Cobblestone Brands has signed a binding agreement to acquire Bisquit & Dubouché Cognac and Cabo Wabo Tequila from Campari Group, with completion targeted for October 31, 2026. The Dublin based company disclosed the deal alongside Campari's first half 2026 earnings, and financial terms of the transaction have not been made public.
The Cabo Wabo and Bisquit sale runs in parallel with a second Campari divestment, the planned sale of Martinique rum producer Bellonnie et Bourdillon Successeurs to what Campari has described only as a French industrial buyer. Neither deal's price has been disclosed, though both are expected to close before the end of 2026.
What Cobblestone is actually buying
Cabo Wabo was founded in 1996 by rock musician Sammy Hagar. Campari Group acquired an 80 percent stake in the brand in May 2007 for roughly 60 million euros, then about 80 million dollars, with the remaining 20 percent held by Hagar and his partner Marco Monroy before Campari bought out the rest in 2010. The tequila has built distribution across more than 20 US states and is produced at Destiladora San Nicolas, a distillery holding NOM 1440 in the Jalisco highlands near Arandas.
Bisquit & Dubouché dates to 1819 and centers on the Château Bisquit estate in the Cognac region. Campari bought the house from South Africa's Distell Group in December 2017 for about 52.5 million euros, then roughly 62 million dollars. Cobblestone has pointed to South Africa as the cognac's strongest existing market, alongside footprint in Europe, Asia Pacific and global travel retail.
Why Campari is letting go now
The sale lands inside a broader pattern of Campari trimming brands it considers non priority while it concentrates capital on Aperol and a short list of other core labels. In its H1 2026 results, Campari Group CEO Simon Hunt framed the divestments as part of a strategy of fewer, bigger bets, including disposal of non priority brands, alongside innovation and geographic expansion. The company posted 2.7 percent organic sales growth for the half, its fifth straight quarter of organic top line growth among listed spirits peers.
The Cabo Wabo sale is not Campari's first pruning of this kind. In December 2025 the group sold its Averna and Zedda Piras liqueur brands to Illva Saronno for 100 million euros, and it had already sold Cinzano vermouth and sparkling wine to Caffo Group 1915 for another 100 million euros the previous July. What's notable here is which tequila Campari kept. Espolòn, its considerably larger US focused tequila brand, grew 8.2 percent in the same half and remains inside Campari's core agave portfolio, even as management acknowledged competitors getting more aggressive on tequila pricing.
What it means for the shelf
Cabo Wabo is not a brand we have blind scored, and we have no purity verification on file for it under either its prior or incoming ownership. What is known is that production runs through Destiladora San Nicolas under NOM 1440, a fact buyers can already check on the label. Whether Cobblestone alters sourcing, proof points, or the brand's celebrity marketing lean once the deal closes is not yet public. Espolòn, the Campari tequila that is staying put, does carry a score in our database at 85 and Verified Pure status, giving readers a useful contrast: one Campari agave brand changes hands, the other stays as the house's flagship in the category.
Cobblestone's build out
For Cobblestone, the acquisition follows its July 2025 purchase of the Knappogue Castle and Clontarf Irish whiskey brands from Pernod Ricard. On closing of the Campari deal, the company says its portfolio will span Irish whiskey, cognac, tequila, rum, gin and emerging beverage categories, with commercial operations in more than 30 markets. The company's existing lineup already includes Four Corners Gin and Star & Key Rum. Cobblestone CEO and founder Brian Fagan has called the Campari transaction the most significant milestone in the company's five year history.
What we are watching
Whether Cobblestone discloses a purchase price once the deal closes on or before October 31, 2026. Whether Cabo Wabo's production stays at NOM 1440 Destiladora San Nicolas or moves under new ownership. The identity of the French buyer for Bellonnie et Bourdillon Successeurs, still unnamed in Campari's disclosures. Whether Cobblestone pursues a purity audit or ingredient disclosure for Cabo Wabo now that it sits outside Campari's compliance structure. And whether Espolòn's growth trajectory inside Campari changes the calculus for any future tequila divestments from the same seller.