Crazy Liquor Laws

It's Enough to Drive You to Drink!

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Jack and Coke? Sorry, but no.

Best at the source

In my opinion, Guinness beer is best in Ireland; Dublin in particular. It would also make sense that Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey would be best in Lynchburg, Tennessee, where it has been charcoal mellowed, drop by drop for 150 years. But the closest you can get to a Jack & soda in Lynchburg is small samples in the tasting room on the tasting tour of the Jack Daniel’s facility. Because even though there are 48 warehouses with 200 million liters of Jack Daniel’s Sour Mash Whiskey stored in barrels on the hill outside of Lynchburg, Moore County, Tennessee is a dry county. That’s right. They can make it. But they can’t sell it.

OK. That’s not totally true. There is a loophole in Tennessee law allowing distilleries to sell one commemorative product on location regardless of local statutes. Jack Daniel’s now sells the original No. 7 blend (in a commemorative bottle), Gentleman Jack, Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel,  and a seasonal blend (on rotation) in their White Rabbit Bottle Shop. I’ve heard this described as “they will sell you the bottle…and the whiskey comes in it for free”, which may have been the case in the past, but this appears to be part of 2009 legislation allowing manufacturers to open distilleries in about 44 counties where both retail package sales of liquor and liquor-by-the-drink sales have been locally approved.

Under Tennessee Law:

  • A distillery license allows a facility to manufacture or distill alcoholic spirituous beverages with an alcohol content of over five percent (5%) by weight and to sell those beverages for consumption off premise. They can also offer samples of their manufactured product without cost or may include those samples as part of a tour of the premises with or without cost.
  • Anyone who wishes to distill alcoholic spirituous beverages for commercial purposes must be licensed as a manufacturer/distiller.
  • A licensed distillery can serve free samples of the product to anyone over twenty-one (21) as a part of a public tour of the manufacturer’s or distillery’s premises. The location where samples are given must be disclosed to the TABC.
  • A licensed distillery can sell its product at retail for consumption off premise to any person of legal drinking age limited to five gallons (5 gal.) or one sixth (1/6) of a barrel of its product to any one (1) individual per visit to the premises.
  • Retail sales at the distillery must occur between eight o’clock a.m. (8:00 a.m.) and eleven o’clock p.m. (11:00 p.m.) on Monday through Saturday and between the hours of twelve o’clock (12:00) noon and seven o’clock p.m. (7:00 p.m.) on Sunday.
  • Product sold at retail or given for samples must be obtained from a wholesaler.

I think that last one is a little interesting. Jack Daniel’s has to sell its whiskey to a wholesaler who in turn sells it back to Jack Daniel’s so that they can give it away as samples or sell it as a souvenir in their gift shop. OK, that’s just crazy. Jack Daniel’s also has a “By the Barrel program” where you hand-select your very own barrel of Single Barrel Select and it will be bottled just for you. You can even have the label personalized. But you don’t actually buy it from Jack Daniel’s. Nope.
If you live in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, UK or US, in 8-12 weeks plus shipping, an average of 252 bottles of 750ml whiskey plus an empty barrel sanded, varnished and affixed with a personalized, engraved plaque will be shipped to a participating retailer in your area, where you will pay for your barrel when you pick it up at the retailer. All for only $10,000 -$12,000 (more or less, depending on the exact number of bottles and taxes).

Only in Lynchburg

There has been a lot of folk lore around this oddity of whiskey being produced in a city/county where it can’t be legally sold. The most mentioned were Jack Daniel’s and Jim Beam. Jim Beam is produced in Clermont, Bullitt County, KY which until 2011/2012 was a dry county. But after a string of legislation and votes in 2011/2012, Bullitt County, along with every other county on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail is now wet. As a matter of fact, according to a 2000 University of Cincinnati study by UC geography graduate student Kevin Raleigh, wet and dry counties “is an aspect of Kentucky that seems unique, and it seems to be going away.” According to Raleigh, in 1977 85 of Kentucky’s 120 counties were dry. As of fall 2000 when he completed his study, that number was down to 75. And as of 2012, the last year for which I could find clear numbers, 39 are dry, 32 are wet and 49 are moist or dry with special circumstances. And as is the case across much of the formerly dry southern “Bible Belt”, this is frequently changing as more and more jurisdictions hold “local option” elections as the sale of alcohol in various forms spreads througout the region.

What do you think?

So let me know what you think. Is your area wet or dry? Or moist? Have you been to the Jack Daniel’s distillery in Lynchburg? Or the Guinness brewery in Dublin? Luck you! We want to hear about it. Leave a comment below. Or email me at Mark@CrazyLiquorLaws.com. You will need to register to comment and at that time I will need your email address; but don’t worry; I won’t be spamming you and will never sell your information.

