Economy

Homegrown Liquor Could Get Boost From Proposed Law

5:41pm March 19, 2015

Scot Sanburn, owner of Sutler's Spirits Co. in Winston-Salem, monitors the temperature of his brew. It will take 18 months — at least — for those barrels and that rum to bond and age into something Sanborn can proudly put on the shelves North Carolina’s ABC stores. Julie Knight/The Triad Business Journal

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Liquor ages slowly but the craft distilling industry is growing quickly. Just like the wine and then craft beer industries before it, distilling is preparing to boom in North Carolina.

And if a proposed bill passes, it would help these business owners sell their products directly to customers. Right now, state law prohibits that and customers have to buy the spirits from a neighborhood ABC store or bar.

Owen Covington, a reporter with the Triad Business Journal, has been following this story. He says the law could really promote the growth of the industry in the Piedmont.

“This is really about giving them more control over branding themselves and developing that relationship with consumers,” says Covington. “In the same way that you go to a winery and take a tour and you buy a bottle of wine, distilleries want to be able to offer that same sort of experience where you take a tour and buy a bottle of their liquor, you enjoy it and the next time you are in the ABC store, you buy another.”

There are currently 19 producing distilleries in the state.

The proposal is filed by Sen. Rick Gunn, a Burlington Republican. It's within Senate Bill 24 waiting for a hearing.

The Business Report on 88.5 WFDD is a partnership with the Triad Business Journal. You'll find Owen Covington's story and more breaking business news at Triad.Bizjournals.com.

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