An interesting gift... not sure what I've got here

[bjcohan]

One of our friends and customers gifted my husband with some bottles today. He tells me that some of them are rather old and interesting.

He's not brought them home yet, except for one that intrigued him. I know nothing of very old spirits, and I figured that someone here would know something of its nature and value, or at least be able to point me in the right direction to find out what it is.

It's a very old bottle of Hennessy cognac. Not sure of the year, and the label is partially gone. I'll describe it here as best I can.

The bottle came in a wooden box with the lid affixed with two screws. Inside, the bottle lay in padded white satin with a pillow under its neck. Honestly, it looks like a coffin!

There is a semicircular label at the neck with three stars on it.

Below that, a mostly intact rectangular label that says HENNESSY.

The main label, originally 10.1 cm wide x 10.3 cm high, is missing a vertical strip in the center about 5 cm wide.

From the remaining bits, I can see that the original label had a large, green and black bordered rectangle at the top with vines on both sides. The text is gone except for an initial letter "J" on the left side and a terminal letter o on the right side. In very smal letters at the lower right hand corner, it says "STATIONERS' HALL." At the lower left corner it says "REGISTERED AT." These words were hand-rendered with the design, not typeset.

Below the larger rectangle, at the bottom of the main label, there is the remainder of three lines of text. The left fragment reads "CON..." in black, below it "S" in green, and below that "SCHIE" in green. The right fragment reads "OF" in black, below that, (on the same line as the left side's "SCHIE") it reads "- N.Y."

Between the upper rectangle and the lower, it reads, in tiny letters on the left fragment "REGISTERED IN" and on the right fragment "PATENT OFFICE."

The back label looks VERY old, and it's mostly intact. In the upper left hand corner is a line-drawn trademark of an armored right arm holding a medieval weapon and the words TRADE and MARK. Below it and to the right, it reads "HENNESSY COGNAC is the distillate of w[missing text] carefully chosen by us from the [missing text] produced in the Cognac distri[missing text] which SUNSHINE, SOIL, TIME & [missing text] have contributed to form an inimitable spirit; it is accompanied at [missing letters]e time of importation by the Acquit[missing text] ional Jaune d'or. [NEW PARAGRAPH] At any [missing text], whether before, during or after meals, it can be enjoyed as: [NEW PARAGRAPH] A LIQUEUR: Warm the glass in your hand, drink slowly and inhale the fragrance of the vineyard. [NEW PARAGRAPH] A BEVERAGE: It flavours soda, plain water, or ginger ale to make a refreshing long drink. Since 1765, QUALITY has ob[missing text]d for HENNESSY the largest Br[missing text] in the world." There is an imprinted signature below that, of which only the right part is present.

There is a silver colored metal (probably lead) over the top of the bottle, stamped "JAs. HENNESSY & Co. COGNAC". The bottle has not been opened. The ends of a U.S. Internal Revenue (!) tax label remain, stamped on one side with the numbers 36-342[numbers missing].

Most interesting, someone has scratched into the paper label on the back of the bottle the year "1920." There is no other indication of age.

The bottle itself appears to be clear glass. Cast into the glass above the labels are the words "FEDERAL LAW FORBIDS SALE / OR REUSE OF THIS BOTTLE." Below the labels, it reads "JAs. HENNESSY & Co. COGNAC / BOTTLE MADE IN FRANCE."

Does any of you have ANY idea what I've got here? Or some suggestion as to where on the web or elsewhere I can go to find out? If you think it'd help, I'll go shoot some photos and post them.

I'd appreciate any guidance you can give.

Cheers,

Barb

[dockhl]

Not a clue, Barb, but I can't WAIT to hear from someone who knows!

Kathy

(nice to "see" you, BTW....... )

[Snowy is dead]

maybe a pic or two would help. I love finding old bottles at the back of my friends hand me down bars. A little cocktail mystery every time.

Best of luck.

Sean

[jackal10]

I don't know, but the following may help;

"1920" is a brand of cognac, though I believe is is part of the Ricard/Domencq, rather than Moet/Hennessey/Krug/Luis Vuitton empire, but still sold today.

There is a famous advertising poster from 1920 "Cognac Jacquard" by Camille Bouchet, featuring a peacock on the left hand side, which may be your J. The registered at Stationers Hall and Patent Office would be regeristing the label design and trade mark.

Three stars is cooking brandy, I'm afraid. You did not say how full the bottle was, which is a hint as to its conditon. I suspect its not that old, but the label design used the famous image...

[KatieLoeb]

I'm not sure I can tell you anything about it until I taste it.

So when am I invited over??

PS - I'll second the nice to see you around!

[bjcohan]

Thanks for your replies. I think I'd best fire up the camera and post a pic later today.

