CASHING in on COCKTAILS WRITTEN BY CHRIS LOZIER
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n-house cocktail sales could be your W.M.D. — What’s Missing from the Distillery. Cocktails drive bottle sales and create brand exposure, and for some small to mid-size distilleries, cocktails are their leading source of income. Not all states currently allow cocktail sales, but those laws are changing thanks to the efforts of individuals, politicians and distillers guilds. What follows are case studies from two distilleries with differing challenges but similar approaches to their in-house
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cocktail programs, explaining why cocktail sales are so beneficial. Dominion Distillery in Colville, Washington has a consumer base interested in local spirits and they benefit from state laws and licensing that are relatively distiller-friendly. However, they suffer from the highest spirits sales taxes in the nation, which the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States calculated at $35.22 per gallon. Over in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Du Nord Craft Spirits has a WWW.ARTISANSPIRITMAG.COM