Taking (strong) whisky to the USA.

scorza

scorza

scorza

Caporegime
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Off to visit relatives in the US soon. My uncle is a big whisky fan so I asked my Dad to get me some unusual whisky that my uncle wouldn't be able to get in the US for a present. He's come back with a bottle that is 60% alcohol (not 60 o, but 60% - you're supposed to water it down it says). I'm not even sure this stuff is legal in the UK but do you think it'd be a good idea to try and take this stuff through US customs (obviously in hold baggage)? Or should I just drink that myself and get a normal 40% bottle for a present?
 
basmic said:
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The BBC link refers to what you can take in your hand luggage, which I'm well aware of. I'm talking about what stuff you're allowed to take into the US in your checked-in baggage that goes in the hold, not the cabin.
 
you can often buy cask strength stuff...you will also often get tasting.drinking advice from the head distiller for such limited runs...and they often recomend diluting it slightly with spring water
 
AcidHell2 said:
it's legal. You can get absinth in shops which is over 85% if your willing to spend lots of money.
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Not in the US you can't. Absinthe is illegal and has been illegal since 1912.

In the United States of America, absinthe was originally banned by Food Inspection Decision 147 in 1912. Now, thujone is banned as a food additive according to Section 801A of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of August, 1972. Wormwood was included on a list of unsafe herbs which the FDA released in 1975.

As for the whisky I don't think you'll have any problems at all. 151 proof (76% alcohol) rums are common. Pack it in your luggage securely (lest you discover a rather unpleasant surprise when you next open your bags) and claim it at customs so they can tax it to death.
 
I shouldnt think there will be a problem.

There are plenty whiskys in scotland that are 60% proof , havent tried any that strong myself.
 
What kind of whisky is it? 60% is cask strength, you're best off trying a wee nip of it before diluting it with water. Dilution opens up the flavour, dilute it 2:1 to drop it to 40%.

As for packing, if it's in a tube fill any empty space with socks or other padding.

OT: I wonder what filtering effect having a bottle of whisky in the hold would have, given that it drops to below zero?
 
BillytheImpaler said:
What do you mean by filtering?
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Whisky is filtered to remove impurities. This is either does by hand (the better/purist's way) or by chilling the whisky to zero and then filtering it this way.

Chilling whisky to zero causes the fatty acids to clump together and allows more particulates to be removed from the whisky. Purists argue that this removes a lot of the 'feel' from the whisky, you will find that hand filtered whiskies have a completely different mouthfeel to chill filtered ones.

In this case, if the whisky was not chill filtered already, I was querying whether chilling it would affect the feel of the whisky and perhaps affecting the eventual taste.
 
BillytheImpaler said:
Not in the US you can't. Absinthe is illegal and has been illegal since 1912.
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:eek:

It was banned in the UK too until they imported a weaker version of it...

The eastern block stuff is deadly but awesome! :cool:
 
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