Early Times Bottled in Bond Bourbon Comparison
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ย. 2024
- Maybe it's the water. Maybe it's the blending. Maybe it's the batching. One thing's for sure: the old and new Early Times Bottled in Bond Bourbon bottles certainly have a variance. Today, we'll see if we can pick a winner between Brown-Forman's original product and Sazerac's newly-released Early Times Bottle in Bond Bourbon.
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I agree with those who believe that it's the same whiskey, handled slightly differently by Sazerac. The sale probably included the Brown-Forman stocks for market continuity.
I would appreciate a lot more transparency in this business.
We're in total agreement, John. Cheers.
Julie, that smile ❤❤❤
I was able to buy a 12 bottle case of the old bottle. Cheers guys.
Such a stellar bottle at an amazing price. Enjoy!
I am pretty sure that the base juice is the same still and it comes down the Saz team blending it a little different and maybe trying to keep it safe. Still a great "everyday sipper".
We think you're totally right on this, Joe. It's the same, but different, lol. And it's still very solid for $20.
I agree!
I didn't think they could blend BiB products? I might be wrong here though.
Have both versions and I believe I have one BF version left, the BF version was hard to come by in Illinois so I bought one wherever I could find one even paying 39 dollars at a store in Naperville Illinois begrudgingly but believing i might not get another chance ,I'm a truck driver in construction so I'm all over the place and these trucks are a little easier to park so I can get lucky and find an occasional treasure. I've not done a side by side but I'm very fond of both,nice work as always 🥃
Seems like we're really on the same page with this one, Frank. It's a solid value and hopefully it'll stay that way well into the future. Cheers!
I'm just surprised you found it in Illinois....I've never seen it here.
@@patrickq7489 Wasn't easy very few and far between, I'm an outgoing person and I strike up conversations with some of these smaller liquor stores and more than once they've come up with treasures that were not on the shelf, I also throw a little money around and they respect my knowledge of the products ,at the same time I get a little annoyed when I hit a shop where the seller doesn't know the difference between Vodka and Bourbon .I live by Starved Rock but have traveled as far as Elmhurst to get the gold, make friends and only go to the giants when you have to.
Good hunting.
Been waiting for this comparison. Sure wish I could find a BF version. Nice job, cheers!
Thank you, Cheers!
“It’s not your Grandma’s potpourri, but it still stinks, though.” It’s a wonder I try anything after your tasting notes. 😆
Some days, I'm not sure if we're an asset to the whiskey community or not.
Sazerac only bought the label in 2020, so I'm uncertain how Sazerac could have distilled this stuff and kept in a warehouse for four years since 2020. Unless someone knows how this time suspension thing works, I'm guessing they are possibly different batches of B&F delivered to Sazerac and bottled by them.
Yeah, there's no way this is anything other than the juice that was purchased. They obviously have some whiskey around given that Barton is sourcing to Kirkland and some other brands, and BT is sourcing to Trader Joe's. Anything is possible, but unlikely. This appears to be the same juice with different water and blending.
Sazerac is just bottling brown forman juice. The back of both bottles have the bf distiller code. Bib laws state that it needs to be aged for 4 years. So it's impossible for this to be Sazerac.
Yeah, but these aren’t single barrel, so there are some blending skills involved, no?
@@thomashobbes8786 Yes sir. I have no word on who's doing the blending. One source said large tank trucks from B&F show up periodically, but I have no idea whether that's reliable information. I would like to know who's doing the blending though.
It tastes different bigtime. I’m sorry. The juice is not being delivered in barrels. It’s veiling delivered and stored in totes which cuts off the aging profile and changes it. EVERYONE that does this clearly taste the difference
Great comparison. Been looking forward to your thoughts on this. Also I think Julie could get a side gig as a ventriloquist. I swear @5:32 she managed to spit out the whole sentence, "I love things that taste like candy" without so much as a mouth flinch :) Well done...Cheers!
Loved this comparison! We just got a bottle of each and will do a comparison!
Let us know what you think!
It has probably been over 40 years since I had Early Times. It had a yellow label at that time, and I wasn't as appreciative of Bourbon at that age (27) So with your review, I may seek out this old friend. Also for some reason, I started to miss Norman. I wanted to see him jump up onto the table or into Julie's lap.
We've been watching some old videos just to see Norman again. We're cat-sitting right now so hopefully we'll have another friendly cat face on some future videos.
I've been on a bottled in bond trend recently - when I enter a liquor shop I immediately ask if they have BIB bourbon and try to pick one both affordable and new (that I haven't tried) I recently bought a Early Times BIB and I'm glad (according to your expert analysis) that I'm on the right track. Stuff is delicious neat, with a drop (or two) of water, in a classic Manhattan, a Bourbon and Coke (only Mexican Coca Cola will do - made with cane sugar not corn syrup) or, (my favorite) in a classic Old Fashioned. I tend to like my Old Fashioned less sweet so the tropical notes that were coming through are spot on. Delicious! I recommend that the next time you go for a bourbon, stop and ask about bottled in bond and choose something off your normal "beaten path". I've never tasted an awful bourbon (just some that I didn't like as much as others) so really roll the dice! Great post and I'm a new subscriber! How about an all BIB tasting? Cheers!
Cheers, and welcome, Rusty! We've done a couple Bottled in Bond challenges, including one for budget bourbons, and one at the $50 price point. We're big Bottled in Bond fans, and Old Grand Dad Bonded is our favorite bottle to keep in the van for campsite sipping. Thanks for watching and sharing your experience!
