TOP 100 MOST VALUABLE BRAND FROM INTERBRAND LIST HENNESSY 98th

Interbrand Logo

Source: https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/

by Nicola Carruthers

9th October, 2018

Hennessy (no.98/100), Jack Daniel's (no.84/100) and Johnnie Walker (no.97/100) have been ranked among the top 100 most valuable global brands on the Interbrand Best Global Brands 2018 list.

Brown-Forman-owned Jack Daniel's - which was ranked 84 on the list - moved two places down from last year to make it the highest-ranking spirit brand for the third year in a row. Interbrand valued the brand at US$5.64 billion, up 6% from 2017.

Diageo-owned Johnnie Walker made the list at 97, falling by one place from last year. Returning to the list for the ninth consecutive year, Johnnie Walker was valued at US$4.73bn - up 7% on last year.

A new entry to the list was LVMH-owned Hennessy Cognac at 98, valued at US$4.72bn.

Smirnoff vodka, which is also produced by Diageo, dropped off the top 100 list after ranking at 97 last year.

The spirits brands are three of six alcohol brands to make the list, which also includes beer brands Heineken, Budweiser and Corona.

"I'm very proud to see Johnnie Walker recognised by Interbrand as one of the 2018 Best Global Brands," said John L Williams, global brand director for Johnnie Walker.

"Johnnie Walker has been the world's most popular Scotch for more than 60 years - a true global giant, and yet one that is crafted by a small team of 12 whisky masters with the finest malts from the four corners of Scotland.

"It's an incredibly exciting time to work on this iconic brand - we've just unveiled White Walker in collaboration with HBO and Game of Thrones, and are hard at work in preparation for a new Johnnie Walker brand experience in Edinburgh."

The ranking is based on three key components that contribute to a brand's cumulative value:

1) the financial performance of the brands and services,

2) the role the brand plays in influencing customer choice,

3) and the strength the brand has to command a premium price or secure earnings for the company.

See the FULL LIST at INTERBRAND

GRAFFITI STYLE DESIGN OF PACKAGING FOR NEW LIMITED EDITION VS BY HENNESSY COGNAC

Hennessy VS Limited Edition VHILs

This 9th edition of Hennessey V.S Limited Edition is the latest in Hennessy’s ongoing series of collaborations with internationally renowned artists. This is the first edition that includes an eye catching gift box that also showcases the talent of the Portuguese Graffiti Artist know as VHILs.


Hennessy VS Limited Edition VHILs

THE ARTIST
Portuguese visual artist, Vhils, is renowned for developing the unique aesthetic of removing layers from walls and other surfaces to expose what lies beneath. Considered groundbreaking in urban and contemporary art scenes, Vhils’ innovative portraits are chiseled into city landscapes around the world.

Hennessy VS Limited Edition VHILs

Source: Hennessy.com

EXPECTED COGNAC SHORTAGE IN 2019

Cognac Sales

Cognac shortage deepens as crops destroyed

Source:

http://www.drinksbulletin.com.au/

Alana House

June 04, 2018

A little more than six months after Hennessy announced "constrained" supplies of Cognac, the industry has been plunged into crisis following devastating hailstorms in France.

More than 10,000 hectares of vineyards were damaged in late May, as pebble-sized hail stones pelted the region. Around 14% of the brandy-producing vines of Cognac were affected, with many vineyard owners saying that they had lost all hope of harvesting any grapes.

The storm hit areas not affected by this type of weather damage for more than 40 years, with just under 1000 farms suffering the ravages of the hail.

The Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC) the Cognac interprofessional organisation that acts on behalf of all Cognac growers and firms of the region said in a statement on May 26: "Our vineyards were again hit by a violent episode of hail.

"In this difficult moment, the BNIC, its elected officials and its teams express their greatest support to the winegrowers of Charente-Maritime and Charente whose vines were destroyed or damaged.

"Our services are currently in the field to evaluate the precise impact of this episode on our vineyards."

