Popular whiskey lands man in hot water with liquor control agents

Source: Penn Live

January 20, 2017

A bottle of coveted whiskey has a York County man facing a misdemeanor count of sales of liquor without a license.

Officers from the state Bureau of Liquor Control say they responded to an ad on Craigslist and subsequently were sold a 20-year-old bottle of Pappy Van Winkle by Wade Ashley Collingsworth, 45, of York.

The rare bottles of bourbon and whiskey produced by Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky are so sought after that the state Liquor Control Board has held an annual lottery. In 2016, it ran from Nov. 28 to Dec. 3 and 1,601 bottles up for grabs.

The whiskey and bourbon brand sells for upwards of $2,000 a bottle. No information was provided on what Collingsworth allegedly asked for the bottle agents say they bought.

It’s not the first time some lucky winners found themselves in hot water with the LCB. Resales of liquor in Pennsylvania are illegal, and after each auction, the bureau keeps an eye out for online sellers.