I know you two drink all kinds of neat stuff - I was kinda doing a rhetorical rant to your followers, not finger wagging🙊 Keep on keeping on!
Haha, we took no offense at all. We're with you completely on your thoughts here. Cheers!
The newer version is Brown Forman distilled and Barton/Sazerac bottled is nothing to laugh at. This stuff is my favorite value whiskey.
For anyone that doubts that the current juice is still the Brown forman look at the back. You will see DSP-KY-354, the same on the old brown formans and then bottled at KY-DSP-12 (barton Sazerac) on the new.
I have actually gotten a little variation in the new bottles recently (1 bitter bottle) but most of them I find to be better than the old black top. Well rounded a little pineapple, brown sugar.
We may not see Sazerac distilled or another 2 years. I hope it stays good!!
We honestly wouldn't have even done this blind if it wasn't for the reports we've heard of some people being very disappointed with the new bottles. It seems like there may be some wider variance happening between batches now, but it's certainly the same juice for now. It will continue to have a place on our shelf until it doesn't live up to the $20 price tag!
Absolutely correct. The new batch KY-DSP-12 is a bit different, but my guess is that it's because it's a new batch, which has happened numerous times while B&F owned it. I suspect there was some variation between those batches as well, because it came from different barrels, just like this does now. I did like the 354 batch better though. Some whiskey tubers act like it's some brand new whiskey that Sazerac has put out and it sucks. I question the veracity of their taste buds.
I was only able to find the Saz bottle. I can’t complain for only paying $10.
Great video guys! Cheers!
Cheers, Buddy!
Have never seen either 😢
I hear that Brown Foreman trucks are still delivering to the Sazarac distillery so it’s probably the same for now!
Early Times to me tastes like I'm drinking the sap straight from an oak tree with added sugar. No strawberry, raspberry, watermelon, or potpourri detected.
🍉 🦓
My blind told me they were the same. Tried it with three different people and no one stared a significant difference or enough to say they were different
Agreed. The strange thing is that across the country, people have reported wildly different experiences in these blinds. We noted a few flavor differences, but nothing that would indicate this is different whiskey entirely. The difference is likely blending/water/machinery/etc.
My blind, for what it's worth. Both tasted very much the same. And at the time I was pretty sure being 4 years old they are both from B.F. Cheers 🥃 I like both and hope it stays that way.
Cheers, Tom. You're absolutely right. The only thing that seems to have changed for the time being is the water and the blending. Cheers!
@@TheBourbonVan gott'ca good point 👍🥃
It seems to be readily available in the Carolinas. I really loved the BF version. Don’t know if I’ll be buying the Sazerac offering.
To this point, it's still BF, just batched and bottled by Sazerac. We've heard wildly different responses to what's in the bottle, which is what drove us to make this comparison video. It's definitely a different taste, but it still has a place on our shelf for now.
Finally found this. $15.99 for a 1L. Sazarac top.
@@steveverdoo1859 southeast FL.
I'm surprised that people think that a distillery has whiskey just sitting around in case they get a new brand. Sazerac told SLB Drinks that it will be years until they have their own bonded whiskey to put in the Early Times bottles. They say that tanker trucks arrive from the previous owners and that is what is in the new bottles. Whatever change there is comes from tanker trucks and the different machinery for filling bottles, etc.
Yeah, there's no way this is anything other than the juice that was purchased. They obviously have some whiskey around given that Barton is sourcing to Kirkland and some other brands, and BT is sourcing to Trader Joe's. Anything is possible, but unlikely. This appears to be the same juice with different water and blending.
Glomming on to the comment most in line with my thoughts is that before she left OFO, Jackie Zykan mentioned that the Saz-owned ET BiB stocks were still aging in their heat-cycled warehouses. To me it is as was as commented blending/water and add in flavor drift. The yeast change and the storage change (until she mentioned that, I never considered it) is gonna be radical in 18-24 months!
Brown-Forman is way better. Hands down
I see the argument a lot that Sazerac has not owned the label long enough for it to be their own distillate. While that makes sense going by years, the fact is they now own the Early Times label. Couldn't they put any bottled in bond juice they own in that bottle and call it Early Times? As long as it follows the BiB rules or am I off base on that?
We know the code on the bottle has something to do with it, and since it has the old BF code, it is likely to be the old BF juice. That's the best we can figure. But since it also has the new Sazerac code, that's why we won't say 100% either way. We don't know, and saying with authority that we do know (even though there's no public transparency) would be irresponsible and leave the channel open to possible litigation. Sometimes viewers get upset when we won't express likelihoods as facts, but we're the responsible party and have to speak appropriately. Such is the tightrope of whiskeytube.
@@masaboy808 Wow okay...I am sorry for whatever is hurting you in life that you have to be so angry with your response and not have a civilized conversation. I hope you can overcome it...good luck.
I am so disappointed thinking that this great bottom shelfer may change to something lesser. I hope Sazerac doesn't go the way of Heaven Hill BiB and double the price.
Is the thumbnail a talking heads reference?
It wasn't intended that way, but it is now.
@@TheBourbonVan dope
The best way to not find a difference is to not look at any other review channels and just match your own taste. IMO.
Your minds are playing tricks on you, it's the same juice, just bottled at a different facility 😅🤣😂
$11 where I’m at…
For the Bottled in Bond or the Light Whiskey?
@@TheBourbonVan Bottled in Bond. I could believe it when I saw it that cheap.
That's absurd. We'd buy a case.
It's all the same.. Thinkaboutit.......takes 4 years to make !!
Different blenders, different results.