Description Created by Maurice Hennessy in 1870 for his close friends, Hennessy X.O was the first Cognac classified as X.O, or 'extra old', because of its extended aging process. Hennessy has such a reputation on the world stage that they even have advertising directed by Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator etc), a big budget production based on the concept that ‘Each drop of Hennessy X.O. is an Odyssey’. Rich, multi-layered, Gold-winning and distinctively packaged.