Silverback Distillery in Afton is expanding into Pennsylvania, owner Christine Riggleman said Friday.

The announcement was made to employees Saturday afternoon.

The distillery, which opened in 2015, has done well for the short time it’s been open, according to Riggleman — snagging 14 international awards — but Riggleman said costly regulations from the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control are leading the company to expand into another state.

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“Virginia laws are holding us back,” she said. “Even though Pennsylvania is a commonwealth, the laws are a lot friendlier in terms of expanding, and you can keep more of your money, where Virginia takes more money from our bottle sales.”

Some of the production still will take place in its Afton facility, but Riggleman said some bourbon, whiskey, vodka, and gin will be produced in Pennsylvania.

She and her husband, Denver, who own the operation, also hope to open a tasting room and hire between 14 and 17 new employees in Pennsylvania.

Christine Riggleman said nearly every state has “friendlier” and more relaxed liquor laws than Virginia.

The Rigglemans want to grow their business but say they feel “handcuffed” in Virginia because of tax laws. In Virginia, distilleries are taxed 54 percent on tasting room bottle sales.

Riggleman said cideries, breweries, and wineries receive 100 percent of their own sales from bottles sold in house.

From bottle sales of $32,000 in June, the distillery received $2,500 in commission, according to Riggleman. Pennsylvania allows distilleries to keep 100 percent of those sales.

Riggleman said the $2,500 in commission doesn’t even pay the salaries of two distillery employees.

“They’ve done nothing,” Riggleman said of ABC. “They haven’t touched it, smelled it, they’ve done nothing with it; they’ve paid none of the expenses.”

Becky Gettings, director of communications for Virginia ABC, said taxes on alcoholic beverages in Virginia are established in the Code of Virginia.

According to a 2016 annual report provided by Gettings, ABC received about $164,900,000 in profit transfers and about $147,800,900 in state taxes.

Ashley Bosford, the tasting room manager at Silverback, said all employees are aware of the ABC laws.

“It affects everyone who works here in the sense that we are all extremely aware of how absolutely unfair it is that ABC takes too much money,” she said. “The general public walking in has no idea how bad it is because no one assumes that the government owns more of the company than you do.”

Though the subject frustrates her, Botsford is excited for the growth and expansion of the company she works for.

“Every employee is proud of the products Christine has created, but it’s extremely frustrating for employees because we know that the hard work and dedication flies out the window because the state says, ‘This is what I feel like taking.’”

Silverback is located on Virginia 151 near many of Nelson County’s breweries, cideries, and wineries. It has 50 acres of land and potentially could expand there, but the owners said they probably won’t unless the laws change.

To prepare for the move, they have about $7 million in bourbon inventory at their Afton location and have reached their limit on inventory in Virginia.

Riggleman said she has two trips planned in the next four months to check out further locations to expand into.

For now, the distillery will stay in Afton, but Riggleman admitted that could change.

“Who knows what the future holds,” she said. “I can’t promise I’ll stay. We were born and bred here, but other than that, I don’t know how long that will hold us. They’re making it so there are not enough reasons.”

She said they don’t want to leave Virginia and chose to come back to the state a few years ago, but Riggleman now said she is sorry she did that.

“With the current laws and regulations … we love the property we live on, but it doesn’t make me happy to be here anymore,” she said.

Read more at source: News Advance