HillBilly Bourbon – 4 Corners Spirit Company and Their New Bourbon
From left to right – Miguel Rodriguez and his brother Guillermo
March 21st, 2017
The Industry Has 3 Tiers and 4 Corners
4 Corners would like to corner the market with a few new spirit brands.
4 Corners Spirits Company is a family-owned, family-run company specializing in the development and commercialization of distilled spirit brands that expand the category. With a vision to preserve the long-held industry tradition of placing the highest value on their brands, people and relationships, founder Guillermo Rodriguez and his brother Miguel are well on their way to making their dream a reality. Together they decided to leave their long standing careers at Bacardi, the family’s business, in order to leverage their combined expertise, passion and industry relationships into their own company, brands and family legacy.
Their experience and commitment to the distilled spirits business stems from their strong family heritage in the industry, which now spans over six generations and 155 years. The number four has always had a deep meaning to Guillermo on both a personal and professional level, and the company’s name illustrates his effort to “deliver against all ‘4 Corners’ of the industry – brand development, production, route to market, and consumer activation – in search of excellence.”
Guillermo once heard Pat Riley quote Stephen Covey when talking about keys to success, “The main thing is that the main thing is always the main thing.” When building spirits brands, the temptation to try and do too much too early is huge and it leads to unrealistic expectations, which lead to bad business decisions and ultimately the demise of the brand. “It is our job to use our experience to identify each brand’s ‘main thing’ and develop and consistently execute a plan that delivers against it,” said Guillermo.
“Every brand and brand owner has a unique, long term objective in mind. Our ability to understand that objective up front is critical to developing a sales plan that ultimately delivers against that long-term goal,” Miguel added.
4 Corners Spirits Company is a world-class execution company specializing in the development, sales and marketing of new and emerging distilled spirit brands. As industry experts in all four corners of the industry, the team has decades of hands-on experience and demonstrated success in every phase of the development of a spirit brand. Their professional relationships within the vast network of distributors, suppliers, vendors and retailers are based on years of mutual trust, respect and accountability, and allow them to bring an unparalleled value to their customers. In short, 4 Corners Spirits Company is uniquely positioned to provide emerging and independent brands with the knowledge and expertise necessary to be prepared and have the best chance at success.
Together, Guillermo and Miguel, along with Master Distiller Luis Planas, have built an extended team with unique insight into the spirits business, as well as comprehensive, multi-disciplinary experience in the complex three-tiered system. 4 Corners Spirits Company advises and manages the entire process of building a premium spirit brand from concept ideation, procurement and production, to sales, marketing and capitalization. At 4 Corners Spirits Company, they maximize their expertise to put the long-term value of their brands, people and relationships first.
“At a time when products and employees are increasingly seen as disposable or interchangeable, this industry is one of the few that is still dominated by family-owned business at every tier, where relationships still matter, your company culture and employees are a mainstay, and protecting your brand still means something to consumers and retailers. The rise of craft and emerging spirit brands combined with the overall decline of the industry leaders reflects that,” stated Guillermo.
In March of 2016, after over a year of hard work and partnering with the brand name founders, they launched their first brand, HillBilly Bourbon (www.HillBillyBourbon.com). This is a bourbon brand aimed at taking advantage of not only the current bourbon trend but also taking full advantage of the country’s renewed patriotism and love affair with the American outdoor lifestyle, which is reflected in the brand’s slogan: “Born Country Raised Outdoors.” It is a brand aimed at the everyday at-home social occasion or just sitting around the tailgate with friends.
Guillermo T. Rodriguez, founder and CEO, has over 20 years of commercial and general management experience in the beverage alcohol business, and is a sixth-generation member of the Bacardi family. During his tenure with Bacardi, Guillermo held various roles across multiple disciplines including sales, operations, national accounts, innovations and Vice President-Managing Director of the East Business Unit, Bacardi’s largest revenue unit. Guillermo also held the position of Vice President of Business Development with the Charmer Sunbelt Group (now Breakthru Beverage), where he was responsible for the continued development of all aspects of the Bacardi portfolio across the enterprise.
Miguel F. Rodriguez, Executive Vice President-National Sales Manager, joined 4 Corners Spirits Company as National Sales Director with over 29 years of sales management experience. Prior to his current role, Miguel spent 16 years with Bacardi USA driving transformational change in the way Bacardi and its brands went to market over several different channels. Miguel spent his first eight years bringing innovative programming to the national accounts on-premise channel, working with the top customers in the hotel, casual dining, fine dining and concessions channels. He built a lifetime reputation in the segment and the industry; he also was recognized for his work by winning several supplier awards from key customers. Miguel’s success continued as he took on new challenges within the industry, spending the next eight years driving the Bacardi portfolio in the on- and off-premise channels by working collaboratively with his distributor partners in both Texas and Florida markets. Miguel is now leveraging his industry knowledge, experience and talents to develop new-to-the-world brands with 4 Corners Spirits Company. Miguel is a firm believer in building relationships and honoring commitments, and he is passionate about developing talent for future growth.
Never shying away from hard work, they have embraced their early success and 4 Corners Spirits Company is now currently working on three new projects, two of which are tentatively scheduled to launch later this year and one in Q2 of 2018. You can learn more about these projects and 4 Corners Spirits Company by visiting their website at www.4CornersSpiritsCompany.com.
