By Lauren Mickler

LANE COUNTY, Ore. -- The OLCC says liquor sales in Oregon are on the rise.

It reports that the state saw a $20 million increase in liquor sales in 2011, something neither they, nor liquor store owners, were expecting to see.

The Mohawk Liquor Store stocks just about every selection of spirit you could ask for, and they sell a lot of liquor too.

Tom Hammond and his wife Connie say about 25 percent of their business is with local bars, but most comes from every day over-the-counter sales.

"We could kind of see that people are spending a little more time at home so the over-the-counter sales were a little bit more," Hammond said.

Sales at the Hammond's store went up by about $20,000 in 2011, contributing to the $20 million total increase across the state.

OLCC Representative Mark Jeahnig says this much of an increase surprised the agency.

Jeahnig says the spike wasn't really about more people buying liquor but more about what kind of liquor people are buying.

"With the economy getting a little better, people are buying more expensive drinks. In 2008 and 2009, it wasn't really about quantity, it was really about less expensive drinks," Jaehig said.

The OLCC expects liquor lovers to keep up the pace.

"We expect for the 2013-2015 biennium to actually top a billion dollars, so we have some pretty high expectations," Jaehig said.

And that's just for Oregon. The Hammonds hope the increase will continue and help their store do even more business in the coming years.

"I am hoping that things keep going up and some of the bars make a comeback, and we have some of them that are opening back up, and we're hoping that that increases our business," Hammond said.

Ninety-five percent of the reported 2011 revenue came from hard liquor sales, the other 5 percent comes from beer and wine and miscellaneous licensing fees.