B.C. liquor officials want to pour $40K of authentic scotch whisky down the drain

B.C. officials are poised to pour $40,000 worth of high-quality scotch whisky down the drain because a restaurant owner broke a rule of the province's liquor distributor.

The top-grade scotch did belong to Vancouver restaurant, Fets Whisky Kitchen, but was seized in a sting operation that liquor inspectors dubbed "operation malt barley."

The quality booze hasn't as yet been poured away as the two sides battle it out in court over the seizure.

According to a Mar. 14, B.C. Supreme Court decision, the whisky was seized in 2018 after liquor inspectors turned up at the Whisky bar and demanded the owner show receipts proving the booze had been purchased from the provincial Liquor Distribution Branch.

The restaurant's owner said the quality whisky had been purchased through a private liquor store and not the Liquor Distribution Branch, which is against the governing legislation. So liquor inspectors seized 242 bottles of scotch worth roughly $40,000 — roughly $165 per bottle. The officials loaded it up into a truck that they'd purposely rented for the occasion.

The decision says while the private liquor store had legally imported the whisky from Scotland, the restaurant's liquor licence only allowed it to purchase alcohol from the government-owned Liquor Distribution Branch. The decision says the scotch is set for "destruction."

The decision shows that the liquor inspectors went to some length in their sting "operation malt barley," which also targeted other restaurants skirting the B.C. government liquor distributor.

Inspectors had posed as customers and bought whisky from the bar a month before the sting.

In its defence, the restaurant says it has been purchasing whisky from private liquor stores since 2013 and never had any issue.

The current court proceedings focus on whether Fets was denied "procedural fairness" in being refused access to documents surrounding the court case.

Fet's ultimately wants the liquor inspector's case dropped and the whisky returned, and it did score a minor victory in the Supreme Court.

The court ruled that the whisky bar was denied full access to documents relating to the liquor inspector's investigation which was a breach of procedural fairness.

The Justice ruled the liquor board had to hand over all the documents in preparation for a hearing.

The case will now go back to the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch for a rehearing before determining, among other things, if the booze will be thrown out.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.