Has Virginia Figured Out a Solution to Its Rare Whiskey Problem?

Across much of Virginia, if you’re looking to buy whiskey or other distilled spirits, you’ll need to do so at a state-run liquor store. Virginia is far from the only state to have such a system in place, but the method by which the state allocates in-demand bottles of whiskey sometimes gets it in the news for other reasons, as when two men were arrested for profiting on insider information on where certain rare bottles would be sold.

All of which is to say that it’s a system in need of reform — which is serendipitous, because it sounds like the latest iteration of reforms are now in place. At Axios, Anna Spiegel and Karri Peifer report that Virginia has overhauled the way its liquor stores handle rare bottles of bourbon.

Specifically, it’s set to randomize the experience somewhat, both in terms of which shops get which bottles and when they’ll be available for sale. All of which means that the days of camping out overnight in front of a state-owned liquor store to get a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle might be at an end.

Spiegel and Peifer write that “[s]tore sales volume will determine which stores get the products and how much.” They also report that the state agency will not list which stores are getting what bottles, something that seems designed to create an air of spontaneity around the experience of whiskey shopping.

Two Men Face Felony Charges Over Insider Bourbon Scheme in Virginia

They conspired to sell information on where rare bottles would be sold

Axios reports that customers will still be limited when it comes to bottles that are especially in demand. But one expert they spoke with — Bill Thomas of the bar Jack Rose — sees it as a win-win situation. “It’s better for the consumer, who can stumble across a good bottle, and it’s better for the state,” Thomas told Axios. It isn’t the first time Virginia has sought to randomize this experience — but maybe this will be the one that takes hold.