Interesting that’s a different company than I thought you were referring to and California law is a little different. But they’re not really skipping, they’re j

Interesting that’s a different company than I thought you were referring to and California law is a little different. But they’re not really skipping, they’re just the distributor. The manufacturer is who ever is paying the excise tax. So there is still a manufacturer, a distributor, and a retailer. This isn’t that uncommon or novel. There are brands that go through the entire 3 tiers that are owned by a retailer. They pay a manufacturer to make it and then a distributor to distribute it to themselves. Also the 3 tier system isn’t federal law, so there are states where, for instance, breweries and distilleries can sell direct to retail.