I will buy my Holiday Spirits at the Montgomery County Liquor Store conveniently located in the shopping strip on Hampden Lane in Downtown Bethesda. The staff there is friendly and knowledgable,
Buying wine, beer and booze can be more than simply getting the best price at a non-descript warehouse-type alcoholic beverage facility.
The Montgomery Count Liquor Store on Hampden Lane has courteous clerks with a great sense of humour,
The Store will LIFT your SPIRITS as well as SELL you SPIRITS .

The State of Maryland should allow beer and wine to be sold in grocery stores like virtually every state in the US. Right now there is a restriction against supermarkets owning more than one license. Safeway transferred its license to a new store in Olney earlier this year and none of the independent liquor stores nearby went out of business. There's enough beer and wine business to go around, and maybe this would reverse the trend of decreased alcohol taxes in Maryland.

We're not big drinkers, but if we need anything, we'll go to Rips.

I never buy liquor or wine in Montgomery County. You can go to DC or Virginia and make the trip worthwhile with the savings , Plus, the service is so much better.

They shouldn't be surprised at the lack of revenue increase. Look what happened when they raised the income tax on high earners. We have cut way back on getting drinks when we go out to dinner. We now shop for wine and beer out of the state. One wine we often buy is almost six dollars less in Delaware than in the county store. When we go to the beach we make the effort to stock up there.

I never buy liquor in the Socialist Republic of Mo.Co.

I agree with tanisha. I go to this great new store on Rt 1 in Beltsville next to the Costco named Old Line Wine. Great store, it is the old circuit city store. Lots of wine, craft beer and other good things. Check it out.

i dont drink. does that make part of the problem or part of the solution?

What in the world is Maryland doing with all the money it makes?!

I live in Wheaton. If I want one bottle of something, I'll buy it at the local county store. If I want a pack of beer, I'll buy it at Elbe's or Country Boy. On the other hand, if I am near Rodman's in DC (just over the MD-DC line), I'll stock up for a long while because their prices are much cheaper than MD prices, and their variety is just as good for beer and wine. Also, they're much more knowledgeable about wine. MD prices and taxes are ridiculous, but it's not worth it to me to drive 20-25 minutes to get one bottle of wine or a six-pack.

Montgomery County operates a liquor sales policy from the Dark Ages. Even their sales stores-the only place to buy alcohol other than beer and wine-look like Value Village for beverages. Just compare their sales ads with those of DC stores, where you can also buy cheeses, smoked salmon and a host of other compliments to enjoying whatever you drink. So when will MoCo come into the 21st century?

Worth driving for a small increase in sales tax? I think not! Try the new Old Line Fine Wine and Spirits in Beltsville. UNBELIEVABLE! Nicest staff you've ever seen. They actually HELP you! They have EVERYTHING! It's next to the Costco on Rte 1.

I will continue to vote against any Maryland Politicians that put the revenue streams before the interests of Marylanders. Then again so many people ignore the issues and just vote for whom they're told.

I met a local "representative" once and she and I got into a heated argument about revenue streams and the only thing she cared about was lining MC's pocket even though the way she presented her argument meant LESS revenue for MC.

Raising taxes and fining people all day long doesn't increase revenue, it decreases revenue because it makes people shop elsewhere, dine elsewhere, and go elsewhere.

Want to see record increases in income for MC? LOWER THE DAMN TAXES, LOWER the Tickets people get when they're LESS than 5 minutes late to putting more quarters in their meter, and be sensible. Stop actually like a third world dictator fining us for every little thing.

Of course, that would require Politicians to put the people first instead of the "state", and that would require the incumbents to be kicked out of power.

So sadly, we will be stuck with the corrupt Politicians that line their own pockets while the rest of us get poorer, business goes down, and the government keeps to it's game plan of screwing everyone over.

Have you seen how much our local "representatives" are making by abusing their power? It's ridiculous and it's such a shame that no one(including the media) is willing to address the blatant corruption without using kid gloves.

As much as I like the proprietors of my local wine & beer stores, and spend my money there locally instead of driving to VA to save $ (and to get a much better selection), I wish that they didn't have the lobbying power that they do in Annapolis. No state or county politician would dare challenge the current setup because there's so much money at stake, and trying to change the system would be political suicide.

I have lived in MoCo for 28 years. Due to the tax and the ridiculous bag fee, I now use the opportunities to shop in Frederick County and VA whenever possible. These taxes have cost MoCo many dollars in revenue rather than raise revenue from our family. Add this to the gas taxes which also promote buying gas across the state line, and the Socialist Republic of MD and Moco are getting less and less of my business. In fact, due to the punishing business income and personal estate taxes, I am seriously considering relocating my small business and my family outside the state entirely.