Jackal10, the "1920" appears to have been scratched onto the back label by hand. It is not part of the original labeling. The bottle is completely full and the lead over the top is intact. There is no sign of leakage. The cognac is a lovely amber color, completely free of sediment or cloudiness. From looking at the rest of the label, and from its positioning, I'm fairly certain that the line beginning "J" and ending "o" was originally "Jas. Hennessy & Co." From many years of collecting old books and printed ephemera, I'm equally certain that this is, in fact, VERY old, based upon both the label, fonts and the graphics. (They just don't make them like that anymore.) I cannot imagine that it is a cooking brandy, as I've never known cooking brandy to come in a padded wooden box with a screwed-on lid and a pillow!

I love those old posters, but I'm sure it's not the Jacquard based upon the text on the back label and the Hennessy trademark that appears in two places.

I've also written to Hennessy about the bottle and am waiting for their reply. I spoke to a couple of auction houses, too, but they advised that they only do wines, not cognac.

Ironically. I was offered a job by Hennessy in Cognac, France, more than 30 years ago when I graduated college with a major in medieval French lit. One of my classmates was a French woman from Cognac through whose connections we both received offers. Shame on me for not taking it!

Hiya, Kathy and Katie!!! Nice to "see" you, too! Katie, I'm sorry that life has kept me from all of the DDC events of late. If my life ever calms down, I'm dying to get back to them. Maybe I'll see you at Amada one of these days...

I'll be back later on with photos.

(BTW, Katie, Adan would rather sell it if it's worth anything. I think it'd be fun to drink it. If I prevail, I'll definitely get in touch!!!)

Barb

[bjcohan]

Okay, let's see if this works.

First, two views of the bottle in its coffin-like box with a satin pillow under its head. The box kind of creeps me out, to be honest. It looks like it should be surrounded by flowers with organ music playing. Yeesh! But maybe the dear departed will be quite delicious...

Front label, left fragment:

Front label, right fragment:

Back label. If you look carefully, you can see where the year "1920" is scratched up the left side of the label near the top.

Does this look familiar to any of you?

Barb

Edited December 5, 2006 by bjcohan (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Wow! That is a seriously cool looking bottle! No clues for you, but thanks for posting the pic. Makes it easier to visualize what you were talking about.

My suggestion would be to find out which liquor purveyor reps the Hennessey in PA. It might be Southern Wine & Spirits, but I could be wrong. I'll see if I can find out for you and post tomorrow. Sending them the picture might get you a better and more informed answer to this mystery.

If you do convince your DH to bust that puppy open I'll be there anytime, anywhere, just name it!

[freshherbs]

i am pretty sure the "schie" is the beginning of "schiefflen and somerset", the company that used to (still does?) distribute hennessy...

[bjcohan]

i am pretty sure the "schie" is the beginning of "schiefflen and somerset", the company that used to (still does?) distribute hennessy...

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Thank you, freshherbs! That's very helpful.

I googled them and learned that Schieffelin & Somerset, now called Schieffelin & Co., is owned by Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. I've sent them an email and will let you all know what they say...

The search continues...

Barb

Edited December 6, 2006 by bjcohan (log)

[GordonCooks]

A guess would be a Hennessy Private Reserve judging from the bottle shape and the use of grape leaves on the label symbolizing 100% aged Grande Champagne Cognac.

[KatieLoeb]

I was right. Diageo, a division of Southern Wine & Spirits carries the Hennessey in PA.

I've searched through my rolodex and have found a local Sales Specialist. I'll PM you his details and perhaps if you send him the pictures he can tell you what it is you have there.

[gethin]

A guess would be a Hennessy Private Reserve judging from the bottle shape and the use of grape leaves on the label symbolizing 100% aged Grande Champagne Cognac.

←

The grape leaf border is still on use on modern Hennessy bottles (in Europe anyway) and I'm not sure it signifies very much.

Jas Hennessy & sons were the first cognac producers to use the star rating on their bottles , with three stars signifying at least 6 years aging in barrel - so an old 3 star Hennessy cognac would I think be equivalent to Hennessy XO nowdays (and like the XO it probably contains a significant proportion of cognac aged for a lot more than 6 years).

That said, it seems strange that they would put a relatively inexpensive cognac in such an eloborate box. Could the current bottle be a (old) replacement for a grander bottle that the box originally contained ?

The guys at the Hennessy museum in Cognac are probably your best hope of a definitive answer.

Some research on US alcohol labelling requirements might cast some light on it too. Am I right that cognac imported into the US needs(or at some point earlier needed) a phrase along the lines of " it is accompanied at the time of importation by the Acquit Regional Jaune D'Or" on its label as a "Bureau of Alcohol" ?? labelling requirement ? Finding out when this became a requirement might narrow the possible time frame .

Gethin