Green River Distilling to take advantage of new alcohol shipping law

January 13, 2021 | 12:10 am

Updated January 12, 2021 | 10:53 pm

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A state law that took effect last year could benefit local distilleries and breweries, as the legislation allows alcohol producers to ship their products directly to consumers. Officials with Green River Distilling Company have already said they plan to take advantage of the new law in order to increase their sales. 

Jacob Call, master distiller at Green River, said the distillery had already received its permit to ship alcohol and he hoped they would be able to start shipping their products this month. 

Yellow Banks is one of the brands that will really benefit from the new alcohol shipping law, Call said. 

“A lot of people on our tours were disappointed that we couldn’t ship it to them,” Call said. “Yellow Banks partnered with the Kentucky Corn Growers Association has been getting a lot of requests from other farmers across the state.” 

Bourbon produced by Green River can now be shipped across the entire state of Kentucky, as well as to 10 other states with reciprocal shipping laws — Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Hawaii, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island and Washington, D.C. 

According to the law, known as HB 415, each producer is allowed to ship 10 liters of distilled spirits, per consumer, per month; 10 cases of wine, per consumer, per month; 10 cases of beer, per consumer, per month. 

Call said HB 415 would increase business and revenue for distillers that are able to take advantage of the new alcohol shipping law. All shipping requests will be handled through the distiller’s gift shop, he added. 

The distillery will benefit even more once Green River Distilling Co. launches its first batch of newly-rebranded products this summer, Call said. 

David Haynes, co-owner of Owensboro’s Brew Bridge, said HB 415 wouldn’t benefit their business right now due to shipping issues that would make it difficult to turn a profit. 

“For beer, the shipping is kind of scary and it’s too heavy to make a profit under the current shipping rates,” he said. “What we are looking forward to is self-distribution — hopefully, this year.” 

At Glenmore Distillery, Communications Director Amy Preske said they would need to investigate individual state shipping laws before the company could act upon it. 

“It has been legal for distilleries to ship out of state for quite some time now — Kentucky was an exception,” Preske said. “The issue is all but a few states have laws that make it illegal for consumers to receive distilled spirits by mail. Additionally, state agencies could revoke our state license for violating the shipping prohibition.” 

January 13, 2021 | 12:10 am

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