Patna, Dec. 24: Prohibition-bound Bihar is set to get a taste of fine spirits in the New Year - like the famed Johnnie Walker whisky (the Scots will admonish you if you add an "e" to their drink), vodka from Sweden (Absolut) and the Netherlands (Ketel One), and Sula wines from amchi Maharashtra (see chart).

The state government has allowed the sale of 12 brands of foreign made foreign liquor (FMFL), three Indian-made wines and Bermuda-headquartered company Bacardi's low-alcohol-content beverage, Breezer, through licensed liquor shops. Hitherto, these drinks were not available in the state. Some of them could be found earlier in premium hotels like Maurya and Chanakya, which had taken special permission. Maurya hotel general manager B.D. Singh said that permission was withdrawn two-and-a-half years ago, following which the hotel stuck to serving only Indian-made foreign liquor.

"Our department has passed an order in this regard authorising Bihar State Beverages Corporation Limited (BSBCL) to buy FMFL from manufacturers, suppliers or importers and distribute it for retail purposes to licensed foreign-liquor shops operating in the state," Bihar excise commissioner Kunwar Jung Bahadur told The Telegraph. "Their maximum retail price (MRP) has been fixed."

Foreign liquors and wines were conspicuously absent from the previous excise policy, sources in the excise department said, and are part of the new excise policy introduced earlier this month.

Asked why the government took so long to allow the sale of these premium drinks, Bahadur said, "It was because of confusion over their price, how they should be procured and traded in the state. Now clear-cut instructions have been given to BSBCL regarding these."

BSBCL general manager Rajendra Prasad Gupta said the new brands will become available in Bihar from the first week of January 2016. "These have to come from Mumbai, where they are imported and offloaded at the port," he explained.

The state's licensed private liquor shop owners, however, are not saying "cheers". The introduction of these brands will not help their business, they said, because as per the new excise policy they will have to shut their shops by March 31 after which the excise department will run its own shops to sell booze.