Cognac, named after the town of Cognac in France, is a variety of brandy. It is produced in the wine-growing region surrounding the town from which it takes its name, in the French Departements of Charente and Charente-Maritime.

As an Appellation d'origine contrôlée, in order to bear the name Cognac, the production methods for the distilled brandy must meet specified legal requirements. It must be made from certain grapes (see below); of these, Ugni Blanc, known locally as Saint-Emilion, is the most widely used variety today. It must be distilled twice in copper pot stills and aged at least two years in French oak barrels from Limousin or Tronçais. Most cognacs are aged considerably longer than the minimum legal requirement, because cognac matures in the same way as whiskies and wine when aged in a barrel.



he region authorised to produce cognac is divided into six zones, including five crus broadly covering the department of Charente-Maritime, a large part of the department of Charente and a few areas in Deux-Sèvres and the Dordogne. The six zones are: Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies, Fins Bois, Bon Bois and finally Bois Ordinaire. A blend of Grande and Petite Champagne Cognacs, with at least half coming from Grande Champagne, is known as Fine Champagne.






Cognac Expert is the independent website about Cognac! Read stories, news, learn more about bottles. It’s all about the famous French brandy.

Often, one hears the question “where can I buy Hennessy White?”. Now, first of all it is mainly available in Europe and the Carribean, Bahamas is often mentioned in that context. The “White Hennessy” was also seen in New York liquor stores, you probably find an auction on ebay, where you can buy the bottle – if not available in your region.

Here you find a Cognac review and some background information about this bottle.

Wait, first I want to learn more about Cognac!
You want to know more about Cognac, the great french brandy? Cognac Expert is the best place for this. Read a comprehensible introduction to Cognac, here. If you want to know, how to taste it, read this article. And if you want to know all about it, go to our section What is Cognac?


We finally had the opportunity to taste the “Black Henny”. And no, the Cognac itself is not black.

Hennessy launched a major new product for the first time since 1961 in a big market. And as Hennessy has perfectly understood which relevance the American market has, they called the bottle ‘Black’. In 1961 the Hennessy VS was introduced to the market.

First of all: Hennessy Black is known to be a mixable cognac. This Cognac is not a brandy you have straight, but good for mixing and cocktails. In a way, Hennessy Black is a premium spirit made for mixing.

The Black Cognac has a rather fruity & young character, and comes in a bold, black 750 ml glass bottle.


Hennessy Black bottle

Here are the tasting notes:

The eye: Pale gold
On the nose: Easy and fresh, some orange on the nose
The taste: Some slight sweet honey, grape with a touch of citrus, an idea of jasmine and floral hints
Finish: While the beginning of the palate is relatively smooth for such a young cognac, it gets quite a masculine later on
Blend: Apparently a blend of 45 different eaux-de-vie
Age: We found a quote saying ‘aged it barrels used by Hennessy for at least five years’ which does not mean that the Hennessy Black Cognac is 5 years old. No, it’s a VS Cognac: That means it’s round about two and a half years old, matured in oak casks. That’s not a lot – actually that is the youngest you can get. As it is quite a young cognac, it’s so fruity and rough at the same time.

This does not make it a bad Cognac, it’s probably quite a good Cognac to mix with other ingredients: You would never want to mix a XO or older Cognac with Coca Cola or 7Up because firstly it would be really a shame for the expensive Cognac and secondly you would have less “cognac taste” because older Cognacs are much more smooth and rounder. But in cocktails you want present hints of the basic spirit.







The Price: $40

If you are interested in what mixes well with Hennessy Black, see here.