Virginia ABC is randomizing rare liquor sales, stopping its drop system
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Some Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon. Photo: Marvin Joseph/Washington Post via Getty Images
Virginia ABC changed the way it sells some of its limited availability booze this month, ceasing its notification system in favor of randomized in-store stocking, sans notification.
Why it matters: Some imbibers were camping outside of liquor stores overnight to get their hands on an in-demand bottle under the old system.
- Plus, two former ABC employees pleaded guilty to computer trespassing charges in 2022 for selling insider info about these rare bourbon sales, per Virginia Mercury.
The big picture: Virginia is one of 17 "control states," which means state-run stores are the only place one can legally buy a bottle of liquor.
- It also means that while regular, everyday spirits (like Tito's) tend to be priced slightly higher here, limited-edition ones, (like Pappy Van Winkle) are offered at the manufacturer's sales price — often hundreds or thousands dollars less than you can find it on the open market.
- A bottle of Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve Bourbon 15 Year, for example, would cost a Virginian $169.99 if they got their hands on one at the state liquor store, far less than the nearly $2,500 Sotheby's has it listed for today.
- That big price difference makes limited edition spirits — especially the highly sought-after bourbons — attractive not just to imbibers and collectors, but to anyone with an eBay account who can do basic math.
Zoom in: Virginia ABC has been trying to find an equitable system for distributing its rare bottles for nearly a decade.
- It launched a lottery for the rarest of the rare — the Pappys — in 2016 and in 2022 started a "drop" and notify system for the rest, meaning people who signed up for alerts received notifications after a bottle "dropped" at a store. Virginia's tweaked that system multiple times amid complaints that it was unfair.
- Plus, under drop and notify, some people were literally camping outside of ABC stores, which gave them an unfair advantage over people who couldn't dedicate a full eight hours to sleeping against the side of a strip mall, per ABC's FAQ on the changes.
The latest: Effective now, drop and notify is no more. ABC will simply stock store shelves with the spirit at "random dates and times" and without notifications.
- Store sales volume will determine which stores get the products and how much; the stock will not be listed on ABC's website in advance to try to keep down the crowds.
- A one bottle limit of the rare stuff is still in effect.
- The only way to know the stock is there is if a shopper wanders by.
Yes, but: The rarest of the rare liquors, including Pappy, will continue under the lottery system, according to ABC.
- Those super rare bottles appear to include a celebrity line.
- ABC's next lottery opens Monday with nine celeb made and signed spirits, including Whipshots Vanilla, signed by Cardi B, and Heaven's Door Redbreast Whiskey, signed by Bob Dylan.