Confession: Hennessy VS was the first spirit to draw me into the world of slowly sipping on an oversized sexy glass of liquor neat. It was my transition point, where I became pretty refined for a ghetto kid. I have come A LONG way. I still use this for cooking to make steak flambe, and find an excuse for a few sips. I’m both intrigued and appalled that the newest bottle (which contains the same liquid as standard bottles, I’m sure) features art by a Harlem-born artist. I’m pretty sure LVMH gives only one fuck about Harlem, and that’s how to extract money from it. Anyways… NOSE: Vanilla, oak, and alcohol. Young cognac suffers more from being young than young whisky, for sure. I can smell the fucking grape peels… like, I’m going to be acid, and I’m going to bite your tongue. PALATE: This has gotten less and less harsh for me over the years, as I have gotten use to cask strength whiskies. It tastes like white grape juice, with a liquorice and plastic note that I don’t appreciate. Maybe some apricots and peaches, which will come flowing forth with ease if you go full-on ghetto and smoke some obligatory ganja. It is watery and smooth. Reviews that claim the VS is harsh are from virgins to spirits. FINISH: There is a long aftertaste, some pleasant, some not so much. Liquorice, raisin, oranges, syrup, bittermelon. In the end, I do not want this to be the final thing I taste for the night. VERDICT: I pretty much departed the world of Cognac because you cannot find a good one for less than $100. The start of Hennessy’s excellence is the XO. VS holds a special place in my heart because it connects me with my humble beginnings and I still use it as my exclusive cognac for cooking, but let’s be honest, this is barely drinkable, and you do NOT want to order this as your sole desert. MARK: 63/100.