Created in 1765, the Hennessy brand was born of the vision of one man, Richard Hennessy. An Irish officer enlisted in Louis XV's army, Hennessy very quickly saw cognac's potential on the international market. He set up his own bottling business and founded a dynasty that would span eight generations. Hennessy soon acquired a reputation for exceptional cognacs and the appellations it created were used by all of the other cognac brands, including Very Old Superior Old Pale (VSOP) and Extra Old (XO). In 250 years Hennessy has remained the world leader in cognac.

This release pays tribute to James Hennessy, an influential figure with many notable friends, including Debussy, Picasso and Churchill, who in 1920 asked his cellar master Alfred Fillioux to produced a “very private” Art Déco-style blend for his friends. Almost a century later, in 2009, Alfred’’s descendent Yann Fillioux designed a new Hennessy Privé—a round, well-structured and elegant cognac created from some hundred aged cognacs stored in young casks in the house’’s cellars for at least 12 years.