Buying Liquor in the Middle East

 

Can You Buy Liquor in the Middle East?

The Short Answer is Yes, But…

 

      Did you know that you can buy liquor at grog shops in the Middle East?  

     But first you have to find one!  That’s the trick.

     There aren’t any flashing neon signs advertising the liquor store, Corona, Budweiser or wine.  No, you have to ‘phone a friend’ and ask where the grog shops are.  

     Not only that, but there are only two doors to the store.  An ‘Entrance’ and an ‘Exit’ which are often on opposite ends of the building.  One way in and one way out.  No windows either!  Lots of brand name liquor inside though, if you can only find the store.

'No Name' Grog Shop & No Windows - Abu Dhabi

There were three liquor stores that we visited:  

Barracuda Resort and Liquor Store – Umm al-Quwain 

(45 minutes outside Dubai) 

High Spirits Grog Shop – Abu Dhabi 

Grog Shop with no name, no windows & two separate doors 

(an entrance and an exit) – Abu Dhabi.  

     So, once you know where they are, what do you do?  Well, in Abu Dhabi you need a Liquor License.  How do you get that?



Barracuda Beach Resort & Liquor Store, Umm al-Quwain

  

 

     Yes, you actually have to buy a Liquor License!  It looks like a small passport book with your photo in it.  However, to buy the liquor license or permit, you first need a ‘Letter of Permission’ from your employer to apply for the license.  

     This Letter of Permission is granted through your employer who reviews your request.  If your employer decides to grant this, they issue the Permission Letter stating your annual salary. 

     Then, you take your official Letter of Permission to the local police station. 

     The police review it, inspect it, interview you, and hopefully, approve it, stamp it and issue your Liquor License. 

     Each time you go to the liquor store, the clerk writes the Dirham (dollar) amount and date in your Liquor License.  You can purchase 10% of your annual salary per month in alcohol.  What?  Now that’s a lot of liquor.

Entrance to Barracuda Liquor Store, Umm al-Quwain

     

     Liquor stores or grog shops are, more often than not, hidden away.  

     The first time I went to one in Abu Dhabi was with my neighbor.  At that time, Bill and I had not yet obtained our 'official' Liquor License.  

     Thank goodness she took me because I could never have found 'the store or the door'.  

   There were no liquor store signs or flashing neon.  Also, there were no street addresses in Abu Dhabi at this time.  Only neighborhoods, street names, and building names to guide your navigation.  

     The store employees always insist on pushing your shopping cart to your car, and of course, you tip them.  It’s part of the local economy.  

     Tourists are permitted to purchase alcohol without a liquor license.  All they have to do is present their passport at one of the grog shops along with their stamped entry.  They will be granted a temporary membership number allowing them to start shopping straightaway.    

     The liquor stores in the Middle East rival any that are in the states.  There is no shortage of brand name liquor, beer, wine, aperitifs, mixes, single malt, double malt, every Vodka ever made, Dom Perignon ($189 per bottle), etc. 

     When I bought some wine with my girlfriend in Abu Dhabi, she put the purchases on her Liquor License and I paid her.  

     She said that she still had plenty of money left to spend on liquor that month.  No problem! 

     Our scariest and most clandestine road trip to the liquor store was from Dubai out to the Emirate of Umm al-Quwain to the remote Barracuda Liquor Store.  The Barracuda was about 45 minutes away on small, curvy, dusty roads with desert sand dunes all around us and camels roaming freely, including on the roads.  

     Not a lot of good road signs though.  We thought we were lost more than once.  A few small, rusty Barracuda signs were the only indications that we were on the right roads.  What a journey...  

     We had NOT gotten a Liquor License to buy alcohol in Dubai which is why these road trips to the Barracuda Liquor Store were so crazy.  Everyone told us that we could just drive out there and buy liquor without any problems.  Fingers crossed...

