Bottle purchased 5/9/18, opened 5/9/18, and finished on 1/17/19 Hennessy Very Special NAS 40% ABV Price: 42 USD This is a ghetto drink, and that’s the branding these days. I remember drinking this out of a Styrofoam cup, and playing dominoes. It was the first distilled spirit I liked, and it tasted pretty good then. I don’t know if the brand has just sank to the level of its target consumer, or if my palate has been refined that drastically, but this is wretched shit that you give to your enemies. There is still a reason for me to get Hennessy VS. It pairs well with Chinese takeout. It also tastes better than Remy Martin VS, and is good in combination with madeira for cooking game birds like squab, or mushrooms. Sipped neat, this tastes like the struggle to get out of poverty. Contraband cherries, sharp vanilla shanks, and sweaty dice. The finish is awful, like Nas’s commercials. If you step up to the V.S.O.P., you’re still struggling to find something pleasant to just sip. If you can afford the $180-200 for the X.O., I would jump right in there. But that’s the problem with cognac. There’s nothing good sub-100. Rating (price not a factor): 58 / 100 Purchase satisfaction (price factored): 1 / 5