscontains 43.5% alcohol, while other drinks have 40% of it. Price: RUB 450,000

Cognac that will live forever

It doesn't matter what volume the Hennessy Richard cognac is bottled into - 0.7 l., 0.5 l. or any other, it will always be relevant and popular. This drink managed to combine the incompatible. Offering the consumer elite alcohol of the premium category, designed for the discerning connoisseur, he is the undisputed leader of the cognac mass market.