Guide Note

Hennessy is a brand of cognac, which is a french variety of brandy. It is one of the oldest and most well known brands of cognac.

Fast Facts

1. Founder: Richard Hennessy
2. Roughly 3 million cases sold per year
3. Kim Jong-il is purportedly the #1 customer over the past 10 years

The Hennessy company was founded in 1765 when an Irish mercenary named Richard Hennessy was awarded land in the Cognac region of France. He would send various spirits to his friends and family in Ireland via a trading company he founded there. His son, James Hennessy, expanded the business to include the production of brandy. In this sense Hennessy is synonmous with cognac, as it was this company's work in the Cognac area that gave the unique recipe of brandy its name. The company continued to be managed by successive generations of the Hennessy family for eight generations. Today the ownership has changed, but the orginal recipe remains the same.

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