(FORTUNE Magazine) – There's no hotter liquor right now than tequila. Between 1995 and 1998, tequila consumption rose 30%, vs. 2% for other alcohols. Riding this glory is Sammy Hagar--better known as David Lee Roth's replacement in Van Halen. Hagar and two partners make Cabo Wabo, an award-winning tequila that should sell $19 million in stores this year. In a Carnegie Hall event in March, Hagar was named the first Master Taster of Tequila by the American Tasting Institute, a trade group of 30,000 chefs. FORTUNE quizzed Hagar on tequila, business, and spelling.

Q: Do you make more money from Cabo Wabo sales or record sales?

A: Probably from Cabo Wabo sales. I didn't start it to make money. I'm not interested in ever being the biggest tequila producer in the world. I want to make the best tequila in the world. My partner, Shep Gordon, controls the business. I can't stand business; it bogs me down.

Q: So what's your role?

A: The creative: I taste it.... And the bottle has to be nice. When a fan of mine pays this much [$29 to $67] for a bottle of tequila, and he probably doesn't even like tequila, I want him at least to have a nice vase to put on his table.

Q: Let's see: You've got a song about tequila ["Mas Tequila"], you make your own tequila, you've named your band after a margarita....

A: ...the Waboritas.

Q: ...and you're 52. Shouldn't you be on VH1 by now talking about how cool sobriety is?

A: Honestly, I didn't start drinking till I was 30. I drank so moderately through my 30s and mid-40s; I mean a glass of wine here and there. I couldn't stand the thought of drinking a whole bottle of wine. Which I can now. If you open up a '45 Cheval Blanc, you're going to drink the damn thing. You don't recork that kind of wine.

Q: What's worse, cheap tequila or Van Halen?

A: Bad tequila, come on! I'm not down on Van Halen. That was a really, really good trip for 11 years. Great music, great friends--it just ended bad. It's like a bad movie. No, it's like a great movie with a bad ending. You're going, "What a great movie, I love this movie," then all of the sudden you're going, "What a f----d-up ending."

Q: Well, that should about do it for me. Cabo Wabo, two words?

A: No, actually it's one word.

Q: One word, capital W?

A: No, wait; let me think. You know, s--t, what do I know? I just came up with it and wrote the song. Cabo Wabo. Hey, honey [to his wife], is Cabo Wabo one word or two? She doesn't know either. [To his wife again:] You think it's two? I'll look at the bottle. It looks like two: Cabo on top, and Wabo below it.