H by Hine VSOP

TAST­ING NOTES FROM THE CURATOR

Though not as young as a VS, H by Hine VSOP is a rel­a­tive­ly young cognac that leads with a spright­ly and joy­ful char­ac­ter, a beau­ti­ful taste to intro­duce the world of cognac to any drinker.

Draw­ing its iden­ti­ty from the heart of 2 Pre­mier Crus, this cognac is a blend of 20 eaux-de-vie from Grande Cham­pagne and Petite Cham­pagne which is then aged in French oak bar­rels of Lim­ou­sin or Tron­cais for a min­i­mum of 4 years, H by Hine VSOP is a dark and del­i­cate cham­pagne cognac, youth­ful, expres­sive yet refined.

A deep amber in col­or, the bou­quet is that of baked raisins, dried apri­cots and vanil­la. The taste is medi­um-bod­ied and silky, reveal­ing nuanced flavours of fresh apri­cots, white peach­es and crème caramel fol­lowed by under­tones of warm pep­pery spice. 

PREPA­RA­TION OR PAIRINGS

A cognac that can only be described as full of joie de vivre, H by Hine VSOP is great served neat or on the rocks, it is a mar­velous cognac for cock­tails and mixed drinks. Pre­pare a cognac man­hat­tan with ver­mouth and a dash of Angos­tu­ra bit­ters or keep it sim­ple and try this with a splash of Fen­ti­mans Gin­ger Ale or ton­ic water and gar­nish with a sprig of rosemary.

This cognac works well when paired with fresh crus­taceans such as our Live Maine Lob­ster or Live King Crabs. And believe it or not, this is also mar­velous when served frozen, enjoyed with a plate of sashimi. 

THE ONLY COGNAC OF THE BRITISH MONARCHY

A his­to­ry well entwined with roy­al­ty, cognac is loved by nobles around the world. From King Louis XIV grant­i­ng aris­to­crat­ic sta­tus to the fam­i­ly Frapin to the leg­endary love of Napoleon for fine Cour­voisi­er, this drink has long been asso­ci­at­ed with royalty.

Though not as pop­u­lar as oth­er Cognac hous­es such as Hen­nessy, Rémy Mar­tin, and Martell, Hine is well regard­ed for the qual­i­ty and com­plex­i­ty of its cognacs. Found­ed in Char­ente, France near­ly 250 years ago in 1763, the House of Hine was award­ed a Roy­al War­rant by Appoint­ment to Her Majesty the Queen Eliz­a­beth II and remains the only offi­cial sup­pli­er of cognac to the British monar­chy to this day.

Storage Instructions

Store your bot­tle upright in a cool, dark place, ide­al­ly between 12 and 15°C. There is no need to refrig­er­ate cognac. To main­tain the moist­ness of the cork and pre­vent it from chip­ping, occa­sion­al­ly tilt your bot­tle hor­i­zon­tal­ly two to three times, then restore it to the upright posi­tion. Opened bot­tles of cognac should be con­sumed with­in six months, as the alco­hol may oxi­dize and begin to lose its flavor.