The Most Expensive State To Buy Whiskey

America has no shortage of top whiskey brands, but every state — not to mention every city — puts its own spin on the beloved spirit. Dubbed "Bourbonland," Lexington, Kentucky, for instance, specializes in the spirit of its nickname; in fact, you will even find the world's rarest bourbon collection inside a Lexington shop. Yet, beyond state-specific whiskey varieties and bottles, different states likewise exhibit a range of whiskey prices. While California contains the nation's cheapest whiskey offerings, Alaska may very well be home to the liquor's most expensive price tag.

According to a 2024 study done by Credello, Alaska was ranked the most expensive state to buy a standard bottle of whiskey. The outlet aggregated its information from various websites to compare the lowest price of a 750 milliliter bottle of one of the best Jack Daniels whiskeys, the Old No. 7 Black Label, across all 50 states. In The Last Frontier, that price was roughly $32. For comparison, whiskey is priced at just under $15 in California, making what Alaskans pay more than double what Californians do.

Per Credello, that particular brand of whiskey was chosen due to its popularity, making it therefore ubiquitous across all 50 states. Of course, this study isn't the end-all-be-all, so there may be hope for those shopping for the spirit in Alaska. Unfortunately, Credello doesn't explain why this price discrepancy occurs — though the rationale may boil down to Alaska's remote geographic location, rather than any specific liquor taxation (though those are high too).

If you live in Alaska, chances are you are accustomed to expensive prices. The stunning and remote state is known for its high cost of living as much as it is for the breathtaking Northern Lights and peaceful summer season of the midnight sun. As a non-contiguous state, Alaska requires many goods and food items to be imported, resulting in higher demand and therefore higher expenses. That geographic hurdle may therefore explain why whiskey, specifically, comes at such a price.

Granted, Credello's study never assesses why, exactly, Alaska's whiskey surpasses $30. As far as we can tell, there is no concrete data other than the plain statistics. However, other states may elucidate how location impacts whiskey prices. For example, the price of whiskey in Hawaii, another non-contiguous member of the United States, correlated with the Alaska results found in Credello's study; the analysis pinpointed the state's lowest whiskey cost at $25.99.

Despite Hawaii's distant location, the other American states with more extreme whiskey prices are within the continental U.S. Credello specifically lists North Carolina, Nebraska, North Dakota, Vermont, and Utah among the country's most expensive states to purchase whiskey, with Hawaii not even making the top 10. As such, there's no single pattern or rule of thumb when it comes to pricing a bottle of Jack. Instead, it's best to keep your eye out whenever traveling to California, where you'll likely snag the best deal on whiskey.