Sometimes, on incredibly rare occasions, great experiences come on the other side of stepping into a private concierge vehicle that has been instructed to take you to an undisclosed location - this is that one time it happens.

Cognac's cultural lynchpin Hennessy is celebrating its collaboration with Spanish luxury brand LOEWE for the 2025 season and this promises to be experientially spectacular in every sense of the word.

Once I had gotten on location, I was greeted with what must have felt like the closest thing to seeing Heaven. A multi-panelled display shaped around the iconic Hennessy Paradis called ones eyes towards the name of the Cognac expression at the end of the light display tunnel, whilst a kindly and focused musician played the traditional Chinese guzheng string instrument, with then candles laid around the passageway. A cinderblock-esque wall encases a bottle of Hennessy Paradis a la Han Solo, with the text Paradis Is On Earth to be read on the left hand corner of the frame. If this wasn't some sort of existential out of body experience, well, you could have fooled me.

Regardless I press on - in truth I'm joined by an entourage of fellow invitees - and march towards my hopeful destination being that of the chance to get to try Hennessy's Paradis Cognac. The Hennessy Paradis was first dreamt up in 1979 by sixth-generation Maurice Fillioux (the great-grandson of second-generation master blender Emile Fillioux who created the Hennessy XO and XXO) - the first flagship Hennessy expression in just over 100 years - you bet that the excitement was palpable. Maurice Fillioux had been a big aficionado of symphonic music which he saw as intimately resembling of Cognac blending, and as such had wanted to embody a symphony in Cognac. He would meticulously assemble a blend of over 100 of the house's best parcels of eaux-de-vie (the grape brandy which we call Cognac), all of which aged for at least 25 years, with some said to be up to a 100 years old, drawn specially from Hennessy's Le Paradis - that is, the oldest parts of the famed house's cellars, reserved for what the house deems as the best eaux-de-vie's that are worthy of passing on from one generation to the next as almost an heirloom. And so the Hennessy Paradis, composed of Ugni Blanc single grape varietal Cognacs from several notable crus around the (Cognac) region including the legendary Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Fins Bois and Borderies, was thus created to offer fans access to some of the most precious brandy coming from the category's most dominant house.

Maurice Fillioux would liken the blend to "a symphonic orchestra [with] classical music that takes you away and connects with your emotions", and thus presenting a Cognac that was both harmonious and compelling. 

It's since been close to half a century since Fillioux had debuted the Hennessy Paradis, and in that time the keys to the cellar have passed on to seventh-generation Yann Fillioux, and today lies in the hands of eighth-generation Renaud Fillioux de Gironde, with the now iconic expression having itself become elevated as with its siblings, taking on numerous cultural reinterpretations and thus allowing the layers of significance and heritage to build up around it - yet it remains very much the one and only Hennessy Paradis.

And so this year, in 2025, it's been announced that as part of the collaboration with LOEWE - which by the way, has been on the most impressive tear with the living legend Jonathan Anderson leading the charge as Creative Director of the historic luxury house - the Hennessy Paradis will get its own outer wear in what is called objet d'art. Inspired by chestnut burr, LOEWE has enlisted its artisans in creating a handcrafted leather encasement for the Cognac's decanter. Each leather jacket (it comes in three distinct colours, each reflecting the lifecycle of a chestnut, from anise to ambar and finally chestnut) takes over 10 hours of work to craft - 1,000 hours if I had to do it, really - and serves as a nest to functionally protect the decanter, whilst also paying homage to the chestnut wood circles said to be traditionally used to safeguard Hennessy's barrels of Cognac. Only Jonathan Anderson could have spotted such a detail, I on the hand was terribly fixated on the thought as to whether or not I myself could ever warrant a custom-made leather encasement. It is nevertheless a very cool intersection between Hennessy and LOEWE's respective savoir faire - seeing it in person almost tickles the senses where the leather outerwear feels like it breaks the fourth wall of the Cognac coming forth towards me instead of staying out of reach within its decanter. Visually it's also a very satisfying juxtaposition between the seamless amber liquid housed inside the smooth and rounded decanter and a highly textural exterior that flares out in every spontaneous direction. There's alot going on here and I'm loving it.

