Updated March 2026
Hennessy V.S.O.P is cognac from the Cognac AOC in France — brandy, not whiskey — typically bottled at 40% ABV / 80 proof on US labels. The house blends more than sixty eaux-de-vie; BNIC’s V.S.O.P rule only requires the youngest to have spent four years in oak. This is the Privilege bottle, not V.S and not X.O. Read the neck if you are outside the United States. Line context: Hennessy hub.
| Size | ABV | Style | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 750 mL | 40% / 80 proof (typical US) | V.S.O.P cognac | France (Cognac AOC) |
What the bottle actually is
V.S.O.P means Very Special Old Pale — Hennessy’s wording. It is an age-band, not a vintage and not a promise that every drop sat fifteen years. Trade copy likes to mention eaux-de-vie aged “up to” longer than the legal floor. The legal floor is four. A 1.5-ounce pour at 40% is one NIAAA standard drink; a 750 mL is about 17. See how much alcohol is in Hennessy and what proof is Hennessy.
hennessy.com product tiles often omit ABV. Forty percent is the US trade standard for core V.S / V.S.O.P / X.O, matching this 2024 catalog row. Confirm the label. Some limited sleeves have printed a different strength.
Lab notes
Nose, rewritten from the house brief rather than pasted: ripe orchard fruit first, then honey and a sweet-spice rack — cinnamon, clove — with a rose-petal lift that keeps it from reading as dessert sauce. Palate is generous and round. Mango and citrus sit on top of honeysuckle; the mid-palate is more fruit than oak. Finish stays velvety if you give it air. That is a tasting-bench sketch, not a score.
Neat in a small tulip, or one large ice cube if you want the spice to slow down. It also carries a simple highball. Do not treat four pours as “just cognac.” Four 1.5-ounce pours are four drinks. NIAAA binge pattern is a health line, not a target.
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