Fieri Follies

Watched 60 Minutes and it included an item on Guy Fieri and his and Sammy Hagar's tequila brand. He had two semis full of tequila worth a million or so, disappear - hijacked!

See https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-thieve ... ranscript/

[Jenise]

Like Guy said, "it could happen to anybody". Just happened a few weeks ago here in WA state, too:

https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/ ... ght-theft/

Jenise's article addresses the issue that always perplexes me about this kind of theft. What are the thieves plan to move this? In the US I would think it would be very hard to fence high end brand name wine or liquor (unlike TVs or the like) Maybe not Bordeaux where thousands of cases of some chateaux are imported every year, but I'd assume Westland is looking out for large quantities of the missing product to suddenly appear on shelves. I think the underground market would be quite small. And unsure how much demand there is for these outside US (and shipping has its own risks)

[Jenise]

Westland is owned by Remy now, so the brand, particularly the rare and apparently exceptional Garryana picked up in this heist, may have some value in a place like Dubai, where the brand-conscious very wealthy drink very privately.

About the tequila, I knew that Sammy Hagar has a tequila brand but I didn't think Fieri was involved. The name Santo was new to me on hearing about this. Cabo-something? Cabo Wabo? Does that ring any bells?

Cabo Wabo is indeed a brand of tequila. Never had it but seen it in stores a lot.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

I just googled it. Indeed it's Sammy's brand. He had it made for a bar he (and the Van Halen brothers) own/owned in Cabo (he bought them out), of which he apparently built several other branches in Hollywood and Vegas, for instance, some or all of which have closed by now.

I bet the black market is robust: it's top hooch at under-the-table pricing. I wouldn't expect it to hit shelves anywhere.

Even if the name doesn't sell it, the thieves spent $0 on it so anything they get is a profit.

The guys who stole 3000 tonnes of maple syrup mostly sold it off in small batches to legitimate makers who didn't know it was stolen (or so they said).

I'm sure there is a robust market for discounted luxury items, and if thieves got a truckload of Dom, Patron, or Macallan, they could move easily. But some of these in articles were the only such products ever made. I'd think it would sorely strain your market if your luxury item can't be featured on Instagram without attracting police attention!