Iowans bought more booze in ’99

It wasn’t just batteries, canned goods and water Iowans stocked up on before the arrival of the year two-thousand. Many wanted a little scotch with that water. Officials at the Iowa Alcoholic Beverage Division say sales between October and December last year were “way up” compared to the previous year.He says sales were up 18-percent.Denny Mitcham is bureau chief of the division. He says alcohol sales last November were up 23 percent from November of 1998. Mitcham says no individual products appear to have been favorites — Iowans were buying virtually everything to stock their liquor cabinets.Mitcham says Iowans have been buying up new items that’ve appeared in liquor stores and in the booze sections of grocery stores.The so-called “super-premium” vodkas from Europe are selling as high as 30 dollars a bottle.