It’ll Be Nearly Impossible To Buy Flavored Vodka in Ohio in 2018

Finding a bottle of flavored vodka in Ohio is going to be a whole lot harder in the future. Starting on January 1, 2018, more than 700 liquor brands, including nearly all of the most popular flavored vodkas, will no longer be sold in the state.

Ohio is one of 17 control states, meaning the Division of Liquor Control buys all of the liquor coming into the state and oversees its sale. In short, if the Department of Commerce, which runs the Division of Liquor Control, doesn’t bring it in, Ohioans can’t buy it. The only exception is Ohio craft distilleries, which are allowed to self distribute.

A spokesperson told the Cincinnati Business Courier that the brands are being dropped “to free up shelf space for more popular products as well as new-to-market products.” And there’s a clear bias as to which products are less valuable than the possibility of new options.

The largest drops are in flavored vodka brands. Virtually all of the flavors from Smirnoff, Svedka, 3 Olives, Absolut, Hangar One, UV, Burnett’s, Pinnacle, Skyy and Van Gogh will no longer be available. Flavored whiskey, tequila and rum also took a hit, as well as many liqueurs from DeKuyper, Bols and Pucker.

You can see the full list of cut liquor here, but beyond those brands listed above, these are some notables that might also be missed:

Bacardi 151
Gordon’s Gin
Admiral Nelson
Sailor Jerry
Disaronno
Balvenie 15-Year Single Barrel and 17-Year Peated Cask
Dewars 18-Year
Hochstadter’s Rye
Remy Martin VS

*Correction: The Ohio Division of Liquor Control reached out with a clarification about distribution of craft distilleries. Micro distillers can distribute to bars at wholesale prices, but not liquor agencies. The distributed bottles are considered "on consignment" from the Ohio Liquor Enterprise. Consumers can buy a bottle from a craft distiller from the distillery directly or their local liquor store.