Daily Archive: January 6, 2012

Interview: Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board CEO Joseph Conti

When voters in Washington state approved a referendum to end state control of beverage alcohol sales late last year, all eyes turned to Pennsylvania, the largest control state in the United States by volume. Indeed, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) is the largest purchaser of wine and spirits in the U.S. and has sales of $1.5 billion generated from 609 state-operated stores.

Currently, Pennsylvania is one of only two states (the other is Utah) that owns and operates wholesale and retail sales of wine and spirits. Unlike Washington, Pennsylvania doesn’t have binding referendums, so the route to privatization would simply be for a bill from the legislature to be signed by the governor. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has indicated he would sign such a bill. Shanken News Daily recently spoke with the PLCB’s CEO, Joseph Conti, about the likelihood of privatization and overall efforts to modernize sales of beverage alcohol in Pennsylvania. Continue reading →

And The Winner Is…

Fabrica de Tabacos Raices Cubanas S. de R.L.’s Alec Bradley Prensado Churchill has been named the number-one cigar of 2011 by Cigar Aficionado, which has spent the past week revealing its top 10 cigars of the year as part of its feature on The 25 Best Cigars of 2011. Continue reading →

News Briefs for January 6, 2012

•Beam Inc. has expanded its Pucker flavored vodka range with two new offshoots— Lemonade Lust and Raspberry Rave. Priced at $15.99 a 750-ml. bottle, the 70-proof offerings will be available nationwide by February. Continue reading →