Fine point of order here. If I buy a bottle of whisky and sell it to a friend, am I selling liquour without a license?
Must be.
If I have lots of bottles of whisky that I haven't yet sold, and can offer explanation that I have no intention of selling (unique in my collection, officer!,) and those bottles are seized, then surely the government owes me a refund of (A) the tax that was paid at the original purchase, and (B) the difference in worth between the original price and the collectors price, with suitable interest in both cases. Speaking of cases, I would expect that any damage done to labels etc. that happened in the seizure would also have to be compensated for.