It's important to shop for alcohol when you're traveling. From a pragmatic perspective, it exposes you to some things that might not be available in your home town. It also helps compare prices between what you're used to and what people pay for elsewhere. From a romantic perspective, even a mediocre find can have a level of nostalgia associated with drinking it. The drink becomes a way to reconnect with a memory of a place and time in your life.
But this purchase comes with some pitfalls if you're flying domestically in the USA. The first critical issue is that, as of September 2006, you cannot carry any alcohol on a plane in a container larger than a mini-bottle. To be precise, the limit is three fluid ounces which translates to 88 mililiters. You might be able to carry a flask on board but if you're buying liquor on the road it's not something you'll want to parcel into 3oz opaque flasks. You may also encounter an over-eager TSA employee who wants to enforce the local jurisdiction's open container law. So until the ban on fluids is lifted, you're left to packing the alcohol in your checked baggage.
If this gives you pause, you're not alone. I have seen the horrors of cases of wine destroyed in transit when people check those cases. Packing is a critical function of checking alcohol and must be done in a way that limits the chance that bottles will break. Consider buying some "expendible" bottles before making a habit of checking alcohol.
Then you run into Chapter 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, section 175.10. Knowing this section is vital to the protection of your cargo. Violating this regulation may lead to the confiscation or disposal of your alcohol. Yes, the TSA will toss a $300 bottle of Scotch into the trash because someone went over the limit. They don't care, they don't have to -- they're the government.
Learn and swear by these basic rules:
(a) This subchapter does not apply to the following hazardous
materials when carried by aircraft passengers or crewmembers provided
the requirements of this section are met:
(4) Alcoholic beverages containing:
(i) Not more than 24% alcohol by volume; or
(ii) More than 24% and not more than 70% alcohol by volume when in
unopened retail packagings not exceeding 5 liters (1.3 gallons) carried
in carry-on or checked baggage, with a total net quantity per person of
5 liters (1.3) gallons for such beverages.
What this means is that anything below 24% alcohol by volume (48 proof) is free game. If you're between 24% and 70% abv (48 and 140 proof) you're limited to 5 liters. Anything over 70% abv (140 proof) is prohibited. Bacardi 151? Banned. George T. Stagg cask strength? Not allowed. Everclear? You'll probably end up on the "persons of interest" list. Most distilled spirits fall in the 40-50% abv range and bottle at 750ml. To be safe, don't go over six 750ml bottles of distilled spirits.
These limitations do not apply to surface transportation. Train, bus, or car and you'll be fine. I've been fortunate in the last few months that my travel has been by car. The bounties of those trips will be the subject of tomorrow's post - bootlegging in the 21st century.