South Carolina's mini-bottle program was the legislative compromise that allowed the legal sale of alcohol in a state that had gone through both Prohibition and the Dispensary system. It has become an anachronism that the voters should do away with Tuesday.
The mini-bottle program was created more than 30 years ago to supplant the need for "brown-bagging" for a night out on the town, and the system was then used by a number of states. Now, South Carolina is the sole remaining state to use mini-bottles. The Legislature that agreed to put the mini-bottle to a vote in the 1970s wasn't ready to remove all restraints on the hospitality industry. It took several more decades before agreement was reached to allow counties to have "local option" on the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday.
The hospitality industry has been pushing for years to get rid of the mini-bottle, contending that it inhibits preparation of specialty drinks that require more than one type of liquor. Some also argue that a drink made with a mini-bottles can create problems for drinkers who aren't used to the alcoholic punch that they pack. Mini-bottles contain 1.5 to 1.7 ounces of liquor, as much as 40 percent more alcohol than used to make mixed drinks in other states.
There is some apprehension that the loss of mini-bottles will cut $25 million in state taxes collected from their sale. We have no doubt that state revenue officials will develop a tax formula for liquor by the drink that will supplant that loss as they have since the days of the state-run Dispensary. Let the mini-bottle go. If customers don't like the way their favorite watering holes pour their drinks, the market will find a way to respond.
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