Hine Antique Cognac

[Gary Tanigawa]

Since I was running low on Hine Antique (which I understood to be equivalent in quality to XO cognac), I recently purchased two bottles at a great price (only $40 instead of the usual $80). Opening the box, I noticed that the shape of the bottle had been redesigned. Too much of a good thing?

I have now read that Hine will be labeling what used to be called "Antique" as "XO" (a marketing move to justify its price?), but no indication that the Antique name would be continued. So my question: does anyone here know if Hine is now marketing a sub-XO cognac as Antique? If so, I need to find my receipt and take it back to the store.

I have made a cursory search on the web, but could not find any information about a name change (I saw news of the change in the Wine Enthusiast) or a company site. TIA for any help you can provide .

[Jason Perlow]

This is news to me. BTW 40 dollars is an EXCELLENT price for that cognac, where did you buy it?

"Antique" has always been their XO equivalent, but it sounds like this is a strategy change at Hine to go against Remy,Henessey, Courvoisier and Martell who all name their mid-range cognac "XO". If they have done that it is probably it is very recent and no actual "XO" bottles have seen the shelves yet. If thats the case, buy up as much Antique you can find at that price.

As far as I understood Antique was a blend of cognacs at least 18 years old.

[Jason Perlow]

Hine appears to have a new URL:

http://www.hinecognac.com/

BTW it appears they are combining the "Antique" and "XO" monikers as "Antique XO". So the new bottle you have is in fact the new Antique and the XO. Their new upper-end cognacs are the "Vintages"

[KatieLoeb]

I'll second that advice. At forty per bottle it far outclasses any of the brands mentioned as its "competition". That's an excellent price and I'd snatch up as much of it as you have room to store. It makes a great gift.

BTW - my birthday was just a couple of weeks ago.

[Gary Tanigawa]

Thanks for the rapid response Jason and the link. My bottle is identical to the bottle pictured on Hine's site.

I found the receipt and now understand the price discrepancy. The cashier needed to do a price check because the (new?) UPC was not scanning on her register. So a manager shouted out a string of numbers for her to manually input. I knew there was a small sale on Hine Antique from the display where I had picked up the bottles, but I was surprised when the total appeared to be low (I had also picked up a small assortment of Scotches as well, and some miscellaneous grocery items). I looked at my receipt last night and the description reads Hine VSOP! The manager apparently gave the cashier the wrong UPC.

I called the store this morning and confirmed that the price for Hine Antique XO is $80. So it was a mistake instead of being a deep discount to move the product.

BTW, I think Hine will need to enlarge "XO" on the box and the bottle if it wants to market Antique against the other XO cognacs. I didn't notice the addition when I opened the box in the store.

Thanks again.

[budrichard]

You will never know what exactly is in any bottle of Cognac today. Most producers long ago dispensed with the nomenclature of Grand Champagne and Grand Fine Champagne Cognac as a way of at least telling where the spirits came from. The VSOP of 40 years ago is now the XO of today and rapidly changing. Our last bottle of XO was junk! The producers have a good thing going. They can change the contents while leaving the name the same, all the while increasing the price. To find a decent bottle of Cognac today, one has to pay well over a $100/bottle. Time to find a new spirit!. -Dick

[Jason Perlow]

Actually I find that of the big name Cognac producers Hine and Ferrand are the two that remain consistently good. I haven't tried any of Hine's newest Antique bottling, however.

[Gary Tanigawa]

Not to be overly obsessive but, to make the record clear, I looked at the Hine Antique bottle more closely tonight at a store which sold both versions (old and new). The new bottle has a redesigned box and bottle. The version I inspected, and the two bottles I have at home, are labeled "Antique" but I could not find XO on the packaging. The Hine site, however, appears to show a bottle which is labeled "XO" above the "cognac" although the picture is not clear enough for me to be sure. I think Hine needs to be consistent with its marketing.

No response necessary, I just wanted to confirm my previous impression that "XO" was not being used on the redesigned bottle.