TheTakeout.com is an interesting website. Lots of fun, interesting stuff there, but rarely relevant. Anyway, If you've sat at a bar, you might have witnessed an illegal practice you had no idea was against the law. Filling a bottle of liquor with alcohol from a different bottle is 100% illegal, and it can occur in a classy joint or a true dive bar.
This practice, called "marrying bottles," occurs when someone combines two spirits into one, whether it's to save space or for a reason more nefarious. According to provision 27 CFR § 31.201 of the Code of Federal Regulations, no bartender or anyone who sells alcohol shall "place in any liquor bottle any distilled spirits whatsoever other than those contained in that bottle at the time of closing ..." For example, if a bartender has two bottles of rum that are half empty, they cannot combine the two into one bottle. This is also true for wine.
If a bartender were to add juice or syrups to a bottle of tequila to make a cocktail, then tried to sell it to you, that would be illegal as well. Any drink mixing must be done in a glass, shaker, or new container not originally containing alcohol. Even two bottles of the same exact brand of liquor cannot be combined. With all of this in mind, you might wonder why outlawing the practice is necessary.
I went to bartending school and was never told this. Also never got a job bartending.
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