The legend of Hennessy V.S.O.P. began on 7 October 1817, when the future King George IV of England asked the great French cognac House to supply him with a special cognac described in the records with the words “Very Superior Old Pale”. This cognac’s personality has gone unchanged for nearly two centuries. Under the stewardship of Hennessy’s cellar master, the Tasting Committee hands down the secrets of selection, ageing and blending, as can be seen in the use, for maturation, of oak barrels that have lost part of their tannin, so as to avoid giving the eau de vie excessively woody notes while providing an elegant expression.
Today this iconic cognac will be presented in a bottle whose curves signify the elegance and generosity of its content, as well as its balance and exceptional harmony. After an initial modernisation of the bottle in 1989, V.S.O.P. is moving resolutely into the 21st century, using legendary designer Chris Bangle to create a whole new bottle. Infamous for his BMW E60 5-Series, Rolls Royce Phantom and BMW X6 design, Chris Bangle picked up his pencil and drew this cognac’s new silhouette. He accentuated the curves on the sides of the bottle, thereby reinforcing its silhouette’s dynamics, then he lengthened its neck and straightened its shoulders, stretching it vertically.
Inspired by the Hennessy V.S.O.P. bottle created in 1954, Chris Bangle chose to confirm this upward movement with an enriched base resembling a pedestal to distinguish the whole with opulence while maintaining its stability.
With a carefully designed optical effect, the front of the bottle evokes a pyramid perspective, suggesting an upward vanishing point to draw the eye toward the top of the bottle, where Chris Bangle has chosen to engrave the legendary arm and axe of the Hennessy family into the glass itself. The symbolic Hennessy V.S.O.P. oval label is in dark grey ennobled with golden embossing a few millimetres from this. The box that the bottle comes in has also benefited from this renewal, giving its edges over to a more modern vision: the sides have been refined and dramatised by photographer Adam Savitch. Anti-counterfeiting techniques for the Hennessy V.S.O.P bottle were also developed: a laser stamp for the 35-cl, 70-cl and 3-litre bottles and a hologram of inimitable complexity (now with horizontal lines forming a grape cluster) seal the cap, ensuring product integrity.
For more information on Hennessy V.S.O.P, please visit Hennessy’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/HennessyMalaysia
