I work for a beer distributor and we sell the malt beverage with whiskey flavored ones.

That version is non distilled and made by a malting process that mimics the flavor but is not distilled at any point during the process so it can be sold in grocery stores and gas stations for states that not allow wine and liquor to be sold outside of liquor stores.

We are also no allowed to sell the malt ones to liquor stores. They’re only allowed to sell cider, wine and liquor in liquor stores here.

Also, because of the process, they are required to charge a deposit on the bottle, whereas the distilled ones don’t. At least in NYS.

This seems like they were selling the malt process ones next to the distilled one and someone tested them.

They’re also different ABV. The malt ones are 15(?)% and the distilled ones are 33% so there is also a clear difference on the label for that as well.

I’m not sure how these are sold in other states but in NY, they’re distinct products sold in different locations and the labels spell out what they are.