In 1791 young Thomas HINE left his home in Dorset, England to seek his fortune in France. He chose the Cognac region, perhaps because his family, living on the coast, had engaged in the common practice of smuggling cognac.

This was the time of the Revolution in France, and Thomas was arrested as a spy and imprisoned in the ancient Château of Jarnac.

He was soon freed again and married Françoise Elisabeth, whose father owned a cognac company in Jarnac. He had married into a business that was to become his career and his obsession. He became a noted connoisseur, respected for his integrity and famous for the demands he made on his suppliers.

Over the years, he raised the art of making cognac to new heights, continuing to develop the business, to which, in 1817, he gave its present name: Thomas HINE & C°.

When he died, in 1822, he left more than a prosperous business. His legacy was a name already known and appreciated around the world for the exceptional quality of its cognacs.