Hennessy
France > Charente · Founded 1765 · 1 drink
The largest cognac house in the world, and a house rather than a distillery: Hennessy buys eaux-de-vie from around 1,700 growers and its work is selecting, blending and ageing. 1765 is the year Richard Hennessy founded the firm, not the year a still was lit, and the producer does not name a town — "the Charente region" is as specific as its own pages get. It publishes no ingredient statement of any kind, which is worth knowing beside the house that does.