Country: France. Region: Cognac. Bottle size: 70cl. In 1765, Irish aristocrat Richard Hennessy – who had been serving in the French forces – founded an eaux-de-vie trading business in Cognac. Under his son James, the company expanded rapidly and the name Hennessy has been interlinked with the history of cognac ever since. Today Hennessy is the uncontested leader in cognac, its X.O, Paradis and Richard Hennessy are benchmarks of excellence in the world of cognacs and icons of refinement and luxury. This success is far from simply fortuitous, reflecting an unyielding focus on quality. What’s more, the talents of seven generations of Master Blenders from the Fillioux family have enabled Hennessy to constitute the most remarkable reserves of rare eaux de vie in the world. Just arrived in the UK, the Hennessy Paradis Impérial is the newest edition to the Hennessy prestige range and an exclusive cognac that reinterprets the 19th-century blend commissioned by the Russian Imperial Court.