Bottled in bond bourbon is a type of American-produced distilled beverage that has been aged and bottled according to a set of legal regulations. The Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897 was created to protect consumers against imposter spirits and to create a standard of quality for bourbon whiskey. To be labeled as bottled-in-bond, the liquor must meet the following requirements:

• The product must be the product of one distillation season (January–June or July–December) by one distiller at one distillery.
• It must have been aged in a federally bonded warehouse under U.S. government supervision for at least four years.
• It must be bottled at 100 (U.S.) proof (50% alcohol by volume) .
• The bottled products label must identify the distillery where it was distilled and, if different, where it was bottled.

Because bottled-in-bond whiskey must be the product of one distillation season, one distillery, and one distiller, it may be regarded as a better indication of the distillers skill, making it similar in concept to a single malt, small batch, or single barrel whiskey. The bottled-in-bond designation is steeped in more than a century of American distilling heritage and arguably holds spirits to a standard higher than most Scotch and more scrupulous than Cognac’s designation.