The president of the General Union of Cognac Winemakers, Christophe Véral added that it had been a "catastrophe" and a crisis meeting was likely to take place.

Two years ago, the Cognac region was also hit by hail storms. The extent of the economic impact of poor weather in Cognac for three straight years is not yet known, but is expected to be crippling.

It comes as Cognac is having a millenial-fuelled revival.

BNIC reports that cognac's three largest markets are the United States (78.7 million bottles), Singapore (23.6 million bottles) and China (22.6 million bottles).

As a large proportion of Singapore's imports are shipped on to China, it's likely that China is now the world's largest market for cognac by revenue.

According to Reuters, Hennessy owns around half of the global Cognac market.

However, the category's booming growth was already under strain due to the lack of supply Hennessy has in reserve.

In January, the wine & spirits arm of LVMH, Moet Hennessy, announced a solid jump in 2017 sales, with strong volumes growth for Hennessy Cognac (+8%), which came despite supply constraints that Moet Hennessy said slowed growth in the second half of the year.

It said supply issues, which the company highlighted throughout last year, were likely to continue in 2018, with supplies remaining "relatively constrained".

Hennessy has been planting more vines, but new vineyards will take up to six years to start producing usable grapes - even Hennessy's youngest Cognac is aged between two and eight years.

It's expected the shortage will really begin to bite in late 2019 to early 2020. Experts are suggesting that Cognac lovers stock up on more expensive bottles of Hennessy, such as the V.S.O.P., the X.O. and Hennessy Black.

COUNTERFEIT WINE BRANDED MOET-HENNESSY REPORTED IN CHINA

 

LVMH's Moet-Hennessy Unit, and logo

Source: the drinks business
by Natalie Wang
5th December, 2017

Following a formal complaint filed by French luxury group Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce has busted a local Chinese wine company which has been selling counterfeit Rhône wines it claimed were made by Moët Hennessy.

The wines in question, purported to be Côtes du Rhône, are distributed by a company called Shanghai Haotuo International Trading Company Ltd based in Beijing's Fengtai District, and each wine carries a back label stating that it's made by Moët Hennessy, using its trademarked Chinese name, reported Beijing TV.

In fact, Moët Hennessy doesn't make wines in the Côtes du Rhône or indeed any part of the Rhône Valley.

Speaking of one of the wines called; 'Wan De Da Special Reserve', an officer called Zhang Peng with the bureau, explained that: "This is to mislead consumers to let them believe the wine is produced by Moët Hennessy."

However, the wine in question has a front label that says it's a Côtes du Rhône Villages Sablet 2003 with a suspiciously sounding French company name called 'France Henris Co Ltd'. Henris in Chinese sounds phonetically similar to Moët Hennessy's Chinese name.

Another imperial bottle claimed to be made by Moët Hennessy with a Chinese name 'Wei Da Mu Special Reserve' is described as "the most treasured bottle" in the shop. It sells for a staggering RMB 99,999 (US$15,121) a bottle. The wine's label says it's a 2007 Côtes du Rhône Sablet, but its back label says it's made by Moët Hennessy.

According to the report, police found more than 500 bottles of counterfeit wines with labels saying they are produced by Moët Hennessy. The wines' retail prices at the shop range from RMB 300 to RMB 99,999.

In a Chinese statement by Moët Hennessy, the company reiterated that it "under no circumstances" had granted Shanghai Haotuo International Trading Company Ltd any right to use its company name, and the products are not produced by Moët.

It's unclear based on the report if any suspect has been arrested.

This is the latest case taken by Moët to crack down on counterfeit wines using its branded names. Previously the company won a court case against wine auction house Acker Merrall & Condit concerning a counterfeit bottle of Krug Collection 1947.

HENNESSY IS ALSO MAKING CRAFT COGNAC NOW!

 

Cognac Hennessy Master Blender's No2

Hennessy's getting into Craft Cognac

Hennessy has launched the second release in its limited edition Master Blender’s Selection series. Master Blender’s Selection N°2 is made from eaux-de-vie selected by former master blender Yann Fillioux and bottled at 43% abv. 

