maturation
RLA — regauged litres of alcohol
No legal definition
The pure alcohol actually present in a cask at the date of its most recent regauge: current bulk litres multiplied by current strength.
Not a legal term
No whisky regulation in Scotland, Ireland, the United States, the EU or Japan defines this. It is a trade or marketing term, so it is only actionable if its use is actively misleading.
Worth knowing
Sometimes wrongly expanded as 'residual' or 'reduced' litres of alcohol. RLA is only as current as the regauge date — on a 25-year-old cask a ten-year-old RLA figure may overstate contents by several percent.
Related terms
Last reviewed 2026-07-30 · All glossary terms