On July 2, Hennessy boarded the Hermoine at South Street Seaport, hosting a private event celebrating its 250th year anniversary. Aboard the ship, Hennessy introduced its most recent, and extremely rare cognac: the Hennessy 250 blend.
We need to know a bit about the venue that Hennessy chose to host its event in order to truly recognize and appreciate what Hennessy has done to introduce its product to the US. The Hermoine was a French battle ship, led by Marquis de Lafayette, sent to aid the colonies in the fight against the British in the Revolutionary war. The ship represents the first alliance between America and France. The Hermoine was reconstructed several years ago in order to revive its history and sail the seas once again. It began its voyage to America in April of 2015 and arrived on June 1st. According to Miles Young, the President of Friends of Hermoine-Lafayette, “The Hermoine’s visit to New York, as a symbol of France’s immense role in the Revolutionary War, is perfectly fitting for America’s most patriotic holiday – the Fourth of July.” So not only did we get to see the ship that helped us establish our nation, right in time for nation’s birthday, but we got to celebrate the anniversary of Hennessy as a company, a company born in Cognac, France. Killing two birds with one stone never aligned so remarkably till now.
Hennessy is a company that takes pride in its cognacs. Currently a part of LVMH (Moet Hennessy • Louis Vuitton) Hennessy itself was founded in 1765 by Richard Hennessy. Since then, Hennessy has taken great pride in creating and marketing one of the most famous cognacs in the world. Hennessy products are found everywhere you go; every bar, every club, every party you will ever step into will either have Hennessy or will have just run out. Hennessy products are hot sellers, and the extremely distinct features of Hennessy products explain why. From the detailed, sophisticated, classy bottles, to the unmistakable smell, to the particular taste, Hennessy without a doubt delivers cognacs that are incomparable, and are some of the best in the world. So when the company decided to create a new limited cognac to celebrate their 250th anniversary, they knew the blend had to be exceptional. Hennessy offered a taste of the Hennessy 250 blend at the event. A single bottle of Hennessy 250 was displayed along with its gift box in a showcase near the speaker on the ship. The decanter, designed by Stephanie Balini, was luxurious, curvy but well cut, clear enough to show the beautiful color of the Hennessy and thick enough to outline the cognac. Black and silver finishes on the throat and top of the bottle added the finishing elegant touch. As a symphony of strings were played live in the background, guests were able to taste the Hennessy 250, creating exactly what any cognac tasting should be: an experience. The cognac gave off the scent of a Hennessy product, but not just any Hennessy, a blend of many Hennessy cognacs, aged for over fifty years. The spices made themselves known in the scent, the color of the barrels showed themselves in the reddish-amber color, and the magnificent taste showed the attention that was put into the blend. The H250 was strong, intense in the sense that you seemed to taste every single ingredient within, yet they came together so elegantly that you could not argue that the cognac was anything but smooth. The only way to genuinely appreciate and understand the Hennessy 250 would be to taste it for yourself. However, this experience is extremely limited with only 250 barrels of the cognac being created. That’s right, only 250 barrels were created, each with a capacity of 250 liters, were handcrafted to nurture this particular Hennessy. That means a maximum of just 62,500 bottles will be allowed to exist. This may seem like a large number, but in reality it is very small. So let’s put it into perspective. In New York City alone, there are over 6 million people over the age of 21. One shot of alcohol is 42.62mL. If we round that up to 50mL, and one liter (the only size available) of the Hennessy 250 contains 1000mL, that means there are 20 shots in one bottle. Multiplying the number of shots in a bottle by the maximum number of bottles in existence, we can safely say that there will only be 1,250,000 shots, maximum, in existence. In other words, only around 20% of legal-age residents of New York City could taste the cognac. Retailing at $600, this collector’s cognac will sell out quickly, and the price of the cognac will increase just as fast.
Hennessy knows how much the cognac is really worth, which is why they have brought two barrels along with them aboard the Hermoine. The first barrel was auctioned off in Mount Vernon, with all proceeds going to charity. The second barrel is to be auctioned off at another event at Lincoln Center, with proceeds from this barrel going straight to the Robin Hood Foundation. The starting bid on the second barrel: an astonishing $200,000.
Like the Hennessy 250, Hennessy did an incredible job putting together the small details in their event. The company showed their pride in their products and did an incredible job in putting together an experience to introduce their anniversary blend. The Hennessy 250 showed why Hennessy is the best at what they do, and why Hennessy has lasted for 250 years.
Executive Vice President of Spirits Moet Hennessy USA, Rodney Williams, gave us an exclusive interview:
I know Hennessy puts out high end products that are extremely expensive, such as the Paradis and Paradis Imperial, as well as the Richard Hennessy, named after the founder of Hennessy. What makes the Hennessy 250 special? What makes it different as compared to the other high end products that Hennessy offers?
This is really unusual, Yann Fillioux, our master blender is celebrating his fiftieth anniversary this year. We produce stuff like Paradis, which is aged up to 70 years, Paradis Imperial is aged up to a 100 years, and Richard is aged up to 180 years.
As it happens, the master blenders often never get to see their final product because it’s still aging. In this case, the H250 blend is really a set of eaux de vie from his tenure on the safety committee for 50 years. So these are some of the best eaux de vies we’ve had in the past 50 years and they are Yann’s signature because he’s been involved in the development of all of them.
When it comes to availability, how will it be sold?
You can buy it online and in retail. It retails for around $600 for a one-liter bottle.
Will it be available for distributors to buy?
Yeah so it’s available now, the first shipment arrived a couple of months ago and sold out. We’re waiting for the next shipment to arrive probably in the next week. We hope it’s as well received.
How long will it be available for?
This will remain a very limited quantity. There are 250 barrels of this 250 blend. As soon as it’s gone, it’s gone. It’s been very well received so far around the world.
As the poster stated, will you also be giving away two barrels to charity to auction?
Yes, that’s right. The barrel behind you (Author’s Note: hung on the yacht during the party) is going to be auctioned Lincoln Center Tuesday night in a gala. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to charity. The other barrel, which was also on this ship, was auctioned last month at Mount Vernon and all of the proceeds went for the upkeep of the Museum for George Washington at Mount Vernon. That barrel sold for $150,000. We’ve begun a silent auction and you can go to Henessey.com if you want to bid and all the information is up on the site. It is tax deductible. This barrel will go for a minimum of $200,000 and will benefit the Robin Hood Foundation. The Foundation supports about a hundred organizations throughout the New York area that provide programs for low-income communities.
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