Fillioux’s nephew, Renaud Fillioux de Gironde, took over as master blender this past July, succeeding his uncle after a 50-year tenure.

The new bottling is composed of eaux-de-vie that are at least 10 years old, aged for 18 months in young coarse-grained French oak barrels before additional aging in old barrels. 

Hennessy Master Blender’s Selection N°2 is available now at a suggested price of $92 a 750-ml., exclusively in the U.S.

 

Cognac Hennessy Master Blender's No1

The Edition Limitee No1 had been released in October 2016.

Source: ShankenDailyNews

HUGE GROWTH OF COGNAC SALES IN THE US

 

Cognac Sales Image Logo Icon

Cognac market sales could surpass the 6 million case volume in the USA.
Cognac continues to thrive in the USA with category leader Hennessy leading the way. Or dominating would be a more proper statement.

Depletion was 17% up in 2016 compare to 2015, with over 1 billion USD sales which is 5 times more than 2011 in the US.

Hennessy makes 1.6 billion USD sales of cognac/year/world and it is looking at beaking the 2 billion USD sales soon which would be the new high.

Remy Martin plays well as a 2nd with +9% sales and a volume of  823,000 cases sold in 2016.  Remy Martin is in contrast to Hennessy in particular focusing on non-VS qualities such as VSOP and 1738 Accord Royal, noting sales from Jan-Sept to be +15% with $431m worldwide, and interest for higher end cognac in the USA.

Courvoisier (owned by Beam Suntor) is the third-largest Cognac in the U.S., and advanced by 6.2% to 470,000 cases in 2016.

Martell (owned by Pernod-Ricard) ranked fourth, and crossed 100,000 cases last year on 6% growth after starting a come back in the USA in 2016. They had left to focus on China but ...
Cognac d’Ussé (a Bacardi brand) launched in 2012, made in 2016 +48% with 86,000 cases sold. It is produced by Cognac Otard not sure why Bacardi is not interested in Otard!

Source: ShankenNews

MOET HENNESSY IN THE HAND OF SCHAUS NOW

LVMH's Moet-Hennessy Unit, and logo

Moët Hennessy’s Christophe Navarre is stepping down from his role as CEO, departing the drinks company to focus full-time on his investment fund Neptune International. Navarre joined LVMH in 1997 as president and CEO of JAS Hennessy & Co., and has served as CEO of LVMH’s Moët Hennessy division.

This division is composed of a portfolio which includes Moët & Chandon, Dom Pérignon, Ruinart, Krug and Veuve Clicquot Champagne brands, but also spirits with Hennessy Cognac,  Glenmorangie Scotch whiskies, Ardbeg Scotch whiskies and Belvedere Vodka, and other wines such as Cheval des Andes, Newton Vineyard, Numanthia and Terrazas de los Andes.

Hennessy, in particular, has enjoyed an impressive rise during Navarre’s management, with the brand surging 22% to 3.7 million cases in the U.S. last year, accounting for roughly two-thirds of the overall Cognac market.

Philippe Schaus, who currently manages LVMH’s luxury travel retail division DFS Group, has been named as Navarre’s successor. A 14-year LVMH veteran, Schaus previously served as executive vice president of Louis Vuitton between 2009 and 2011, and was named chairman and chief executive officer of DFS in 2012.

COGNAC HENNESSY IS LAUNCHING IN KENYA

 

Cognac Hennessy in Kenya

After pushing hard in Nigeria, Hennessy is now starting to distribute its cognac in Kenya to take the opportunity of Africa’s second-largest luxury-goods market, with a market growth expected to be double digit.

In 2017, Kenya has 9,400 dollar millionaires, fourth-highest in Africa, and 17000 millionaires are expected in 2027.

