Early Times 354 Bourbon Review

…..If you’re not familiar with Early Times bourbon, you either A) haven’t been looking low enough on the shelf or B) have the money so that you never have to. You can usually find it on the bottom shelf in your local package stores and it’s one of the biggest names associated with inexpensive bourbon. HOWEVER, on the bottle you’ll notice it says Early Times Kentucky Whisky. Not Bourbon. Why you ask? Like with “champagne” and “cognac” there are rules to what can and cant be considered genuine Kentucky bourbon. Though it is a classic name associated with bourbon, ET hasn’t legally sold a “bourbon” since the 1980’s before the rules on what could be and couldn’t be considered bourbon changed. To legally be considered bourbon it must be aged in new barrels but to speed up the process they use both new AND used barrels. Tricky isn’t it. Fortunately, 3 decades later and Early Times has decided to jump back in the bourbon game with the release of 354 bourbon and we were lucky enough to get our hands on a bottle.

First Impression: One thing that people often associate with “cheap” in the liquor industry is a plastic bottle. Traditional Early Times comes in just that, a plastic bottle however they’ve done away with that for the 354 bourbon and opted with glass. Nothing special but worth noting they made the switch. Other than that you get your usual “vintage” photo on the label reminding you of Kentucky history. Pop the top and you get what’s expected of a good bourbon, rich notes of caramel with other subtle aromas such as cinnamon and vanilla.

Taste: Though I don’t usually consider myself a bourbon “snob”, I am not a huge fan of drinking Early Times “whisky” straight. I won’t mind it if it’s getting mixed with ginger ale, sweet n sour or any of the other usual suspects associated with bourbon but if I’m going for something straight I pass on the ET. Theire 354 bourbon however IS an upgrade to the original. While I wont go as far as to say you’ll pass up the “Knob Creek”, “Makers”, or any of the other premium bourbon I will say it’s worth upgrading to this from the regular. At only $16 it is affordable and drinkable by itself, unless of course you are one of those bourbon snobs I mentioned earlier. You easily get the flavors of the wood, and caramel, and hints of cinnamon and it features a decent finish.

Grade: B-

Price: $16

Overall: A solid bourbon and a nice edition to their portfolio. I’d say it’s worth adding to your liquor cabinet at only $16 a bottle. This one holds up on it’s own AND will be fine with your favorite mixers. Below you can find a few Bourbon classics to try at home.

ET Sour

• 1/2 cup crushed ice
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2 oz. Early Times
• 1 tsp. sugar
• Garnish: cherry and orange slice

Shake ingredients with ice. Strain into a sour glass filled with ice. Garnish with a cherry and a slice of orange. Plan out your strategy for tomorrow.

ET Lemonade

• 3 oz. lemonade
• 1 1/2 oz. Early Times
• 1 oz. sour mix
• 1 oz. triple sec
• Garnish: maraschino cherry

Shake ingredients with ice. Strain into a highball glass full of ice. Garnish with a maraschino cherry. Relive the day with your buddies.

Manhattan 

• 3 oz. Early Times
• 1 oz. sweet vermouth
• Dash bitters
• Garnishes: cherry and lemon twist

Stir ingredients in a shaker filled with cracked ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a cherry and a lemon twist.

For more information on Early Times visit them at EarlyTimes.com. Don’t forget to check us out on Facebook for more great weekly reviews and recipes. Cheers!