March 3 marks the 129th anniversary of the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, a landmark piece of legislation that brought much-needed transparency to an industry rife with forgeries, rectified spirits, and hazardous concoctions masquerading as whiskey.
At 129 years old, this law remains one of history’s earliest consumer protection measures. It established a legal minimum standard for what could be labelled bonded whiskey:
- 100 proof (50% ABV)
- The product of a single distilling season
- Produced at one distillery
- Aged a minimum of four years in federally supervised warehouses
Remarkably, those regulations still stand today. To mark the occasion, it feels only right to revisit some of history’s greatest bottled-in-bond releases.
Medicinal Whiskey
When Prohibition in the United States was enacted in 1920, it devastated the American whiskey industry, halting the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcoholic beverages. Yet for distilleries with mature stock resting in barrel, it created an unexpected opportunity: medicinal whiskey.
Because bottled-in-bond whiskey was federally supervised and guaranteed to be pure and unadulterated, it became the natural choice for government-approved medicinal sales. These pint- and quart-sized bottles were distributed through licensed pharmacies. Consumers could obtain them legally by securing a doctor’s prescription and purchasing the whiskey from a chemist.
Several of today’s most famous brands survived solely because they were granted licences to bottle medicinal whiskey during this period. Many of the most fascinating bonded releases ever produced date from these years.
Here are a few of the most interesting bottled-in-bond medicinal whiskeys available during Prohibition:
Old Taylor 1913 Bonded 1917
A truly special 1913 vintage expression of Kentucky whiskey produced at the original Old Taylor site by Colonel E.H. Taylor himself. This vintage hails from a period of time when E.H. Taylor and his son Jacob Swigert Taylor operated the Old Taylor distillery. Bottled prior to prohibition in a quart-sized format, this bottled-in-bond release is a true time capsule of the modern brand we know today.
Bourbon De Luxe 1917 Bottled In Bond 1934 Quart
A 1917 vintage expression of bottled in bond bourbon produced in 1934 by the American Medicinal Spirits Co. This larger quart-sized bottling used spirit produced at the Penwick/East Penn Distillery, which was located in Cheswick, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. After prohibition, Bourbon de Luxe was bottled by National Distillers using liquid from its Old Grand-Dad distillery, and Jim Beam even continued the brand into the 1990s. Today, Bourbon de Luxe has been revived by the owners of Rolling Fork rum.
Old Rip Van Winkle 1916 Bottled In Bond 1933
A 1916 vintage expression of Kentucky whiskey bottled in bond at 50% Abv in 1933. This hyper-rare expression was produced using whiskey from H.S. Barton distillery and bottled under the legendary Old Rip Van Winkle brand. Few prohibition era bottlings of the brand exist, with the brand falling silent post prohibition until its 1971 revival by Stitzel-Weller distillery. Julian Van Winkle III would eventually make this his flagship brand, and now the label uses Buffalo Trace wheated whiskey.
Old Fitzgerald 1917 Bottled In Bond 1929
A 1917 vintage expression of bottled-in-bond bourbon sourced from the Wright & Taylor/Old Charter distillery. Bottled in 1929 by A.PH. Stitzel during prohibition exclusively for medicinal purposes. Previously the Old Charter Distillery, the Wright & Taylor firm acquired Old Charter in 1896 and expanded the site. Prohibition closed the distillery in 1920 but Wright & Taylor moved all of their existing stocks to the A.PH. Stitzel distillery who were able to bottle these barrels throughout prohibition. Old Fitzgerald became the flagship brand of the Stitzel-Weller distillery before it was sold in 1999 to Heaven Hill.
Post-Prohibition
When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the American whiskey industry did not simply roar back to life. Thirteen years of shutdown had permanently reshaped the landscape. Many once-independent distilleries had been consolidated under a handful of powerful corporations, most notably Schenley Industries, Seagram Company Ltd., and National Distillers.
These firms emerged from Prohibition holding vast stocks of well-aged whiskey, having been among the few permitted to bottle medicinal spirits. Meanwhile, their competitors were only just relighting their stills, laying down new make that would not be legally mature for years. The market suddenly faced a strange imbalance: an abundance of very old whiskey on one side, and very young whiskey on the other.
