The safe choice, not the best buy: fine but overpriced.

Tupac Shakur nearly equated it with success, the 69 Boyz think it clearly better than E&J, and Snoop Dogg seems to recommend it as an accompaniment for cannabis, which I suppose is no more ridiculous than the "traditional" palate-deadening cigar. Cognac has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence in the U.S. market thanks to hip-hop, and Hennessy gets its name dropped perhaps more than any other.  Blends that are possibly Veblen goods, ranging into the multi-hundred or even thousand-dollar range are available, but Hennessy XO seems to be the choice of those who want to flaunt their disposable income.

XO isn't a legal designation or even a technical term in brandy making.  The gallon-jug grocery store brandy I use in the kitchen is called an  XO, too, and it doesn't come near Hennessy XO in character or quality.  By convention in Cognac alone, XO means a blend from eaux de vie that have aged at least six years, with the average age being twenty years or more.  Hennessy, a Cognac trading house--like Ports, most Cognacs are made and bottled by trading houses and not by estate producers--was the first to offer an XO brandy, in 1870.  The label and style have been widely copied, even making it to the bottom shelf.  The letters stand for "eXtra Old" and usually denote the finest, most subtle product in the house's regular lineup.

XO Cognacs are of uniformly high quality, differing like Champagnes do in style.  Unlike the "XO" grocery-store brandy, they are for drinking neat only, not mixing into cocktails or lighting on fire atop Cherries Jubilee.  Serve at "cellar temperature" or even room temperature, and warm them in your hand, if you like.  This brings out some of the flavors, but also concentrates alcohol vapor in the snifter.  Experiment a bit; you'll find what suits you.

Some XO cognacs have a pronounced "rancio" flavor, which is to say they have a sherrylike character and has nothing to do with rancidity.  They can also take on have leathery or tobacco flavors.  Hennessy XO can be said to be a "beginner" XO.   That's not a value judgement but rather a way of saying that it has a fruit-forward style, blended to retain considerable grappa-like flavor instead of these more earthy aged flavors.  The dominant flavor here is of plum jam, and there's acidity to match.  Cinnamon and clove, from oak aging, assert themselves nicely in the nose, and there's a hint of white pepper and a background vanilla note on taking a sip.  It's very smooth, with no alcoholic bite, but only a bit sweet.  The aftertaste is like raisins and chocolate.

Not bad at all, but, at $140 per bottle, very expensive, and in my opinion overpriced.  There are few true "bargain" high-end brandies but quite a few that give much more for the money than Hennessy XO. Martell Cordon Bleu, a Cognac of comparable quality, can be had for forty to fifty dollars less.  Armagnacs of equal quality are available at a little over half the price of Hennessy XO. It's possibly culinary heresy to say so, but Metaxa Grand Fine and XO or hors d'age Calvados are also far better buys. They haven't become hip-hop status symbols, better for the rest of us who drink for enjoyment and not for show. Hennessy XO is good if someone else offers, but not worth the premium.