dfrbrowne

Whats the advice on this,

Moving over to florida on the 4th Jan and looks like I will want to bring 4 or 5 unopened bottles of malt whisky with me, am I ok to fill in the application form to import alcohol and go through the red to declare channel when I get to the airport?

Anyone experience of this?

Thanks

Speedwell

Yes, I've brought that much myself. Buy the whisky at duty-free at the airport or bring it in your checked baggage. At the port of entry, declare the booze and tell them you know you will have to pay duty. They are not going to give you a problem. You will pay a nominal duty at the side window and go on your way.

dunroving

I thought it was a "Think outside the box" question .... I was going to suggest giving him a slug of the whisky you brought over ...

dunroving

Are you familiar with what happens at your US port of entry? If you are connecting via a US airport, your duty-free bottles will no longer be security-accepted, so you would have to put them into your checked baggage before you re-check it for your next flight.

If your port of entry in the US is your final stop, then you will be fine.

Not relevant to customs as such, but a surprising number of people get caught out by this.

dfrbrowne

its just one direct flight and the bottles are xmas presents etc and will be in my checked baggage.

dunroving

Probably teaching my granny to suck eggs, but from past experience*, I presume you will be using a hard-sided case, lots of packing, and waterproof Ziplock bags, or similar?

* I ended up having to chuck out a perfectly good bag and a whole load of clothes because I couldn't clean off the smell of coconut rum ... and it wasn't in my bag.

Hotscot

Which malt are you bringing?
Might be cheaper to buy here.

(It's not clear are you relocating or visiting? Still might be better gifting in the UK and buying here although if it's expensive hard to find malts I do completely understand.)

lansbury

Baggage handlers are in for a nice Christmas then.

dfrbrowne

I am relocating and bringing my favourite whisky, ardbeg, talisker and knockando.

what is the choice like for malts?

Danoz

We landed in Tampa yesterday with 5 bottles of spirits in checked in, and 1 bottle of duty free champagne. We just declared it on our customs form, and they joked we were going to have a party and waved us through wishing us a good Christmas.

Might depend on their mood, but I am not sure they think it's worth such a small amount.

Weeze

Our big liqueur chain (Specs) carries a wider range of single malts then were readily avaliable in Aberdeen. Often cheaper too.

Hotscot

Check the BevMo site also. (Although they aren't in every State.)
I've had no trouble finding single malts here in the US. It's a healthy market for distilleries. And often cheaper to buy.

Tarkak9

ardbeg and talisker are readily available. knockando prob be quite hard to find; if you like lochnager stock up on that as its not available over here.
it all depends on which distributors the liquor stores use as to what they are able to get, if its not on the shelf and its something they can get, most stores will be happy to get something in for you.

Chapmandan

Sorry to drag this out of the past but i was searching and it made sense to add it here rather than start a new thread.

Does anyone have any experience of moving with a working spirit library? I have maybe 15 bottles of good single malt on the go in various states of emptiness and i'd really like to move them. The whole duty thing and importation is a niggle in my brain and i'm fairly sure i can't just chuck them in my case when i come over.

Do i need to bring what i can and then stash the rest with relatives and bring them back as i visit?
Ta!

BTW - very big on Port Charlotte right now for any whisky lovers out there

Pulaski

I belive that bringing in opened bottles of alcohol is prohibited, though the chances of anyone noticing is relatively small. I brought a number of (mixed) cases of sealed bottles in my shipped household contents, and slipped a few almost-full ones in with them.

Honestly, I wouldn't bother even trying to bring bottles more than half empty, enjoy them before you come, and replace them with full bottles to bring with you!