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Here in VA it's all run by the ABC and they do online lotteries for the small allotment whiskies. If you're picked they will send your bottle to whichever ABC store you designate, so at least you don't have to drive very far. Of course, I've put my name in for a bunch of lotteries but have never gotten picked. Odds are total crap. The entire state will get sometimes a half-dozen bottles, sometimes 300 bottles depending what it is, and always thousands of entries. Odds range from a small fraction of a percent to maybe 1-2% for the less rare/in-demand bottles.
A few years ago we had a governor who seemed well on the way towards privatizing the liquor stores. Then he got caught up in some corruption scandal involving him and/or his wife receiving gifts from their home re-modeler who was also bidding on state contracts, something like that. Got convicted but later had it overturned in federal court. Too late, momentum towards liquor privatization was lost and it remains in the clutches of the state bureau-cleptocracy.
I would have no better shot at limited release bottles with private liquor stores; it's more about price & selection for the daily dram type stuff. My office is up in MD where there is a wider selection (although it may require visiting multiple stores) and pretty consistently ~25% lower prices.
Near my in-laws' place in IL they sell booze in Costco. I about crapped myself when I walked down that aisle, everything they stock was priced 30-40% lower than in VA. The ABC is a total racket.
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