Hine Cognac Up for Sale
Yet another big cognac house is up for sale. Hine Cognac, which was founded in Jarnac in 1763, celebrates its 250th Anniversary this year. The name Hine originates from an Englishman who married into the family in the early 19th century and the House has remained in the hands of Hine descendants ever since. Abiding by the founder’s motto ‘less is more’ they have continued to produce relatively small quantities of very high quality cognac. The current owner, CL World Brands, has recently relinquished its stake in Jamaican Appleton Rum and the whisky producers Burn Stewart Distillers fuelling rumours that their parent company, CL Financial, are in financial turmoil. Although there is no news yet of whom the buyer may be, it is a real shame that they are being forced to sell Hine under these circumstances. So many of the smaller cognac houses have been snapped up by the ‘big four’ resulting in quality, single estate stock being lost to the blending process which is used to meet the ever growing demand from Asia.