DFS4120 - Technical Guidance: Can used Duty Free Spirits be purified and re-used?


Used spirits may be removed for recovery , laundering or denaturing. But you can only send used (contaminated) duty-free spirits to an excise warehouse approved for rectification (re-distillation to purify the spirits). The spirits may then be returned to you from the warehousekeeper as a normal delivery from warehouse (section 6 of Notice 47). Alternatively, the spirits may be re-sold by the rectifier or warehousekeeper.

The spirits may also be removed to a Denatured Alcohol Producer’s premises for conversion to Denatured Alcohol. This process is detailed in Denatured Alcohol guidance.