So much of what we've experienced in 2020 has many of us saying "I need a drink",  often, and with inconsistency and confusion prevailing about where we can go to have one and when, it's much simpler (and many would argue, safer) this year to just BYOB and stay home, as indicated by new numbers from the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division.

They report, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, that liquor sales totaled $367.3 million during the fiscal year that ended June 30, an increase of 8.2 percent over the previous fiscal year. The even bigger news is that with the current "fiscal year" that began on July 1, projections are even higher, no doubt due in part to the arrival of the celebratory (or perhaps dreaded) time we call "the holidays".  It's good for Iowa's bottom line to have us cooped up with nowhere else to indulge, as the booze industry is generating $133 million in revenue for the state.

One thing is consistent, and that's what variety of liquor we're buying. The top-selling brands continue to be Black Velvet Canadian Whisky, Tito's Handmade Vodka, Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, Fireball, and Hawkeye Vodka.

Blue Ox was tops among spirits made in Iowa.

Polk County, followed by Linn, Scott, Johnson, and Black Hawk had the most liquor sales in the state.

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