On 11th August 1973 a musical movement arrived, with the birth of hip hop on the streets of the Bronx, New York. Celebrating the 50th anniversary, Hennessy, the original spirit of hip hop, joins with one of the vanguards of the community, Nas, to release a new limited edition V.S bottle which is available now exclusively from SuperValu stores across Ireland.
Hennessy has always had a strong connection with the music industry and supported hip hop culture since its beginning. The ‘OG’ spirit, from the early days and humble beginnings, was adopted by a flourishing hip-hop community as a badge of success, style and good taste. Since then, the world’s favourite cognac has been name-checked in over 2,500 songs from 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G, Snoop Dogg , Dr. Dre and Eminiem to Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, Cardi B, DJ Khaled and Lupe Fiasco more recently.
Most recently Hennessy celebrated this half century milestone with a stellar three day hip hop cultural line-up at this summer’s Body & Soul festival.
Born within 1 month and within 1 mile of the birth of Hip Hop, one could argue that destiny was at work when the world gave us Nasir Jones. Since the early days, Nas has always referenced Hennessy in his lyrics and featured Hennessy in his glass. 14 ‘top-10’ studio albums later, he is widely recognized as the greatest lyricist to grace the culture, a living legend creating important and celebrated music to this day.
In 2013 he became the official ambassador of Hennessy Very Special in the USA and 10 years later as Hennessy reflects on 50 years of Hip Hop and the brand’s organic connection to this world changing culture, who else would we dream to partner with to create this year’s limited edition V.S bottle.
The limited-edition V.S bottle features a bold design that mixes elements of hip-hop aesthetic with Hennessy's iconic branding - an impactful juxtaposition of timeless tradition and disarming unconventional certainty. Handwritten diary notes inspired by shared stories and late-night lyric-writing fuse with snapshots of studio and street culture. Offset by vibrant orange accents (the recording artist's favourite colour), the result is a disruptive, seemingly spontaneous visual collage anchored by a powerful black-and-white portrait of Nas, unexpected playful twist such as, "HenNASsy" displayed across the packaging, with subtle references to graffiti art, the New York City flag, and the rapper's King Disease II album art.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary, Hennessy has created the bespoke Bitter Beats hip hop themed cocktail.
Bitter Beats
A variation on an old-fashioned, status cocktail. The pipette with the coloured sweetening agent recalls the spray-paint bombs in street art, a reminder of Hip Hop and New York.
Ingredients:
• 50ml HENNESSY Very Special
• 10ml Monin Mandarin Syrup
• 3 dashes Chocolate bitters
For syrup:
• 50ml Simple syrup 1:1 + 4 drops Orange food colouring
Method:
1. Add the Hennessy cognac and the bitters into a mixing glass filled with ice, then stir until well-chilled.
2. Strain into a rocks glass over one large clear ice cube.
3. Garnish with clear ice cube (5x5cm) and pipette containing orange coloured simple syrup.
The Hennessy Hip Hop 50th anniversary limited edition V.S bottle created with Nas is available exclusively from 80 SuperValu stores across Ireland, costing €41. Customers will also have a chance to win a trip to New York, the birthplace of hip hop.
Slán go fóill.