Free Range Camels Next to the Road

     One of my friends had drawn a small map in pencil and we hoped that we could actually find the place.  We certainly could not stop and ask for directions because there weren’t any petrol stations or much of anything else on the way. 

Doors to the Barracuda Liquor Store

      However, even if we found the liquor store and bought our wine, we would actually be breaking the law because we never acquired an official Liquor License for the Dubai grog shops.  

     So, whoever bought the wine could be arrested, jailed and deported.  Most of our friends in Dubai never bought a liquor license.  Everyone purchased alcohol illegally. 

     Also, if we had been stopped and our car searched by the police, with wine in the trunk, the driver would be arrested and jailed.  Guess who drove the ‘Get Away Car’?  

     Yes, I drove the car with my heart nearly jumping out of my chest, sweat dripping down my face and wine in the trunk.  I very carefully drove the speed limit watching for camels on the road!

     We were always worried about police stings or barricades at intersections.  We were also concerned about unmarked police cars watching the road out of the liquor store and following expats as they drove away with their liquor.  

     But, we never had a problem nor did any of our friends.  Whew...  This must have been how bootleggers felt back in the 1920s and 1930s.     

 

Entrance to Barracuda Resort & Liquor Store

     The very first time we found the Barracuda Liquor Store we were surprised that it was a tiny, decrepit brick building in need of a paint job, no windows and, of course, no sign.  

     It was at the very back of an old, run down, out of the way beach resort.  So you had to know that the liquor store was there.  Again, word of mouth from other expats.  This apparently had been a very popular resort that has now been totally renovated.

     The parking lot was packed.  And, the store was full of expats buying their bottles of spirits!  You would have thought they were stocking up for Super Bowl Sunday!  

     How did this small, out of the way liquor store thrive and survive? 

     Well, it seemed that  the Sheikh of Umm al-Quwain had knowledge of this enterprise and turned a blind eye.  

     

     Good for the economy of his emirate?  Absolutely… 

     About two years after we first went there, the old Barracuda building was boarded up and the new, beautiful brick building with a large sign was opened – Barracuda Liquor Store.  

     It was still down the same narrow, cracked, barely paved road.  The new building was at least four times larger than the old one.  I would say that selling liquor is big business in the Middle East! 


Desolate desert next to the Barracuda

 

     Last, the High Spirits Liquor Store in Abu Dhabi actually had a small sign which was fairly visible on a side street.   But again, you had to know that this little liquor store existed and you had to know exactly where it was.  As before, an expat friend told us about it and drew a map for us.

     However, at High Spirits Liquor Store we were never asked for a Liquor License.  Strange… 
 

     

     I always wondered if the local Emiratis bought alcohol.  We rarely saw them in the hotels or restaurants drinking liquor because it is against the law and their Islamic faith. 

     So, I was quite surprised to see several Nationals (local Emiratis) pull into the liquor store parking lot.  It was one of the most bizarre things I ever watched as I sat in the car waiting for Bill to buy our wine. 

     The Emiratis pulled in and parked their huge SUVs.  But they didn’t even bother getting out of their vehicles to go into the liquor store.  No, not these privileged men in their white dishdashas (their traditional robes). 

     These United Arab Emirates men pulled in like they were going to order a double cheeseburger and fries at the Sonic Burger joint or the In-and-Out Burger place.  They honked their horn and a small Indian employee ran out to their car to take their order just like carhops used to do in the old days at the A&W Drive-In.    

High Spirits, Abu Dhabi



     Then, the High Spirits employee ran back into the store, quickly filled the liquor order, ran back out to put the bags and boxes in the back of the SUV.  The driver’s tinted window came down and the credit card was handed out.  Another trip back into the store to run the credit card.  Finally, the dark Indian man ran out and had the credit slip signed.  His job was done and he was really sweating. 

     The SUV engine had never been turned off and the Emirati drove off with his clandestine stash of liquor.  Do you think he had a Liquor License?  That’s what I thought too.  

     Cheers! 

Bill in Abu Dhabi