Red Rocker's Business Ventures in the BLACK!

New Cabo, Same Old Wabo?

Gotta hand it to Sammy Hagar; the notorious "Red Rocker" has certainly proved himself as a big-time money maker. A decent guitarist he may be, but if his guitar chops were as good as his entrepreneurial skills, he'd put Eddie Van Halen himself to shame. Hagar was the smartest member of Van Halen, to be sure. Instead of making news for how much he drinks, he makes booze for people to drink. Of course we refer to his premium tequila brand, Cabo Wabo, whose majority share was bought last year by the Italian company Campari/Skyy for a whopping $80 million. And that's dollars, not pesos. (Campari and Sammy have done a redesign of the CW bottle, making it more classy, and have actually changed the distillery to one recently bought-out by, conveniently, Campari). But Sammy, who still owns 20% of CW is not only a spirits baron, he controls his restuarnt/nightclub venture as-well. His infamous Cabo Wabo Cantina nightclub in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, is now a brand of it's own, expanding to Vegas and elsewhere like a Mexicali Hard Rock Cafe.

Now I Can Afford ALL The Red Guitars in the World!!!


About Sammy Hagar
Sammy is a professional rock and roller, restaurant owner, vintage car collector, gourmet chef, and tequila connoisseur with a passion for quality in everything he does. Sammy’s accolades include the journey as singer and songwriter for Van Halen for 11 years, a highly successful solo career both before and after his run with Van Halen, and an early stint with Montrose and now a Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Inductee. Throughout his accomplished career, Sammy’s combined record sales, when considering the above resume, exceed 60 Million records sold! As founder of the most rockin’ clubs in the world (the Cabo Wabo Cantina in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico) and producer of one of the truly premium Tequilas in the world ( Cabo Wabo tequila), Sammy has established himself as an astute and extremely successful entrepreneur.

¡Viva Ramirez! ¡Viva Sauza!

I want to give a shout-out and virtual high-five to Alex and Carlos at Ramirez Liquors in Los Angeles -- the vendor that sold me the afore-blogged bad bottle of Fortaleza. Not only are they going to make good on a replacement bottle, but they have actually gotten Guillermo Sauza himself involved. Apparently this is a very small but annoying problem, and Guillermo wants to fix it before the Los Abuelos/Fortaleza reputation gets hurt. They are switching to synthetic cork soon. In the meantime, Guillermo actually wants me to send the bad bottle to him, and they are going to lab test it to see what's going on...for real!

Wow, right?

La Quinta Generación, Guillermo Sauza

Bad Cork!

El Corko Malo

Very sadly, my long-awaited bottle of Fortaleza/Los Abuelos Blanco is a bottle of agave-gone-bad. Yes! I don't drink wine, so I never knew the term "corked" before, but apparently this is a case of a tainted cork, which spoils the juice. I knew the minute I took my first sniff of the open bottle something was really wrong. The aroma was basically un-identifiable; a mixture of pure alcohol and sourness. I could not have told you it was tequila. The taste was nothing but hot alcohol and not a hint of agave. None.

Trying to resolve it with the vendor, but they had a disclaimer on their web-site that said I was ordering at my own risk, basically. So, maybe they'll help, maybe they wont.


Good-Cork, Bad-Cork

La Fortalezaaaaaah....

Finally, after weeks of failed attempts to get a bottle of La Fortaleza (Blanco), a bottle arrived today. Also known as "Los Abuelos" -- see header photo -- aficionados describe Fortaleza as "The Holy Grail of Tequila" or even "Tequila Crack". "Get the crack!", they told me. So I did. El Cracko Mas Fino has arrived! Obviously I have high expectations. We shall see...


Sauza Cinco Generaciones: The Venerable Label of La Fortaleza

Viva El Presidente

Commander in-Cheapo

My STANDARD Margarita is The Presidente. And, yes, I got the idea at Chili's restaurant many years ago. Then, on a dinner out to El Sarape (one of our fave Mex joints), I noticed they also had the Presidente on their 'rita menu, using Herradura silver. El Sarape's version is to die for!

The cocktail gets it's name from one of the ingredients - Presidente Mexican brandy. (Not good as a stand-alone brandy!).

The basic formula for a Presidente is:

One to two shots of Tequila (Chili's uses Sauza Conmemrativo, a decent mixto)I typically use Herradura silver, Corralejo reposado, of of late I use Centennario Tenampa Azul.

Presidente brandy - maximum half a shot

Orange Liquor (Chili's used to use Cointreau, now they use Patron Citronje. I use Gran Gala) - about a half shot

Margarita Mix or Sour Mix

A squeeze of fresh lime

When Bush was president I used to call my version The Texas Governor. People would ask, what's the difference between a Texas Governor and a Presidente, to which I would reply, NOTHING!


The Chief Hails my Margarita with a big thumb's up. Maybe I'll change the name to The Obamarita!

Hat's Off to ChiliHead!

