I actually think if it were just the taxes, the innovation probably wouldn't have happened. The bigger problem is that you can't really sell a national canned hard liquor drink, even if the liquor in it has been diluted by mixers down to beer or wine levels of alcohol. Too many states don't allow liquor to be sold anywhere but licensed liquor stores, and shelf space there is too precious for low-priced high-volume beer substitutes. You can sell malt-based hard seltzer in gas stations nearly everywhere.