In 1897, the Federal Government stepped in with the first consumer protection law. This act ensured that any whiskey bearing the name Bottled-in-Bond was produced by the same distiller, at the same distillery, during the same distilling season, aged for at least four years, unadulterated (except for water) and bottled at exactly 100 proof.

These regulations gave assurance to the consumers they were drinking an unadulterated whiskey and helped define the very American whiskeys we know and love today.