West Bridgewater BBQ Joint Smokes With Live Music and Good Tequila



I first walked in to Chilihead BBQ within day's of the restaurant's opening in 2004. Being a lover of good authentic Texas BBQ, the place caught my eye as I drove by one night. Luckily, the food did not disappoint! I quickly made friends with the owner, Paul Bello, and soon was playing live music in the corner of the little cafe.

A couple years later, Paul expanded ChiliHead, doubling the space, and got a full liquor license. His first bottles of tequila were, shall we say, lacking in quality 100% agave offerings. I uninvitedly gave him my totally not so humble opinion about how he should feature high-end tequila. I first suggested Herradura, El Tesoro, Don Julio and a couple others. Maybe Patron.

Long story short, Paul started on a tequila quest that continues to this day. ChiliHead has one of the best tequila bars in Massachusetts, currently stocking over 50 different bottles. He has even been to Mexico to tour the distilleries. In addition to great tequilas and margaritas, the restaurant offers great BBQ and great live music four nights a week.

As Paul likes to tell me and everyone else he talks to, his addiction to high-end tequila is "all MY fault!"

ChiliHead Music on MySpace

A Close Encounter With E.T.

Score! Normally $40 to $50 or more, I scored a bottle of El Tesoro Anejo at the New Hampshire State Store for $36.00

I haven't phoned up ET (El Tesoro de Don Filipe) in a few years. I was in an Americana Band called Lucky 57 in the early and mid 2K's, and we drank a little (OK, maybe more than a little) El Tesoro. Since then I've discovered other high-end Tequilas and sort of forgot ET. When I joined Tequila.net, I saw that many members really like and value ET. Apparently, it's sort of an essential bottle, as far as officionados are concerned.

So I went to my local store to buy a bottle, Lukes, as they have always carried it. But no! To my surprise and dissapointment, they no longer offer it. They said they could order it in, but "I would not like the price". It would be $54 -- for the blanco! The reposado and anejo would be more.

So lucky me, today I was on my way back from a couple days in NH and of course stopped at the NH State Liquor Outlet. And, BOOM, they have ET Anejo on sale for $36.99. Now, I would have preferred a reposado or blanco, but they did not have those. So I bought it.

I have just now tried it, and while I would not put it in my top 5 or maybe even 10, it's a really nice, well-balanced sippin' anejo. Has a nice blend of agave and wood.

And the price, shall we say, was "out of this world!"

Here's the El Tesoro Anejo review page on Tequila.net

ET's main web-site

Behind The Cuervo Name: Tequila's Family Dynasty

Expensive Cuervo

First, let me make it clear that I am not a Jose Cuervo hater. It is true that there was a time when I slammed anything with "The C-Word" on the label. Why? Because the historic Tequila brand was responsible for too many porcelain-hugging episodes in my college years. You too, right? For decades they have imported in to the USA mixto swill called "Gold" and "Especial". To this day many Americans consider this Tequila. I can't imagine going in to a bar and ordering an margarita without specifying or at least knowing what tequila is going in to it. But people still do that, and they get what they deserve. Let's not waste precious agave on them. Luckily myself and others are enlightened enough to know better.

Y'know what? That's Cuervo's business model, and due to good marketing they gave and got what the market would bear. Hat's off to 'em! If you make cheap crap and people pay good money for it, why not keep making it? I would! Has the Cuervo family been laughing at us all the way to the bank? Probably. They are still the number one tequila in the world. But I have learned that Cuervo is part of the origin and the fabric and the heart and soul of tequila. They are a founding family and a dynasty, responsible for building the industry and, lets even say, "la cultura de tequila".

The DO make some brands that I like. One of them, Centennario, is good by anyone's standards. I find Tradicional a very decent 100% agave for margaritas and even shots. I did not, however, like the expensive high-end blanco they released last year called "Platino". But I am a blanco snob, as you already know. This year I will take the plunge and try one of the reservas.

In 2009 Cuervo celebrates its 250th year. Let's give La Familia a respectful nod and salute the First Family of Tequila.

From Tequila.Net here's a nice article on the company, the cellars of reserva, the Cuervo legacy, and their plans for artful bottle releases for the big anniversary.

Cuervo Reserva Review
Cuervo Factoids


Artist Marco Arce will design the Cuervo 250th Reserva de la Familia Bottles

'Rita of the Week: The 3D 'Rita

Made a tasty one last night. I used Corralejo Triple Distilado. In my recent reposado tasting I found that I didn't like this one as a sipper. Maybe the bottle is a little off. So....I used it in a margarita last night. It made a BIG 'rita, if you know what I mean. BIG taste. I used:



Lots of ice
1) shot of Corralejo 3D Reposado
2) 1/3-shot of Triple Sec (you get the "triple" theme?)
3) dribble of agave nectar
4) splash of orange juice
5) Stirrings Simple Margarita Mixer (key lime juice with cane sugar)

AND... a floater of 1921 Reserva Especial on top. Oh yeah...

That's all she wrote. It was both gooood.......


........and.......

................................effective! :-)