Kenya was Africa’s second-largest market for luxury goods in 2016, with revenue of about $500 million, up 25 percent from a year earlier, according to a report by New World Wealth, a Johannesburg-based research group. The country ranked behind South Africa’s $2.3 billion market and ahead of Nigeria, it said. Brands like Hennessy are expanding their reach on the continent to tap into growing numbers of middle-class and rich people.

Source: Bloomberg

WASHINGTON STATE LARGEST DISTILLERY OF AMERICAN WHISKEY BOUGHT BY CONGLOMERATE MOET HENNESSY

 

Woodinville Whiskey

Woodinville Whiskey Co., another craft distillery has been bought out but this time by a huge Cognac & Champagne conglomerate, ie, Moët Hennessy.
This is the first time Moët Hennessy are making a move into the craft spirit movement. We know of their ownership of scotch whisky Glenmorangie and Ardberg, but they did not own any small craft spirits.

This follows a trend, last year Pernod bought West Virginia's Smooth Ambler Spirits Co., while Remy Cointreau acquired Westland Distillery also located in the State of Washington.

The sale is a strategic move by the founders Brett Carlile and Orlin Sorensen to help Washington State's largest distillery to grow and expand since establishement in 2010.
Originally, the whiskeys were only available in the State of Washington but one can imagine this will change now.

Source: Woodinville Whiskey Co.

NEW HENNESSY XO IN JULY 2017

Hennessy XO, Limited Edition designed by Australian Marc Newsome

Hennessy is launching this mont of July 2017 a new XO Cognac created by industrial designer Marc Newson.
The limited edition Marc Newson designed Hennessy XO bottle will retail for $200.
In 2016, Hennessy reached 22% to 3.7 million cases in the U.S., which makes 75% of the cognac category, helping to keep the category relevant.

Source: Photo (www.hennessy.com)

CHINA IS PRODUCING EXPENSIVE WINES

Moet Hennessey is bringing the first high-end wine made in China to US shelves with a price tag of $300 per bottle. Its Ao Yun red wine, meaning "above the clouds," is made in a remote part of the Himalayan plateau, a high-altitude region with steady weather.

Most Expensive wine made in China

The winery is in Yunnan Province, the most southerly in China, hard against the borders of Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar.

Made of Cabernet-Sauvignon grapes, possibly Cabernet-Franc, vines were planted by Chinese government and nobody is 100% sure.

A new stunning project from M-H worths following...

Source: Forbes

LILAC HENNESSY HEADPHANIE YOUNG M.A. ... ALL THIS IS CONFUSING!!

Hennessy Cognac has had many relationships with rappers and Hip-Hop culture artists, and many limited edition bottles with amazing designs, i.e., Hennessy VS artistry.

Lilac Company, a Florida-based company recently launched a new product, "Headphanie" Hennessy.

Young M.A an up-coming female rapper from NY sings in one of her song "every time I'm out, why she stressin' me?/You call her Stephanie? I call her Headphanie".

It appears that Lilac Company did not have any agreement with neither Hennessy nor Young M.A., and hence the products are bieng taken away.

Source: Pulse

HENNESSY COGNAC MAKES A ONE-OFF COGNAC WITH BOURBON NOTES

Hennessy is trying to capitalize on the bourbon whiskey boom by making a cognac that emulates the tasting notes of a bourbon, a new cognac called the 'Master Blender's Selection' = MBS.

According to adult beverage research firm IWSR, sales of super-premium bourbon increased 28.8 percent from 2011 to 2015. Meanwhile, comparable cognac sales increased 9.5 percent.

A more biting 43 percent ABV, a distillation with high levels of lees, not just fermented juice but skins too. Tastings show more spices and long finish with candied apricot and almond notes, and rugged square bottle shape.

Hennessy MBS 1, Bourbon Like

Another particularity of MBS, is that these cognacs are supposed to be one-off production. This goes against the tradition of making consistent cognac made the same year-after-year.

This is a great idea, and I expect a number 2 and 3 and so forth...

