As a drink, cognac is one that’s traditionally targeted at a mostly male – and definitely older – demographic. If your idea of cognac is an old man’s drink, well, it’s generally true. You’re more likely to encounter cognac as the choice for drinking games in sleazy karaoke lounges in Singapore, than as a premium tipple in a notable high-end bar.

But the two women behind newly-launched Exsto Cognac intend to change those outdated perceptions. Exsto Cognac is created in partnership between Sabrina Duong and award-winning sommelier Julie Dupuoy with the help of seventh-generation master-blender Géraud Vallantin-Dulac.

Julie’s skills and experience make her the perfect choice to create a new style of cognac – a luxury drink that’s elegant and modern, yet respectful of its heritage,” Doung told us. “We share a vision of adopting a more feminine approach to what is often perceived to be a man’s drink.” More importantly to Doung, she felt Dupouy herself was an inspiration, and a great role model to young women around the world.

“As a sommelier I rarely get the occasion to create. Of course I get to select beautiful wines and spirits and recommend them to people but getting the opportunity to be in charge of developing the taste profile of a beverage was definitely something unique and exciting,” Dupouy remembered.

“I also felt that this venture was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the process of creating a high-quality product and bringing it to market,” she added.

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“As a Cognac lover and a woman, I was very excited to take on this challenge. I wanted to bring the passion and excitement I have for Cognac to a wider audience by introducing a new, modern style to drinkers around the world,” said Dupouy, who speaks impeccable English.

“There are also times where the customer asked if I actually know wine at all, seeing that I was a female,” added Dupouy.

Breaking the stereotype in a man’s world

For Duong, she wanted to work with a good sommelier who lives and breathes wines and spirits and has cultivated a unique understanding of aromas and flavours by exploring the world’s best foods and drinks.

Julie Dupouy ticked all the boxes as she has a thorough understanding of modern preferences, having worked with acclaimed chefs at Michelin-starred restaurants.

In 2016, she was placed third at the ASI World’s Best Sommelier Championship. She was one of just four women in the competition and the second female sommelier ever to reach the final of the world championships.

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Exsto is the world’s first cognac created by two Frenchwomen, sommelier Julie Dupouy and entrepreneur Sabrina Duong.

Three years ago, Julie Dupouy received a message on her LinkedIn account: It was from Sabrina Duong, a fellow French woman who wanted her help in making a cognac from a “female point of view”. Dupouy, 36, a Dublin-based sommelier who has won the Best Sommelier of Ireland every year since 2009, was surprised at this stranger’s request. After all, since she finished third at the ASI World’s Best Sommelier Championship in 2016, she has been getting a lot of spam in her inbox.

Nonetheless, she arranged to meet Duong, 39, in Paris. Duong, who worked for 15 years at L’Oreal before becoming an entrepreneur, had long toyed with the idea of launching her own cognac ever since she was introduced to the spirit by her friends, the Vallantin-Dulacs, a cognac producer.

But Duong did not want her spirit to be “an old man’s type of drink”, nor did she want it to be made in a traditional way through the sole vision of a family-run cognac maker. She wanted a female collaborator who had a great palate for wines and spirits, and was bilingual in French and English. LinkedIn brought her to Dupouy.

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It may be one of the world’s most refined spirits, but Cognac has a long-suffering reputation of being a stuffy, staid aperitif. But all that’s changing as alcohol aficionados are now looking at the liquid with renewed interest. Cognac, like Champagne, abides by a strict set of rules during its creation process. It is made in its eponymous region in France, and 95 per cent of the Cognac in existence is created using the same recipe passed down from generation to generation. But in recent years, there’s been a revolution brewing as younger drinkers have come to appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into its creation.