We're then ushered towards a central gathering point where we're taken to yet another collaboration - this time with famed perfume house Maison 21G which has been enlisted to recreating Hennessy in the form of a scent. That shouldn't be much of a surprise considering how much time is spent nosing Cognac and enjoying its aromas that's shaped over decades and with the skilful hand of the Cellar Master. What is surprising though is just how remarkably similar the perfume actually was to Hennessy's Cognac! Call me mindblown, but the resemblance was absolutely remarkable, with perhaps Maison 21G's scent giving just that much more green mangoes - thankfully it was made abundantly clear, and even repeated, that what I was nosing was Maison 21G's Hennessy scent and not in fact the Cognac itself, otherwise it might have proven to be quite the disaster. As was elaborated to us, Maison 21G's craftsmen had broken down the full flagship lineup of Hennessy's Cognacs into their major scents, and so using the combination of Tonka, Osmanthus, Cacao, Black Pepper, Caramel, Sandalwood, Leather and Patchouli, they were able to reinterpret and recreate the Hennessy Paradis as an aroma. This collaboration, titled Senses of Hennessy, between Maison 21G's Johanna Monange and Hennessy's Renaud Fillioux de Gironde spanned months of back and forth, and has since been rolled out at select Travel Retail experience centers from Paris' CDG Airport to the Macao Four Seasons. 

And now finally to cap off the experience, we were offered a pour of, of course, Hennessy Paradis - a landmark moment for any Cognac fan!

Tasting Notes

Colour: Mahogany

Aroma: Ripe, perfumed, layered. Opens with a perfumed wave of ripe fruit; apricots leaning into slightly green and tart mango. There’s an abundance of red fruit, with raspberries, cherries, and a deep red fruit preserve that just edges into jamminess. A faint sweet milk chocolate note sits underneath, before a grounding quality offered by earthier aromatics of tobacco, autumnal leaves and a touch of damp earth. A distinctive subtle minerality that leans toward slate. The red fruits remain soft and rounded throughout, cushioning some gentle baking spices. Toward the edges, there’s a candied orange note, like orange jelly candy. Overall, the nose is rich very, layered, generous, driven primarily by fruit but with clear aromatic oak depth.

Taste: Mirrors the richness of the nose but takes on a softly spiced, oakier form with a good sense of weight and viscosity. It is full-bodied and robust, with a firm but precisely balanced grip of tobacco pipe and bitter oak that quickly mellows into chocolate and baking spices. Vanilla tonka beans thread through the mid-palate, bringing a creamier softness along with honeyed tones. A faint herbaceous streak cuts through, reminding me of herbal candies, before the light cinnamon and nutmeg perk up again toward the end. Great balance of oak bitterness, sweetness and spice on a palate with both heft and direction.

Finish: Long, slightly warm, and gently herbaceous. The honeyed sweetness that carried through the palate lingers here, recalling Woods candy and soft herbal jelly. There are echoes of autumnal leaves, light herbs, and a faint tea-like dryness that keeps the ending quite aromatic and graceful. Aromatic sandalwood remains present into the finish.

My Thoughts

The Hennessy Paradis strikes me as very generous yet impeccably balanced. The nose is fantastically ripe and layered, while the palate begins with boldness and robustness but eventually softens into something rounded and gentle, showing restraint where over-oaking could have dominated for a highly aged Cognac. I love how the European oak influence comes across, not in heavy tannins or raw bitterness, but in aromatic subtleties that complement rather than overwhelm. It feels both expansive and precise, a rare balance that makes it stand out.

Altogether it was a wonderful night put together by the Moet Hennessy Diageo team - very multi-sensorial, from sight to smell, sound to touch, and of course taste, and truly the evening felt like a dream.

For those keen on the Hennessy x LOEWE collaboration, it's currently already available in the markets in which it's rolled out at, with the classic 70cl (or 700ml) Hennessy Paradis decanter encased in the leather nest with matching accessories, priced at EUR 2,600. Hennessy also has its first ever 3L Hennessy Paradis decanter paired with a handcrafted leather casing (that comes with a belt, neck clip, and a dedicated service ritual, with also two glasses and a pipette) that's now available with the collab.

@CharsiuCharlie