Master Blender’s Selection No. 1 will be available in 375ml ($45) and 750ml ($80) sizes, with a total case run of 9,300, sold exclusively in the U.S. When it’s gone, it’s gone.

Source: Bloomberg

HENNESSY MAKES A TRIBUTE TO THE BLEND OF ALEXANDER I

A tribute to the blend created originally by Jean Fillioux following a request made in 1818 by the Russian Imperial Court of Tsar Alexander I, Master Blender Yann Fillioux created Hennessy Paradis Imperial in 2011.

The bottle is outstanding as well as the packaging is amazing. A great deal of work from little hands putting much know how to accomplish such a quality final product. That 'flange' sort of transparent rim is very unique to many of the high end bottles found on the premium cognacs offered by Hennessy.

Cognac Hennessy Paradis Imperial

A blend of more than 100 of the finest eaux-de-vie, some of which are said to be 130 years in old.

This cognac is described as with unique character, elegance and balance. Paradis Impérial's subtle elegance reveals itself with the aromas of jasmine, orange blossom and other flowery notes, spiced with smoky accents to create a uniquely balanced spirit. One should enjoy this cognac neat in a crystal tulip glass.

HENNESSY IS KEEPING UP WITH GROWING GLOBAL DEMAND MOSTLY IN THE US

Moët Hennessy’s flagship  brand, namely, Hennessy Cognac continues to see sales increases in its U.S. market.

With a 64% share of the U.S. Cognac market, Hennessy’s accelerated pace helped drive the category’s total U.S. depletions to just under 4 million cases on a 7.7% increase last year.
Hennessy is trying to (1) widen Cognac’s audience and (2) cognac's consumption occasions.

Hennessy Cognac is a leader in the category to invest in reaching out to mixologists and have significantly built up on this momentum. But also through its campaign "never stop.never settle" and the inspiration from the "wild rabbit", Hennessy has drawn a great deal of positive attention.

The breadth Hennessy's product line allows the brand to cover wider market segments: VS ($32), Black ($40) and VSOP Privilège ($50-$60) tiers. In a Upward stretch the range also includes Hennessy XO ($160), Paradis ($250), Paradis Impérial ($3,000) and the deluxe model Hennessy Richard ($4,800).

With Hennessy's limited edition Artist Series bottles, such as with with OS GEMEOS, FUTURA, SHEPARD FAIREY, KAWS, KESH BURROWS, and more recently RYAN MCGINNESS.

The brand is able to provide experiential marketing views so important to millennial consumers as emotional references. This target is very focused on the pleasurable and meaningful aspects of brand interaction.

Hennessy Product Line 2015

To keep up with growing global demand, Moët Hennessy recently broke ground on a new 26,000-square-meter (280,000-square-foot) shipping and bottling facility in Cognac. The Pont Neuf facility will have a production capacity of about 10 million cases a year when it becomes operational, expected by 2017.

Source: Shanken News, Hennessy Cognac

NEW VS FLASK FROM HENNESSY IN ANIMATION VIDEO

Below is a video animation by www.ncortinhal.com .

http://youtu.be/XJ0wKJnEiYY

Last year,  Nuno Cortinhal created a video animation for the launch of the new Hennessy flasks.

[vimeo 102940515 w=500 h=281]

Hennessy Flasks 2014 from Newzulu on Vimeo.

SPIRITS SALES ARE ONLY 1.5% UP IN 2014

Overall, 2014 is not going to be remembered as a great year for sales of spirits with only 1.5% increased sales in the USA.

Only a few brands particularly a few brands of vodka have recorded a nice growth such as Amsterdam vodka (+24.7% to 2.5 million cases) and Cîroc vodka (+9%).

Hennessy Cognac's sales have also significantly increased with +7.5%.

Sources: Shanken Daily News

HENNESSY IS BEING SAVVY IN THIS DIFFICULT TIME

With cognac market falling in China by 19% to 1.5 million cases last year due to Chinese government tightening on conspicuous behaviors, cognac houses are re-focusing on the USA, which remains Cognac’s largest market by volume at approximately 4 million cases.

