Spend enough time as a booze aficionado, and you realize everything bad can be blamed on Prohibition. Okay, maybe not everything, but certainly the patchwork liquor laws across the United States. There are 17 alcohol control states or jurisdictions in this country where a state agency regulates the sale of alcohol. About a quarter of Americans live in one of these states, myself included. We’re less likely to have a “honey hole, sq” and building relationships with store owners is not necessarily as valuable. If you’re a bourbon hunter searching for dusties, this is not ideal.
But living in these states isn’t without benefits. You can count on the fact that the liquor store in the sleepy beach downtown and the one in the big city will have the same prices. Some states have websites that let you check to see store inventories to help you find that bottle you’re looking for.