The High Point ABC Board has authorized spirituous liquor tastings in all locations to be conducted by holders of a supplier representative permit, brokerage representative permit, or distillery permit who have obtained a valid liquor special event permit. All in-store tastings are subject to the following regulations and procedures as well as all state statutes and commission rules and regulations. The permit holder shall be solely responsible and assume all liability for any violation of state laws and regulations, state commission rules and or High Point ABC rules and policies.
In-Store Tasting Rules
Scheduling:
The board will publish a calendar of available tasting time slot to all properly permitted individuals requesting notice. Schedules will be determined by the General Manager but tasting will not number more than 15 per calendar month. Only one permit holder will be scheduled at one time in a High Point ABC store. Tastings must be scheduled at least 5 business days in advance of the tastings. Tastings time slots will be scheduled on a first come, first served basis. Permittees can schedule 4 tasting per month and no more than 40 tastings per calendar year. One tasting time slot per month will be reserved for North Carolina Distillery products. Scheduling request may be made using our website or by electronic mail to the Retail Manager.
Time and Location:
All tastings must be held between the hours of 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm on dates scheduled by the board.
No tasting may be conducted for longer than 3 hours.
Permit holders may request a specific store location for tasting.
Permit Holder Personnel:
Tastings shall be conducted by the permit holder or his/her employee(s). No High Point ABC board employees shall participate in conducting the tasting.
All persons conducting tastings must be at least 21 years of age.
Permit holders must provide at least one employee for every two products offered.
Products:
Notice of the products the permit holder would like to offer for tasting must be included with all request for scheduling. Only products preapproved by the High Point ABC can be offered for the tasting.
All product to be sampled must be available for sale at the High Point ABC Board unless otherwise approved by the General Manager.
All products offered for tastings must be purchased at a North Carolina ABC store at the price set by the State Commission.
All product used for the tasting must be removed from the High Point ABC property by the permit holder.
Responsibility:
The permit holder and their employees shall not offer tastings samples to, or allow consumption of tasting samples by, any consumer who is visibly intoxicated.
The permit holder shall not offer tasting samples to, or allow consumption of tasting samples by, any consumer under the legal age for consuming spirituous liquor. The person pouring the spirituous liquor shall be responsible for verifying the age of the consumer being served by checking the identification of the consumer.
Permit holder shall ensure that all products are consumed in the general area of the tasting location.
Any accommodations or special instructions for the tasting area should be made at the time of scheduling. Permit holder shall leave the premises in the same condition in which it was found.
All High Point ABC rules for tastings shall be posted in the information center in each location. It is the responsibility of the permit holder to be informed of and adhere to all High Point ABC rules and procedures.
Permittee holders who violate state commission or High Point ABC rules and regulations may be prohibited from conducting further in-store tasting at the sole discretion of the Board.
Sample Restrictions:
The permit holder shall not charge consumers for any tasting sample.
Each sample cannot contain more than .25 ounces of any product. The total amount of samples any one consumer may be offered is ½ ounce on any calendar day.
Permit holders shall not offer more than 4 products at one tasting.
Advertising:
High Point ABC stores may display advertising POS material for in-store tastings provided by permittee holders. All advertising must be preapproved by the assistant general manager or general manager before distributed.
Permit holder advertising shall not be displayed prior to 72 hours before the tasting is scheduled
High Point ABC employees may inform mixed beverage permittees of upcoming in-store tastings.
The administration office may produce notices of the tastings for posting at the administrative office or store locations as permitted by State Commission rules.
Tasting Calendars will be distributed to each store and published in the Employee Newsletter to be used for employee information purposes only.
State Commission Rules:
It is the responsibility of the permit holder to comply with all current and future rules established by the State Commission. This includes:
The permit holder shall provide written notice of the consumer tasting event to the ABC Commission at least 48 hours before the consumer tasting event. The notice shall include all of the following:
The date and time of the consumer tasting event.
The ABC store at which the consumer tasting event will be conducted.
The spirituous liquor that will be provided for tasting at the consumer tasting event.
The permit holder conducting a consumer tasting event shall not provide any consideration to the local board, its board members, or its employees for any purpose related to the consumer tasting event. A consumer tasting event shall not be used by permit holders for unlawful inducements to a local board.
Permit holders shall not conduct any sales of any branded merchandise or apparel to consumers at the consumer tasting event.
Any tasting conducted in an ABC store shall be the sole responsibility of the permit holder. No employee of a local board may participate in or conduct a tasting in an ABC store.
No provision in this policy shall be interpreted to conflict with any current or future rules adopted by the state commission. The board reserves the right to revise all policies or revoke authority to conduct in-store tastings at the High Point ABC Board.
