Since we’ve reviewed a blended whiskey recently in Sazerac’s “Traveler” and we’ve tasted the new Old Forester 1924, which is a 10yr bottling of old Early Times straight whiskey, I thought we’d stay thematic and take a look at today’s modern version of Early Times, a once proud brand in the Brown Forman stable, which as a straight whiskey was the #1 selling bourbon in 1953, two years prior to BF buying Jack Daniels. Sold for years as a straight whisky, then moving in the 1980s to a blended whisky before finally being sold to Sazerac in 2020 and now being billed as a “Kentucky Whisky with Natural Flavors,” ET has changed with the times. On the nose, light oak with cinnamon fruit gum and brown sugar. On the palate, more fruit with a touch of honey, and a naturally strong kick, that’s more boozy than spicy. A bottle of Early Times and a 30 rack of Busch while you’re shelling peanuts and fishing may just be the thing you need!