Creating a story

Creating a fragrance isn’t easy—it takes time and commitment. “Anyone who doesn’t know the rule of perfume cannot invent something exciting,” Hennessy explains. A lot of work is needed to be put in—especially when having to learn the 3,000 different perfume notes and its combinations—so past scents aren’t replicated. The perfumer shares that the learning process can take around 10 years.

Learning about perfume is one thing. Creating a good one is another.

The French perfumer believes that a great perfume starts with a great story. He continues: “It’s the same way as how there is no great movie without a great script. You can put the best actors in the world together but if they have to interpret a horrible script, they will not pay well.”

He further explains that his creative process begins with the name. “The name is my script. You cannot imagine a movie director choosing his actors and actresses without a script, right?” he says. After he has picked the story and name for the fragrance, he picks the perfumers to create the product.

Remembering where he came from

For Hennessy, creating his most memorable fragrance, Angels’ Share, took 12 years. One of his most personal fragrance creations, the perfume pays tribute to his heritage, as a heir to the renowned French cognac-making family.

He shares that he tapped into his “olfactive memory of Hennessy cognac cellars” of la part des anges to create the scent. Translated into “angels’ share”, la part des anges is a part of the distillation process where some eaux de vie (distilled spirits) evaporates through its barrel or cask. “We say that we are sharing it with the angels,” he explains.

True to its name, the perfume offers scents of cognac and oak wood, with long-lasting notes of sandalwood and vanilla.

Even today, Angels’ Share is one of Hennessy’s favourites and one of the fragrance house’s top sellers.

A push for sustainability

Hennessy’s passion for perfume is stronger than ever. On top of attracting his customers with his unique and unforgettable scents, he creates eco-friendly products too.

Over the years, he wanted to create a product that customers would not just throw away once it’s finished. He explained that he “had to give them a reason to keep” the bottles and coffrets. So, he redesigned his coffrets to allow customers to use it as a clutch while making every bottle refillable. “The bottle you buy is the bottle you keep all your life, you don’t need to buy another,” he says.

He also shares that his wrapping materials are all made from 100 per cent recycled materials from silk ribbon shopping bags to gift wrapping.

After being in the industry for 15 years, Hennessy isn’t going away any time soon. “We move as fast as we can. We just need the industry to move with us,” the perfumer says.

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