Old Forester 1897 Bottled in Bond is crafted to honor a watershed moment in bourbon history the U.S. Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. This expression follows the Bottled in Bond standards that whisky must be aged in a federally bonded warehouse for at least four years, the product of one distillation season, one distiller and from one distillery and bottled at 100 Proof. The concept behind these regulations the idea of sealed in quality was something Old Forester introduced in 1870, as America’s First Bottled Bourbon.