In the case of Brown-Forman Co. v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, 1909, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of Brown-Forman Co., a whiskey distiller based in Louisville, Kentucky. The company challenged a state law that required it to pay taxes on whiskey stored in its warehouses even though ownership had been transferred to out-of-state buyers and was awaiting shipment outside Kentucky's borders. The court held that this tax violated both the Due Process Clause and Commerce Clause of the Constitution because it imposed an unjust burden on interstate commerce by taxing property not within its jurisdiction or control. This ruling affirmed that states could not impose taxes on goods intended for export or sale beyond their borders as such actions would interfere with free trade among states.

In the dissenting opinion for Brown-Forman Co. v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, it was argued that the state's tax on whiskey stored in warehouses did not violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution as majority opined. The dissent contended that this tax was a legitimate exercise of Kentucky's police power and did not interfere with interstate commerce because it applied equally to all whiskey stored within its borders, regardless if destined for out-of-state markets or not. It further asserted that such taxes were necessary for maintaining public order and safety around these storage facilities due to potential hazards associated with them like fires or illegal activities related to alcohol production and distribution. Thus, according to this view, states should have broad latitude in imposing such levies without federal interference unless they clearly discriminated against out-of-state economic interests which wasn't evident here.