Hennessy XO Marc Newson Edition II Cognac (700 ml)

In 1870, Maurice Hennessy created the XO category for private family use — a blend so ambitious it had no commercial classification yet. That founding logic persists: over 100 eaux-de-vie, drawn from Grande Champagne's shallow clay-limestone chalk, the clay-flint soils of Borderies, Petite Champagne, and Fins Bois, aged across 65 cellars (chais) for up to approximately 30 years. Casks stored near the humid Charente riverbank yield rounder, mellower spirit; drier inland chais build structure and grip — both are present in the XO blend. Hennessy's production signature is deliberate and technically distinct: distillation is performed both with and without lees, and heads and tails are reintroduced to the brouillis before the second pass in traditional alembic charentais copper pot stills, concentrating congeners for a darker, more powerful profile than any Fine Champagne-focused house achieves. Aging is conducted in Limousin oak from Hennessy's own forests — trees felled only after 80+ years of growth, cooperaged on-site at 400–500 barrels per year by hand. The Marc Newson Edition II bottle is the special feature: industrial designer Newson's second reimagining of the XO decanter form, making this a collectible object as much as a spirit. The Fillioux family's eighth consecutive generation of master blending ensures the house style — dark fruit, rising oak spice, long warming finish — remains architecturally consistent across every non-vintage assembly.