American alcohol sales are handled by a three-tier system of producers, distributors, and retailers designed to promote competition and block vertical business integrations that would enable dominant firms to amass undue market power and political capital. Each state has a different system, all 50 of which have at least one loophole big enough to drive a refrigerated box truck through, but that’s the general idea in theory.

In practice, though, it’s not hard to find examples of a Big Booze player throwing its weight around in a manner that suggests the playing field is, ah, not entirely level.