Buying Whiskey online in the US

@GMJ , www.klwines.com/state_legality.asp...K&L ships to CO and has great service and selections. You also may want to try www.missionliquor.com and www.wineandliquordepot.com

@whiskyshiba Thanks for your help, Cheers

@GMJ No worries mate! BTW Can't wait for season2 to start for Walking Dead.

www.argonautliquor.com

try this one!

@mishu, Wow! How do they price their products so low?! I need to move to Colorodo.

@whiskyshiba lol, yea i know right? haha hopefully low prices will spread everywhere

@mishu the argonaut liquor site's "shipping" info says they only ship wine. I'll be there next month and will let you know if the store prices/inventory are as good as their site makes it seem.

@two-bit-cowboy oh wow i didnt even realize.. thanks for the info!

@whiskyshiba Don't pack for your move yet. Those "low" prices aren't so low as of today. They're still pretty good for some things, but they aren't what they were two weeks ago. Think they read this forum?

@two-bit-cowboy , If its too good to be true... Those prices were from years ago.

Also, for you Talisker 18YR fans..... www.whwc.com/p/302373...and they ship, int'l too.

It's interesting to read this thread as a consumer in the UK. We're very lucky, especially in terms of shipping within the country, that our laws are less prohibitive.

Are there any online retailers in the U.S who have branches/depots in multiple states? And therefore can ship to more locations?

Also, do many of you state-side folks ever buy whisky from UK retailers? And how does that compare in terms of overall cost once shipping / import tax is included?

@Jean-Luc Each of our 50 states has its own rules so it gets more complicated than might first appear. Quite a few states allow shipment of wine from another state but not spirits. Some states won't allow shipping outside the state.

The most unusual law I've seen is this: I can ship to a certain state if the customer orders over the phone or through the mail. But if the customer from that state stops in the shop, buys a bottle and wants me to ship it to his home, I can't.

Then there's the actual "shipping." The U.S. Postal Service won't touch alcohol. Our local UPS rep says, "nothing but wine." Within FedEx, it depends who you talk to as to whether they will or won't, can or can't ship spirits. And then there are their fees -- that's fodder for a whole thread on its own.

@GMJ I'll second the vote for K&L Wines. They ship very quickly and have a great site search. My last few bottles (Arbegs Supernova '10, Corry, and Uigeidal have come from them).

@Jean-Luc, @two-bit cowboy is right-on regarding US shipping of alcohol. Of course, if the state in which you live carried all the bottles produced, then online sales probably would not exist; but in fact, the selection between states does vary widely. I have not discovered any multi-state online liquor stores ... probably due to the individual state rules (laws). If a particular online store is able to ship to a particular state, they usually state that ownership passes to the buyer as soon as the package leaves the warehouse ... then, in effect, the buyer is to some degree shipping to himself (and assuming any legal responsibility). This somehow immunizes the store against any rules that may, or may not be enforced.

Some states actually have mutual wine shipping agreements with other particular states,. Though this would not really make sense for liquor, as it is not usually produced in individual states, I would assume that sometimes (but not always) liquor merely comes along for the ride under the wine rules ... much less liquor is shipped compared to wine, and it is probably not enforced, especially for small orders.

The online websites state that FedEx or sometimes UPS are used for interstate liquor shipping ... and that it must be signed for by an adult (which makes good sense). Shipping cost is about $4 USD per bottle for about six bottles. Then there are the stores that offer free shipping, and good prices at the same time.

Some websites of the major European online liquor stores state that they will ship to the States, but the cost gets quite pricey. And, I'm not sure how the import duty is handled.

All this fuss over liquor sales is largely based on state profits from alcohol sales, state taxes on the sales, and keeping alcohol away from under-age individuals. All this almost makes you want to give up drinking :-)

@two-bit-cowboy, Spot on with FedEx policies. Luckily for me, the manager at my local FedEx/Kinkos is a friend and he labels my whiskies as "olive oil" or "perfume" to avoid extra fees when shipping within the USA. The only downside is that the insurance value is set at zero value. Knock on wood but so far I've had no problems.

I have used the whisky shop in San Francisco for items that aren't carried here in Washington State. whiskyshopusa.com

For items not available in the states, I have used Loch Fyne Whiskies. With the exchange rate and the shipping, I use this resource only as a last resort, but they are reliable and have an excellent selection. www.lfw.co.uk

Hope that helps.

@whiskyshiba I stopped in Argonaut last week. I didn't take a list to see if they had all they advertise online, but I asked about one I'd seen on their site that I couldn't locate on the shelves: a 36 yo Strathisla by G&M for less than $50! It was "out-of-stock." Can't say I was surprised. I did find a 'laddie sampler pack that included Rocks, Links - St. Andrews, and 3D third edition. Mighty tasty.

@two-bit-cowboy, Great find! Yes, those prices were too good to be true.