Talkin' Tequila With SAMMY HAGAR
December 3, 2009, 14 years ago
Gregory Mottola from Cigaraficionado.com is reporting:
"Mess with it too much and it doesn't taste like tequila anymore." SAMMY HAGAR's wisdom on distilling his Cabo Wabo brand may also apply to his other well known pursuit: rock 'n' roll music. The former lead singer of Van Halen recently took a break from his current tour with the band Chickenfoot to drop in at the Cigar Aficionado offices and talk about the evolution of the tequila that first hit the market 13 years ago."This tequila used to come in porcelain jugs with a label that looked like it was scribbled with a crayon," he says with a laugh, reflecting back to the brand's micro-batch days of the mid-90s when it was created for sale at Cabo Wabo, his nightclub in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. But while his tequila is now a global commodity, positioned as a top-shelf spirit, its redesigned label was conceived by the same artist who designed some of Hagar's albums. "So there's a little rock 'n' roll in there," he allows.
Rock 'n' roll indeed, but what makes it premium?
"The agave," Hagar answers. "If you distill it too many times, you get vodka. Two distillations is all you need, and if the agave is good, the flavor will come out sweet and clean."
