Bourbon brand returns to its roots

BROWN-FORMAN said its Early Times brand is returning to its bourbon roots with Early Times 354 Bourbon after an absence in the US market since 1983. Crafted with pure water, select grains, proprietary yeast and carefully distilled and matured in select oak barrels, it's the newest (and in a way, the oldest) member of the Early Times family.
 
At the tender age of 15, Jack Beam began working at his family's distillery. In short order, he was running the operation and in 1860 built his own distillery at a place called Early Times Station, Kentucky. Beam named his whisky Early Times, both as a tribute to its place of origin and as a nod to the old-world craftsmanship that goes into making it. He believed in the "early times method" of whisky making – mashing grain in small tubs, boiling the beer and whisky in copper stills over open fires. It's an abiding belief that has stayed with the Early Times brand all along, continuing long after Early Times became part of the Brown-Forman family of brands in 1923.
 
"Early Times is the second oldest continually produced Kentucky whisky on the market - second only to Brown Forman's Old Forester," said Chris Morris, Brown-Forman Master Distiller. "Early Times 354 Bourbon takes as a part of its names the distillery's famous permit number - 354. This is the longest held operating permit in Kentucky. Everything about Early Times 354 supports the brand's historic past and reputation for great taste."