(a) Sales of liquor. — An operator of a distillery or a mini-distillery may offer liquor for retail sale to customers from the distillery or the mini-distillery for consumption off premises only. Except for free complimentary samples offered pursuant to section one, article six of this chapter, customers are prohibited from consuming any liquor on the premises of the distillery or the mini-distillery: Provided, That a licensed distillery or mini-distillery may offer complimentary samples per this subsection of alcoholic liquors manufactured by that licensed distillery or mini-distillery for consumption on the premises only on Sundays beginning at ten o’clock a.m. in any county in which the same has been approved as provided for in section three-pp, article one, chapter seven of this code.

(b) Retail sales. — Every licensed distillery or mini-distillery shall comply with the provisions of sections nine, eleven, thirteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five and twenty-six, article three-a of this chapter and the provisions of articles three and four of this chapter applicable to liquor retailers and distillers.

(c) Payment of taxes and fees. — The distillery or mini-distillery shall pay all taxes and fees required of licensed retailers and meet applicable licensing provisions as required by this chapter and by rule of the commissioner, except for payments of the wholesale markup percentage and the handling fee provided by rule of the commissioner: Provided, That all liquor for sale to customers from the distillery or the mini-distillery for off-premises consumption shall be subject of a five percent wholesale markup fee and an 80 cents per case bailment fee to be paid to the commissioner: Provided, however, That no liquor sold by the distillery or mini-distillery shall be priced less than the price set by the commissioner pursuant to section seventeen, article three-a of this chapter.

(d) Payments to market zone retailers. — Each distillery or mini-distillery shall submit to the commissioner two percent of the gross sales price of each retail liquor sale for the value of all sales at the distillery or the mini-distillery each month. This collection shall be distributed by the commissioner, at least quarterly, to each market zone retailer located in the distillery or mini-distillery’s market zone, proportionate to each market zone retailer’s annual gross prior years pretax value sales. The maximum amount of market zone payments that a distillery or mini-distillery shall be required to submit to the commissioner is $15,000 per annum.

(e) Limitations on licensees. — No distillery or mini-distillery may sell more than three thousand gallons of product at the distillery or mini-distillery location the initial two years of licensure. The distillery or mini-distillery may increase sales at the distillery or mini-distillery location by two thousand gallons following the initial twenty-four-month period of licensure and may increase sales at the distillery or mini-distillery location each subsequent twenty-four-month period by two thousand gallons, not to exceed ten thousand gallons a year of total sales at the distillery or mini-distillery location. No licensed mini-distillery may produce more than fifty thousand gallons per calendar year at the mini-distillery location. No more than one distillery or mini-distillery license may be issued to a single person or entity and no person may hold both a distillery and a mini-distillery license.