If you have paid attention to some bottles you might see that is it says “bonded in bond” or “bonded whiskey”.  The term bottled in bond refers to only American made whiskey that has been made according to provisions made by the government in 1897.

The Bottled in Bond Act of 1897 states that whiskey must be straight whiskey, made in one distilling season and made by one distiller.  It must be stored in bonded warehouses under U.S. government supervision and it must also be bottled at 100 proof and aged for no less than 4 years. The Bottled in Bond Act was pushed by Edmund Haynes Taylor a well known distiller and senator from Columbus, KY.  Taylor felt that consumers should trust American made whiskey and that the quality of traditional American distilleries should be kept at a quality level.

(E. H. Taylor)

The reason this act was put into place was so that consumers were guaranteed what they were receiving was actually whiskey.  Before this act was introduced there was no guarantee that the bottle of booze you were buying was actually legitimate.  Distilleries would actually die the bourbon to make it appear more aged than it actually was and sometimes they would flavor it with tobacco, syrups, fruit or iodine.  Even with all of these additives, distilleries could still call their product 100% pure Kentucky Bourbon.  So if this bottled in bond was slapped on the bottle, it was considered to be “the good shit”.

So as it may not be as important today, it is a good history lesson for how far whiskey has come in the United States over the past century.  These days it’s hard to go into a liquor store and not find a bourbon that is at least drinkable.  Our biggest thanks goes out to Edmund Haynes Taylor for all of his political pull to make this act to keep American bourbon at its highest level.