Although i already found some articles about this topic, here is my part of the story.
Please remember that i only write about stuff I own.
Anyway here is the short picture novel about the designs of the Hennessy VS ( Very Special )
Bottle number one was bottled either in the 60ties or 70ties.
This one has a stamp on it, HM Forces only. This is a mark to show that this bottle was sold at an army duty free store. As you may not know Germany is still occupied (in 2012) by British and American forces…
This bottle comes without a cork and taste stronger than the regular VS. Sorry that it is not sealed anymore but sometimes I have to try the stuff I own.
There are plenty designs of the old Bras Armé, this is one of about 8, in the 700ml size.
A few years later beginning of the 80ties Hennessy changed the design and the shape of the bottle.
Maybe it looked too grandpa, but I don’t know. An interesting thing is that the first bottle is still easy to get, about 50 Euros and you might get one or wont.
The second design almost looks like the one we can buy in any store, but there is one big difference the chest is still foil printed, like the xo´s nowadays still are. I just post the front right now, I do some single post in the near future. Although the name VS has not yet been established. This one has more value compared to the first one by the way.
The final bottle is the Hennessy VS 700ml from the end of the eighties – beginning nineties. This is why I wrote this post, because most authors just don’t mention them. It looks almost like the one you can buy in 2012. Maybe you recognize the difference if you don’t – just ask.
Take a bottle of today and compare it ( check out the center of the label )
I still have no opinion if the importer and the labels language matters to collectors. You can start a discussion in the comment segment. These are the German editions, every G 8 state has his own importers and comment, so you only have all bottles if you got a countries. I am satisfied with mine since I don’t discriminate other Cognachouses.
I guess Bras Armé lost its name due to copyright laws and EU regulations. Cognac is a trademark for a certain area in France, maybe they changed it to VS like all others did to have a certain standard like ISO.
I hope you enjoyed this post. Throw your five cent if you like, I am always eager to learn.
Cheers.
thesophisticatedcollector 