Reference

Bottled-in-bond, cask strength, single barrel: what the label means

2 minute read · The Blending School

Some words on a whiskey label are legally defined and mean something precise. Others are marketing and mean whatever the brand wants. Knowing which is which is half of reading a shelf.

Legally defined, in the United States

• Bourbon. At least 51 percent corn, new charred oak, distilled to no more than 160 proof, into the barrel at no more than 125, bottled at no less than 80. Made in the United States, not only Kentucky.
• Straight. Aged at least two years. If under four years, the age must be stated. No added coloring or flavoring.
• Bottled-in-bond. The strictest one: product of one distillery, one distilling season, aged at least four years in a government-supervised warehouse, bottled at exactly 100 proof. A guarantee of provenance from 1897 that still means what it says.
• Rye whiskey. Same rules as bourbon with rye as the majority grain. Note that Canadian "rye" is a different thing and often contains little rye.
• Age statement. Must reflect the youngest whiskey in the bottle. A 12 year label means nothing inside is younger than 12.

Meaningful but not strictly defined

• Cask strength / barrel proof. Bottled without dilution, at the proof it left the barrel. There is no legal standard, but the trade uses it honestly; expect anything from 110 to 140 proof.
• Single barrel. The contents of one barrel, not blended with others. Each barrel is different, so the same label varies bottle to bottle, which is the appeal.
• Non-chill filtered. Skips the cold filtration that removes compounds which cloud at low temperature. Slightly more texture; may haze with ice.

Marketing, mostly

• Small batch. No definition. A "batch" can be a handful of barrels or hundreds.
• Hand-crafted, artisanal, reserve, select, premium. No definition at all.
• Sour mash. A common production technique, not a quality marker. Nearly all bourbon is sour mash.

Why it matters for blending

For blending, three label facts do the work: the proof, the grain style, and the age. Everything else is flavor text. Proof feeds the math; grain style feeds the mash bill; age tells you roughly how much oak to expect. The full vocabulary is in the glossary.