Hennessy

Richard Hennessy (1724–1800) founded the distillery in 1765

Brand ambassador Maurice Hennessy at a presentation of new cognac in 2011

The Hennessy cognac distillery was founded by Irish Jacobite military officer Richard Hennessy in 1765.[1] His son James Hennessy gave the company its name Jas Hennessy & Co in 1813.[2] During the 1970s, Kilian Hennessy, a fifth-generation direct descendant of Hennessy, became the CEO of Hennessy, succeeding his first cousin Maurice-Richard. Kilian Hennessy spearheaded the company's 1971 merger with Moët et Chandon, which created Moët Hennessy.[3]

Moët Hennessy merged with Louis Vuitton in 1987, creating one of the world's largest luxury brand conglomerates, Louis Vuitton • Moët-Hennessy or LVMH. In 1988, a management crisis led to the group's takeover by Bernard Arnault, owner of the haute couture house Christian Dior, with the support of Guinness. Kilian Hennessy remained on the company's advisory board until his death in 2010 at the age of 103.[3]

Recently, Hennessy has tried to broaden the appeal of the drink beyond its traditional base of older drinkers by introducing new products such as "Pure White", "Hennessy Black"[4] and "Fine de Cognac" and marketing them accordingly.[5]

• Hennessy V.S
• Privilége V.S.O.P
• Hennessy X.O
• Hennessy X.X.O
• Hennessy Master Blender's selection
• Hennessy Paradis
• Richard Hennessy
• James Hennessy
• Hennessy Paradis Imperial
• Hennessy 8
• Hennessy Black
• Hennessy Pure White
• Hennessy Classivm

Hennessy sponsors the New Irish Writing competition in the Irish Independent, and the associated annual Hennessy Literary Award, that has launched such Irish writers as Joseph O'Connor, Dermot Bolger, Patrick McCabe, Colum McCann, Frank McGuinness, Anne Enright, Hugo Hamilton, Dermot Healy and Neil Jordan.[6][7][8]

Hennessy is frequently referenced in popular music,[9] including "KC Tea" (2010) by Tech N9ne,[10] "Hennessey" (2004) by 2Pac,[11] "Hennesey n Buddah" (2000) by Snoop Dogg,[12] and "Love Scars" (2017) by Trippie Redd, "Boombayah" by Korean girl group Blackpink, "Hennessy" by Bloo[13], Digital Underground's "The Humpty Dance", "Pass Me Da Green" by Master P (1997),[14] "Moodz" by Blackbear, "Red Bull & Hennessy"[15] by Jenny Lewis, and the Mayer Hawthorne song "Henny & Gingerale".[16]

The cognac was notably mentioned in the chorus of the Drake single "One Dance" (2016),[17] which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.[18]

Hennessy is the drink of choice for Blues musician Del Paxton in the movie That Thing You Do![19]

Hennessy was the favourite drink of Kim Jong-il, former Supreme Leader of North Korea. Hennessy once reported that Kim spent over $700,000 a year on Paradis cognac.[20]