Hennessy cognac in Westford, MA

Hennessy is a cognac, and CBC Liquors in Westford carries it in four bottlings: VS, Very Special, VSOP Privilege and the VSOP X LeBron James edition. You can see what is on the shelf now on our Hennessy brand page, then pick it up at 142 Littleton Rd or have it delivered.

Which Hennessy bottles does CBC Liquors carry?

We carry four Hennessy bottlings that you can look at and order from the website. Hennessy Vs Cognac and Hennessy Very Special Cognac are the entry labels. Hennessy Vsop Privilege Cognac is the older, more refined expression. Hennessy Vsop X Lebron James is the collaboration bottle.

Stock moves from day to day, so the brand page is the place to check what is on the shelf right now. If a bottle you want is not showing, call or stop in and we will tell you what we can do.

Hennessy sits within our wider liquor section, which is where you will find the other spirits that people pair with it or compare it to.

What do VS and VSOP mean on a Hennessy label?

Cognac labels use age statements, and they follow rules set for the whole region. VS stands for Very Special, and it means the youngest eau-de-vie in the blend has spent at least two years in oak. VSOP stands for Very Superior Old Pale, and it means at least four years.

XO, which stands for Extra Old, starts at ten years. We do not list an XO among the Hennessy bottles on the brand page at the moment, so VS and VSOP are what you are choosing between.

The age is a minimum, not a precise figure. Blenders at a house like Hennessy combine many eaux-de-vie of different ages, which is how a bottle keeps the same character from one year to the next.

Where does Hennessy come from and how is it made?

Hennessy is a cognac, which means it is a grape brandy made in the Cognac region of western France. The house was founded in 1765 by Richard Hennessy, an Irishman who settled there.

Cognac is made from white wine, most often from the Ugni Blanc grape. The wine is distilled twice in copper pot stills and the spirit is then aged in French oak. The oak is where the amber colour and the flavours of vanilla, dried fruit and spice come from.

Because the rules are strict, the word cognac on a label tells you how it was made. Brandy from elsewhere is a different thing, and it cannot use the name.

Which Hennessy should you buy for sipping and which for cocktails?

The VS is the usual choice for mixing. It is made to stand up to ice, citrus or ginger ale without losing itself, so it is the bottle people reach for when they want a long drink or a classic like a sidecar.

The VSOP has had longer in oak, and it tends to be softer and rounder. That makes it the better candidate for sipping neat or over a single large cube, though nothing stops you from mixing with it.

If you are buying for a gift, the VSOP Privilege is the more considered pick, and the LeBron James edition is a bottle people tend to keep as a collectible. If you are unsure, ask us in store and we will talk you through the difference.

How do you serve Hennessy at home?

Cognac is traditionally served neat in a small tulip-shaped glass, or in a wider snifter if that is what you have. A few drops of water can open the aroma up. Over ice is entirely fine, particularly with the VS.

For a simple highball, pour cognac over ice and top with ginger ale or soda. A squeeze of lemon lifts it. For mixers, the mixers page shows what is in now, so you can build the drink around what is available.

If you are comparing it with other brown spirits, bourbon is the closest neighbour on our shelves. It is sweeter and corn-based, where cognac is grape-based and more fruit-led.

How should you store an open bottle of cognac?

Keep the bottle upright, with the cork or stopper in place, somewhere cool and out of direct sunlight. A cupboard works better than a shelf by a window.

Unlike wine, spirits do not go off quickly once opened, because the alcohol content is high enough to protect them. Over a long period, though, contact with air will slowly dull the aroma, so if a bottle is nearly empty and has been open a long time, it is worth finishing it rather than keeping it.

Standing the bottle upright matters because strong spirit can attack a cork that sits against it for months.

Can you get Hennessy picked up or delivered from CBC Liquors?

CBC Liquors in Westford offers pickup, delivery and shipping as well as walking in. Pickup hours are Sunday 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM, Monday to Thursday 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM, and Friday and Saturday 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM.

Delivery hours run a little shorter: Sunday 10:00 AM to 7:30 PM, Monday to Thursday 10:00 AM to 8:30 PM, and Friday and Saturday 10:00 AM to 9:30 PM. The delivery areas page lists where we deliver, and the shipping policy covers shipping.

As with any alcohol order, the person receiving it needs to be 21 or older.

Which towns does CBC Liquors serve?

We are a liquor store at 142 Littleton Rd, Westford, MA 01886. Besides Westford, we serve Chelmsford, Carlisle, Littleton, Acton, Tyngsborough, Lowell, Billerica, Boxborough and Dunstable.

Our Google rating is 4.7 out of 5 from 339 reviews. In the store we carry 4,586 products across 1,882 brands, so if you are putting together an order for a gathering, you can fit the cognac in with everything else. The party planner is there if you want help working out the rest.