The "Challenge" of Foreign Imports...

[aquavite]

OK, here's a challenge for y'all.  I'm having a Devil of a time trying to import this spirit.  And the ultimate "failure" for me is if I have to spend the $$$ to fly over to Europe just to pick some up.

 

The spirit is called, Pere Blanc.

 

https://www.pitz-schweitzer.lu/Uploads/270070/107.jpg

 

It's a product of Luxembourg and produced by a company called "Pitz-Schweitzer."   On my very first travel to Europe to attend the wedding of a close friend in Belgium, the family gave me some of this to drink. And I have to say, it was "Da Bomb!"  Very sweet, syrupy, and a ginger like flavor without the tang.  Just very sweet and  slightly spicy.  What I did not realize is that if you don't attend to the bottle cap properly (it's a screw on metal type), the alcohol will evaporate, eventually and you will be left with ginger flavored syrup.  Very sugary.   A year after the wedding, I returned to Belgium to follow up with my friend. Before I  left for home again, I  bought two bottles home with me, plus a Grand Marnier.  That was 40 years ago.  When I opened the fresh bottle you could definitely taste the alcohol in it, but those other sweet/spicy gingery like flavors were still there.

 

Now, 40 years later, I'm down to my last shot on the 2nd bottle.   Still some alcohol left in it, but I can tell it's running out of time. So I need to get some more.

 

The problem being, the owner of the company, Jaques Pitz (and I've email him several times) will not export the product to the USA (some sort of bureaucracy/customs dispute with the US Govt or something). I don't understand that as lots of different spirits get exported by France without much difficulty (eg. Grand Marnier). I'd  bet , if he wanted to, he could find a distributor in Luxembourg to do it and handle all that paperwork, etc. But it's  probably not worth the trouble and not profitable enough for him. In fact, I've come to realize, now, that he doesn't even export it out of Luxembourg, save for a few smaller shops in nearby Belgium.  I've also attempted to try and purchase it on-line via a Luxembourg base store that sells on-line, but no luck finding one of those that's willing to do it.  Same Customs bureaucracy, perhaps. 

 

Thus, it would seem that the only way to get it in the USA is: 1) Choose the "ultimate failure" method and spend several thousand dollars to fly over there and pick it up;  or. 2) Find a "retail buying service" that will buy the stuff, retail, package it up and then ship it to the US.   It's what I'd be doing if I were to travel over there. I's ship two bottles and then bring two with me. I know Florida law allows me to import one gallon of spirits (379 cl) without needing a license. That's more than enough for me (1 bottle = 70 cl). I could bring 5 home if I wanted.

 

Does anyone know of any such "retail buying service" or of an on-line distributor that can acquire the product and ship it too me? I'd be willing to pay all the costs...  the product itself, the VAT, the packaging, she shipping (must be by private courier like DHL or UPS, not the PTT) and any customs duties, etc.  Yes, it would be expensive, but that has to be way cheaper than spending several thousand dollars to fly over there.

 

Therefore, the challenge. Find a way to get this stuff shipped to me in FL without me having to fly over there to get it.  Any helpful suggestions on how to approach this are greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[aquavite]

THis is the link to the bottle graphic I wanted to show above.

Edited April 29, 2024 by aquavite