Cheers!

Mark

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Liquor Laws at 30,000 Feet

Business travel is SO glamorous!

Yeah, right. I think it IS kind of cool that I am writing this on my iPad mini sitting in seat 21A on AA flight 2668 at 30,000 feet flying from Dayton, OH to Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX. But our flight was delayed from 4:25pm to almost 8:00pm. No bueno.

When I realized on my way to the airport this afternoon that this was Thursday and I hadn’t written this week’s post, I decided to spring the $9.95 for WiFi access and write and publish the post on the plane. And then the subject came to me…

What are the rules for alcoholic beverages on airline flights?

And of course the answer is… It depends. Let’s get the easy part out of the way first. If you are flying in the US, the FAA says:

 “No person may drink any alcoholic beverage aboard an aircraft unless the certificate holder operating the aircraft has served that beverage.”

So no BYOB unless you have the flight attendant serve it.

Other than that, it’s kind of the Wild West up here. But there are some general rubles of thumb and common practices that you can pretty much count on.

How old?

For age requirements, generally count on the laws of the home country of the carrier applying, unless the age for the departure country is higher, then that age will probably apply.

For instance, if you’re flying to Cancun where the legal drinking age is eighteen for spring break on AA, you probably won’t be starting the party early if you’re nineteen. No joy on the return flight either. But if you’re flying Mexicana, the bar could be open on the return, although the bouncer is probably going to spoil your southbound party.

Can I get a Bloody Mary on Sunday morning?

Generally, the airlines are bound by, or voluntarily follow the laws of the departure jurisdiction while on the ground. So if the flight is leaving a city in a state where no liquor may be served before noon on Sunday, no pre-flight cocktails before noon, but once you get in the air, the bar’s open. The same for countries like those in the Middle East where alcohol is prohibited. Party like it’s 1999 until touchdown.

Another strange one I came across envolves requirements for flight attendants to be trained as alcohol servers. Since 1993, the Alaska Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has required that airline personnel undergo alcohol server training. Any airlines using Alaska airports must report to state officials the form and substance of the training they give their flight personnel. After an incident in 2006 when an intoxicated passenger from a US Airways flight to Santa Fe, New Mexico killed a family of five while driving the wrong way on Interstate 25, New Mexico followed suit. All but 13 states require that transportation companies including airlines obtain liquor licenses before they can serve liquor on flights departing the state.

Hazardous Cargo

Alcoholic beverages with more than 70% alcohol content (140 proof), including 95% grain alcohol and 150 proof rum, are prohibited in your checked luggage.

You may take up to five liters of alcohol with alcohol content between 24% and 70% per person as checked luggage if it’s packaged in a sealable bottle or flask.

Alcoholic beverages with less than 24% alcohol content are not subject to hazardous materials regulations. (Ka-BOOM!)

What do you think?

Well, I need to wrap this up before they shut down the WiFi for landing. Do you have any high flying liquor law stories? We want to hear about it. Leave a comment below. Or email me at Mark@CrazyLiquorLaws.com. You will need to register to comment and at that time I will need your email address; but don’t worry; I won’t be spamming you and will never sell your information.

Cheers!

Mark

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Aloha!

Aloha! As you may have guessed, this week we are traveling to the middle of the Pacific Ocean and our 50th state, Hawaii. I have had a draft for this post for quite a while containing nothing but the title and this little tidbit that I picked up somewhere and knew I needed to keep.

By law, you may only have one alcoholic drink in front of you at a time.

But we’ll get back to that in a later post. Because when I started researching Hawaii liquor law this morning I came across another interesting subject. (Squirrel!!)

I don’t know yet whether this applies to other parts of the state, but in Honolulu (actually the entire island of Oahu is Honolulu County) employees who sell and serve liquor must be licensed. The must obtain a Certificate of Registration or “Liquor Card”. It costs $10 (I think we see WHY this is required. ???? ) and is good for four years.

Restaurant and retail type licensees only require Managers/Assistant Managers to register. “Dispenser, Cabaret, Hotel, Club, Brewpub, or Condominium Hotel licensees require all employees in that section of the licensed premises where liquor is sold, served or consumed to be registered.

But wait! There’s more!

All Managers, Assistant Managers and Bartenders of liquor establishments (restaurants, bars, clubs, hotels, vessels, etc.), and all Managers and Assistant Managers of retail stores are required to take the “Server-Training class”.  This too is good for four years.

