Review: Hine XO 1er Cru Cognac
Cognac producer Hine recently released a new expression that is a twist on its previous XO releases: Hine XO 1er Cru — aka Hine XO Premier Cru. The concept is simple: The brandy is a blend of 100% Grand Champagne eaux-de-vie aged for a minimum of 10 years. (Other Hine XO releases have had different compositions.) This release now serves as the standard Hine XO bottling that you’ll likely see in bars and at retail.
It is a delight of a brandy, punctuated on the nose by an exceptional floral quality — perhaps the most flowery of any XO Cognac release I’ve encountered to date. It’s a mix of jasmine, white flowers, and lots of lavender — almost to the exclusion of fruit as that classic clean linen note eventually comes into stark focus alongside a gentle eucalyptus quality.
On the palate, the flowers evoke a more extreme perfume quality — a potpourri note creating a rather drying character. The fruit here — apricot and some peach — comes alive with the brandy is freshly poured, but the palate too is overwhelmed eventually by the florals in the mix, with lavender and jasmine notes dominant. The finish is dry and cleansing, a hot towel spritzed with perfume wrapped around the face.
Tasted from a rather small sample. This is one I’d love to have explored in more depth.
80 proof.
A- / $300 (700ml)
Hine XO 1er Cru Cognac
$300
