Many of our customers are purchasing bottle your own fillers to enhance their guests’ experience by allowing them to bottle their own products as a memorable souvenir. This hands-on experience has become a popular addition to premium distillery tours at tasting rooms around the world. Offering this unique opportunity not only deepens customer engagement but also creates lasting memories. In fact, some customers are willing to pay up to $200 for this experience, demonstrating the significant value it can bring when executed thoughtfully and with attention to detail.
“Bottle your own” tasting rooms need to ensure compliance with local and state regulations, as well as TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) guidelines, especially since customers will be bottling their own product.
Below are a few unofficial TTB notes regarding the use of tasting room dispensers. We always recommend that you confirm with the TTB, your State Regulatory Agency, and/or your Distiller’s Association Representative to ensure compliance with the specific requirements for your location. This will help ensure that your operation stays fully compliant and avoids any potential issues.
Here are a few key points to help ensure compliance when using bottle your own fillers:
- Proof of the barrel needs to be determined beforehand
- The use of the tasting room bottle dispenser should be in a bonded area
- Affix an approved label to the bottle
- Mark the label with the correct proof
- Record the bottling event in bond
- Gauge the product before bottling
- Submit a TTB report for the event
- Deliver the bottle to the customer in the gift shop as tax-paid (the customer cannot take the bottle from the bonded area)
Important Considerations
- Consult with Legal Experts or a Regulatory Consultant – Work with an attorney or consultant who specializes in alcohol laws to ensure your tasting room dispenser events are fully compliant with both local and federal regulations.
- Communicate with the TTB – Reach out to the TTB for clarification on specific questions related to customer bottling at your distillery. This will help you stay up to date on the latest rules and avoid potential issues.
- Obtain the Necessary Licenses and Permits – Ensure you have all the required state and local licenses to legally run the event. This may include special event permits or retail alcohol licenses, depending on your state’s laws.
- Train Staff and Create Clear Procedures – Train your staff to properly manage the bottling process and ensure they understand the legal guidelines for customer interactions with alcohol. This includes procedures for controlling access to alcohol, accurate record-keeping, and managing the labeling and sealing process.
By ensuring compliance with TTB and local regulations, you can provide a unique, memorable, and legally sound experience for your customers. This can maximize the impact of your bottle your own fillers and offer both a profitable and enjoyable experience for everyone involved!
One customer who has our SFTB (Straight from the Barrel) tasting room dispenser recently stated the following:
“Our process is to gauge a new barrel (dumping, weighing, proofing), then filling that gauged dumped barrel into our fill station barrel. We have a daily bottling log that gets completed for every bottle filled. Once you get the process down and train staff, it’s not much additional effort on the compliance side.”
Other Considerations
Many tasting rooms are enhancing their customer experience by offering custom labeling with serial numbers from each barrel, making both the experience and the bottle truly memorable. This personal touch helps create a lasting connection with the product.
Many distilleries report this as a “bottling event” to the TTB rather than making it an everyday offering. These events are typically held on select days, such as once a week or once a month, depending on the distillery’s schedule. While it requires some effort, the rewards can be significant, both in terms of free advertising and the extra revenue per bottle. One of our customers, for example, charges $200 for this experience, demonstrating its potential value when marketed effectively.
A paramount concern is making sure your customer does not carry the bottle out of the bonded space themselves. They can carry the empty bottle to the rinser or straight to the filler. They would then fill the bottle, carry it to the designated place to cork, label and write down all details on the label and in a log. They would then have to leave the bottle with the distillery employee. That employee would then take the bottle out of the bonded area and gives it to them in the non-bonded space, such as a gift shop, retail space, etc.