Is it feasible to ship bourbon from Kentucky to Belgium?

June 1, 2009 5:27 PM

Is it feasible to ship bourbon from Kentucky to Belgium?

A Belgian friend surpassed all expectations in hosting me earlier this month. He likes bourbon, but says he can't find much of it in Belgium. Is it feasible to ship him a bottle from Kentucky as a gift? Would I need to lie on the customs form?

posted by deadweightloss to travel & transportation (4 comments total)

Your better off buying a bottle or two online with someone who can legally ship internationally.

Try Sam's Wine -- they ship to Belgium and have lots of whiskey.
posted by nitsuj at 5:32 PM on June 1

Isn't the customs duty paid by the recipient? I'm not sure if an outright lie about the contents will get caught, but they obviously won't catch incorrect valuation, i.e. you assert a $50 bottle is worth $10. I think you'll need to send some pretty expensive bottle merely to ensure that you spend more on the bottle than the shipping, which will cost lots.
posted by jeffburdges at 6:50 PM on June 1

You're going to save a lot of time, hassle, and potentially money by finding a dealer that will do this for you. You're also a lot more likely to have the bottles arrive intact.

In any case, this ain't gonna be cheap. Ballpark guess? $30/bottle. Plus the actual cost of the bottle. YMMV, obviously, but I'd be shocked if shipping and duties cost any less than that, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was as high as $50/bottle.
posted by valkyryn at 8:16 PM on June 1

I asked a couple friends of mine in the bourbon industry and they said 1-877-Spirits.com ships internationally. That should take care of the customs, etc.
posted by mjones at 10:18 AM on June 2