Some states easing laws on liquor tastings

RICHMOND, Va. — With about 5,000 brands of liquor available on store shelves nationwide, suppliers of some top-selling spirits hope modernization of state alcohol laws will get customers to try new products boost revenue for them and states.

Virginia is one of the latest states to change what critics say are outdated alcohol laws. Beginning in July, the state will let customers sample products before buying at about 330 Alcohol and Beverage Control, or ABC, stores.

New Jersey, Vermont and Maine also eased their tasting laws in the last year, and a total of 43 states have changed liquor laws to allow spirit sampling at stores, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, a trade association representing nearly 70 percent of all liquor brands.

Tastings laws are part of a larger movement to modernize state alcohol laws to cater to consumer demand and help generate cash for money-strapped states without having to raise taxes or cut programs. States also have moved to repeal age-old prohibitions on selling alcohol on Sundays and Election Day.

Changing these laws provides consumers with more convenience, businesses with more choices and state treasuries with much-needed revenue, said council spokesman Ben Jenkins.

"These laws no longer make sense in today's economy," Jenkins said. "More and more, 76 years after the repeal of Prohibition, states are knocking down those bans to make their alcohol laws more efficient and modern."

Alcoholic beverages generate about $380 billion in U.S. economic activity, about 30 percent of which comes from liquor, according to DISCUS. And alcohol beverages, which are among the most highly taxed consumer products, generated $40 billion in direct and indirect revenues for state and local governments. In Virginia, ABC stores have contributed $1.5 billion to the state's general fund during the last five years.

Those in the industry say easing alcohol laws is beneficial to companies as well as states. In particular, tastings show customers what options they have when going into a liquor store. It also is part of an effort to get customers to buy more expensive products.

"We find tastings to be a very important tool that enables consumers to try premium spirits products and often leads them to purchase them," said Jack Shea, vice president of corporate communications for Pernod Ricard USA, whose brands include Absolut vodka and Malibu rum.

Shea pointed to the importance of tastings for a new brand of Absolut that combines the flavors of blueberry, pomegranate and acai, which it is aggressively promoting.