Hennessy
It cultivates the best, to invest in the future, as it always has.
Maison Hennessy was founded in 1765. It was named after and sprang from the vision of Richard Hennessy, an Irish military officer in the service of Louis XV. He became acquainted with Charente and its outstanding wine eaux-de-vie (spirits) in 1745. He sensed exciting potential for these spirits, began trading them and opened his own Maison in the town of Cognac. His goal from the start was nothing less than to conquer the world and the Maison went from strength to strength.
By the end of the 18th century, Hennessy was gaining ground in the United Kingdom, northern Europe and the United States. In the 19th century, it expanded into India, Australia, South America, Japan and China. Hennessy purveyed Europe’s courts and its customers included tsar Alexander I of Russia and King George IV of the United Kingdom. In 1860, one in every four cognacs sold around the world had a Hennessy label.
The Maison prepares its cognacs exclusively from eaux-de-vie made from the region’s four main AOC wines. It works with 1,600 winegrowers and distillers to do so.
In 1971, the Maison joined forces with Moët & Chandon champagnes, founding the Moët Hennessy group. In 1987, its alliance with Louis Vuitton gave rise to LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group.
Today, the Maison continues to shine around the world, from its time-honoured birthplace in Charente, thanks to the men and women who craft its excellence. It now reaches 160 countries and exports 99% of its production. Eight generations of master blenders from the Fillioux family have handed down the Maison’s savoir-faire, and a Tasting Committee comprised of in-house experts meets at 11 every morning to ensure the quality of the cognacs that have built the Maison’s status endures.
Hennessy became the first spirits producer to earn ISO 14001 certification in 1998, and its CSR policy mirrors its firm commitment to more responsible winegrowing that respects soils and ecosystems, to drastically reducing its carbon footprint, and to standing by its employees, the Cognac region’s people and communities beyond France’s borders.
Hennessy became a Comité Colbert member in 2021.
Its signature
Maison Hennessy’s emblem, the Bras Armé (the Arm and Axe) is from the family’s coat of arms.
Its energy, strength, and solidity capture something about its sprit of conquest as well as the way it cares for the heritage it safeguards and conveys.
The adress
It is on the banks of the river Charente, in Cognac, that the Maison set down roots and has thrived over the years. It was also by river that its barrels travelled to the major ports along France’s Atlantic coast. Its long-standing buildings reflect its expansion around its head office on rue de la Richonne, which now also houses the Maison’s only boutique worldwide. Hennessy continues its permanent quest for outstanding quality from grape to glass from the region where its story started.
Visits are made available to discover the Maison behind the scenes.