This regained fervour has led to the establishment of new names within the booming industry, such as Exsto Cognac. Founded by Cognac enthusiasts Sabrina Duong and Julie Dupouy, who is also an award-winning master sommelier, the duo found Singapore to be the right market for their brand as they felt “Singaporeans are very open to trying new things, new products and very willing to break the mould”. Depardon adds: “The newer generation of drinkers are now more open-minded and curious, and don’t mind exploring spirits like Cognac, which has a long heritage and savoir faire.”

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This liquor is no longer seen as just an old man’s drink, thanks to a few fervent female disruptors.

You can’t get a better representation of women empowerment than this: A 39-year-old ex-fragrance brand director partnering with a 36-year-old female sommelier to take on the 400-year-old, mega-masculine industry of cognac.

Though Sabrina Duong, founder and CEO of the new Exsto Cognac, doesn’t think it’s her anatomy that’s disrupting the industry; it’s her experience and past credentials. “What better way to disrupt [the cognac industry] than breaking into it with a background in luxury perfumes and cosmetics?” says the former Asia Brand Director for French perfume company Roger&Gallet, owned by L’Oréal.

To further set her new brand apart from the rest, Duong also made the strategic move to pair the World’s Best Female Sommelier 2016, Julie Dupouy, with a master blender, Géraud Vallantin-Dulac, to create the house’s first two distinctive cognac blends: The Exsto Cognac Elixir and the Exsto Cognac OR Impérial.

We speak to Duong to find out more about her new business and her age-old love for the aqua vitae.

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Until recently, cognac has suffered a lack of popularity in the European markets.Today, people are rediscovering cognac because of its inner quality – it is a drink with a strong personality that has a lot of beautiful aromas to offer. The younger generation is open to rediscover old drinks and will want to enjoy a drink regardless of their social status, their gender and what message it conveys.” said Julie.

After over two years of trial and errors, Julie has created two distinctive cognac blends. Upon the first nosing, Exsto Elixir ($688) exudes intense notes of caramel au beurre (caramel with butter), red fruits, ripe peaches and apricots, exotic spices – vanilla, cinnamon, and star anise, roasted pineapple and melon with a twist of bitter oak. Upon a drop of water, the cognac’s buttery notes opens up and are brought out for a richer finish- with a rather harsh scent of sweetness and earth but not as harsh as a conventional cognac. The Elixir comprises a mixture of only eight eaux-de-vie chosen out of the rarest and oldest stock from the producers.

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Người ta vốn dĩ không công bằng với Cognac, đặc biệt là vì nó khá giống với whisky – loại rượu mà trong một thập kỷ gần đây đã luôn gắn với hình ảnh của những người đàn ông lớn tuổi. Tương tự cho Cognac, nhưng ở đây lại là hình ảnh hai người phụ nữ: chuyên gia nếm rượu Julie Dupouy và doanh nhân Sabrina Duong, nhà sáng lập Exsto Cognac.

Mặc dù vậy, câu chuyện không đơn giản như thế. Người thứ ba liên quan đến việc tạo ra Exsto là Géraud Vallantin-Dulac, một bậc thầy pha chế thuộc thế hệ thứ bảy đến từ các nhà sản xuất Cognac. Gia đình Vallantin-Dulac cũng là bạn bè của gia đình Duong ở Paris, họ đã dành nhiều buổi tối cùng nhau để tán gẫu và nhâm nhi loại rượu này.

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he spirit is the result of a desire to create a frutier, more floral, and modern style of Cognac for its next generation of drinkers.

Cognac gets an unfair reputation. Especially since it’s a spirit slightly adjacent to whisky — which has, in the recent decade or so, managed to shed it’s image as an old man’s drink. Doing the same for Cognac are two women: sommelier Julie Dupouy and entrepreneur Sabrina Duong, who founded Exsto Cognac.

The story isn’t as simple as that though. The third party involved with the Exsto’s creation is Géraud Vallantin-Dulac, a seventh-generation master blender coming from a long line of Cognac producers. The Vallantin-Dulacs also happen to be family friends of the Paris-based Duong, who has spent many evenings with friends, drinking Cognac.

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