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Distillery sales bill on the rocks

A proposal to allow liquor distilleries to sell their product on premises has been turned into a study bill.

Posted 2013-05-13T21:50:56+00:00 - Updated 2013-05-13T23:07:02+00:00

Piedmont Distillery in Madison is keeping an old tradition alive and legal: making moonshine. Junior Johnson moved from racing illegal moonshine around the county roads to driving race cars back to being part owner of a moonshine operation - with some law enforcement officers as workers.

Laura Leslie

A proposal to allow liquor distilleries to sell their products on premises has been turned into a study bill.

In its original form, House Bill 842 would have allowed patrons who had completed a tour of a distillery to purchase a bottle of the product at the same price as at an ABC store, with all applicable taxes.

North Carolina is home to quite a few distilleries, including apple brandy, sweet potato vodka, gin, wheat whisky and moonshine.

"Do you know any other business that takes people on a tour, shows them what they do and how they do it and then won’t let them buy the product?" asked Rep. Dana Bumgardner, R-Gaston.

"No," replied sponsor Rep. John Bell, R-Wayne.

But some conservative lawmakers, including some in House leadership, dislike proposals to make alcohol more readily available.

The version approved Monday by the House Commerce Committee would create an eight-member panel to study the feasibility of on-site sales of spirituous liquor and report its findings to lawmakers before the 2014 session.