Whisky Bottle Sizes and Packaging Rules Around the World

A 700 ml whisky bottle is permitted on capacity grounds in the EU, UK and US. Add 50 ml and the answer changes: 750 ml is authorised in the United States but absent from the EU and UK lists. That small difference captures the principle behind bottle-size law: the market where a whisky is sold sets the rules, not its country of origin.[1][3][5]

Packaging has its own rules. Whether a container belongs in a deposit return scheme depends on its material, capacity and jurisdiction, not simply on the drink inside.[9]

Which whisky bottle sizes are permitted?

Start with two separate questions: how much whisky does the package contain, and what is the container made from? The first determines whether its size is permitted. The second helps determine whether a deposit return scheme covers it.[1][5][9]

This guide covers bottle quantities in the EU, UK and US, then drinks-container schemes in the UK and Ireland. For the wider legal framework, see whisky law around the world. For the information displayed on a bottle, turn to whisky label requirements.

These are rules for the destination market. The US regulation expressly covers imported spirits as well as those bottled domestically, so an overseas producer’s usual bottle format is not the deciding factor.[5]

EU and UK: the nine specified quantities

The EU permits nine nominal quantities for spirit drinks within the interval from 100 ml to 2,000 ml: 100, 200, 350, 500, 700, 1,000, 1,500, 1,750 and 2,000 ml. “Nominal quantity” means the quantity specified for the prepacked product.[1]

The governing text, Directive 2007/45/EC, was adopted on 5 September 2007. Member States had to adopt implementing measures by 11 October 2008 and apply them from 11 April 2009. Its general free-movement provision prevents restrictions based on nominal quantity. Spirit drinks, however, are among the sectors whose permitted quantities are fixed by its Annex.[1]

The UK implemented the Directive through the Weights and Measures (Specified Quantities) (Pre-packed Products) Regulations 2009, SI 2009/663. These came into force on 11 April 2009, and current GOV.UK guidance lists the same nine quantities for spirit drinks.[2][3]

The boundaries matter. UK guidance says there are no specified quantities under this rule below 100 ml or above 2,000 ml. A miniature below 100 ml is therefore not prohibited simply because its capacity is missing from the list.[3]

Inside that interval, the list is decisive. Both 700 ml and 1,000 ml appear; 750 ml does not. For UK multipacks, the specified quantities apply to each individual pre-package, not the combined contents of the outer pack.[2][3]

Check each individual container first, then any separate packaging requirements. Adding the contents together does not establish whether each pre-package meets the quantity rule.[2]

The Japanese shochu exception is not a whisky exception

EU Regulation 2018/1670, dated 23 October 2018, permits 720 ml and 1,800 ml quantities for single distilled shochu that is pot distilled and bottled in Japan. It implements the relevant provision of the EU and Japan Economic Partnership Agreement.[8]

The regulation records the Japanese measures as four go for 720 ml and one sho for 1,800 ml.[8]

This product-specific derogation gives no general exemption from the EU spirit-drink quantity list to whisky from Japan or anywhere else. The exception follows the drink named in the regulation, not the bottle’s Japanese origin.[8]

United States: 700 ml and 750 ml are both authorised

US rules call permitted quantities standards of fill. Under 27 CFR 5.203, the following 25 quantities are authorised for distilled spirits, whether domestically bottled or imported.[5]

All entries are standards of fill under 27 CFR 5.203, checked November 2026.[5]

The 700 ml format joined the list through TTB’s final rule published on 29 December 2020, alongside 720 ml, 900 ml and 1.8 litres. The rule took effect on publication, so capacity alone does not disqualify a 700 ml whisky bottle from the US market.[5][6]

A further rule, effective on 10 January 2025, expanded the available sizes and ended the separate standards for spirits in cans. TTB states that all distilled-spirits standards of fill are now approved for cans and containers other than cans.[7]

For a practical check, use the current list, which includes 350 ml and 500 ml, rather than an older list or the former distinction between bottles and cans.[5][7]

One exception has a precise historical boundary. The standards do not apply to imported spirits entered into customs custody, or bottled and certified, before 1 January 1980. The regulation ties that exception to those circumstances and dates, not simply to a bottle’s apparent age.[5]

UK pub measures are a different rule

The bottle behind the bar does not determine the measure poured into the glass. Current GOV.UK guidance allows whisky, gin, rum and vodka to be sold in 25 ml and multiples of 25 ml, or 35 ml and multiples of 35 ml, but not both on the same premises.[3]

The Weights and Measures (Intoxicating Liquor) Order 1988, SI 1988/2039, requires one quantity to be used throughout the premises for these spirits sold for drinking there. A written notice must be displayed for buyers. Article 3(2) excludes a spirit forming part of a mixture of three or more liquids.[4]

The 1988 Order allowed whisky measures of one quarter, one fifth or one sixth of a gill, but those imperial measures were not permitted after 31 December 1994.[4]

