Yann Fillioux

Crafting Hennessy cognacs is all about precision. Each day, at precisely 11 a.m., the members of the Tasting Committee come together around the Master Blender to taste and rate the House’s inestimable heritage: its 350,000 barrels of eaux-de-vie. Concentration…repetition…each session follows an unchanging ritual that is essential to guarantee the exceptional quality of the cognacs from a House that celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2015.

Recruited by the Hennessy family at the age of 17 and trained by his grandfather and uncle, Yann Fillioux has been the “guardian” of the consistency of exceptional Hennessy quality. For 50 years, he has tirelessly identified excellence and elegance in the House’s eaux-de-vie, carrying on the unique tradition and savoir-faire required to age and blend cognac. At the same time, he has himself developed and enriched this heritage, year after year.

Yann Fillioux and Hennessy opened the doors at the world leader in cognac to offer a rare glimpse of how this time-honored savoir-faire is preserved. With humility and good humor, Yann Fillioux talks about how he sees the role of Master Blender. His insights take on special resonance as Hennessy embarks on a new stage in its history when Yann’s nephew Renaud Fillioux de Gironde has become the eighth generation of the Fillioux family to become Master Blender at Hennessy.

PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY.