I wrote previously in my review of the Courvoisier about the seemingly puzzling relationship between rappers and cognac. I'd never had Hennessy (“Henny,” as the kids call it), but it's hard for a bottle like this to get out of the shadow of its reputation. I usually regard bottles like this with a bit of suspicion: very seldom is the most popular brand the best.
Cutting to the chase, Hennessy VS is objectively not bad. Cognac distillers are usually not the most transparent about their production processes, but apparently Hennessy uses some 40 different varieties of grapes, and the various “eau de vies” produced are aged in French Oak up to five years, though most are a few years younger. Hennessy pours a little darker than its contemporaries, but that could likely be due to the influence of food coloring. (Yes, that's a thing.)
There's enough good to discover here if you've never had Hennessy, and it's a capable standard bearer for Cognac as a whole if this is the first one you plan to try. The dominant flavor I get from Hennessy is apple. There's a lot of dried apple leather in the aroma, along with nutmeg and cinnamon that are often delightful byproducts of aging spirits in French Oak. A lot of that translates very well to the taste, which is a little milk chocolately on arrival that translates to more baked apple on the development. That mulled spice crackle shows up in the taste, too, with ample cinnamon and allspice. Finally, the cognac trails off with peach and clove.
“The price is gonzo for what Hennessy VS brings to the table. Fifty bucks? Really? For liquor that’s maybe three years old, tops?”
In direct comparison to its competitors who make up “the big four” Cognac houses, the Hennessy VS is easily the richest and most decadent among the Courvoisier, Martell, or Remy Martin VS expressions. I would venture to guess that most first-timers to Cognac would prefer it, in fact! That might also be due to Hennessy VS also being the sweetest (at least to my palate) of the major players, and Cognac can and does use added sugar as part of the production process. As a guy with a big sweet tooth, this is something I can live with, but some people go positively apoplectic at the mention of any additives to their brown liquor, so I figure I should at least mention it.
If all of this has your interest piqued and your taste buds fired up, great. But before you march out to snag a bottle, let me tell you that the Hennessy VS has two flaws that knock it clear off the pedestal.
The first is that it's hot. Obviously not as in thermal heat, but I was surprised by the raw shock of ethanol that came through on the taste. An upmarket spirit, especially one offering a relatively sedate 40% ABV, should not hit the palate swinging its proverbial fists. Here, that average age of three to four years really becomes apparent. It's great to taste the barrel influence so strongly by way of the cinnamon and other spices, but the liquid isn't sitting in oak long enough for the alcohol to be tamed.
Second, the price is gonzo for what Hennessy VS brings to the table. Fifty bucks? Really? For liquor that's maybe three years old, tops? Maybe this doesn't sound like highway robbery for wild Mezcal drinkers used to shelling out a hundred bucks to taste something that came right off a rickety tin still, but in the pantheon of aged brown spirits Hennessy is asking a lot for a little.
If you asked Hennessy, they'd likely justify the price as a combination of history, expertise, and the complexity of wrangling a lot of quality grapes, but this is entry territory for a 12 to 15-year-old scotch. And keep in mind that fifty bucks is a “good” price for Hennessy. Because of the cultural cache the brand carries, it isn't uncommon to see it on grocery store shelves or corner liquor stores marked at seventy dollars and upward.
As usual, and barring one exception that I'd buy again, my experiences with the “big four” lead me back to two places. The first of my recommended options is to buy a lesser-known Cognac brand, like the solid Hardy VS or the wonderful Park Cognac line, which is great up and down the range. Alternately, it leads me back to Armenian Brandy, which I'd argue is made with the same craft and care as French Cognac, but, uh, Armenia's got an economy that's worse than Afghanistan and only slightly better than Rwanda. Suffice it to say the spend goes far: the other day I picked up a 25-year-old brandy for the princely sum of forty dollars. That's ten dollars less than the Hennessy VS for at least an additional two decades of barrel time.
So once again, we land in that valley of “good, but not good enough” that make up the bulk of the one-star reviews on this site. The Hennessy VS has a lot of endearing qualities, but I think it'd be best appreciated if someone has it at their house and gives you a free pour.
