Interesting post and related comments on Publicola about current initiatives to privatize the sale of liquor in Washington State.

The post speaks of two initiatives "filed by a Taekja Moon Song of Redmond." A Seattle Times article from April 16 refers to these as two versions of the same initiative.

From the Times: "Both versions of the proposed initiative would get the state out of the liquor sales and distribution business, allowing private companies to take over those functions. One version also would chuck the ‘three-tier’ system of liquor regulation, which puts strong controls on the wholesaling, price markup and warehousing of alcohol."

One thing the Publicola post gets wrong: "The new legislation would also allow a ‘craft distillery’ to sell spirits (up to two liters) to an individual from their place of business, just like microbreweries sell beer now."

In fact, craft distilleries in Washington State are already allowed to sell up to two liters per person per day at their licensed places of business. This, plus a reduced annual fee for small distilleries ($100 as opposed to $2,000), has led to a number of new
craft distillery ventures. One of these, Soft Tail Spirits, already sells grappa (legally!) out of its Woodinville tasting room.

There is, however, some legislation news to report about craft distilling. On April 1, the governor signed Senate Bill 6485 (sponsored by Song). Among other things, SB 6485 makes bigger distilleries—those producing up to 60,000 gallons—eligible for the reduced fee, opening up the burgeoning local booze biz even more.