Price: Starting at around $34 per 750ml Alcohol content: 40% Age: Legal minimum of 2 years, but apparently a blend of eau de vies aged between 2 and 8 years according to the Internet. Nose: Out of the snifter, the nose is relatively unimpressive, with an uncomplicated but pleasant bouquet of apple pie with cinnamon and caramel sauce, and maybe some vanilla, followed by white grape and lemon sherbet, but this then transitions to a plasticky aroma with prominent alcoholic spiritiness - more pronounced than in even most cheap whiskies I review. However, I should not let this affect my overall opinion too much, because I realise now that snifters tend to concentrate the alcohol aroma more than the crystal sherry glass I usually use for tasting spirits. Taste: The cognac starts with a strong flavor of dark caramel and slight vanilla and milk chocolate, transitioning to a hint of banana and peach, then white grape, burned sugar and finally an odd burned note reminiscent of charcoal smoke. Finish: Medium prominence with grassiness, baking spices and orange. Conclusion: Hennessy VS is not as good as I remember it, both compared to when I tried it at the same time last year and the memories I have from flaming Christmas puddings as a child. In particular, I now taste more confectionery flavors that come across as drier compared to the sweet and lively fruitiness I found before. I will chalk this up to palate development since I find it hard to believe that quality has been reduced by that much within only one year. Overall, although I have little to compare it to having tried just three other brandies, one of which was not made from grapes, I consider it pleasant but certainly not impressive for the price, and feel like it is trading on an overblown reputation. More on reddit.com

Someone at Hennessy has a very heavy hand when it comes time to add caramel coloring More on reddit.com

Just bought a Hennessy VSOP, and in a blind test with my existing Camus VSOP Elegance, I cant tell the difference between the two. More on reddit.com

If you're going to duty free that's the perfect time to buy XO given its price difference to regular stores. But if that's out of reach you ought to have a good choice at the airport, I can't comment on the choices you list but if I can throw another in, keep an eye out for Baron Otard VSOP, at that level it's my favourite (so far!) More on reddit.com