A. In any local option district, a person qualified pursuant to the provisions of the Liquor Control Act [60-3A-1 NMSA 1978], except as otherwise provided in the Domestic Winery, Small Brewery and Craft Distillery Act [60-6A-21 to 60-6A-28 NMSA 1978], may apply for and be issued a craft distiller's license subject to the following conditions:

(1) the applicant submits evidence to the department that the applicant has a valid and appropriate permit issued by the federal government to be a craft distiller;

(2) renewal of the license shall be conditioned upon:

(a) no less than sixty percent of the gross receipts from the sale of spirituous liquors for the preceding twelve months of the licensee's operation being derived from the sale of spirituous liquors produced by the licensee;

(b) the manufacture of no less than one thousand proof gallons of spirituous liquors per license year at the licensee's premises; and

(c) submission to the department by the licensee of a report showing the number of proof gallons of spirituous liquors manufactured by the licensee at the licensee's premises and the annual gross receipts from the sale of spirituous liquors produced by the licensee and from the licensee's sale of distilled spirituous liquors produced by other New Mexico licensed craft distillers;

(3) a craft distiller's license shall not be transferred from person to person or from one location to another;

(4) the provisions of Section 60-6A-18 NMSA 1978 shall not apply to a craft distiller's license; and

(5) nothing in this section shall prevent a craft distiller from receiving other licenses pursuant to the Liquor Control Act.

B. A person to whom a craft distiller's license is issued pursuant to this section may do any of the following:

(1) manufacture or produce spirituous liquors, including aging, filtering, blending, mixing, flavoring, coloring, bottling and labeling;

(2) store, transport, import or export spirituous liquors;

(3) sell only spirituous liquors that are packaged by or for the craft distiller to a person holding a wholesaler's license, a craft distiller's license or a manufacturer's license;

(4) deal in warehouse receipts for spirituous liquors;

(5) buy spirituous liquors from other persons, including licensees and permittees under the Liquor Control Act, for use in blending, flavoring, mixing or bottling of spirituous liquors;

(6) be deemed a manufacturer for purposes of the Gross Receipts and Compensating Tax Act [Chapter 7, Article 9 NMSA 1978];

(7) conduct spirituous liquor tastings and sell, by the glass or by the bottle, or in unbroken packages for consumption off the premises but not for resale, spirituous liquors of the craft distiller's own production or spirituous liquors produced by another New Mexico craft distiller or New Mexico manufacturer on the craft distiller's premises; and

(8) at no more than three other locations off the craft distiller's premises, after the craft distiller has paid the applicable fee for a craft distiller's off-premises permit, after the director has determined that the off-premises locations meet the requirements of the Liquor Control Act and department rules for new liquor license locations and after the director has issued a craft distiller's off-premises permit for each off-premises location, conduct spirituous liquor tastings and sell by the glass, or in unbroken packages for consumption and not for resale, spirituous liquors produced and bottled by or for the craft distiller or spirituous liquors produced and bottled by or for another New Mexico craft distiller or manufacturer.

C. For a public or private celebration on or off the craft distiller's premises in any local option district permitting the sale of alcoholic beverages, a craft distiller shall pay ten dollars ($10.00) to the department for a "craft distiller's public celebration permit" or a "craft distiller's private celebration permit" to be issued under rules adopted by the director. Upon request, the department may issue to a craft distiller a public celebration permit for a location at the public celebration that is to be shared with other craft distillers, small brewers and winegrowers.

D. At private celebrations on or off the craft distiller's premises after the craft distiller has paid the applicable fees and been issued the appropriate permit, the craft distiller may sell by the glass spirituous liquors produced by or for the craft distiller.

E. Sales and tastings of spirituous liquors authorized in this section shall be permitted during the hours set forth in Subsection A of Section 60-7A-1 NMSA 1978 and between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and midnight on Sunday and shall conform to the limitations regarding Christmas day sales and the expansion of Sunday sales hours to 2:00 a.m. on January 1, when December 31 falls on a Sunday as set forth in Section 60-7A-1 NMSA 1978.

F. As used in this section:

(1) "private celebration" means any celebratory activity that is held in a private or public venue not open to the general public and for which attendance is subject to private invitation; and

(2) "public celebration" includes any state or county fair, community fiesta, cultural or artistic event, sporting competition of a seasonal nature or activities held on an intermittent basis.

History: Laws 2011, ch. 110, § 3; 2015, ch. 102, § 3; 2019, ch. 229, § 4.

The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, provided for private celebration craft distillers' permits, and expanded the hours for sales and tastings of spirituous liquors; in Subsection C, after "For a public", added "or private", after "public celebration permit'", added "or a 'craft distiller's private celebration permit'", deleted "As used in this subsection, 'public celebration' includes any state or county fair, community fiesta, cultural or artistic event, sporting competition of a seasonal nature or other activity held on an intermittent basis."; added a new Subsection D and redesignated former Subsection D as Subsection E; in Subsection E, after "between the hours of", deleted "noon" and added "11:00 a.m."; and added Subsection F.

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, increased the number of locations that a craft distiller licensee may, after meeting certain requirements, conduct spirituous liquor tastings and sell by the glass spirituous liquors produced and bottled by or for the craft distiller or spirituous liquors produced and bottled by or for another New Mexico craft distiller or manufacturer; in Subsection A, after "person qualified", deleted "under" and added "pursuant to"; and in Paragraph (8) of Subsection B, after "no more than", deleted "two" and added "three".