Dry Fly Distillery Obtains Distiller Licence From Washington State - First Direct Sale to Public Since Prohibition

Befitting the July 4th holiday weekend, on July 3rd Dry Fly Distillery of Spokane, Washington received it's craft distillery license from Washington State. The Seattle Times covered this historic event. This stems from a new craft distilling law signed in March of this year by the Govenor. The law which targets local distilleries is a model for stimulating local agriculture in that the license fee is reduced to $100 if 50% of ingredients are from agricultural products produced within the state.

In Washington State all bottled liquor sales are only through state owned and operated liquor stores. This was the first retail sale of liquor in the state, from producer to consumer, since prohibition went into effect in the state on December 31, 1915, three years before federal prohibition on January 20th, 1920.

This Puget Sound Business Journal story talks about the new legislation and the Washington distilling scene. Read Seattle Weekly's take on this issue.