Before Casamigos and 818, This Tequila Brand Started the Celebrity Boom — And Campari Just Sold It

(Photo: Cabo Wabo)

On Wednesday, Italian spirits giant Campari Group announced the sale of Cabo Wabo, widely agreed to be the first celebrity-backed tequila on the market, to Ireland’s Cobblestone Brands. The changing of the guard is the latest in a legacy of ups and downs for the tequila that helped jumpstart the now-prolific category and reshaped the entire alcohol industry along the way.

Cobblestone Brands has taken ownership of Cabo Wabo, founded by Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar in 1997, and Bisquit & Dubouché, a historic cognac house founded in 1819. The deal comes less than a year after Campari announced that it was streamlining its portfolio due to “unprecedented” pressure from inflation and changing consumer preferences. The firm reportedly plans to refocus its attention on drivers like Campari liqueur, Aperol and Espolòn tequila while shedding its non-core assets.

The deal is expected to close by Oct 31, 2026, at an undisclosed price. Brian Fagan, CEO and founder of Cobblestone Brands, says that his company is excited to elevate its legacy to the next level.

“We have spent the past several years building a best in class route-to-market platform which will allow us to take great, but previously less-priority brands and give them the investment, focus and commercial firepower they deserve,” Fagan said in a statement. “Bisquit & Dubouché and Cabo Wabo are exactly the kind of brands we built this platform for.”

At its peak in 2006, Cabo Wabo was the second best-selling premium tequila in America, moving roughly 150,000 cases per year. It was the first brand to score an A-list benefactor, and one of the first to popularize 100% Blue Weber agave spirits north of the border. Hagar sold an 80% stake to Campari in 2007, followed by the remaining 20% in 2020. Overall, Campari shelled out around $91 million for the up-and-coming favorite.

The rest is history. Two years later, George Clooney and Rande Gerber teamed up for the blockbuster launch of Casamigos; five years after that, they sold their brand to Diageo for a record-breaking $1 billion. Celebrity-backed tequila became the trend of the decade, inspiring the likes of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Kendall Jenner and Kevin Hart to join the industry. Hagar later returned to the genre that he helped jumpstart, joining forces with “Mayor of Flavortown” Guy Fieri for a new project, Santo Spirits.

Cabo Wabo lost some of its luster amid the shuffle and is no longer the liquor store favorite it once was. Nonetheless, those in the know still recognize it as the progenitor of the modern tequila boom.

“Cabo Wabo is a brand that helped change the tequila category,” Fagan added. “It has authenticity, a remarkable story and a consumer loyalty that most brands never achieve. Bringing it onto our US platform – alongside our existing portfolio – will allow us to transform our ability to service all our distributor and retail partners in America and beyond.”