Blind Battle of the BEST Budget Bourbons | Wild Turkey 101 vs Early Times Bottled-in-Bond

[@robertstrickland2121]

WT101, Early times, & Old Forrester BIB are my 3 daily pours. All are good and I bounce back depending on the taste of the day.

[@GrnEyez64]

Early Times BIB is, IMO, the absolute King of Value when it comes to bourbon. The fact that it is a full liter bottle is just the cherry on top. A nearby store often has it on sale for $19.

[@motohead077]

While I get almost nothing beats this for value, what about all the stuff that comes in 1.75L bottles? Examples of real world prices I paid in 2024 for 1.75L; WT 101 $29.99.. Old Forester 100P $41.99.. EW BIB $25.19.. EW Black 86P $14.79. For 1L bottles; OF Rye $25.99.. OGD Bonded $23.99.

[@chrismarshall4486]

😂 my wife fell in love with me pre beard too. We’ve been discussing me shaving it for a Halloween costume so I can do prosthetics on my face but she says no 😂 I’ve been really enjoying old forester 1910. Trying to decide if I’m getting early times next or knob creek 9 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@waltbutler9207]

Three things that don’t lie - little kids, drunk people and yoga pants.

[@stuffandwhiskey]

😂😂

[@tommysimpsonandtheloadeddice]

Just re upped on both of those. I got the 101 Rye this time. Both under $20.

[@Aged_in_Oak]

Thank you! I love WT101, and since my palette lines up between the two of you, I am SO getting some Early Times. Keep doing what you do!

[@Abby_Normal_1969]

Both are value demigods of Bourbon. Early Times BiB is relatively new to my corner of the world. But she is a budget favorite. I have had WT101 in my cabinet every moment of the last 20 years. What a fun comparison.

[@sweetsinnndy5201]

WT101 was one of the first bourbons on my journey, at first, the proof was too much for me. Tried some last weekend, and it was so much easier to drink as I have tried a bunch of bourbons at around 100 proof. Cannot get the Early Times B&B in the northern burbs of Chicago, would love to try it. Both are relatively inexpensive for solid bourbons. Loved the video, thanks

[@umami0247]

I really like WT I put it up against Coopers Craft which was the old Brown Forman mash for the original ET. And Coopers won by a slight bit.

[@davefabian2942]

Love the double blind, and the fact both were $25ish, great pours all around

[@jasonc_0928]

Two outstanding value bourbons and the ET BIB wins it for me as well, but I haven't been able to find it in almost a year.

[@danrudnick5252]

Early Times Bottled in Bond is the best whiskey currently available. There, I said it. I can't think of an occasion where I wouldn't want it.

[@dennisweedman4374]

Happy 4th of July to both of you! I can't argue with the results, both are excellent pours for the price.

[@stuffandwhiskey]

Happy 4th!

[@SteveMiddleton-l6l]

I love ET BIB, my everyday drinker 😊

[@johnarmstrong5287]

God, I don't want to watch this and be broken hearted. Two great bottles.

[@tommysimpsonandtheloadeddice]

Best opening yet. I busted out laughing.

[@michaelhoffer9172]

I wish ET BiB was as available as WT 101. We get it in my area, but just never know when it’s going to be on the shelf.

[@Scott-co4dq]

Early Times is just so good for the modest price it's at. I've compared it to a much more sought after BiB ( EH Taylor ) and the Taylor loses every time.

[@TangoSierra01]

Interesting that you thought the ET tasted like an 8 yr whiskey...I blinded it against it's sister mashbills when 1924 was released...Michter's 10, OF1924, and Cooper's Craft and all six of us pretty easily placed it last with similar notes that it was noticeably young, tasted like virgin oak, and lacked any depth or complexity compared to the others in the flight. Most of us were were pretty shocked at the reveal thinking it might have been the Cooper's Craft (which actually did amazingly well). The ET is a super solid bottle on its own, but just couldn't stand up to it's sister bottles. I'll have to blind it against a couple of different eras of WT101 to see how it holds up. Really enjoyed this episode and found it very interesting!

