A North Dakota whiskey distillery could be cleaning up right now.
Quite so. The irony is that the government is afraid of a surfeit of drinking alcohol. But typically, if warehoused, most liquors can be stored for many years.
Imagine how expensive a bottle of the first run of North Dakota 12 year old Bourbon would be. Unfortunately, they would have to import their white oak barrels, which are not just the best wood for wine and liquor barrels, but they are the law. No white oak, no Bourbon.
ND only has Bur and Mongolian Oak, which are not suitable.