Bob Emmons 1940-2008

Tequila Joe's Collection

BOB EMMONS 1940-2008

“Bob Emmons, a former Sacramento police officer who became a
connoisseur of distilled beverages and author of "The Book of
Tequila," has died at age 67.

He died Oct. 11 of complications from diabetes, said his daughter
Heather.

Although diabetes limited his intake to an occasional small glass, Mr.
Emmons became a published authority on liquors through meticulous
investigation, including historical research and visits to distilleries. His
subjects included gins, vodkas and brandies.

He traveled often to Mexico to tour agave fields, interview growers
and distillers, and observe the production process from harvest to
distribution for his best-selling work, "The Book of Tequila." Published
in 1997, the book contributed to the popularity of fine tequilas among
American consumers.

"It appealed to the layman like myself with lots of personal anecdote
and history, as well as (to) beverage professionals," friend Jim
Fritzsche said.

Mr. Emmons, who also wrote two unpublished novels, became a writer
and expert on liquors after various careers. He developed a fondness
for tequila in the 1980s while hanging out at Nevada casinos and
nightclubs as a booking agent for musicians. He previously spent 10
years as a Sacramento police officer.

Bobby Gene Emmons was born in 1940 in Oklahoma City. He joined
the Navy at age 16 and served several years. He moved to California,
worked for IBM and became a Yolo County sheriff's deputy before
joining the Sacramento Police Department.

He married Phyllus Corradino-Moore in 1960 and had two children
before the couple divorced in 1974. A second marriage, to Nell
Messinger in 2000, ended in divorce after four years.

Mr. Emmons was a self-confident man with a booming voice who
enjoyed telling personal anecdotes while holding forth on the purity,
subtlety and complexity of liquors. After publishing "The Book of Gins
and Vodkas" and "The Book of Brandies," he planned comprehensive
guides on ports, madeiras, liqueurs, cordials and other beverages.
"My father tended to pontificate about things," his daughter said. "He
had a lot of fun learning about the different distillery processes. He
had a small apartment, and he left a ton of bottles of cognac,
Armagnacs and other really fine liquors." -S ac Bee

I had the pleasure of meeting Bob on a few occasions and had
planned to do some tastings together. I have truly enjoyed his book
and we have raffled off a few signed copies to raise money for
charities. It is truly a loss in the tequila community to no longer have
him with us. Every time I talked to Bob he proclaimed his love of El
Tesoro and hopes to someday work for them. It is for this reason that
from now on our website will feature the badge “This page is
dedicated in loving memory to Bob Emmons 1940-2008” on every
page of El Tesoro tequila to remember his dedication to tequila and
specifically El Tesoro.

Sincerely,
Tequila Joe Horrigan