Getting started

From still to shelf

On this page9

One: choose the standard of fill Two: lay out the field of vision Three: place the Government Warning Four: work out what is left Five: consider putting net contents in the glass Six: specify the adhesive against the regulation Seven: then choose the bottle Why this order References

Pick the standard of fill before anything else, because it fixes the type size on the warning.

One: choose the standard of fill

From the twenty-five. This decides the bottle, the case count, the shelf price and, directly, the minimum type size of the health warning, because that is set at 237 mL and again at 3 L.

Two: lay out the field of vision

Brand name, class and type, and alcohol content have to be visible together without turning the bottle. On a tall narrow bottle that is a narrow column, and it has to hold three pieces of information at a readable size.

Three: place the Government Warning

Separate from all other information, on a contrasting background, at the type size the container volume requires, uncompressed and within the character density limit.

Four: work out what is left

Name and address and net contents may go anywhere on the container, which is the flexibility you have. Everything else is placed before the design starts.

Five: consider putting net contents in the glass

The regulation allows it to be blown, embossed or moulded into the container. On a custom bottle that removes a line from the label and is permanent, which is worth knowing before the mould is cut.

Six: specify the adhesive against the regulation

The label has to resist removal without water or solvent. That rules out a casual pressure-sensitive stock, and it interacts with ice buckets, condensation and bar towels in ways worth testing.

Seven: then choose the bottle

By now you know the volume, the panel the field of vision needs, the space the warning needs and the label stock. A bottle either carries all of that or it does not, and that is a measurable question.

Why this order

Every step constrains the next, and two of them are decided by the regulation rather than by you. Starting with a bottle you liked and fitting the law around it is how a brand ends up with a warning in 1 mm type on a 1 L bottle that required 2.

References

27 CFR 5.203(a), the standards of fill: "The following metric standards of fill are authorized for distilled spirits, whether domestically bottled or imported" — 3.75 L, 3 L, 2 L, 1.8 L, 1.75 L, 1.5 L, 1.0 L, 945 mL, 900 mL, 750 mL, 720 mL, 710 mL, 700 mL, 570 mL, 500 mL, 475 mL, 375 mL, 355 mL, 350 mL, 331 mL, 250 mL, 200 mL, 187 mL, 100 mL and 50 mL. law.cornell.edu

27 CFR 5.63, mandatory label information. Brand name, class and type designation and alcohol content appear in the same field of vision, so that "all of the pieces of information can be viewed simultaneously without the need to turn the container". Name and address and net contents may appear anywhere on the container, and the net contents "may be blown, embossed, or molded into the container". law.cornell.edu

27 CFR 16.22, legibility of the health warning. Minimum type size of 1 mm for containers of 237 mL or less, 2 mm above that through 3 L, and 3 mm above 3 L; "GOVERNMENT WARNING" in capitals and bold with the remainder not bold; characters not compressed, at a maximum density of 40 characters per inch at 1 mm falling to 12 at 3 mm; readily legible under ordinary conditions on a contrasting background; and labels affixed "in such manner that they cannot be removed without thorough application of water or other solvents". law.cornell.edu

Written from 27 CFR 5.63, 5.203, 16.21 and 16.22, and from the catalog as it stood on 17 October 2026. Distilled spirits are federally permitted and separately regulated by every state; label approval, permits and formula approval are outside what these pages cover, and nothing here is a substitute for TTB guidance on a specific product.