Updated May 2026.
Hennessy is cognac — French grape brandy from the Cognac AOC — not whiskey. Virginia ABC this fetch lists V.S and V.S.O.P Privilege at 40.0% ABV / 80 proof. X.O unused as a number this fetch — leftover 2026 lock is 40/80; confirm the neck. Neat, rocks, or ginger ale and cola are bartender serves, not a #1. A 1.5 oz pour at 40% is one NIAAA drink.
The house: Hennessy. Class: what Hennessy is, is Hennessy brandy, is Hennessy whiskey. Proof: how much alcohol is in Hennessy. Mixers already on disk: what to mix with Hennessy.
Class, then the serve
27 CFR 5.145 this fetch: brandy is bottled at not less than 40% ABV. Cognac is grape brandy distilled exclusively in the Cognac region of France and entitled to that name under French law. Cats stay faqs, cognac, and brandy — cognac 13 is the appellation; brandy 12 is the class. Do not swap them. Hennessy is not whisky (5.143) and not a mixer ranking.
VA ABC tiles this fetch: Hennessy VS 40.0% / 80.0; Hennessy VSOP Privilege 40.0% / 80.0. The X.O tile snippet this fetch did not reprint a number. Leftover 2026 alcohol-in-Hennessy copy already locked V.S / V.S.O.P / X.O at 40/80 on VA ABC. We re-verified V.S and V.S.O.P. X.O unused as a fresh number. Read that neck. Limited editions can deviate. Ready-to-drink cocktails are not 40%.
| SKU / serve | Class / cite | Std drinks |
|---|---|---|
| Hennessy V.S (VA ABC this fetch) | Cognac / 5.145; 40.0% / 80 | 1.00 / 1.5 oz |
| V.S.O.P Privilege (VA ABC this fetch) | Cognac; 40.0% / 80 | 1.00 / 1.5 oz |
| X.O | Cognac; number unused this fetch. | Scale the neck |
| Neat / rocks | Serve talk | 1.00 at 40% / 1.5 oz |
| Ginger ale or cola highball | 0% mixer + 1.5 oz cognac | 1.00 |
| Sidecar (1.5 / 0.75 / 0.75) | Cognac + orange liqueur + lemon | Count every spirit ounce |
Serves a bartender can actually make
There is no official #1 serve. V.S is the mixing bottle in most US bars; older eau-de-vie is often poured neat because that is how the guest asked, not because a statute says so. A tulip or a rocks glass is bar English. Hand-warming a balloon is tradition, not TTB. Ice dilutes. That is physics, not a flaw.
Highball: 1.5 oz V.S, cold ginger ale or cola, ice, citrus if you want it. Leftover mixer pages already cover ginger ale, cola, and lemonadesoft-drink mixers, Hennessy and lemonade, chasers. Those are 0% mixers. They do not change the cognac ounces.
Sidecar a bartender can build: 1.5 oz cognac, 0.75 oz orange liqueur, 0.75 oz lemon, shake, coupe. That is two spirit pours plus acid. Count both spirits. We will not invent a house ratio as a crown.
BNIC age bands are age, not proof: V.S youngest eau-de-vie ≥2 years; V.S.O.P ≥4; X.O ≥10 under the current rule. Younger bottles are not “weaker” on the VA tiles this fetch. A 750 mL 40% bottle is about 17 drinks. Four 1.5 oz pours are four drinks. That is inventory, not a night plan.
V.S is Very Special, not “very strong.” Age bands and proof are different columns. A tasting-room half-ounce of V.S and a half-ounce of X.O are the same drink math at the same ABV. If a bar pours a 2 oz Henny-and-Coke as one drink, that is 1.33 drinks at 40%. Count ounces. Pure White and other off-SKU bottles are different pages — leftover Pure White already exists; this URL is how to pour the core cognac.
What the 2022 URL added
The recovered page walked wobble glasses, candle-heated balloons, and “intellectual” vs “fashionable” rooms as if those were the official method. Unused as statute. No fake sommelier quotes. Color is not a vintage year. We will not reprint a #1 glass.
What we will not print
- No invented #1 serve or tasting-panel crown.
- No invented X.O ABV this fetch. No 2026 MSRP.
- No whiskey category. Cognac 13 stays; brandy 12 stays.
- No health-claim after-dinner statute.
Sources
- abc.virginia.gov Hennessy VS and Hennessy VSOP Privilege this fetch — 40.0% ABV / 80.0 proof. X.O number unused this fetch.
- 27 CFR 5.145 brandy ≥40%; cognac type is French Cognac-region grape brandy. Leftover 2026 /how-much-alcohol-is-in-hennessy/ VA ABC X.O 40/80 lock not re-numbered this run.
- NIAAA standard drink (December 2025): 1.5 oz of 40% spirits = one drink. No official serve crown.