Early Times: The Forgotten Brand

Let’s see a raise of glasses of who is currently drinking Early Times? How many of us have Early Times in our shelf on our bar as a daily drinker? I am willing to guess the answer to these questions can be counted on one hand. Early Times has long been considered a cheap, bottom shelf brand; hell, it wasn’t even technically bourbon but rather an “Old Style Kentucky Whiskey”. What if I told you that this brand was once the best-selling BOURBON in America? When I say best-selling, I mean for a period of years. Let’s take a walk-through history of this once iconic but now long forgotten brand.

As we already know, the Beam family tree has long, outreaching branches throughout the bourbon industry. Early Times was no exception to this rule. At the age of 21, Jack Beam left his Uncle Jack’s distillery to branch out on his own. Jack’s new distillery was built in Bardstown and called Early Times Distillery. Although he utilized modern (at the time) methods to produce bourbon, he called the brand Early Times as homage to the days of producing bourbon the way people did in the early times. This venture started in 1860 and at the time, Early Times bourbon was an up and coming brand.

Throughout the years, Jack Beam sold the distillery and brand and those properties changed hands several times, finally ending up in the hands of S.L. Guthrie.

Like a large majority of the bourbon distilleries and brands, Early Times fell victim to massive shutdowns due to Prohibition. Guthrie was forced to sell the distillery, brand, and the whiskey that was aging in their warehouses to Brown-Forman. The distillery never produced bourbon again and the whiskey was moved to Brown-Forman warehouses in Louisville and bottled as medicinal whiskey.

After the repeal of Prohibition, Brown-Forman began production of Early Times bourbon in their Old Kentucky Distillery in Shively, Ky. This distillery was renamed Early Times Distillery in 1953. By 1953, Early Times bourbon was the best-selling bourbon brand in America. As a straight bourbon with a mash bill consisting of low rye content, Early Times was widely popular as less spicy bourbon styles had become the best sellers after World War 2.

Early Times bourbon continued to be a best seller until the bourbon downturn of the 1970’s started. By 1983, bourbon sales had plummeted throughout the United State and Brown-Forman made a cost cutting decision to age whiskey designated for Early Times for only 3 years and in used barrels. This aging in used barrel eliminated the distinction of bourbon and Brown-Forman changed the brand from Early Times Kentucky Straight Bourbon to Early Times Old Style Kentucky Whiskey. Along with the distinction of Early Times no longer being a bourbon, the quality of the product severely diminished; both in part to the younger age as well as the use of the used barrels. Part of the cost cutting exercise was to proof down the whiskey from 100 proof to 80 proof; drastically changing the flavor profile.

Starting in 1983, Early Times became a bottom shelf whiskey. The product became marketed to customers that were price sensitive as well as customers who used whiskey as their spirit for mixed drinks; especially juleps. During this time, bourbon sales had plummeted, and the category of premium bourbon had been overtaken by such brands as Old Fitzgerald, Heaven Hill, Old Forester, and Pappy Van Winkle.

In the early 2000’s, Brown-Forman attempted to revive the brand by producing a new Early Times bourbon called 354 (distillery’s DSP code) but it bombed, was sold primarily to export markets, and in 2014 was shelved. As the bourbon rebirth started in the 2010’s, Brown-Forman once again looked at the Early Times brand for a rebirth. In 2017, Early Times Bottled in Bond Straight Kentucky Bourbon was released. This offering hit the market as minimum 4 year aged, 100 proof, Kentucky Straight Bourbon. The revamped Early Times offering has been a hit. Suggested MSRP was $23.99 and this offering is bottled as a full liter instead of the normal 750ml bottle offering for bourbon. This new Early Times is now in my personal daily drinking rotation and generally is very well received by bourbon customers.

In today’s hyper-competitive bourbon space, Early Times may never become the best-selling bourbon in the United States again, but this re-branding and new BiB offering ensures that Early times is again a quality product and has deservedly reserved a higher space on the shelf. Do yourself a favor and grab a bottle.