Unique zodiac cocktails: Celebrate Chinese New Year with a cognac cocktail that matches your sign

Chinese New Year is upon us, so there’s no better time than now to find your ideal drink to fit your zodiac sign personality!

Hennessy and artist Yan Pei-Ming welcome Lunar New Year – Year of the Rabbit, with The Great Race

2023, the Year of the Rabbit, begins on an auspicious note with the first collaboration between Hennessy and Yan Pei-Ming.

The expressionist artist has put brush to canvas for a monumental painting entitled The Great Race, featuring the rabbit, surrounded by all the other animals of the Chinese Zodiac in dynamic movement, evoking freedom and unity in diversity. The true subject of the painting, which measures an imposing 6 x 3.5 meters, is light, explains Yan Pei-Ming: “When you hold a bottle of cognac up to sunlight, its hues and transparency vary so much. I wanted to portray cognac — but it’s light that is really the color of this painting.” The striking palette in the artist’s remarkable composition immediately evokes the amber and mahogany tones of Hennessy X.O.

The exceptional painting has inspired a limited-edition collection of Hennessy V.S.O.P, Hennessy X.O and Hennessy Paradis cognacs to welcome the Lunar New Year. The centerpiece of the collection is a one-liter Hennessy Paradis decanter, a jewel of artisanal savoir-faire created in collaboration with Maison Bernardaud. Each decanter is handcrafted in the workshop in world-renowned Limoges porcelain. The decanter has been produced in an exclusive series of 888 decanters, each housed in a precious wooden case. For the Chinese-born artist, now naturalized French, visiting Hennessy in Cognac was a revelatory experience, from the architecture of the renovated ancient buildings to the aromas of cognac and the nuanced hues of the Chai des Fondateurs tasting room. All these myriad details found an expression in this luminous collaboration.

What to drink based on your Chinese Zodiac? Celebrate Chinese New Year with a cognac cocktail that matches your sign.

• RABBIT ZODIAC SIGN
  CHARACTERISTICS Energetic Harmoniser

PERSONA:
Premium at-home gatherings with those closest to you or unexpected connections are at focus for you, and you disclose a realm of a feel-good aura for whoever is around you, with the crowd secretly wondering, “”Is there an ace up the sleeve?””

THE NEW YEAR:
The New Year will remind you of the importance of getting along with the environment.

THE RABBIT COCKTAIL:
45 ml Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilège cognac
90 ml Milk Oolong tea
Garnish: Lemon twist, narcissus flower
Glass: Collins Glass
Pour all ingredients into a Collins glass with ice, stir to combine, and garnish with a lemon twist and a narcissus flower.

• DRAGON ZODIAC SIGN
  CHARACTERISTICS: Generous Avant-gardist

PERSONA:
A great front-runner and trailblazer, you lead life towards the direction you aim for, transferring your movements into a fluidity, with dreamlike compositions that reconverge into you never falling behind on trends.

THE NEW YEAR:
The New Year promises new opportunities.

THE DRAGON COCKTAIL
45 ml Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilège cognac
60 ml Chai Tea
30 ml Milk, or oat milk or almond milk
Garnish: Orange twist, star anise, peony petals
Glass: Collins Glass
Pour all ingredients into a Collins glass with ice, stir to combine, and garnish with an orange twist, star anise, and peony petals.

• SNAKE ZODIAC SIGN
  CHARACTERISTICS: Elegant Individualist

PERSONA:
Your unique taste adds flare to all new beginnings. A peaceful moment with yourself is what you prefer, and the ones around you consider that to be your forte. You’re graceful and have a distinctive style; you create an aftermath of wonder that always follows you.

THE NEW YEAR:
The New Year is all about long-lasting relationships and big plans.

THE SNAKE COCKTAIL
45 ml Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilège cognac
70 ml Ginger lemon tea
Garnish: Lemon twist and candied ginger
Glass: Rocks Glass
Add all ingredients into a glass with ice, garnish with a lemon twist and a piece of candied ginger.

• HORSE ZODIAC SIGN
  CHARACTERISTICS: Heart-warming Sympathiser

PERSONA:
Your uplifting spirit permeates any premises you enter, and you make the air come alive with chatter, laughter, and friendliness. Being able to enjoy a few deliberately crafted and joyous experiences as a collective is a journey you can’t wait to embark on.

THE NEW YEAR:
The New Year will not go unnoticed, and you will understand how to achieve success with less effort.

THE HORSE COCKTAIL
45 ml Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilège cognac
70 ml Jasmin green tea
Garnish: Lemon twist, Jasmin flowers
Glass: Collins glass
Add all ingredients to a glass with ice, garnish with a lemon twist and jasmine flowers attached to the side of the glass before adding liquid into the glass.

• SHEEP ZODIAC SIGN
  CHARACTERISTICS: Sensitive Creator

PERSONA:
You are moved by the constant quest to create something, whether it’s within an artisanal or traditional outline. You are attached to the environment you emerge yourself in, constantly yearning for profound connections, searching for ingenuity in spirit.

THE NEW YEAR:
The New Year will carry lots of laughter and lots of love.

