  jas hennessy & co., or more simply hennessy, is a cognac house with headquarters in cognac, france. today, the company of jas hennessy & co. sells about 50 million bottles a year worldwide, or more than 40 percent of the worldâs cognac, making it the world's largest cognac producer. ==history== thumb|left|180px|maurice hennessy on presentation of new cognac. the hennessy cognac distillery was founded by irishman richard hennessy in 1765. during the 1970s, kilian hennessy, a fifth generation direct descendent of hennessy, became the ceo of hennessy, succeeding his first cousin maurice-richard. kilian hennessy spearheaded the company's 1971 merger with moÃ«t et chandon, which created moÃ«t hennessy. moÃ«t hennessy merged with louis vuitton in 1987, creating one of the world's largest luxury brand conglomerates, moÃ«t-hennessy â¢ louis vuitton or lvmh. in 1988, a management crisis led to the group's takeover by bernard arnault, owner of the haute couture house christian dior, with the support of guinness. kilian hennessy remained on the company's advisory board until his death in 2010 at the age of 103. ==marketing== recent innovations include trying to broaden the appeal of the drink beyond its traditional base of older drinkers, by introducing new products such as "pure white", "hennessy black""introducing hennessy black", cocktailenthusiast.com, 2 june 2010; retrieved 16 march 2011. and "fine de cognac" and marketing them accordingly.hein, kenneth. "cognac is in the house"
Cognac Companies_established_in_1765 Diageo_brands Distilleries_in_France French_brands LVMH_brands