Some Residents of Maryland Find County’s Sale of Own Brand of Liquor Sobering : Some Sobered by This Brand of Liquor

When high school senior Susan Bergeron learned that Montgomery County was selling its own brand of liquor, the local official of Students Against Drunk Driving was furious.

“How can a county, with its innumerable drug task forces and anti-drug campaigns, run liquor stores and, even worse, bottle its own brand of liquor?” the 17-year-old wrote recently in a letter to the editor of a local newspaper.

The question has grown old for county officials, who had hoped the furor over its County Crest brand would have died away by now, nearly two months after the discount brand of gin, vodka, rum, Bourbon and Scotch went on sale in county-run liquor stores.

Introduction of the house brand liquor brought out a flurry of news coverage and critical letters to the editors of newspapers. But county officials say they only received three critical letters and the issue has quieted.

“Let’s put this in perspective, for God’s sake. A private label doesn’t make anyone drink,” said county liquor control director Jerome Baylin. “All we’re saying is if you choose to drink in Montgomery County, please shop here.”

Montgomery County buys directly from producers, wholesaling beer and wine to retailers but handling sales of liquor through its own stores. County officials maintain County Crest is no different from house labels of other large liquor retailers.

The house liquor is made by a Baltimore distillery, which bottles it in two sizes under the County Crest label.

A 1.75-liter jug of County Crest ranges in price from $10.95 for vodka to $15.99 for Scotch--$2 or $3 less than comparable brands, but more than the cheapest products.

The affluent county outside Washington, D.C., whose voters opted to control alcohol sales at the end of Prohibition, is the first local government in the nation to retail its own liquor, said Baylin, who is president of the National Alcoholic Beverages Control Assn.

According to the association, which represents governments that directly control the sale and distribution of liquor, 19 states purchase liquor and either sell to retailers or directly to the public, in addition to Maryland, where only Montgomery County does so.

County Executive Sidney Kramer said the sale of County Crest was in keeping with the county’s goal of controlling liquor sales, as well as a source of extra revenue. Some of the revenue raised by the liquor control office pays for substance abuse programs, he added.

According to Baylin, the liquor control office has netted $62 million above expenses in the last five years.

He said it is too soon to know how much money the sale of house brand liquor will raise, but the products appear to be “doing exceptionally well, thanks to the press.”

Bergeron said she was angered by the introduction of County Crest at a time when Montgomery County officials have been pressing SADD to abandon its policy of neither condoning nor condemning teen-age drinking in favor of a “zero tolerance” stance.

“Basically, they are saying SADD is sending mixed messages when they themselves are doing that,” said Bergeron, who is treasurer of the county’s SADD chapter. “I’m not going to listen to someone who’s a hypocrite.”

The county government says controlling alcohol sales is better than permitting liquor stores on every corner. Neighboring Prince George’s County, which does not have liquor control, has more than 140 liquor stores, compared with the 23 government outlets in Montgomery, Baylin said.

Virginia Bright, head of the Montgomery chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said there is nothing wrong with liquor control but thinks the county should not both regulate and participate in the liquor industry.

“We have enough brands to choose from without the county making its own,” she said.