butchcole said:
You guys need to try Conecha too, it is made here in Alabama and it is damn smooth, kind of similar to Buffalo Trace. Good price too..
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Alabama Still Has State Whiskey
Wednesday April 06, 2005 11:16am
Montgomery (AP) - Getting rid of Alabama's official state whiskey has proven difficult for the Legislature, even though the founder of Conecuh Ridge Whiskey admitted violating liquor laws.
A resolution repealing Conecuh Ridge's designation as the "official state spirit" has been awaiting action by the Senate Rules Committee for two months. While Conecuh Ridge's status is limbo in the Legislature, a picture of the whiskey and information about its official designation remain on a Web site the state archives department maintains for children.
Jim Preuitt, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, said other business has kept the resolution from coming up for a vote. But he predicted that legislators who voted to bestow the state designation on Conecuh Ridge last year will repeal it before the current legislative session ends May 16.
"It's sad we had someone from our state who developed the beverage to this point and then acted in the manner he did to cause embarrassment to our state and its people," Preuitt, D-Talladega, said.
Sen. Wendell Mitchell, who represents Troy, where Conecuh Ridge is based, also predicted the designation will get repealed.
"Time has proven it was an ill-conceived idea," Mitchell, D-Luverne, said.
In April 2004, the Legislature overrode a veto by Gov. Bob Riley to designate Conecuh Ridge Whiskey as the "official state spirit." A picture of the whiskey and information was added to the official state symbols and emblems on the kids' section of the Web site produced by the state Department of Archives and History.
Debbie Pendleton, assistant director for public services, said Tuesday the archives staff debated whether the Conecuh Ridge Whiskey's designation was appropriate for children and decided to include it because the Legislature had approved it.
"We try to do them all," she said Tuesday.
Trouble for Conecuh Ridge began in December, when state liquor agents charged the brand's founder, Kenny May of Troy, with misdemeanor violations in two counties - selling liquor without a license, possessing excessive quantities of liquor in a dry county, and selling to an 18-year-old girl in a state where the legal drinking age is 21.
May admitted the violations and paid fines, and the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board decided to quit selling his product in state-run liquor stores.
The sponsor of the 2004 resolution honoring Conecuh Ridge, Rep. Alan Boothe, D-Troy, got the Alabama House to pass another resolution Feb. 3 repealing the product's designation as the "official state spirit." The resolution went to the Rules Committee, where it has been sitting ever since.
Boothe said Tuesday he doesn't understand the delay, but he has asked several senators to act on his resolution.
"I've done all I know how to do," he said.
Preuitt said the Conecuh Ridge resolution is one of about 150 awaiting committee action. He said the committee only sent simple congratulatory resolutions to the Senate early in the legislative session. For the last few weeks, there has been no opportunity for the Senate to consider resolutions because of back-to-back filibusters, but the committee will eventually get the Conecuh Ridge resolution before the Senate, he said.
He said no one has been trying to maintain the designation for Conecuh Ridge.
Preuitt and Mitchell both voted to override the governor's veto of the Conecuh Ridge resolution last year. Riley maintained the Legislature shouldn't give an official state designation to a commercial product.
Have you tried Ancient Age? They've got it for $8/750. If it's not horrible, might be a good choice for whiskey sours and such. I hate using the good stuff for cocktails.
