Watered Down

New Jersey Bars Raided for Refilling Top-Shelf Liquor Bottles With the Cheap Stuff

They wish it were Friday.
They wish it were Friday.

Couldn’t taste the Ciroc in your most recent Diddy Up? You’re not alone: Following up on miscellaneous complaints, New Jersey’s Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control conducted the yearlong and unambiguously named “Operation Swill,” an investigation that has now resulted in a crackdown on 29 bars and restaurants throughout the state, including thirteen TGI Fridays, one Applebee’s, and one Ruby Tuesday. The Star-Ledger reports all establishments were raided early this morning and that more details will be revealed at a news conference tomorrow. In the meantime, authorities have disclosed that the unscrupulous proprietors were refilling top-shelf liquor bottles with bargain-basement-priced product. How did detectives crack the case? By cross-referencing inventory records and sales data, they say, but also by deploying “new technology used to test liquor covertly,” which is probably just another way of saying crazy straws. [Star-Ledger]

New Jersey Bars Raided for Refilling Top-Shelf Liquor Bottles With the Cheap