I do not have to drink to be happy, nor do I; so it makes no difference.

No, Mr. Frank. Driving to VA to escape the 5 cent MoCo bag tax out of spite would be the height of folly and something you assumed that I would do. I'm in VA often enough to get free bags and reuse them to avoid the silly bag tax concocted by our County tax czars.

Distilled spirits in MD may be stagnant but I'm doing MY BEST to offset that scenario from occurring in DC ; )
I live 3 mins from a MoCo liquor store and have shopped there MAYBE 3 times in 15 years! My store-of-choice is the first one into DC on Wisconsin Ave, PAUL'S Wine & Spirits! Top shelf svc, selection, prices AND a covered garage! Seriously, I wouldn't consider shopping anywhere else--great resource for parties too! My kids schools have fundraisers/auctions yearly and they donate to each of them as well as charities I'm involved with. PAUL'S is a TRUE community-minded family business that values their customers, including my kids & dogs and they go out of their way to locate any product you want! My husband is a wine collector and he loves these guys! Bottom line, small businesses like Paul's are the backbone of our country and I'll PROUDLY forfeit a few cents to spend my dollars at a store like this rather than an impersonal, grocery-store or big-box variety store! When you walk into Paul's on a Fri. night and the wine-tasting is going full throttle, its easy to remember why it's more than just a great store! I'm happy to support them. They've done SO much for the community (the arts, Children's Hospital, Cancer research, public/private schools).Impressive!
P.S. You can order Johnny Walker Blue for personal and Corp. gifts for the holidays and PAUL'S will have it engraved & sent! Glad that's off my "to-do" list! Sorry MoCo politicos, ya dropped the ball, again!

Christmas Spirits ? I'll watch all 3 versions of "A Christmas Carol" on tv, save a lot of calories, and spare my liver. Might even go see the Nutcracker. I don't drink enough to worry about running out.

unfortunately the county believes this place is a country club and there's a minimum amount of money you have to spend to live/belong here. it DOES take a toll on those that want to feel a part of the place. but don't give me the "I don't drink so it doesn't affect me" defense because they're getting to your pocketbook somewhere somehow, you may be too entitled to know or admit it. anyone using that same logic ignores the fact of the single or struggling parent trying to make ends meet with all the increased fees we've seen in past couple of years- as long as you're not dealing with it, its ok with you but let something hedge in on your territory and you're cursing a blue streak. we just need to find a balance, its possible with unselfish folks, not those that thing they deserve everything in their favor

I buy locally when it makes economic sense to do so. The government will tax until it becomes otherwise. I make small purchases regularly at local beer and wine stores, avoiding state run stores for those items, but buy hard liquor from the county when . Any large purchases of beer and wine for parties or holiday seasons will be done in VA, where Total Wine offers magnificent selections in pleasant surrpoundings at reasonable prices. In my view, the selection and shopping experience are as important as the price. Total Wine shopping is fun and worth the trip through the Tyson's Corner maize. It's reminiscent of my experience coming to the area from PA many years ago. PA had "State Stores" where you had to buy all wine and liquor from the state and the only alternative for beer by the case was private "Beer Distributors". My first trip to a large liquor store in DC was a revelation, displaying a variety of products that I couldn't have dreamed was available. Bottom line is that Central Control can never offer the variety of products and the low costs of a free market operation. Makes me wonder just what the real point of the government run stores is. Behavior modification? Will it keep booze away from kids? Will it discourage alcohol use or abuse in people of any age? Tax revenue? Does it generate more in taxes than privately owned stores both here and elsewhere? Or merely add to power and control over us subjects of the regime?

I have nothing against Total Wine but there's a new sheriff in town and its called Old Line Wine and Beer in Beltsville. Try to find a better selection of whisky(ey) and gin in the area or even vermouth for those great Manhattans or Martinis and you'll come up empty. ACE Bev and Schneiders in DC have great selections but a bit hard to get to (and parking at Ace is, well, good luck). Old Line is easy to get to, easy to park at and they have everything I would expect from a liquor, wine or beer store- both high end and low end and in between and a bar/bistro with cool drink menu and food. Just found this place last Friday.

http://www.coachoutletonlinebfd.com/ Coach Outlet Online
http://www.guccibeltstb.com/ Gucci Belt
http://www.coachoutletonlineste.com/ Coach Outlet Store Online
http://www.cocoachoutletonline.org/ Coach Outlet Online
http://www.coachoutletonlinetsy.net/ Coach Online Outlet