An Ohio State Senator Is Trying to Combat Bourbon Flippers
Are you frustrated by the astronomical prices that unicorn bottles like Pappy Van Winkle, George T. Stagg, and Old Forester Birthday Bourbon command on the secondary market? You’re not alone, because so is Ohio state senator Bill DeMora, a democrat from Columbus who has proposed a plan to combat flippers selling whiskey on the secondary market and subsequently driving up prices. He wants to crack open every bottle at the store when it’s sold.
According to a recent article published by The Plain Dealer, DeMora was visiting a Kroger after getting a notice from the state liquor agency that bottles of Blanton’s and Elmer T. Lee, both produced at the Buffalo Trace distillery, would be available to purchase. While waiting in line, he was commiserating with other bourbon fans about how these bottles are often purchased at their suggested retail prices by unscrupulous individuals who turn around and flip them on the secondary market for three or four times their value. He came up with a controversial solution to the problem—requiring sellers to open and reseal allocated bottles in the store at the time they are sold, which conceivably would diminish their value and dissuade anyone from wanting to resell them.
DeMora’s Senate Bill 320 has been introduced to the senate and is now in committee, and would stipulate a fine of up to $2,000 if it’s passed and the rules are violated. “People that are bourbon drinkers get pissed off when they try to get in line and do it the right way,” DeMora told The Plains Dealer. “This bill would hopefully stop the illegal sale of liquor, and it would maybe give people who want to enjoy bourbon, and drink it, the ability to get some of this stuff.” Sounds like somebody has been bourbon burned a few times before.
There are of course people who consider this proposal to be misguided at best and stupid at worst. Liz Pirnat, head spirits instructor for Napa Valley Wine Academy, told The Plains Dealer that people looking to purchase a bottle to give to someone as a gift wouldn’t be happy about this, and it could also open the door to nefarious liquor store owners opening a bottle and refilling it with some inferior whiskey before resealing it and giving it to the customer. That kind of seems unlikely, because presumably if you are purchasing an expensive bottle you’d be a little suspicious if the clerk went to the back to open it where you couldn’t watch. And it remains to be seen exactly how a store would be able to properly reseal a bottle once it’s been opened.
DeMora acknowledged that there’s actually little chance of his bill being passed anyway, given how late in the legislative session it is and the fact that he’s a Democrat in a Republican-controlled state senate (not to mention they may have some more pressing issues on their docket). Still, this politician/bourbon nerd noted that he put together a bipartisan “bourbon caucus” to bring together whiskey fans together from across the aisle, and will keep trying to get this legislation passed.
