OLCC Commissioner sought bottles of Pappy Van Winkle, other rare bourbons from manager since fired for role in bourbongate

Commissioner Matt Maletis denies receiving bottles in response to his requests

Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commissioner Matt Maletis

Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commissioner Matt Maletis asked OLCC staff to provide a Portland nonprofit with 23-year-old Pappy Van Winkle and other rare bourbons in November 2022, Maletis and the OLCC confirmed to the Oregon Roundup.

Maletis requested the bottles via email to Chris Mayton, then the director of the OLCC’s distilled spirits program. The OLCC terminated Mayton’s employment early this year for his role in providing bottles of rare bourbon, which are difficult for the public to obtain, to OLCC insiders. The bourbon scandal, sometimes called “bourbongate” or “Pappygate,” convulsed Oregon politics and state government, leading to the termination of Mayton and other top OLCC managers, the resignation of the OLCC Commission Chair at the request of Governor Tina Kotek, and outrage from the legislature.

According to the email, Maletis requested the rare bourbon for use by Portland nonprofit Classic Wines Foundation. According to its LinkedIn page, Classic Wines Foundation auctions rare wines with the proceeds going to its “nonprofit partners” in the Portland area. Maletis’s request to Mayton was spurred by a message from Classic Wines Foundation board member Ben Long requesting a list of 10 rare bourbons, according to the email.

Then-governor Kate Brown appointed Maletis commissioner in November 2017, according to the OLCC website. According to a Willamette Week story about his appointment, Maletis’s family was involved in beer distribution in Oregon, and Maletis himself was attempting to grow cannabis on family property in the Willamette Valley. The OLCC regulates alcohol and cannabis in Oregon and generated $625 million in revenue for the state, counties and cities from its role in liquor sales, according to its website. Maletis was the first OLCC commissioner with ties to the cannabis industry, according to Willamette Week.

In response to my questions about whether Maletis received the bottles he requested and whether the November 21 email was the only time he had ever asked OLCC staff for bottles, Maletis denied ever receiving bottles but appears to concede making multiple requests:

“Hi. No. Never received anything. Ever. I forwarded requests to staff but had not learned of internal issues w/ handling of product / investigation at time.”

By November 21, 2022, the OLCC had conducted an internal investigation into the practice of providing bottles of rare bourbon to OLCC insiders and was in the process of formally reprimanding involved employees, including Mayton.

OLCC spokesman Mark Pettinger confirmed the authenticity of the November 21 email to me, and said that Mayton did not respond to Maletis’s request:

As of “press” time the morning of June 8, Pettinger had not responded to my follow-up questions regarding the OLCC’s “internal policy about allocating liquor to bona fide charitable organizations,” made very late afternoon June 7.

I have submitted a public records request to the OLCC seeking any email correspondence between Maletis and any OLCC employee regarding requests for liquor since Maletis became commissioner in November 2017.