I’m really not sure why these are required, except that Hawaii is a pretty “progressive” state that feels like if there isn’t a regulation for that then there needs to be. I can kind of see some good in the training aspect. But I think there are much more important things that we need to be spending money on.

What do you think?

So let me know what you think. Do other states or jurisdictions require licensing and/or training to sell or serve booze? Do you think it’s a good idea? Maybe not? We want to hear about it. Leave a comment below. Or email me at Mark@CrazyLiquorLaws.com. You will need to register to comment and at that time I will need your email address; but don’t worry; I won’t be spamming you and will never sell your information.

Cheers!

Mark

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Hey Siri! Can I by beer on Sunday in Ohio?

I have been on a contract assignment in Mason, Ohio, just northeast of Cincinnati for almost fours weeks now. Over that time I have now spent two weekends in Ohio. This past weekend, I was invited to have dinner with Chuck, a friend whom I worked for several years ago when we both lived in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. Chuck now lives in the Columbus area, about an hour and a half from Mason. Trying to be a good guest, I asked Chuck what kind of beer he liked and I was planning to take a six pack of Bells Oberon for us to enjoy with whatever he was going to be grilling Sunday evening.

Well, in somewhat of a mild panic Saturday evening I thought I should find out if I could buy beer on Sunday in Ohio. If not, I’d better get on the stick and find a six pack before it was too late. Sounds like a simple enough question, right? HA! Well, a quick lookup at our friends over at Legal Beer’s Liquor Laws by State page  showed no specific prohibition of Sunday sales of alcohol with “off-premise” sales allowed from 5:30 A.M. to 1:00 A.M. So I was able to pick up a six pack of Bells Oberon on my way to Chuck’s and was treated to a very enjoyable evening.

But when I decided to write about this little adventure here, I wanted to get the “official” story from the source. So after several false starts on Google, I wound up at Title [43] XLIII LIQUOR, Chapter 4301, Section 22 of the Ohio Revised Code “Rules for sales of beer and intoxicating liquor under all classes of permits and from state liquor stores”. I know, right? And it gets worse.

(C) No sales of intoxicating liquor shall be made after two-thirty a.m. on Sunday except under either of the following circumstances:

(1) Intoxicating liquor may be sold on Sunday under authority of a permit that authorizes Sunday sale.

(2) Spirituous liquor may be sold on Sunday by any person awarded an agency contract under section 4301.17 of the Revised Code if the sale of spirituous liquor is authorized in the applicable precinct as the result of an election on question (B)(1) or (2) of section 4301.351 of the Revised Code and if the agency contract authorizes the sale of spirituous liquor on Sunday.

This section does not prevent a municipal corporation from adopting a closing hour for the sale of intoxicating liquor earlier than two-thirty a.m. on Sunday or to provide that no intoxicating liquor may be sold prior to that hour on Sunday.

So apperantly I COULD have been unlucky enough to be in a city where beer could NOT be sold. But fortunately I wasn’t. And the short answer, Siri, is “Yes Mark, you can buy beer in Ohio on Sunday.” Thank you Siri.

What do you think?

So let me know what you think. Can you buy beer on Sunday where you live? How about wine or other forms of intoxicating spirits? We want to hear about it. Leave a comment below. Or email me at Mark@CrazyLiquorLaws.com. You will need to register to comment and at that time I will need your email address; but don’t worry; I won’t be spamming you and will never sell your information.

Cheers!

Mark

 

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A Dry Week

When we lived in Harrison, Arkansas, Boone county was “dry”. We had to drive an hour north to Missouri to by beer, wine, or liquor of any kind. But some jurisdictions are dryer than others. In Plano and Allen, Texas, we have been able to enjoy adult beverages with our meals and purchase beer and wine in grocery and convenience stores for as long as we have lived in the area. But if we wanted a bottle of anything stronger, we had to travel. But in the spring of 2013, Plano voters decided to allow liquor stores in their city. And this past spring, Allen decided to join the party. This was all after Boone county Arkansas uncorked a wet vote in November of 2010.

This post started out to be an apology for not having anything for you today. But it’s turned out to be not quite as dry as I had expected. I’m in my third week of a new job that has required travel and long hours. So I haven’t had much time for blog research and writing. My travels have taken me to new jurisdictions which include both a Whole Foods with a growler bar and state run liquor stores. I hope to do some research and crank out some fresh content over the next few weeks. So please stick around.

What do you think?

So let me know what you think. Is your area wet or dry? Or moist? We want to hear about it. Leave a comment below. Or email me at Mark@CrazyLiquorLaws.com. You will need to register to comment and at that time I will need your email address; but don’t worry; I won’t be spamming you and will never sell your information.

Cheers!

Mark