Maurice, who is the global ambassador and member of the family that owns the world famous cognac, was in the country to interact with Bar owners, ‘Shebeen Queens/Queens’ in Soweto for lunch and Hennessy XO (extra old) exclusive tasting.
The joint is owned by musical maestro Sello “Chicco” Twala.
It was lit-to borrow from from one of our reporters.
The purpose of lunch and tasting was simply to say a ‘big thank you’ for believing and supporting the Hennessy brand in South Africa.
According to Maurice-defying age- SA is the second largest consumer of the French cognac VS (very special) after United States, hence the visit.
However, South Africans have been eclipsed by Nigerians when coming to consuming the XO brand, aged between 10 and 30 years’.
The Chinese also have a penchant for Hennessy brands.
“Seeking to be number one cognac brand comes with a lot of responsibility and right people,” he says, as we toasted the XO accompanied by African food cuisine.
When posed to him why Soweto, the unassuming bespectacled Maurice put it to me that he has been to Soweto before and fell in love it.
“The people, ambiance and rich political history has a special place in my heart. And whenever, I am in the country, this would be my visit,” he said with a broad smile.
Our sales in Soweto keeps improving and we hope other regions would take a leaf from Sowetans, hence we invited top Gauteng joint owners to be part of this occasion in Soweto, he noted delightfully.
The XO bottle currently retailing in special limited edition goes for R2 230 at selected outlets.
“For the next coming 100 year’s we want to keep producing the same high quality brand, since we produce special limited editions,” he commented, after being asked whether quality won’t compromise quantity?
