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“Eaux-de-vie” by Zhang Huan​​

Commissioned by Maison Hennessy for the 2020 Chinese New Year “Eaux-de-vie” by the leading Chinese contemporary artist Zhang Huan pays pictorial and metaphorical tribute to spirituality and celebration.​​

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Measuring over six meters long, the larger-than-life oil painting represents Hennessy eaux-de-vie as brightly-colored cellules that seem to float freely across the canvas, by turns evoking grapes / "eaux-de-vie" cells or fiery lanterns. The longer you look, the more each one seems to take on a life of its own. Red, the dominant hue, telegraphs the joy and optimism of the New Year. ​

“Eaux-de-vie” by Zhang Huan​​

Zhang Huan's atelier

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Hennessy X.O 

In 1870, Maurice Hennessy created Hennessy X.O for his circle of friends and introduced a new style of cognac.  Hennessy X.O is the Original, the emblematic icon of the Hennessy Maison. 
Deep and powerful, the eaux-de-vie of this Hennessy X.O cognac are aged in young barrels and marked out by their power and energy, but also by their capacity to achieve a great roundness through time.
Our Tasting Committee has explored every facet of the blend and identified several emotions that were assimilated to an Odyssey through 7 chapters: 

  • Sweet Notes: The palate is warmly embraced by flavors of candied fruit.
  • Rising Heat: The intriguing sensation of an intense, rising heat slowly reveals the complex taste of eaux-de-vie patiently aged in oak barrels.
  • Spicy Edge: Perception of a strong spicy cognac note, tantalising the lips and palate with its distinct peppery flavor intertwined with a hint of chocolate. 
  • Flowing Flame: A wave of warmth grows, crests and then breaks. A robust presence, full and voluptuous, is felt. 
  • Chocolate Lull: There is the gradual discovery of something very familiar. It is the well-rounded flavor of a rich, dark chocolate.
  • Wood Crunches: A striking sensation is suddenly felt – the vigorous ebb and flow of oak notes interlaced with vanilla.
  • Infinite Echo: The evanescent oak notes leave a long, omnipresent finish in their wake. Seemingly endless, it echoes all of the subtleties of each taste and sensation that has preceded it.