Hennessy Wins Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition

NEW YORK, June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Hennessy, the number one selling cognac in the world, today announced that its Paradis marque received Double Gold and Richard marque received Gold at the prestigious Packaging Design Competition at this year's San Francisco World Spirits Competition. These blends, like their bottles, truly embody the uniqueness and complexity of an ultimate cognac.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100608/NY17360 )

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100608/NY17360 )

Double Gold winner Hennessy Paradis is an elegant cognac created in 1979. This flamboyant cognac is the fruit of successive blends that combine a hundred exceptional eaux-de-vie aged from 25 to 130 years. Paradis surprises with its spicy touches, seduces with its restrained strength and invades with its heady notes which, voluptuous and sensual, captivate and persist for a long time.  Like a precious stone, a box protects the Hennessy Paradis decanter, which combines sensual elegance and contemporary design. The satin metallic texture of the refined and tactile materials invite the touch, and its bright shades with reflections of white and yellow gold, bronze and chocolate pay tribute to the flamboyant personality of this exceptional cognac. An original opening system allows Paradis to be displayed, transforming the box into a magnificent presentation case. Once open, it reveals the seductive power of the decanter, with its sensual curves, pure and smooth like skin, transparent and clear like a ruby, the king of precious crystals.

Gold winner Hennessy Richard is among the world's rare and precious masterpieces. The fruit of a particular savoir-faire, held to rigorous standards, it is the soul of the House of Hennessy. Hennessy Richard is a complex cognac with infinite aromas and an exceptional blend of over 100 extremely rare eaux-de-vie matured to their fullest expression. In a pure crystal carafe, reflecting contemporary design, Hennessy Richard rests in its solid strongbox. Each carafe for Hennessy Richard is unique, numbered and facetted. The bottle's striking form is made of pure, hand-blown crystal by Baccarat's most skilled glassblowers and each piece is hand worked by a "master craftsman" engraver. Made of the finest ash, the strongbox requires thirty hours of labor and is covered with 14 layers of lacquer. Hennessy Richard, cloaked in majesty and nestled in its dark hollow, sparkles like a diamond and is crowned with a silver stopper.

"It is an honor to receive an award from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition," said Andy Glaser, Senior Vice President Hennessy Business. "Hennessy Paradis and Hennessy Richard are truly in a different class of cognacs, so it is great to see them being recognized for their unique appeal and high standard of originality."

This year's San Francisco World Spirits Packaging Division Awards recognized excellence in package design in the spirits industry. The judges, comprised of San Francisco Bay area design professionals, selected the winning designs based on their artistic merit and brand-enhancing communicative qualities.

This year marked the 10th Anniversary of the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, one of the most influential and respected spirits competitions in the world. Thirty of the most prestigious spirits experts from around the country gathered for two days in downtown San Francisco to reward spirits excellence by evaluating over 1,000 different spirits from 57 countries. After ranking the best in each category, the Double Gold medal winners were reserved for those spirits that received a unanimous vote for a Gold medal by all the judges on the panel. All of the award-winning products are featured on the competition's website, www.sfspiritscomp.com, and Double Gold and Gold medal winners were featured in the May 2010 issue of The Tasting Panel Magazine.

For more information on Hennessy Paradis and Hennessy Richard, visit www.hennessy.com.

About Hennessy

Hennessy is imported and distributed in the U.S. by Moet Hennessy USA and is a subsidiary of LVMH (Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton). Hennessy distills, ages and blends a full range of marques, including Hennessy V.S, Privilege V.S.O.P, Hennessy Black, X.O, Paradis and Richard Hennessy.

SOURCE Hennessy