Hennessy

Hennessy is one of the oldest and most famous manufacturers of cognac, a type of French distilled wine, or brandy. The company was born when the Irishman Richard Hennessy, who had been a mercenary for the French king, was compensated with land in the town of Cognac in France in 1765 and started a trading business, initially sending liquor back to Irish friends and relatives. His son, James Hennessy, expanded the business into the brandy production with which the town is now synonymous. The business was renamed James (or Jacques) Hennessy and Co. - A name the company retains today. The company has been managed by successive generations of Hennessys (now it is eighth generation). Ownership has changed over the years though. In 1971 Hennessy merged with Moët et Chandon. In 1987 the drinks group then merged with fashion house Louis Vuitton to create what is now the world's largest luxury goods business: LVMH.

Hennessy currently sells about three million cases of cognac each year. Recent innovations include trying to broaden the appeal of the drink beyond its traditional base of older drinkers, by introducing new products such as "Pure White" and "Fine de Cognac" and marketing them accordingly. Cocktail recipes have also been popularized, such as combining Hennessy with Red Bull energy drink to form Crunk Juice, a cocktail popularized by crunk-artists Lil Jon, the Eastside Boyz, and the Ying Yang Twins. A drink called Sin, made popular by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, includes equal proportions of Hennessy and Gin. Rappers Xzibit, DMX, 2Pac, Nas, 50 Cent, Nate Dogg, and P.Diddy also frequently talk of drinking straight Hennessy in their lyrics, as does the group Digital Underground in its song "The Humpty Dance". In the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Bond, rescued by a St. Bernard in Switzerland, curtly dismisses the dog and tells him to bring Five Star Hennessy. It is also commonly mixed with Hpnotiq to form a popular drink called Incredible Hulk.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is also known to have a penchant for Hennessy, purportedly being their number one customer over the past ten years.