Taking Vodka into Russia

[Koluji Ezhik]

I know it sounds a bit funny, like why would you take sand to the beach?? I leave tomorrow for my second trip to Russia. I will meet my two very good Rusky friends in Mosocw at the airport. I stayed with them before when I visited Moscow. They will accommodate me for free in their flat in Moscow. One guy is working, and the other is in Graduate school at a prestigious University in Moscow. Last time i was there, they had some problem with their flat and paid for me to stay at Hotel Beta in Moscow. They refused to be reimbursed for my room.
They asked that on this trip I bring them two bottles of VanGogh Espresso Vodka with me from America. They said they would pay me when I come. Of course I want to but it as a gift and won't accept payment for them. There is two ways to go about bringing it. I can get it at duty free in JFK i think, and it would be easy. I shopped around in Baltimore today, and I found these huge 1.75 L bottles for only $29.99. Its what a 750ml bottle cost at the other stores i went to. I think the limit is two bottles? or is it 1.5 L?
My one Russian friend here said to just buy the huge bottles and wrap them in clothes and check that bag. He said you will never have a problem bringing these two bottles into Russia. He has flown back and forth several times. Last time i flew to Kaliningrad i took 2 bottles of Maker's Mark and had no problem, and when i returned to the USA i had like 12 bottles of vodka in one suit case and nobody checked it or said anything. What if they catch me bringing in too much? Would it be taxed, a fine, or seized???
Can someone advise me to as what the regulations are, and what they think i should do in this situation. Thanks in advance.

[Faux Pas]

I know it sounds a bit funny, like why would you take sand to the beach?? I leave tomorrow for my second trip to Russia. I will meet my two very good Rusky friends in Mosocw at the airport. I stayed with them before when I visited Moscow. They will accommodate me for free in their flat in Moscow. One guy is working, and the other is in Graduate school at a prestigious University in Moscow. Last time i was there, they had some problem with their flat and paid for me to stay at Hotel Beta in Moscow. They refused to be reimbursed for my room.
They asked that on this trip I bring them two bottles of VanGogh Espresso Vodka with me from America. They said they would pay me when I come. Of course I want to but it as a gift and won't accept payment for them. There is two ways to go about bringing it. I can get it at duty free in JFK i think, and it would be easy. I shopped around in Baltimore today, and I found these huge 1.75 L bottles for only $29.99. Its what a 750ml bottle cost at the other stores i went to. I think the limit is two bottles? or is it 1.5 L?
My one Russian friend here said to just buy the huge bottles and wrap them in clothes and check that bag. He said you will never have a problem bringing these two bottles into Russia. He has flown back and forth several times. Last time i flew to Kaliningrad i took 2 bottles of Maker's Mark and had no problem, and when i returned to the USA i had like 12 bottles of vodka in one suit case and nobody checked it or said anything. What if they catch me bringing in too much? Would it be taxed, a fine, or seized???
Can someone advise me to as what the regulations are, and what they think i should do in this situation. Thanks in advance.

You won't have any problem taking two bottles. Your problem is packing them so they don't break. Needless to say the baggage handlers are not friendly to glass bottles in checked bags. In all my trips I haven't found customs either way that cared about quantity. Don't declare it on the customs forms but if asked, don't deny it. I usually take 4-8 bottles of wine/liquor to and 4-5 bottles of wine/vodka back. Always in checked bags and packed to overkill. Never a problem.

I would not recommend the duty-free unless you buy it on the plane to your final destination. These days you never know when buying it on one plane and then having to get on another, they may not allow your purchase. I've seen it happen.

[Sculpto]

I brought 3 different bottles on my last trip.  I wrapped each of them individually in clothes, two shirts each, then wrapped the whole thing in more shirts.  I centered in the bag and cushioned it tightly all the way around with the rest of my clothes and shoes.  No problems getting through.  The best part was unpacking it in front of my GF who thought I was nuts, until she saw what was inside.

[Koluji Ezhik]

Cool, sounds like great advice thanks! Very useful to me.

[JR]

Drink it just before you get on the plane and don't use the bathroom before you land in Moscow. Works for me everytime

[GoodOlBoy]

I took 6 (Magnum) bottles of Perrier-Jouet Champagne with me to Omsk (Siberia) from Miami, back in 2006.

My wife's Nephew was getting married.

The suitecase's were very heavy (the old Delta days, 2 suitecases 70 lbs each).

They were wrapped tight in my long johns  .......and the Champagne was gone in almost 60 seconds during all of the festivities!!

But still, everybody at the party was impressed. 


GOB

[groovlstk]

You guys have had better luck than I can claim. I tried to bring back a few bottles of Crimean wine from Ukraine a few years ago, when I got home I discovered two bottles had broken and every item of clothing in my bag had purple highlights. To make matters worse, like a dummy the first thing I did was throw all the clothes in the washer and made the stains permanent. Guess I needed a new wardrobe anyway 

[Faux Pas]

You guys have had better luck than I can claim. I tried to bring back a few bottles of Crimean wine from Ukraine a few years ago, when I got home I discovered two bottles had broken and every item of clothing in my bag had purple highlights. To make matters worse, like a dummy the first thing I did was throw all the clothes in the washer and made the stains permanent. Guess I needed a new wardrobe anyway 

Packing it is an art. I wrap and pack them in the soft rubber foam and duct tape on the way over and keep the packing material for the trip back. I secure that in clothes in the center of the suitcase being careful that none of the bottles can hit each other and away from the sides of the suitcase. Knock on wood I haven't had one break yet. I have been known to stick a pillow in the suitcase to make sure the suitcase is tight on the inside. The truth be known, by the time I add the packing material and pay for excess weight it has tripled or more the cost of the items. It doesn't matter and is worth it both ways. Her family and friends are always thrilled to drink some premium different liquor/wine from America and my friends and I always enjoy the different vodkas and wines I bring back. I have found wines with cyrillic labels seem to be the best gift I can bring the majority of my friends. If and when they drink them it is certainly a "special occasion" 

[Daveman]

Drink it just before you get on the plane and don't use the bathroom before you land in Moscow. Works for me everytime

hahahaha! now there's a fail safe method of transport..

FP is absolutely correct about the duty free shops... they're only good for the last leg of the journey because at any transfer point, there is a chance of it being disallowed or "grabbed" whether you are carrying them in the duty free shopping bag or safely tucked into your carry-on bag - doesn't matter.  Packed and checked in the way to go, albeit risky of the PurpleHighlight syndrome (heh! that really sucked I bet, purple clothes AND no wine!)

P.S. the Russia\Ukraine outbound regulation is/was two liters and two cartons of cigs last I checked.. that's the "legal" limit, but I've yet to hear of anyone ever begin messed with in either country. I think the inbound is the same limit, but if you carry more and get screwed with, it would more than likely be a trumped up smuggling charge due to some other reason they didn't like you.  Minuscule chance of that happening, but, it could I guess.