What goes hand-in-hand with bourbon? That’s law and taxes. Over the past few years we have seen incredible changes to Kentucky’s bourbon laws when it comes to vintage spirits, the three-tier system, and the bourbon barrel tax being removed. All of these are done in an effort to make Kentucky’s signature industry thrive. There’s been one person behind the scenes with all of this, and that is Chad McCoy. Chad is a Former Kentucky State Representative that took care of Bardstown and wanted to see change happen. He dives into how he got into politics and he gives us an idea how many lobbyists there are vying for attention. It’s a fantastic episode that covers the political landscape and how it’s really hard to make everyone from producers, distributors, and consumers equally happy.
Show Notes:
- Above the Char with Fred Minnick (@fredminnick) talks about bottled-in-bond rye.
- Where did you grow up and how did you get into politics?
- At what point did bourbon law become more of a focus?
- How often would you be hit up by lobbyists?
- How does a lobbyist influence your decisions?
- Who presented the vintage spirits law bill and what was the motivation behind it?
- Is a laser code from a prior year considered vintage?
- Can you talk about the bill that bypassed distributors so distilleries to can sell bottles at a gift shop?
- Why are trade bodies against NDPs?
- Why did you want to get rid of the bourbon barrel tax?
- How can consumers make a change?
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