In 1986 Bernard Hine (the late Cellar Master and Honorary Chairman of Hine) and Nicholas Freeman (the late Chairman of Hunters & Frankau) met for the first time. It was the beginning of a friendship that would eventually lead to the creation of the Hine Cigar Reserve XO Cognac ten years later, in 1996.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Cigar Reserve XO Cognac and the friendship of its two creators, Hine and Hunters & Frankau have released a limited bottling exclusively available in the UK.

Eric Forget, Hine’s legendary Cellar Master combined the classic Hine Cigar Reserve XO Cognac (50%) with the exceptional 1986 Grande Champagne vintage cognac (50%) to create a Cognac of outstanding quality that remains true to the original blend.

The 1986 vintage was selected partly in recognition of the year the two men first met, but also due to the delicate yet complex cognac with a bouquet of fine tobacco, oak, sweet spices and white peach that it produced.

Just 250 bottles of this celebratory cognac have been made, each one hand bottled in Hine House, Jarnac. Each one has also been individually numbered by hand.