Wednesday evening, 12 April 2017, we attended the Sleepless Movie Media Event at the SterKinekor Entertainment Head Office in Johannesburg. Upon arrival, we were welcomed to the event with a red carpet leading up to the Cigar and Cognac Lounge, where we were greeted by the friendly faces of the organizers and SterKinekor Marketing Team who went out of their way to make sure the evening had a touch of class.

Kicking off the evening, we were presented with a Martell Caractere Cognac (R400 from Makro) mixer, containing Ginger Ale and an orange skin shaving. This was my first taste of a Quality French Cognac, and it was fantastic! As the evening progressed, we were all gathered in the main room for a brief discussion and history lesson on “How to Enjoy a Cognac the Right Way”. Alexis Rigaud, the Martell Brand Ambassador of South Africa demonstrated and detailed the importance of appreciating Quality Cognac.

Something that he said has stuck with me, and changed my mindset. He said, “Not every Brandy is a Cognac (Martell), but every Cognac is a Brandy”. Which in layman’s terms is that not every car is a Ferrari, but every Ferrari is a car! It was brought to our attention that Martell is Exclusive to South Africa and Asia and that only 2.5 Million Cases of Cognac are produced each year to satisfy our respective markets. Martell is the only distillery to distill a clear wine using 4 different types of grapes found in very specific regions due to their individual characteristics. Martell is also the only distillery to age their Cognac in Fine Grain French Oak Barrels, which is purposefully done to give you the sense of Elegance and Luxury (basically to make you feel like a baws!).

Among the many things we were taught about drinking a fine Cognac, Alexis also pointed out that the “Scent Principle” can be applied to any Spirit. Most of us, when “sniffing” our drink, just stick our noses right in our glass and take a whiff. This is wrong! This only allows you to smell the strong scent of spirits and you miss out on the meticulously crafted Aromatics within the drink. The correct way to smell your drink, is to sniff the upper rim of your glass, eliminating the spirits and allowing you to enjoy the full body of the drink and suss out the ingredients, like nuts, chocolate, plums or prunes. Try this next time, it will blow your mind!

After the Cognac Tasting, Martin Baloyi from Encore Concepts unlocked his treasure trove of Authentic Hand Rolled Cuban Cigars and Paired us all up with our “Ideal” Cigar to compliment our drink. Martin brought 4 types of Cigars, The Partagas Mille Fleur, The Montecristo No 5, The Quintero Brevas and Jose Brevas. He explained that the Brevas Cigars had a consistent strength and taste from start to finish, as where the Partagas and Montecristo had a very Spicy (Leather-like) start, Medium body in the Middle and a very strong Spicy Finish, which is why Martin paired me up with a Partagas Cigar.

Martin also briefly explained the process of making Cigars, which leaves are used and how they contribute to the overall flavor of a Cigar, making it an art form when pairing with a specific drink, not limited only to a Quality Cognac. Each of the Cigars that were at the event all had an “Easy Draw”, meaning that you did not need to “suck” (to put it bluntly) too hard to pull the Cigar. This coupled with the Cognac Demonstration, really got us all in the mood for the movie, which is set in Las Vegas, completing the pre-movie establishing scene for the attending media representatives.

Before we all made our way to our seats, we had the opportunity to strike a pose next to Jamie Foxx using a selection of props, as there was a chroma-key backdrop present with some professional photographers, adding some more fun and adventure to the evening’s proceedings. You can see the pictures here if you are keen to take a look at what we got up to! The movie was really captivating. The suspense and unpredictable nature of the story development really had me going from start to end and rounded off the #SleeplessMovieSA Media Evening in style.

We would like to thank SterKinekor Entertainment and the organizers for hosting us and for putting together such an intimate evening while teaching us the missing links to becoming true Gentleman. Sleepless releases in South African Cinemas on 28 April 2017. Below is the Trailer to peak your interest. You can book tickets via the SterKinekor Website or the New SterKinekor Mobile App (Android).

Sleepless Movie Trailer