Pennsylvania Essentially Bans Russian Liquor From All Stores

Pennsylvania’s Governor Tom Wolf is urging the state’s liquor stores to stop selling Russian-sourced products as quickly as possible.

Governor Wolf sent a letter to the state’s Liquor Control Board over the weekend calling on them to stop selling any products that were manufactured in Russia.

“I appreciate the board’s efforts to quickly identify Russian-sourced products currently being sold at Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores," he wrote in the memo. "I urge the board to take these further actions as a show of solidarity and support for the people of Ukraine, and an expression of our collective revulsion with the unprovoked actions of the Russian state.”

Governor Wolf has strongly condemned Russia's attacks on the nation of Ukraine earlier this week.

Russia is known for its vodka, but the banning of these products would only affect a very tiny fraction of the vodka in the United States, according to The USA Today's reporting. 

Their reporting (via the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States) found that only 1.2% of the U.S' imports of vodka actually came from Russia in the first half of 2021.

Our most popular vodkas — including Smirnoff, Ciroc, Titos, Absolute, Grey Goose, and more — are not made in Russia.

Pennsylvania is not the first state to issue such an order, by the way. Texas, Ohio, New Hampshire, and more have already asked for retailers to remove Russian vodkas from store and bar shelves.