Hennessy
Jas Hennessy & Cie., commonly known simply as Hennessy (French pronunciation: [ɛnɛsi]), is a French producer of cognac, which has its headquarters in Cognac, France.
| Founded | 1765 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Richard Hennessy |
| Headquarters | Cognac, France |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Laurent Boillot, Chairman & CEO; Boris de Vroomen, International Director |
| Products | Cognac |
| Revenue | €954.2 million (2012) |
| Owner | LVMH (66%) Diageo (34%) |
| Website | Hennessy.com |
It is one of the "big four" cognac houses, along with Martell, Courvoisier, and Rémy Martin, who together make around 85% of the world's cognac. Hennessy sells approximately 102 million bottles of its cognacs per year, making it the world's largest cognac producer, and in 2017 its sales represented around 60% of the US cognac market. As well as distilling cognac eaux-de-vie itself, the company also acts as a négociant.
The brand is owned by Moët Hennessy since a champagne & cognac merger in the early seventies, which is in turn owned by LVMH (66%) and Diageo (34%), Diageo acting as a non-controlling shareholder. Hennessy pioneered several industry-standard practices in the world of cognac, and its association with luxury has made it a regular point of reference in popular culture, especially in hip hop.