• June 14, 2010

It's Father's Day for the father who has everything. Or not enough of everything. Tequila Herradura, a premium tequila brand, is launching a promotion that lets you buy not only the bottle, but the entire barrel. The Buy-the-Barrel program was launched last week when Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith flew down to Hacienda San Jose del Rugio near Guadalajara to select his own barrel, which holds about 240 bottles worth of tequila.

The company says one can fly down there and select the barrel in person. The tequila is drawn into bottles that have a personalized label with the purchaser's name, bottle number and bottling date. Then the company varnishes the barrel, brands it and ships it with a framed certificate of ownership. It costs about $10,000 and takes around 45-60 days.

Normally I wouldn't include a celebrity quote, but in this case, since I can't get Smith on the phone (he may be sleeping off the first bottle) I'll cut and paste: "I have always been a big fan of tequila and am thrilled to have the opportunity to be one of the first to travel to Casa Herradura to select my own Double Barrel Reposado," he said, between shots. "More importantly, I'm looking forward to sharing this quality tequila with my friends and family in Dallas and across the U.S." Emmitt, remember me? We haven't met, but I'd like to be your friend.

As part of its relationship with Smith, Tequila Herradura was a platinum sponsor of the Emmitt Smith Celebrity Invitational at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, May 14-15.--Karl Greenberg