Complicating matters further, American tastes had shifted. After more than a decade without legal liquor, drinkers increasingly gravitated toward lighter profiles. Mature straight whiskey was often diluted or blended with neutral grain spirits to create a softer, more accessible product.
Although a handful of bottled-in-bond releases from the immediate post-Repeal era stand out, most were aged closer to the four-year minimum. The extraordinary 12-, 15-, and even 20-year-old bonded whiskeys that had appeared during the medicinal era became far less common in the years that followed.
Old Ripy 1942 Bottled In Bond 1948 Pint
A 1942 vintage expression of bottled-in-bond bourbon produced in a pint-sized format in 1948. This was distilled at the Ripy Bros Distillery DSP KY 27, or as we better know it today, Wild Turkey. In 1949, the Ripy Brothers sold to Alvin and Robert Gould, who changed the name to Anderson County Distilling Co in 1950. In 1955 the site was then renamed to the J.T.S Brown & Sons Distillery. In 1971, Austin Nichols acquired J.T.S Brown & Sons, changing the distillery name once again to Wild Turkey.
Hill & Hill 1929 Bottled In Bond 1934 Quart
A highly rare 1929 vintage expression of Hill & Hill bourbon distilled at the Cedar Brook distillery. This vintage is supremely rare as it was produced whilst prohibition was still in place. At the end of the 1920s, the government provided a small number of firms licences to produce whiskey for medicinal purposes, with existing whiskey stocks approaching their end. This Hill & Hill will have been produced under such licence, with American Medicinal Spirits Co being allowed to produce bourbon at their Bernheim distillery in Louisville as well as their Glenmore distillery in Owensboro.
Old Overholt 1931 Bottled In Bond 1935 Quart
A hyper-rare vintage of Old Overholt produced in 1931 whilst prohibition was still enacted. At the end of the 1920s, the government provided a small number of firms with licences to produce whiskey for medicinal purposes, with existing whiskey stocks approaching their end. Overholt & Co were granted one of these licenses and began rye production at their Broad Ford distillery in Pennsylvania.
Old Fitzgerald 1941 4 Year Bottled In Bond Pint
A 1941 vintage expression of Old Fitzgerald wheated bourbon matured for 4 years and 9 months. This wartime era bottle is produced from the original Stitzel-Weller wheated bourbon recipe whilst Pappy Van Winkle himself ran the distillery.
The Glut Era
American distilleries ramped up production in the 1960s amid fears that escalating tensions in Asia, particularly the Korean War, might once again require them to divert capacity toward industrial alcohol, as they had during the World War II. Warehouses filled rapidly as producers laid down vast quantities of whiskey in anticipation of potential shortages.
Those fears never materialised. Instead, by the late 1970s and through the 1980s and early 1990s, American drinkers began turning away from mature brown spirits altogether. Lighter, sweeter options such as tequila, vodka, and white rum captured the public’s attention. Whiskey suddenly felt old-fashioned.
The result was a prolonged glut. Distillers were left sitting on ageing stock with shrinking demand. Barrels intended for six or eight year old releases continued to mature far beyond their planned age statements. It was not uncommon for bottles labelled as six years old to contain significant portions of 10, 12, or even 15 year old whiskey, simply because producers needed to move inventory.
While it was an undeniably bleak period for the industry, it created an unintended upside for drinkers. Some of the most remarkable and unintentionally overaged bonded releases of the modern era emerged from this surplus, offering depth and maturity far beyond what their labels suggested.
Old Grand-Dad 1970 Bottled In Bond 1976 Quart
Old Grand-Dad is notoriously one of the brands in National Distillers portfolio that saw older stocks dumped into core range releases. This bonded quart was aged for 6 years, but there have been BiB expressions as old as 11 years old in the mid 1980s. This high rye recipe bourbon from the now-closed distillery is often hailed as a dusty bourbon geek’s favourite release.
