What makes two persons click? It could be the shared values that establish a good rapport. It could be the similar interests that make them hit it off right away. For Hennessy and its latest collaborator, it is the ingenuity in them that have brought them together — the former has blazed a trail in the cognac world with exceptional creations that have been favoured by both royalty and alcohol connoisseurs while the latter has made a name for himself with his creative mash-up of traditional landscape painting and digital manipulation.

This Chinese New Year, the French cognac maker has worked with visionary Chinese artist Yang Yongliang to dream up a striking, limited-edition collection to usher in the Year of the Dragon in opulence and vigour. Named “Dragon’s Odyssey”, the collaboration sees the contemporary artist lending his poetic touch to Hennessy’s iconic carafes — giving birth to a brand new design that marries time-honoured legacy, centuries-old tradition and exuberant festive spirit. A masterpiece of exquisiteness and superior mastery, the collection comes in the colours of red and gold, each imbued with sinuous grace of the most symbolic animal of the Chinese zodiac.

“It was important to me to work with a brand that has respect of its own history and traditions, as Hennessy does. It links the present to the past in everything it does, and I resonated with that. My inspiration for this collection comes from my special fondness for dragons – they’re so symbolic and legendary, and I grew up hearing stories about them. When I was a young boy, my grandmother gave me an antique coin with a dragon on it. I wanted to share that memory in this Hennessy collaboration, and that’s why the dragon has a metallic surface, like a childhood memory of seeing a dragon on a coin,” shares Yang Yongliang.