One of the most prestigious and iconic Cognacs in the world, this year Hennessy is celebrating its 250th anniversary with a series of activities, including a world tour of the installation exhibition Hennessy Time Barrel and the release of the Hennessy 250 Collector Blend.
The Hennessy Time Barrel will present the legend and the art of brewing in the form of installations, dance, music, paintings and more.
“This time there will be many renowned artists from the modern art world. You can find a lot of art roots in Hennessy and this time we decided to use it in a really nice way,” said Mr. Maurice-Richard Hennessy, the International Hennessy Ambassador on his recent visit to Macau and City of Dreams.
The world tour exhibition will be held in five different cities: Guangzhou, Moscow, New York, Johannesburg and finally back to Paris.
“There are many reasons why we have chosen Guangzhou for Asia. First it is a really large and important city. It is located in a relatively centered location, for many Asian countries, for instance people from Japan, Korea and Malaysia can come and meet in this midpoint. And of course we are going to exhibit in this very beautiful building, the Guangzhou Opera House,” says Mr. Hennessy.
2015 is definitely a remarkable year for the Hennessy brand, marking yet another milestone in its long history.
“There are many important moments in the Hennessy history. In 1765, Richard Hennessy started the firm. The next century we arrived in the Chinese market in the 1850s. Then in 1870 Maurice Hennessy invented the original X.O.,” he explains.
“We have also had many great ideas throughout the years. Our latest great idea was to merge with Moët Chandon in 1971.”
To celebrate the moment, Hennessy is presenting the long-awaited Hennessy 250 Collector Blend.
“Yann Fillioux, is a seventh generation Master Blender, and has been with Hennessy since 1964. He was asked to prepare a special blend for the anniversary and he achieved it. The blend is an amazingly elegant Cognac with a lovely after taste.”
Not only is the collector blend a masterpiece, but the decanter itself is considered to be a work of art. The renowned designer Stéphanie Balini used contemporary lines to form elegant pure curves to represent time and the legendary history of Hennessy.
For a time-honoured brand like Hennessy that is seeing increasing demand for its product, expanding production while still maintaining the high quality is a high priority.
“In 1985 we sold two millions cases and 20 years later, today hopefully we will sell six million or more cases by the end of this year. But our quality has never gone down.”
“The only thing we are concerned about is whether our vineyards can keep up the productivity, given the chance of disease and other factors. Today we have lost a lot of land for other usage. In 1870 we had 235,000 hectares of vineyards and now we only have 75,000 hectares in Cognac. So this is our only concern,” Mr. Hennessy concludes.
Hennessy 250 Collector Blend
A warm shade of amber with herbal and spicy aromas. A profound palate with notes of bitter orange, fresh nutmeg, liquorice, dried peppermint leaves and saffron. A spicy complexity and a strong elegant finish.
