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No, I think it is someone who buys liquor for these mostly all inclusive resorts was looking to save money. Instead of buying their liquor from the distributor in Miami, we will buy from the distributor in X. Therefore, it is good for the bottom line. They are supplying bootleg liquor probably with fake labels to look like famous brands.

Back in the 1980s there was a bar in Buffalo that catered to the UB and Buff State crowd. On Weds night they started a $2 cover charge and all mixed drinks were free for the first 2 hours(8-10pm). They went up $1/hour after 10pm until they were back at regular price. They used generic liquor. The bottles were white labels that stated: VODKA, GIN, RUM, WHISKEY, TEQUILA.

It was the worst cheap liquor you could buy. It gave you a terrible hang over. It also became the busiest and most profitable night of the week for the bar. The place was packed with college students. This was when drinking age in NY/Erie County/Buffalo was 18 and the bars stay open until 4 am.

It became so popular that a bar/restaurant that my buddy managed out in the suburbs did the same thing on Tuesday nights. They were closed on Mondays and Tuesday was the slowest night of the week. They did the same exact thing with Vodka drinks. $2 cover to get in. Free vodka drinks for the first two hours. Prices went up $1/hour until midnight. Then back to regular prices.

We bought Popov Vodka in 1.75 liter bottles. It was the cheapest brand name vodka you could buy back then. Once word got out it became our busiest night of the week. I checked IDs at the door. There was a line out the door at 8pm to get in. The bar was so packed that in that first two hours there was no way you could get more than 5 or 6 drinks. We kept track of how many vodka drinks we poured. There were two bar tenders, a bouncer and me for employees =,plus the owner. People could not believe we could do this. We had to be loosing money. We calculated that the liquor including the plastic cup and the mixer COST $.06/10 oz drink including spillage. So, even during the first two hours we were actually making a small profit. It became our busiest and most profitable night.

“We bought Popov Vodka in 1.75 liter bottles. It was the cheapest brand name vodka you could buy back then.”

I had heard in college that Popov and Smirnoff were the same vodka, but that the company profited more from Popov because sales volume was greater.

Heard the same rumor in the Army where the Class Six store’s generic liquors such as “Club Deluxe” and later “Military Special” were actually high quality brands with a cheaper label.

FWIW If the label says it was distilled in Bardstown, Kentucky, that’s fine with me, I was stationed at Fort Knox.

No need to replace legitimate cheap booze with counterfeit rotgut. Friend’s sons own a bar with a large open garden in a California beach town. On weekends, they hire a local band. Jello shooters are the rage: A teaspoon or so of Jello drowning in an ounce of cheap vodka or whisky (Early Times, Seagram’s Seven etc.) served in a paper minicup from the fridge. Servers are hot barmaids who deliver the drinks by the tray, a dozen shots for $36 or $4 each. Cost per drink to them is about a quarter a drink. On a Friday or Saturday night, they often sell hundreds of trays. The margins are awesome!