With new laws on the books and new administrative changes Illinois will look different in 2026.

Change 1: Cocktails-to-go becomes permanent! This is a little personal to me as I started this grass roots effort with my partners to legalize cocktails-to-go five years ago. Now the industry will have certainty going forward.

The law is strict and adds a requirement that the employee delivering obtain an adult signature. A requirement that does not apply for delivering packaged liquors.

As with the previous legislation, third-party services are not permitted to deliver cocktails-to-go.

Change 2

Higher production limits for craft distiller self-distribution. Presently Illinois allows a Class 1 Craft Distiller, to manufacture up to 50,000 gallons of spirits and self-distribute 5,000 gallons of spirits to retail licensees. A Class 2 Craft Distiller can produce up to 100,000 gallons of spirits but has no self-distribution privileges.

The newly created Class 3 Craft Distiller license would permit an Illinois distillery or an out-of-state distillery licensed as a Non-Resident Dealer, to produce up to 100,000 gallons and self-distribute up 5,000 gallons. The new license essentially increases the universe of distillers that can self-distribute to Illinois retailers.

Change 3

SB 618 permits retailers to use any third party or mobile app to facilitate the sale and delivery of alcohol. It also does not allow any local government to require a retailer to obtain a separate or additional license for delivery of alcoholic liquor.

Under the legislation, a retailer shall not be civilly liable for sales or deliveries made to intoxicated persons or persons under 21, if the delivery was conducted by a third-party contractor or agent that the retailer contracted with to make deliveries.

All legislative changes except for cocktails-to-go have an effective date of July 1, 2026

Change 4

Illinois will launch a new licensing portal. The ILCC put out a letter on the new licensing compliance portal set to launch in early 2026. The portal will thankfully replace the present system MyTax Illinois. The new system will act as the centralized location for all licensing and compliance activities.

To access the new system the user will need to create an ILogin account by visiting https://iloginhelp.illinois.gov/

Once the system is live MyTax Illinois will no longer be used for ILCC matters.