Produced by American spirits giant Brown-Forman, Early Times is said to have been produced since… well… Early Times – around 1860!

The whiskey actually takes its name from the Early Times Station in Kentucky, and was purchased by Brown Forman in 1923.

Early Times is notable in that it is aged in a mixture of virgin oak and refill casks. To be titled a “Straight Bourbon”, the spirit must be aged in strictly new American oak casks. This means that whilst outside the US Early Times is labelled a Bourbon, inside it is deemed a “Kentucky Whisky”. Early Times maintain their own cooperage which produces barrels specially for the whiskey.

Early Times is, nevertheless, a delicious drop, with a high corn content in the mashbill which creates a whiskey that will appeal to fans of sweeter Bourbons.

This dram offers up flavours of bright cornbread and honey, sweet oak with some older woodspice notes, vanilla, cream, pineapple, apricot, cinnamon spice and a little nutmeg custard.

Traditionally, Early Times has been used to make Mint Juleps on the occasion of the Kentucky Derby – though this event is now mostly associated with another Brown-Forman brand, Woodford Reserve.

• Product type
  Bourbon
• Distillery / brand
  Early Times
• Country
  USA
• Region
  Kentucky
• Bottler
  Distillery Bottling
• Cask type
  New Oak
• Non-chillfiltered
  No
• Natural colour
  Yes
• SKU
  035007