The letters are legal age grades for cognac. VS must be aged at least two years in oak, VSOP at least four and XO at least ten, and the minimum applies to the youngest brandy in the blend. Drinks House 247 suggests VS for mixing, VSOP for both mixing and sipping, and XO for drinking neat.
Every bottle of Hennessy carries one of a handful of letter codes, and the price climbs steeply between them. The codes are not marketing labels invented by the house. They are age categories defined for the whole Cognac appellation, and every cognac producer uses the same rules.
The abbreviations are English, a legacy of the British merchants who dominated the cognac trade in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Cognac is a blend of many eaux-de-vie, the young brandies distilled from white wine and aged in oak. The age on a grade is the age of the youngest eau-de-vie in the blend. Older brandies are almost always included too, so the average age of a bottle is higher than its legal minimum.
| Grade | Minimum age in oak | Typical character | Best used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| VS | 2 years | Fresh, fruity, vanilla and young oak; a noticeable alcohol lift | Long drinks and cocktails |
| VSOP | 4 years | Rounder and smoother; baking spice, dried apricot, more integrated oak | Both mixing and sipping |
| Napoléon | 6 years | A step between VSOP and XO in richness | Sipping |
| XO | 10 years | Dried fruit, candied peel, leather, cocoa and a long, soft finish | Drinking neat |
The XO minimum was raised from six years to ten in 2018, so older writing that quotes six years is out of date. Hennessy also makes cognacs above XO, such as Paradis, which are blends of very old eaux-de-vie rather than a separate legal grade.
All cognac starts the same way: white wine, mostly from the Ugni Blanc grape, distilled twice in copper pot stills and filled into French oak barrels. What separates a VS from an XO is time in those barrels.
In the first few years, the spirit takes on vanilla and wood tannin quickly and loses its raw edge. Between roughly four and ten years it becomes rounder, the fruit shifts from fresh to dried, and spice notes develop. Beyond ten years, slow oxidation through the wood produces what the Cognac trade calls rancio: a savoury, nutty, slightly mushroomy depth found only in old brandy. Each year in the barrel, a small share of the spirit also evaporates, which is part of why older grades cost so much more.
Buy for how you will drink it, not for the letters.
An honest note: mixing XO into a cocktail is not wrong, but most of what you pay for disappears. If the bottle is for a party where it will meet a mixer, a VS or VSOP is better value and will taste just as good in the glass.
Avoid warming cognac over a flame or in a heated glass. It drives off the alcohol vapour first and flattens the aroma.
No. Unlike wine, cognac stops ageing once it is bottled. A 20-year-old bottle of VS is still a VS. Stored upright, away from light and heat, an unopened bottle keeps indefinitely. Once opened, it stays in good condition for a year or two, gradually losing aroma as the level in the bottle drops and more air is trapped inside.
They are legal age grades. VS is aged at least two years in oak, VSOP at least four and XO at least ten, measured by the youngest brandy in the blend. Older grades are smoother and more complex.
For drinking neat, usually yes, because ten or more years in oak brings dried fruit, spice and a long finish. For mixing with ginger ale or in cocktails, VS or VSOP is better value.
Every eau-de-vie in an XO must be at least ten years old. The blend also contains much older brandies, so its average age is higher than the minimum.
VS can be served over ice in a long drink. VSOP and XO are best neat or with a single ice cube, at around 18 to 20°C, so the aroma can open.
Browse the Hennessy range or our wider cognac collection, and see how cognac delivery works across London. For the house's background, read our guide to Hennessy's history and how it is made.
Deliveries are to over-18s only under our Challenge 21 policy. Please drink responsibly.