THE SHEEP COCKTAIL
40 ml Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilège cognac
70 ml Green tea
Garnish: Basil leaf, strawberry slices
Glass: Rocks glass
Add all ingredients to a rocks glass with ice, garnish with mint sprig and apricot slices.

• MONKEY ZODIAC SIGN
  CHARACTERISTICS: Curious Adventurer

PERSONA:
An imaginative visionary, pioneering explorer, eager for a glimpse, trekking toward grand goals and away from comfortable realities. Like a Jack-in-the-Box, you’re full of unexpected surprises and ideas and curious to see where they lead you.

THE NEW YEAR:
The New Year will arrive with unstoppable energy.

THE MONKEY COCKTAIL
45 ml Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilège cognac
50 ml Chrysanthemum Tea syrup
Garnish: Orange twist, and Chrysanthemum buds
Glass: Rocks glass
Add all ingredients to a shaker tin with ice, and shake until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice, and garnish with a lemon twist.

• ROOSTER ZODIAC SIGN
  CHARACTERISTICS: Optimistic Initiator

PERSONA:
Your positive attitude and take on life would make even a sagebrush blossom, you’re a go-getter, offering a different marvel and a different source of energy, and the outcome is always new perspectives.

THE NEW YEAR:
The New Year will enlighten you with new insights.

THE ROOSTER COCKTAIL
45 ml Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilège cognac
15 ml Lychee juice
60 ml Red berry tea, or Rooibos tea
Garnish: Lotus flower
Glass: Rocks
Add all ingredients in a rocks glass with ice, and garnish with a lotus flower.

• DOG ZODIAC SIGN
  CHARACTERISTICS: Dedicated Devotee

PERSONA:
There’s a natural tranquillity within you, and you stay focused and authentic. You are not quick to contradict the physics of nature, and your sincerity is offering people a singular pleasure. You draw them out of everyday life to experience something extraordinary.

THE NEW YEAR:
The New Year circles around health, happiness, and high income.

THE DOG COCKTAIL
45ml Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilège cognac
45 ml Fresh Pineapple juice
4 Dashes Angostura Bitters
Garnish: Pineapple leaves
Glass: Rocks glass
Add all ingredients to a shaker tin with ice and shake until chilled; strain into a rocks glass with ice and garnish with two pineapple leaves.

• PIG ZODIAC SIGN
  CHARACTERISTICS: Unbridled Hedonist

PERSONA:
Impossible-to-ignore, charismatic, and an entertainer – you are as close to a one-man show as anybody will ever get. You leave an indelible mark on life with your cheerful and dominant presence.

THE NEW YEAR:
The New Year is beaming with pleasure where dreams come true.

THE PIG COCKTAIL
60 ml Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilège cognac
90 ml Club soda
Garnish: Mint Sprig, Apricot slices
Glass: Collins glass
Add all ingredients into a Collins glass with ice, garnish with mint sprig and apricot slices.

• RAT ZODIAC SIGN
  CHARACTERISTICS: Delightful Dream-maker

PERSONA:
Banker, travel writer, environmentalist, co-founder, undercover agent: a person of many associations, you construct your ideal life, sealing your fate thanks to your sensitive mind.

THE NEW YEAR:
The New Year might surprise you with new business opportunities and new relationships.

THE RAT COCKTAIL
45 ml Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilège cognac
60 ml Hibiscus tea
Garnish: Hibiscus salt* and hibiscus flower
Glass: Rocks
Spritz the outside of the rocks glass with Hennessy, and shake hibiscus salt over the damp areas. Add all ingredients to the glass with fresh ice and garnish with a hibiscus flower.
*add one tablespoon of dried hibiscus flower to a grinder and grind to fine powder; now add ½ tsp fine ground pink salt, and mix together.

• OX ZODIAC SIGN
  CHARACTERISTICS: Trustworthy Organiser

PERSONA:
You are a prominent theme in everything and for everyone, backing them up, planning ahead, and representing visages of the world in a much broader sense than anybody else around you.

THE NEW YEAR:
The New Year comes with excellent career development.

THE OX COCKTAIL
45 ml Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilège cognac
60 ml Lemon soda
Garnish: Slice of white peach, peach flower or orange twist
Glass: Rocks
Pour all ingredients into a rocks glass with ice, stir to combine, and garnish with an orange twist, peach slice or peach flower.

• TIGER ZODIAC SIGN
  CHARACTERISTICS: Fearless Challenger

PERSONA:
Dare to send chills down spins, and be the centre of attention with a mesmerising untouchable wildness. You have the potential to be magnificent, thrilling, the one who turns heads in any context, conspiring to suggest a kind of fearless extreme.

THE NEW YEAR:
The New Year will teach you that fortune comes from all directions.

THE TIGER COCKTAIL
45 ml Hennessy V.S.O.P Privilège cognac
1 Dash Angostura Bitters
100 ml Coconut water
Garnish: Orange twist, Daisy flower
Glass: Collins
Pour all ingredients into a Collins glass with ice, stir to combine, and garnish with an orange twist.