Hennessy is creeping its way into crypto. The LVMH-owned Cognac brand has released its first NFTs, priced at $226,450.
Each will represent physical and digital ownership of the first and last bottles (1 and 250, respectively) of Hennessy 8, a limited-edition expression from the Cognac house.
The bottles and assets will be sold to a single buyer on the spirits NFT platform BlockBar on January 12th. Pricing is at 70.47 ETH (approximately, or $226k USD).
The liquid itself honors the legacy of 7 of the house’s master blenders, combining one eau-de-vie from each generation of blenders and presenting it in a limited-edition, ultra-luxury formatting.
The physical attributes includes a commemorative sculpture and a Baccarat-blown and engraved carafe, along with a pipette, cork holder and chest designed by Arik Levy and made with oak staves from La Sarrazine, the Hennessy cooperage. 4 tasting glasses originally designed 30 years ago by George Riedel and Yann Fillioux have been reissued for the occasion. A personalized authentication plate and numbered certificate wrap up the physical package.
Let’s be clear: you can drink this Cognac (if you can pony up the funds). The BlockBar platform stores the physical bottle for free. If you buy it, you’re issued a digital version of the bottle that serves as a verification of ownership, proof of authenticity and the right to have the physical bottle delivered upon request.
“If you own the NFT, you own the underlying physical asset—often held in custody by a trust company,” explains BlockBar co-founder and President Sam Falic.
When the buyer purchased the non-fungible token (NFT), they claim ownership of the bottles themselves, with a cryptographic version being held by BlockBar. The buyer can redeem the physical product or trade the NFT version in the digital BlockBar marketplace. “Each token is proven to be scarce, non-interchangeable and authentic,” he continues. “Once the physical asset is redeemed from the vault, the token is burned.”
