The problem with 750 ml bottling regulations in the USA

An image to lust over from Laphroaig

The Scotch Examiner is heading to Scotland, and to be perfectly honest the best part of the trip will be the distillery tours.  The 2nd best aspect of the trip will certainly be the suitcase full of Scotch that is not available in the USA, due to an interesting restriction having to do with the differences in "standard" bottle sizes between the US and Europe.  In the US, the common standard is a 750 ml bottle.  In Europe, the common standard is a 700 ml bottle.

While the differences in bottle sizes does not necessarily affect the ability of distilleries to export to the US, it is a problem in that they need to produce their line in 2 sizes in order to accommodate the restriction in the US as it translates into costly production overhead many of the smaller distilleries are not prepared to invest in.

It all began in the 1970's when the US began a push to support the metric system.  The push didn't exactly convert the US over as might have been expected, but it did change the regulated standards used for bottling alcohol to the metric system and double the size of a most ratchet sets in US homes.  The common bottle size and standard before the conversion was the "fifth", which is short for a 4/5 quart.  The closest reasonable metric measure of the "fifth" ended up being 750 ml, so 750 ml ended up on the list of approved bottle sizes for alcohol.  The standards exist to help consumers by standardizing the sizes available to help short-circuit any attempts to deceive consumers by bottlers as to the actual volume of alcohol in any one bottle.

It all seems fairly reasonable, but the end effect is that the US sees about 1/3 to 1/4 of the varieties of Scotch actually produced in Scotland and requires Americans who travel to Scotland to pack light or bring an extra suitcase for the return trip.