In addition, the cognac houses are introducing a great deal of innovations with a premiumization and launching limited edition: Remy Martin VSOP Cask Finish, Hennessy VS designed by Shepard Fairey, etc.

In particular, Hennessy is coming out of this turbulent times with some good growths and prospect of more growth estimated at about +5% in the coming months. These results come from specifically 4 continuous efforts:

1) Deep pocket spending on advertising & promotions.

2) Months after months, campaigns after campaigns rigorous pressure on the young Legal Drinking Age (LDA) consumers fueled by Hip Hop artists and , but not only, as Hennessy has widen its appeal with celebrities such as Manny Pacquiao, and vintage legends such as Sir Malcolm Campbell and his iconic Bluebird.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb2x87zq0qI&w=560&h=315]

 3) Dedicated segmentation, target, and positioning plans aiming at precisely reaching specific personas:

. NAS campaigns for instance, with African American targets.

. Manny Pacquiao for instance, with Hispanic targets.

. Sir Malcolm Campbell for instance, with mainstream markets.

4) Continuous innovations. Open mindedness and innovation are 2 different things but innovation requires open mindedness. Hennessy is thoroughly embracing creativity and setting new standards n the industry. Hennessy has dominated the cognac industry for 100 of years. How impressive!

What the future holds? A growing Hispanic population consuming cognac.

Source: Shanken Daily News

RAPPER NAS TALKS ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE VISITING HENNESSY'S FACILITY IN COGNAC

Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones better known as Nas is an American rapper and actor. Since 1994, Nas has released eight consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums and sold over 25 million records worldwide. His tenth studio album, Life is Good was released in 2012.  Nas is also an entrepreneur through his own record label, retail sneaker store, and magazine publishing.

His musical career began in 1991 when he was featured on Main Source’s track "Live at the Barbeque". His debut album Illmatic released in 1994, received universal acclaim from both critics and the hip hop community. It is frequently ranked as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql8m4SK_30k&w=560&h=315]

Nas is often named as one of the top hip hop artists. MTV ranked him at number 5 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time and fourth on MTV's "Hottest MCs in the Game" list (2012/2013).

NAS and Jay-Z have been criticizing each other for many years. In fact, one may say that they have a great deal in common per the above but also having made a strong reputation for their engaged lyrics.

NAS is one of the celebrity icons used by Hennessy in their ‘Wild Rabbit’ program launched last year.

Sources: http://www.hennessy.com/us/nas-a-journey-to-cognac

HENNESSY WILD RABBIT GOING FOR ANOTHER YEAR

Hennessy, the number one selling Cognac brand in the world, announced this month that its successful “Wild Rabbit” campaign will continue for a second year. Centered on the notion that true greatness is reserved for those who have reached a level of mastery yet still push for more success, the “Wild Rabbit” program draws parallels among the journeys of leading icons in various fields and the paths being forged by Hennessy aficionados.

Wild Rabbit

The award-winning campaign, which in 2012 spotlighted inspiring tales of such masters as Manny Pacquiao , Erykah Badu and Martin Scorsese , will add a new ambassador to their ranks: multi-platinum recording artist and rhyme master, Nas.

Nasir Jones 'NAS'

Nas gave a statement on teaming up with Hennessy, as he said: "this partnership with Hennessy has been almost two decades in the making".

He also added: "I am honored to be included in the group of previous partners Hennessy has selected over the years and hope this campaign will inspire others to ‘never stop, never settle".

Rodney Williams, Senior VP, Moet Hennessy USA spoke on working with Nas: "our ‘never stop, never settle’ mantra communicates a value at the core of who we are as a brand and resonates with our consumers: pursuing one’s potential comes from an inner drive to continuously grow, continuously improve and seek greater levels of mastery."

Source: News: www.hiphopdx.com

Source: Photos: Wikipedia