Since the opening of the Suez Canal in the mid-nineteenth century, China had been no more than a month away from the great southern French port of Marseille. The first Hennessy order arrives from China on December 28th, 1859. Nicquet Faroux & Schuwirth fulfills the order for 25 cases, each containing 12 bottles of Hennessy pale eaux-de-vie vintage 1857.