Though I claim ignorance of most pop culture, especially “urban” stuff or anything perpetuated by the cancer that is MTV, I knew we couldn’t escape reviewing Hennessy. Hennessy V.S cognac has been made popular in recent years by Hip-Hip/Rap music, so all of the self-proclaimed urbanites flock to it at the bar when they want to feel classy or upscale. That’s just wonderful, but is this a liquor that is worth the hype? Once again, we at BoozeBasher do the dirty work of discovery for you.
Hennessy ages their V.S cognac for up to 8 years in new Limousin French oak casks. They claim V.S is a blend of 40 or so different brandies that are selected from the cognac region of France. They claim the blend and maturation give the final product a bold yet harmonious taste with very subtle nuances. It’s packaged in a simple bottle with a logo of what looks to be a knight’s arm holding a battle axe. I’m too lazy to research its meaning, but I’m going to assume it means that the “bold” taste is going to slaughter your taste buds.
The smell of Hennessy is pretty potent. A whiff of this stuff will have you backpedaling if you aren’t prepared for its boldness. If you can get past the slap in the face of the fruit aromas that are reminiscent of a cheap red wine, you will notice a subltle spiciness with hints of vanilla and oak. I was hoping the taste would be dominated by those subtle flavors, but it just wasn’t in the cards.
In the traditional fashion, we sipped Hennessy neat to give our sipability rating. No one was impressed by the neat taste. Hennessy is extremely “bold” up front, so “bold” in fact that it makes my tongue cringe every time it enters my mouth. All of the flavors combine to give you an upper-cut to the gut. Maybe I should have taken the battle axe on the bottle as a warning. The finish, unfortunately, is also quite strong. If you focus really hard on the taste and ignore your watering eyes, you can taste the yummy little vanilla and oaky spiciness that, as I previously mentioned, was hoping would dominate this cognac’s taste. You have to pay close attention though because soon after Hennessy goes down your throat, a sinister burn quickly follows. I’m all about bold and complex flavors, but Hennessy’s V.S really takes the boldness too far. The finish is a dry one with a hint of oakiness, but the flavor of rotten grape comes along too. With those flavors combined, the finish can be likened to licking a used ashtray. Honestly, it was that offensive to my pallet. when it comes to liquor, I expect a much more pleasant experience for a $35 750ml bottle.
Hennessy proved to be more drinkable when mixed with Coke. The Coke takes away most of the sucker punch to the gut, but at the same time, it drowns out the yummy spicy and oaky flavors. It would be much cheaper to purchase a can of Coke and drink it from a dirty ashtray, and the taste might be comparable. The finish with Coke is still pretty foul, and there is still a slight burn. Though not tasty, the mixture is much easier to stomach and made for relatively easy consumption. After a few drinks, I began to convince myself that I was just drinking a coke that was garnished with bad fruit. I was easily able to toss back the four shots worth of Hennessy V.S after cutting it with the Coke.
After tossing back the required amount of this stuff and cursing MTV and pop culture for making this stuff popular, I noticed a slight buzz. It definitely wasn’t anything too fantastic, but I became mellow and felt like my nerves had been calmed a little. That was a plus, but the fact that I was only slightly buzzed makes me doubt Hennessy’s 80-proof punch. After consuming my Hennessy, I felt the need to enjoy a little video “entertainment” on my computer. I was baffled by the trendy elevator music that blared from my speakers when I depressed the power button. I didn’t recall having heard that music washing out the brilliant intellectual discourse in my video previously, and I was even more startled when the music didn’t pause with my video. I noticed the Hennessy website window was minimized and let loose a sigh of relief when the music stopped after closing it. Hooray for uninterrupted entertainment!
The morning after my Hennessy debauchery, I felt like a new man. I was a little groggy but overall, refreshed and alert. Though they may have failed when it comes to taste, Hennessy must actually use quality ingredients to make their product. My lack of a hangover stands as proof. Maybe they just need to rethink the mixture of everything, or perhaps my taste buds just aren’t refined enough to derive pleasure from drinking Hennessy V.S, but it would take a good bit to convince me of that. If you think you can handle it, give the stuff a try and let us know your opinion.
Sipability - 4.0
Mixability - 6.0
Drunkability - 5.5
Hangover-ability - 9.0
Bang for the Buck - 6.0
Overall - 6.0 
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Comments
yeah, i drank a bottle of this years ago and had the same experience.
it is the only cognac that i have had…makes me wonder if its all this rough.
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