Sep 17, 2025by: Curtis Hoff No Comments

We’ve Got a Sponsor! And, Yes, It’s a Booze Brand – Loose Cannon

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We’ve Got a Sponsor! And, Yes, It’s a Booze Brand

Bellagave Brand Supports Boating News With Two Infused Tequilas

Peter Swanson

Sep 14

Bellagave tequila comes in two flavors, one for each of the girls on the foredeck.

Nothing against rum. That’s for sure. But if you’ve been sailing long enough—with its culture of sundowners and tiki bars—you may be feeling a bit rummed out. Especially if you’ve been doing your sailing down-island, where the rum can be cheaper than the Coke to mix with it.

After a few years of noodling around the marketplace, Loose Cannon has finally found a sponsor—a tequila brand named Bellagave. Sure, you can throw it back as a shot, but it is eminently sippable (ask me how I know) and therefore perfect for an evening of swapping lies in the cockpit.

My second choice was shoes, but I always favored a beer or liquor brand for sponsorship. I knew neither shoes nor booze would ever create a conflict-of-interest. My writing is about “boats, builders and waterways,” not cocktails. Also, with journalistic independence as a core principle, Loose Cannon was never going to become a venue for advertising, which is why Bellagave is a sole sponsorship.

As I modestly said to a partner in the company, a Renaissance man named Hale Hedley, “You are Pope. I am Michelangelo.”

Bellagave is relatively new to the market and comes in two varieties—one infused with the flavor of coconut; the other, mango-jalapeño. Hedley described the latter as “sweet, hot and alive with motion,” and compared sipping it to a northbound passage in the Gulf Stream: “Unexpected speed, a rush of heat and a finish that lingers long after you’ve dropped the hook.”

That description rings true, expecially the lingering-finish part. I find that tequilas have the most complex flavor of any liquor. Maybe, it’s because of tequila’s complicated manufacturing process, or maybe not. Not an expert, I just drink it.

Expect to read regular suggestions on how to fashion tropical cocktails a la Bellagave, and reminding you of its sponsorship of the news—always at the end of said news, never an interruption.

Meanwhile, please travel to the Bellagave sales website and order one bottle of each and see what you think. For free shipping, use the promo code LCFREESHIP (which saves you $19.95).

LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Every so often he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.

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