With a new year welcomes new changes for Devils River Whiskey. The Texas based whiskey company finished 2018 delivering more than 30,000 cases and driving over 5,000 points of distribution across 12 states, and it does not look like the brand will be slowing down anytime soon.
The Devils River Whiskey ownership group is looking to expand distribution across the entire country. "Our goal is to be in more than 30 states by the end of 2019," said Devils River Whiskey's President and co-founder Mike Cameron. "Leading the aggressive expansion plan requires a strong team," said Cameron. "We're assembling a great group of the right men and women to get this done. We have divided the country into five regions and are proud of the talent that we're bringing together to drive our market expansion."
Industry veteran John Potts recently joined the Devils River Whiskey leadership team as the Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Mr. Potts is a Texas native with a strong track record of recruiting, building, and leading national sales teams. He was one of the original members of the Deep Eddy Vodka team and was instrumental in leading the brand from launch through its eventual sale to Heaven Hill. Prior to leading the Deep Eddy team, Mr. Potts held multiple leadership roles at Republic National Distributing Company. "I'm thrilled to be leading sales and marketing for this ambitious undertaking," said Potts.
Senior Vice President of Marketing Eric Hundelt was one of the first employees hired by Devils River Whiskey and is continuing to drive the Devils River Whiskey's marketing efforts across the country. Prior to joining Devils River Whiskey, Hundelt held a variety of senior level sales and marketing roles with brands like Angels Envy, Bacardi and Cabo Wabo tequila. The sales team will be divided into five regions. Matt Thornton was hired as Regional Vice President of the Texas Region. Brendon Walsh will serve as Regional Vice President of the Northeast Region. Rick Perez will lead sales in the south as the Regional Vice President of the Southeast Region. The company will be announcing appointments for the Midwest and West regions in the very near future.
In anticipation for the expected growth, the company will be opening its San Antonio based distillery in October 2019. "We are in the processes of renovating the first two floors of the Burns building located at 401 E Houston Street. Built in 1918, the Burns building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. "We are excited to be part of San Antonio's downtown revitalization as our distillery and visitor's center will be in the heart of downtown San Antonio, blocks from the Alamo," said Cameron.
Devils River Whiskey is extremely proud of its award-winning portfolio. 90-proof Devils River Bourbon launched in 2017 and was followed by the release of two new expressions, 90-proof Devils River Rye and 117-proof Devils River Barrel Strength Bourbon. Over the last 18 months the Devils River Whiskey brands have been awarded 22 medals of which nine were gold, one double gold and its rye was awarded Rye of the Year. "Our whiskies have been recognized as one of the best whiskies aged less than ten years according to some of the most prestigious whiskey competitions," said Hundelt. "We're primed for success and ready to share Devils River Whiskey with even more of the country."