r/Belize • u/sandiosandiosandi • 4d ago

🤔 Unique Question 🤔 Shipping rum back to the US

Hi, all. I stopped at duty free when I landed in Belize yesterday and got myself a nice bottle of rum. I'm here for 9 days before I fly to Mexico for a few days, then back to the US. I'm now thinking I'd rather ship the rum back to the US so I can enjoy it over time with friends from home. Is this possible, and is it legal? I'm in San Ignacio with a car now, so it's probably best for me to deal with it here tomorrow if I'm gonna do this. If not, I want to crack it open tonight so I can have a much of it [responsibly!] before leaving it with the AirBnB.

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4

u/evoterra 4d ago

What did you buy? My vote is drink it now, then get it again in duty-free. (That’s what I did a couple months ago.)

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u/DAVENP0RT 4d ago

The issue seems to be that OP is flying to Mexico before flying back to the US and, I assume, will not be checking their luggage. Unfortunately, I don't see a way for them to keep the rum all of the way back to the US.

OP, depending on which rum you're enjoying it might be available. I know Copalli rum can be found in some areas of the US, but some others might be available for shipping.

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u/evoterra 4d ago

Yep. Best be safe and drink it in country.

3

u/willspeed4food 🇧🇿 Ambassador: Belize City 4d ago

In general it’s pretty tough to send anything Belize -> US… liquor even more so. I’d recommend drinking it now.

Like others said, you can get Copalli products in the US, although they’re hard to find in only specific places. There are also some old Travellers limited edition stuff, but that’s even rarer since I don’t think they export any more, and haven’t for a while.

If it’s a non-Belizean rum, you’ll get a much better selection in the Mexican airport or any US airport or liquor store. Imports of spirits here are pretty limited.

Just out of curiosity- what’d you get? I’m a rum nerd.

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u/sandiosandiosandi 4d ago

To those asking what I got - Ruta Maya. It's a coffee rum, but the coffee part of it isn't overbearing. It's more like there's a sense of coffee-ness on the roof of your mouth, but the flavor is very much dark rum.

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u/sandiosandiosandi 4d ago

And I searched the brand - it's only available in the UK. 😭

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u/hunchuen 4d ago

Oh yep. I like that brand a lot! I usually bring some back to the US when I visit my family there. It is tough to ship stuff from here to the US.

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u/Fr33brd 3d ago

I always travel with a couple of these. I typically carry on my luggage but if I’m somewhere and find something local that I want to bring home I pop it in the bag, tuck it in my luggage and check it to my final destination. This doesn’t help your current situation, but for future trips, I highly recommend checking these out.

https://a.co/d/9uFKzm6

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u/BrentInBelize 1d ago

Just put the bottle in your suitcase and pay to check the bag. It’ll cost you $30 to check your bag which is way cheaper and easier than trying to ship a bottle of liquor. FedEx from Belize is about US$100 for a small package, and I’m pretty sure they won’t ship anything liquid. Plus then you have customs to deal with to import alcohol. If the bottle of rum comes home in your luggage it can be part of your duty free allowance.