Latest news with #PappyVanWinkle23
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Penalty triples for former head of Oregon's Liquor and Cannabis Commission over bourbon scandal
The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission oversees the state's liquor stores. (Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission/Flickr) The former head of Oregon's Liquor and Cannabis Commission will pay a $1,500 fine for using his state position to divert and obtain rare bourbon for himself. In a 7-1 vote Friday, eight of the nine present members of Oregon's Government Ethics Commission approved the penalty for Steve Marks, former state liquor and cannabis director, after rejecting a much smaller $500 fine proposed in May. Marks, who resigned from his position in February of 2023 after 10 years leading the agency, was one of six high-level liquor and cannabis employees implicated in a long-running scheme to divert rare bottles of liquor to stores where the employees could obtain them. All have either resigned or been fired. The others are also facing ethics penalties. Commissioner Iván Resendiz Gutierrez, the only member to vote against the $1,500 penalty, said he wanted Marks to pay either $5,000 — the maximum civil penalty — or no less than $3,600. 'I think the penalty should be significantly higher, and the reason for that is that he was an agency director,' Resendiz Gutierrez said. Commissioner Jonathan Thompson countered that, 'There's no fine that we can impose greater than what they went through in the press and losing their jobs.' Robert Steringer, Marks' lawyer, said his client is prepared to accept the fine. The Oregonian first reported on the years of diversions of rare liquors by Marks and employees on Feb. 8, 2023, following a records request that included an interagency personnel investigation. An investigation by the Oregon Department of Justice that wrapped up in 2024, however, brought little to support a potential criminal case and agency lawyers opted not to pursue charges. In their investigation, they detailed challenges in tracing and proving who bought which bottles where, because of a convoluted distribution system for inventory and point-of-sale record keeping. The Oregon Ethics Commission based their own investigation and fine on the evidence it had from an interview with Marks where he admitted to diverting and purchasing a single $329.99-bottle of rare Pappy Van Winkle 23 bourbon. Susan Myers, executive director of the Government Ethics Commission, said the $1,500 fine is an 'appropriate resolution.' 'It's five times the amount he paid for the bottle, three times more than what the prior settlements of others involved were,' she said. 'It is an appropriate resolution given its one bottle, and recognizing that he was the director and, as you say, is held to a higher standard.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Buffalo Trace's Historic Bourbon Distillery Was Just Hit By A Massive Disaster
Record-breaking rain storms have been hitting the South and Midwest this past week, and the latest victim is the historic bourbon distillery belonging to Buffalo Trace. Starting last week, heavy rains have led to extensive flooding along the Kentucky River, which flows through the state capital of Frankfort, home to the Buffalo Trace Distillery complex. The flooding has led to mandatory evacuations as roads and towns have been submerged under 48 feet of water, making this the second worst flood in the river's history, falling less than half a foot short of a flood that happened back in 1937. In a captioned post from @buffalotracedistillery on Instagram, the company has posted an update saying the flood appears to have finally crested, allowing teams to assess the damage to the distillery. While the company says it's too early to determine the full scope of the damage, from what people have seen, the post says, "we can share that the flooding is extensive." The distillery has been closed since April 6, and Buffalo Trace expects it will remain closed for at least several more days as the waters recede. The company said in a press release (via Lexington Herald Leader) that it was able to take action before the floods hit to potentially mitigate the damage, but that it is still expecting the worst. Buffalo Trace says that anyone concerned can follow its accounts on social media for more updates, and for information about potential relief efforts for the community. Read more: 30 Best Gifts For The Bourbon Lover In Your Life While the area around Frankfort is home to many distilleries, Buffalo Trace's complex is one of the closest to the river. The Buffalo Trace Distillery is a national historic landmark, with some of the site's buildings dating back over 200 years. In 1869, Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor Jr., considered the father of the modern bourbon industry, purchased the site and created the O.F.C. Distillery, which was purchased several years later by George T. Stagg, who continued to work with Taylor Jr. It was during this era that many of the historic warehouses and structures at the distillery were built. Because of the Kentucky River's history of flooding, Buffalo Trace says it has a lot of experience with flood management, which is why it had a plan in place for just such an emergency. Some buildings even contain markings measuring the height that other floods reached in the past, although the most recent is from almost 50 years ago. While this current flood level has yet to be measured, eyewitnesses reported that the visitor center and warehouses appear to be completely flooded. Beyond the namesake brand, Buffalo Trace produces many other popular and respected bourbons, such as Stagg and Blanton's, including one of the most sought after bourbons in the world: Pappy Van Winkle 23. While the resulting deaths and damage to the town are certainly more important, losing such a historic and beloved name for any amount of time would be a blow to bourbon lovers everywhere. Read the original article on Tasting Table.