A UK single is therefore not always 25 ml. It may be 35 ml, with the premises choosing one system rather than switching between the two. GOV.UK also distinguishes whisky, gin, rum and vodka from other spirits, for which it lists no specified quantities by the glass.[3]

Packaging and deposit return: check glass separately

Glass is outside the material categories covered by the forthcoming England and Northern Ireland deposit return scheme. Established by the Deposit Scheme for Drinks Containers (England and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2025, SI 2025/67, the scheme covers single-use PET plastic bottles and steel or aluminium cans holding between 150 ml and 3 litres.[9]

The Regulations were made on 23 January 2025 and mainly come into force on 1 October 2027. As at November 2026, the scheme is not yet operating. Capacity is only part of the test: a container must also fall within the specified material categories.[9]

The House of Commons Library reports that all parts of the UK are expected to operate deposit return schemes from 1 October 2027. Their treatment of glass differs. England, Northern Ireland and Scotland exclude it; Wales will include glass bottles initially without a deposit.[10]

In May 2023, the UK Government gave Scotland a temporary Internal Market Act exclusion that did not cover glass. First Minister Humza Yousaf wrote to the Prime Minister on 2 June, and Scotland delayed its scheme on 7 June.[11]

The claim that “UK whisky bottles will all carry a deposit from 2027” is therefore misleading. The answer depends on both the container material and the UK nation. Glass drinks bottles instead fall under packaging extended producer responsibility, known as pEPR. A revised version of that system began across the UK in April 2025.[10]

Ireland’s scheme also excludes glass

Ireland’s Re-turn scheme launched in February 2024, covering PET bottles and aluminium or steel cans from 150 ml to 3 litres. Re-turn states that glass is not included in the scheme at this time.[12]

Re-turn cites a glass recycling rate of over 80% when explaining its exclusion.[12]

For a whisky package, check material and capacity together. “Drinks container” does not mean every bottle: a scheme covering plastic bottles or metal cans does not automatically cover glass.[9][12]

In short: common mistakes when comparing packages

• Rejecting 700 ml for the US: it has been an authorised spirits quantity since December 2020.[5][6]
• Assuming any UK bottle size is permitted: check against the nine specified quantities within 100 ml to 2,000 ml.[3]
• Rejecting a UK miniature below 100 ml: no specified quantities apply below that threshold under this rule.[3]
• Using deposit rules to judge bottle-size legality: check quantity rules separately from container-material rules.[1][5][9]

Where to go next

• Whisky Label Requirements by Country: distinguish package capacity from the information required on a label.
• US Standards of Identity for Whiskey: explore the separate rules defining American whiskey categories.
• Travelling with Whisky: Customs and Airline Rules: check the different questions raised when carrying bottles across borders.

Sources

1. EUR-Lex. Directive 2007/45/EC laying down rules on nominal quantities for prepacked products. Adopted 5 September 2007. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32007L0045
2. legislation.gov.uk. The Weights and Measures (Specified Quantities) (Pre-packed Products) Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/663). 2009, version as made. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/663
3. GOV.UK. Weights and measures: the law: Specified quantities. Current guidance supplied in the verified sheet, checked November 2026. https://www.gov.uk/weights-measures-and-packaging-the-law/specified-quantities
4. legislation.gov.uk. The Weights and Measures (Intoxicating Liquor) Order 1988 (SI 1988/2039). 1988. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1988/2039
5. eCFR. 27 CFR 5.203 Standards of fill for distilled spirits. Current text recorded in the verified sheet, checked November 2026. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-27/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-5/subpart-J/section-5.203
6. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Standards of Fill Final Rule Published. 29 December 2020. https://www.ttb.gov/public-information/news/standards-of-fill-final-rule-published
7. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. TTB Adds New Standards of Fill for Wine and Distilled Spirits; Eliminates Distinction Between Standards of Fill for Distilled Spirits in Cans and Other Types of Containers. Rule effective 10 January 2025. https://www.ttb.gov/public-information/featured-stories/ttb-adds-new-standards-fill-wine-and-distilled-spirits/
8. EUR-Lex. Regulation (EU) 2018/1670 as regards nominal quantities for single distilled shochu. 23 October 2018. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32018R1670
9. legislation.gov.uk. The Deposit Scheme for Drinks Containers (England and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/67). Made 23 January 2025, version as made. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/67/made
10. House of Commons Library. Deposit return schemes (CBP 10453). Briefing version recorded in the verified sheet, checked November 2026. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10453/
11. House of Commons Library. Will glass shatter plans for UK deposit return schemes? (CBP 11233). Briefing version recorded in the verified sheet, checked November 2026. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-11233/
12. Re-turn. Re-turn Deposit Return Scheme. Website version recorded in the verified sheet, checked November 2026. https://re-turn.ie/

This article is desk research based on verified fact sheet TOP-A609 and its cited legislation, official guidance and scheme information; it does not report independent live source checks.

Last checked: November 2026