Labels and Terms

What Bourbon Labels Actually Mean

Walk into any decent liquor store and you'll see bourbon labels covered in words "Small Batch, Single Barrel, Bottled-in-Bond, Cask Strength, Hand-Crafted, Reserve, Heritage Select". Some of those terms mean something specific and legally protected. Some are pure marketing. Most people can't tell the difference.

Here's what actually matters.

Bottled-in-Bond

The most underrated label in bourbon. Comes from the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, one of America's first consumer protection laws. To call a bourbon "Bottled-in-Bond," all of these have to be true:

• Distilled by a single distiller in a single distilling season at one distillery

• Aged at least 4 years in a federally bonded warehouse

• Bottled at exactly 100 proof

• Labeled with the distillery where it was made and bottled

What this means in practice: you're getting honest, unblended, well-aged bourbon at a real proof. No marketing tricks, no juiced-up proofs, no mystery sourcing. The label is a 127-year-old guarantee.

Best part? Bottled-in-Bond bourbons are often the best values on the shelf. Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond ($25), Old Forester 1897 BiB ($55), Heaven Hill BiB ($40), Wild Turkey 101 (technically not BiB but spiritually so)  all bourbons that punch way above their price.

If you're new to bourbon and want a starter cabinet that won't disappoint, start with three Bottled-in-Bonds. You'll thank me.

Single Barrel

Means exactly what it sounds like: every bottle in this run came from one specific barrel. No blending.

The upside is character — single barrels are often more distinctive, more intense, more individual than blends. The downside is consistency — barrels vary, which means two bottles of "Eagle Rare Single Barrel" can taste different. That's not a flaw, it's the point.

Store picks are single barrels selected by a specific store (or group, or bar) directly from the distillery. A good store pick beats a random shelf bottle of the same product, often by a lot. This is where the smart money is in bourbon.

Small Batch

Legally meaningless. There's no rule for what "small batch" means.

Some distilleries blend 5 barrels and call it small batch. Some blend 200. Some blend 1,000. The term started as marketing speak and stuck because it sounds artisan.

Doesn't mean small-batch bourbons are bad, many are great. Just don't assume "small batch" tells you anything about how the bourbon was actually made. It's vibes, not regulation.

Cask Strength / Barrel Proof

Means the bourbon was bottled without diluting it down with water. You're getting it at the proof it came out of the barrel, typically anywhere from 110 to 140+.

This is genuinely useful information. Higher proof = more flavor concentration, more punch, and the option for you to add water to taste. Cask strength bourbons are often the best value in a lineup because you're not paying for water.

Be careful with these if you're new , the burn can mask the flavors. Add a few drops of water and the bottle opens up.

Age Statements (and No-Age-Statement bourbons)

If the label says "10 years old," it means the youngest whiskey in the bottle is at least 10 years old. Some of it could be older. None of it can be younger.

If there's no age statement, it's called NAS — No Age Statement. Legally, all bourbon has to be at least some amount of age (and "straight bourbon" requires at least 2 years, with anything under 4 needing to state it on the label). NAS bourbons are often a blend of younger and slightly older spirits.

NAS isn't automatically bad. Plenty of great bourbons are NAS. But if a brand was bottling something old, they'd want you to know — so when a label is silent, assume it's young.

"Hand-Crafted" / "Reserve" / "Heritage Select" / "Master's Choice"

Marketing. None of these terms mean anything legally. They exist to make you feel like you're buying something special.

Sometimes the bottle behind the marketing is genuinely good. Sometimes it isn't. The words on the label don't tell you which.

"Distilled by" vs. "Bottled by"

Critical distinction most drinkers miss.

If the label says "Distilled and bottled by [X Distillery]" they made it.

If the label says "Distilled in Kentucky, bottled by [X Brand]" or just "Bottled by [X Brand]" they didn't make it. They sourced it from somewhere else (usually MGP in Indiana, sometimes Heaven Hill, sometimes a Kentucky distillery contracting out spirit) and put their label on it.

Sourcing isn't necessarily bad, some of the best independent bottlers (Smooth Ambler, Barrell Bourbon, Joseph Magnus) source brilliantly. But you should know what you're paying for. A $100 bottle of "craft" bourbon that's actually MGP Indiana spirit is overpriced.

Read the back of the label. The truth is usually there in small type.

The Takeaway

The bourbon industry has gotten very good at making cheap juice look expensive. The best defense is reading labels carefully and looking for the terms that actually mean something, ignoring the ones that don't, and checking whether the bottle in your hand was made by the brand on the front or just bottled by them.

When in doubt: Bottled-in-Bond. Cask strength. Single barrel. Three label terms that consistently deliver more bourbon-per-dollar than any marketing language ever will.

— Charley