Yesterday was the most monumental day for spirits news in my entire fourteen year booze business career.

What made it even more insane is that I had NO IDEA this news was coming. I saw it on an email from a former colleague and thought it must be a mistake.

I’d love to draw out the suspense even longer, but I know you’ll just skim down to the juicy give-away, so I’ll just tell you right now: the United States Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau announced that, starting today, a number of new size formats will be legal to sell in America.

The only one that really matters, however: 700ml spirits bottles.

Not the bombshell you were expecting? Ha! Let me tell you now why this is seriously going to change our industry forever:

• If you’ve never shopped for booze overseas, EVERY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD (other than South Africa) bottles spirits in 70cl or 700ml bottles. That means every time Macallan, or Yamazaki, or Ardbeg releases a new whisky, they have to create a separate 750ml edition just for the U.S. because we decided to be different.

• Some people might think to themselves: that means we get our own unique allocation every single time there’s a new whisky, right? But those of us who work in the industry know the real truth: there are thousands upon thousands of spirits that never make it into the states because of the need for a separate bottle. It’s a HUGE barrier to entry.

• Yes, this means what you think it means. All those rare editions of Port Ellen bottled in 70cl that you have to buy overseas and pay international rates for? They’ll be available here shortly. All those crazy Japanese editions of Blanton’s in 700ml? They’re legal as of today to sell in America.

• Here’s the real kicker: the grey market for wine is a huge asset for states like California and New York that don’t allow distributors sole distribution rights like other states do. While a winery may have a contract with a California distributor, that doesn’t mean their wine isn’t being sold in other countries by an entirely different company. And….sometimes the prices in other countries are different than the prices here, which means savvy importers/brokers can put together an international order, ship the product to California, and save a bundle on the price. That was never possible with spirits because of the 700ml vs. 750ml size difference. However, with the new rules, an importer could order a container of Hennessy from China and wholesale it in California for a completely different price than the local distributor.

• But…..and you probably guessed it….this grey market could open the door to counterfeits and other fakes that didn’t pass through the U.S. three tier channel direct from the supplier. That’s a new hurdle we’ll have to face when you see a smoking hot deal for 700ml bottles that came from some shady broker overseas.

When I heard the news yesterday, I immediately called my five best friends in the industry and all five of them sat there in dead silence after I told them the details.

Why? Because this new development is NOT helpful to everyone in the business.

Why? Because it means the competition in the market is about to go up by 1000000000%.

Why? Because any spirits label from anywhere in the world is now legal to sell in the U.S. There are no restrictions on international sizes moving forward, which means you can take inventory from anywhere in the world and sell it here as of today.

Yes, there are some legal loopholes that I am leaving out for the sake of brevity, but this is the gist.

It’s an entirely new day for the booze business in America. And, for the sake of my colleagues in retail, I hope you’re ready to work harder than you’ve ever worked before because we’re no longer beholden to the same costs or the same sources for our booze. That means the stores that work the fastest and the smartest—from markets ALL OVER THE WORLD—are going to win.

There are retailers that have built entire models on the protectionism that the U.S. sizing allows and as of today those models have been destroyed. All of that volume buying to get best pricing? A smart retailer can get a better deal from overseas without the need to play games.

Welcome to year zero.

-David Driscoll