Quite a few of you commented on my use of the law firm Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe. It’s good to know the classics are still appreciated.
I got some very interesting info regarding booze in the Saudi compounds, and Dharan in particular. While one reader stated that booze was readily smuggled in via the diplomatic pouch, another reader reported that you had to be politically connected to get the good stuff that way, and another reported it was ridiculously expensive that way. A more detailed explanation is below and meshes with most of the info I was finding on the blogs.
“Re your questions regarding alcoholic beverages in Saudi Arabian compounds, I was in different expat compounds on the Persian Gulf side of Saudi in '74 (Abqaiq), '79 (Al Kobar), '85 (Daharan) and '02 (Al Jubail).
During the earlier times, alcohol was mostly home brewed from anything with sugar in it. The results ranged from good to paint remover and were universally called saddiqui (friend). In order to increase the alcohol content through distillation, the brew required a lot of heating, usually with propane burners. Heating 190 proof alcohol inside a closed house or garage with an open flame is downright dangerous. Enough compound homes were burned down during this process that fire insurance became almost unobtainable.
In the early '80's, outside entrepreneurs took over the brewing and the risk. It was possible to order lemonade (white wine), pink lemonade (rose'), red lemonade, fuzzy lemonade (beer) or siddiqui (hard liqueur) from local TCN's by a simple phone call. Delivery was to your door inside the compound in spite of the ever watchful Muttawa (religious police) at the gate.
In 1986, the King Fahd causeway opened, linking Daharan with Bahrain where all kinds of alcoholic beverages are readily available on the open market. It was easy and safe to have a weekend bender in Bahrain without the risk of having the forbidden alcohol in your home. This drastically reduced the profitability and need for both home brew and smuggling.
After the first Iraqi war in 1991, the US military was getting thousands of container shipments per month in Saudi. More than a few of them contained high quality booze and that became available on the open market, for a price. The difference between the quality of the imports versus the home brew put many siddiqui brewers out of business.”