Bottled in bond is a U.S. standard from the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. The whiskey comes from one distillery and one distilling season, ages at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse, and is bottled at 100 proof. The label names the distillery and the DSP where it was distilled and bottled.
Where the standard comes from
The Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897 gave American whiskey a federal standard a buyer could check. The problem it answered was whiskey that had been watered, flavored, or mislabeled before it reached the shelf. If a bottle met the Act's rules, it could be bottled under the federal excise-tax bond. That bond is the "bond" in the name: the spirit was produced and warehoused under federal supervision, and the tax waited until it left bond.
The labeling rule TTB enforces today is 27 CFR 5.88, checked on the eCFR on November 10, 2026. The words "bond," "bonded," "bottled in bond," and "aged in bond" may be used, including in a brand name, only when the spirit meets that section. Section 5.88 keeps the four-year minimum. It describes the container as wood in contact with the spirit. It does not repeat the 1897 Act's bonded-warehouse wording. The Act required those four years in a warehouse under federal bond. For bourbon, the wood is already new charred oak. The bond is still the federal tax bond on the distilled spirits plant that distilled and warehoused the whiskey.
What 27 CFR 5.88 requires
For a domestic bottle, all of the following have to be true:
- Same kind of spirit, same class of materials. Bottled-in-bond bourbon is bourbon. It is not bourbon mingled with rye whiskey or with a neutral spirit. Bourbon's own rules still apply: at least 51 percent corn, new charred oak, made in the United States. See what bourbon is made from.
- One distiller, one distillery, one distilling season. 27 CFR 5.1 splits the year in two. Spring is January 1 through June 30. Fall is July 1 through December 31. Barrels from that one season, at that one plant, may be bottled together. The phrase does not require a single barrel.
- At least four years in wood. The spirit has to be stored at least four years in wooden containers, in contact with the wood. The section makes a different wood-contact exception for vodka and for gin. That exception does not apply to bourbon or rye whiskey. Four years is also past the two-year line for straight bourbon, so bottled-in-bond bourbon is straight bourbon. Straight whiskey younger than four years has to state its age. A bottled-in-bond whiskey has already cleared that line.
- Nothing added that stays in the bottle, except water. Filtration, chill proofing, and similar physical treatment are allowed when they do not leave a substance in the finished product and do not change the class or type. Coloring, flavoring, and another spirit are not.
- Bottled at 100 proof. The only liquid that may be added to change the proof is pure water, and only to bring the proof down to 100. The regulation's wording is "100 degrees of proof," which is 100 proof, or 50 percent alcohol by volume. In the United States, proof is twice the alcohol by volume. A barrel already under 100 proof cannot be bottled in bond by adding alcohol back.
The phrase is not limited to bourbon. Rye whiskey and other spirits can be bottled in bond when they meet the same tests. Imported spirits may use it only when the producing country authorizes that labeling, and the country's name has to follow the phrase immediately, in the same font and type size. That rule is 27 CFR 5.88(b).
What the label has to name
This is the part people miss when they only remember "100 proof." Under 27 CFR 5.88(c), a domestic bottled-in-bond label has to show:
- The real name of the distillery, or the trade name under which the distiller distilled and warehoused the spirits.
- The distilled spirits plant (DSP) number of the plant where the spirits were distilled.
- The DSP number of the plant where they were bottled.
If those plants are different, both numbers are on the label. If they are the same plant, the number is that plant's DSP. The bottler's name or trade name is allowed. It is not required. DSP means distilled spirits plant. It is the registry number TTB assigns to the plant, and it is how you tell who actually made the whiskey when a brand name is shared or the bottle was filled somewhere else.
Bottled in bond vs barrel proof vs single barrel
These three labels answer different questions. A bottle can carry more than one of them. Bottled in bond does not mean barrel proof, and it does not mean single barrel.
| Question | Bottled in bond | Barrel proof / cask strength | Single barrel |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it fixes | Who distilled it, which season, a four-year minimum, and a bottling proof of exactly 100. | How close the bottle is to the proof when the whiskey was dumped from the barrel. | That the bottle is one cask, with nothing else mingled in. |
| Distillery and season | Required. One distiller, one distillery, one season: January 1 through June 30, or July 1 through December 31. | Not part of this rule. | One cask. The phrase adds no season rule. |
| Age | At least four years in wood. | Not set by the barrel-proof rule. | Not set by the single-barrel phrase. |
| Bottling proof | Exactly 100 proof. | Not more than two degrees of proof under the dump proof (27 CFR 5.87). On a bourbon shelf that is often about 110 to 130+ proof. | Whatever that barrel is bottled at. It can be 100 proof, or it can be barrel proof. |
| Water | Pure water only, and only to bring the whiskey down to 100 proof. | Not proofed down to a standard 80 or 90. The legal term allows the bottle to sit up to two degrees of proof under the dump proof. | May be proofed down, or left near the strength of that one barrel. |
| More than one barrel | Allowed, if every barrel is from that distillery and that season. | Allowed. Barrels may be mingled. | No. Nothing else is mingled in. |
A bottled-in-bond bourbon can also be a single barrel, if that one barrel is at least four years old and is bottled at 100 proof. A barrel-proof bottle is not bottled in bond unless it is exactly 100 proof and meets the rest of 27 CFR 5.88. Most barrel-proof bourbon sits well above 100 proof, so it misses the bottled-in-bond proof test on purpose. Neither phrase is a tasting score. Each one is a fact the label is allowed to claim.
Taste the difference in proof in NuLu
Louisville Rickhouse Whiskey Co. is a government-bonded rickhouse and tasting room at 717 E Market St, Louisville, KY 40202, in NuLu. The bond on the building is the federal excise-tax bond. It is not a claim that any particular bottle on the bar is bottled in bond, and this page does not list any.
What you can book is a tasting. The Premium Tasting pours whiskey straight from the barrel, uncut and unfiltered, which is barrel strength: the proof the cask gives you, not a fixed 100. That is the useful comparison. A 100-proof bottled-in-bond whiskey and a barrel-strength pour are different promises, and you can hear the proof in the glass. Book a tasting, or walk in for a flight at the bar when there is room. Tastings are 21+. Bring a valid ID.
Visit the tasting room
Louisville Rickhouse Whiskey Co. is at 717 E Market St, Louisville, KY 40202, in NuLu (the East Market District). Phone: 502.974.0464.
Keep reading: What is straight bourbon whiskey? · What is barrel strength bourbon? · What is single barrel bourbon? · What proof is bourbon? · Book a tasting