Old Charter 1971 7 Year Bottled In Bond
A 1971 vintage expression of Kentucky bourbon distilled at the Bernheim distillery in Louisville by Schenley. Matured for 7 years this was bottled in bond at 50% Abv at DSP-KY-113, the site known as Buffalo Trace today. The Old Charter brand was acquired by the Bernheim distillery in the early 1930s, before Schenley purchased Bernheim in 1937. After spending much of the 20th century being produced at Bernheim, Schenley was purchased by Guinness in 1987, and then in 1999, Buffalo Trace purchased the brand.
Old Fitzgerald 1972 8 Year Bottled In Bond
Distilled in 1972, this bottled-in-bond expression of Old Fitzgerald is crafted from a wheated mashbill pioneered by Pappy Van Winkle. Although the age statement on the bottle says 6, the tax stamp suggests this was distilled in 1972 and bottled in 1980, thus making this batch an 8 year old expression. This was distilled in the same year that the large company Norton Simon/Somerset Imports purchased Stitzel-Weller, a company that would change the original mashbill and shift to using a cheaper dry yeast than the previously used wet jug yeast Pappy preferred.
Bourbon De Luxe Bottled In Bond 1974 Bottling
A large 40 imperial ounce bottling of the earlier noted Bourbon de Luxe brand. This time this 1974 bottling hails from the National Distillers era of the brand and features a blue tax stamp over the historic green used for BiB releases. This is because this format bottling was for the export market and for a short period of time export-designated bottles used blue tax stamps instead of the local red/green ones.
Modern Day
The past two decades have seen a powerful resurgence in enthusiasm for bottled-in-bond whiskey. What was once viewed as an old-fashioned designation has become a badge of authenticity. Today, a bonded bourbon feels like an essential pillar of any serious distillery’s core range.
With so many strong contenders, singling out truly legendary modern bottled-in-bond releases is no easy task. Still, a handful have risen above the rest, earning reputations that place them firmly in cult-classic territory.
Here are a few bottled-in-bond whiskeys that deserve recognition as modern icons of the category.
Old Fitzgerald 17 Year Spring 2022 Release
Starting strong, I believe these Old Fitzgerald decanter bottlings from Heaven Hill are absolutely fantastic, and none has been more impressive to me than the 17 year old expression. Whilst the 19 year old release was a stunningly mature offering, the 17 year was firmly the perfect midpoint between flavour and oak impact. Utterly phenomenal whiskey!
Colonel E.H. Taylor Jr. 18 Year Marriage
You can’t talk about bonded whiskey without mentioning E.H. Taylor. The man helped lobby for the act! This is a huge 18 year old expression of Colonel E.H. Taylor bourbon crafted from a marriage of Buffalo Trace’s three signature bourbon mashbills. Their low rye, high rye and wheated mashbills were all aged for a minimum of 18 years before being vatted together and bottled in bond at 100 proof. The ultimate marriage of Buffalo Trace’s signature whiskies.
William Heavenhill 2006 13 Year Bottled In Bond
Another Heaven Hill bottling that I think represents the very best of bottled-in-bond whiskey. This 2006 vintage, 13 year old expression of William Heavenhill whiskey honours their namesake and was available just at the distillery’s gift shop. Just 35 barrels were selected for this special vatting, all of which were aged for 13 years on the 4th floor of Rickhouse AA at their old Schenley warehouse space.
E.H. Taylor Distiller’s Council
A 2025 special release from Buffalo Trace in their E.H Taylor line. The Distiller’s Council bottle celebrates the 1996 meeting of Elmer T. Lee, Orville Schupp, Jimmy Johnson, Gary Gayheart, Harlen Wheatley, Ronnie Eddins, and Leonard Riddle. These names are etched into bourbon making history.
This release was crafted to honour the original production methods used by the original Colonel Taylor during his ownership of the O.F.C distillery (now Buffalo Trace) and the Old Taylor distillery (now Castle & Key). Taylor introduced copper fermentation vats and steam-heated warehouses, as well as being one of the main lobbyists of the Bottled-in-Bond Act.
What other Bottled-In-Bond expressions do you think rate as modern classics?
Read the full article at Bottled-in-Bond: From Prohibition Prescriptions to Cult Classics