[@stuffandwhiskey]

Definitely interesting. Single blind vs double blind adds a wrinkle in and of itself, and having those higher aged offerings in there to juxtapose against the Early Times profile would indeed make it stick out as younger, but with two whiskeys of similar age-and without knowing what you’re drinking-you have less context for age. Also worth noting that Early Times quality control is pretty loosey goosey and there are some great batches and some lackluster batches out there. Not a lot of effort goes into batch consistency on a budget product IMO. If you got one of the duds (as the Bourbon Junkies have a few times) that’s a bummer. Luckily all ours have been great. We even sent the Bourbon Junkies a double blind flight with our Early Times and the old Brown Forman Early Times and they both agreed our new Early Times is miles better than their new Early Times and our old Brown Forman Early Times.

[@thomasanderson2870]

Early TIMES is one of the best for the price, not a fan of Any W.T. products so I'm kinda biased. 🥃😉👍 Cheers

[@06mustangCE]

Someday I'll find an Early Times. Someday. Maybe they just don't have distribution in California. idk. Also, I just learned yesterday that in Back to the Future 2 when it shows Biff's buddy spiking the punch at the school dance in 1955 he was using Early Times. lol

[@1stkazoo754]

Randomly found a few at total wine in San Diego probably a year or so ago now. Had never seen one before and haven’t seen anymore anywhere here since.

[@WhiskyForBeginners]

4:45 I don't have a clue what people mean by "smooth." Every explanation I've gotten differs to an extent from every other explanation. As far as I can make out, it really just means, "I like it." The only aspect of any whisky that I've ever encountered which I would characterize as smooth is the mouthfeel, and usually other adjectives are more descriptive. 8:07 Palates definitely differ. I've never had any whisky which struck me as effervescent. 🙂 9:23 Both bottles at just $25 - you can have fine whiskey without having to mortgage your firstborn. 😍

[@stuffandwhiskey]

Smooth for us both means a noticeable lack of spice or heat. It’s easy to be smooth and watery, which isn’t good, and conversely a pour with mouthfeel that’s smooth and silky is good. Smooth definitely doesn’t mean good in our book. It’s actually usually a negative term unless a lot of flavor accompanies the silky mouthfeel.

[@TangoSierra01]

@@stuffandwhiskey I think smooth becomes contentious when that's the only descriptor someone gives...Oh, yeah...that's smooth! It doesn't really say anything or tell you anything. When used in context as one of several descriptors, or as part of a comprehensive review I've never had an issue with the term.

[@perfectophil]

I usually don't get effervescence but I do have a Stagg that feels like pop rocks when you drink it - old school reference 😂

[@bullseye0112]

I wish they had Early Times here in San Diego.

[@stuffandwhiskey]

If you’re ever traveling, it’s usually an easy find in the markets which it’s available and well worth picking up for a value bottle.

[@bullseye0112]

@@stuffandwhiskey they have Early Times at Total Wine and More but not the same stuff. Seems to always to get good reviews. Thanks for the response. I know it's just a value Bourbon but can't wait to try it.

[@MichaelVanKorn]

Great video as always! 🍻

[@LP23D6]

2 nice choices. I think the Early Times wins by a nose. Both are nice for the price.

[@MrDobberdude]

I am with you guys love both ET just a little more

[@tomhalstead8935]

This video double-underscores what many of your videos make clear: you don’t need to spend big to get big flavor (and often the law of diminishing returns leads to disappointment). As for “smooth”, if it’s OK with Chris Stapleton, it’s OK with me. And if I ever see a bottle of ET in SW Florida, I’ll buy it.

[@marks6489]

Are your openings a surprise to Erin or has she heard already? I enjoy watching the reaction.

[@stuffandwhiskey]

They’re always a surprise to her and sometimes even a surprise to myself. 😂

[@KurtFogleman]

Can’t find ET Bib. If you can it’s $50+. Can get WT every day for under $25.

[@WhiskyForBeginners]

I've never seen Early Times BiB, just the regular stuff. But the 101 Turkey is good, always available, and $25 or less here (IIRC my current bottle was $21).

[@arashefi]

The problem with Early Times or stuff like this is they are not easy to find everywhere, but they are always better than mass products like WT. EW, JD, and etc

[@kevinjones4976]

Nice review! I’d take Rare Breed over both of those

[@stuffandwhiskey]

Us too!

[@adamrhoffman]

I’d love to have Early Times available where I am…

[@stuffandwhiskey]

If you’re ever traveling, it’s usually an easy find in the markets which it’s available and well worth picking up for a value bottle.

[@blakestah]

Inquiring minds want to know. Was the ET BiB a 2024 or a 2019 (Sazarac or Brown-Forman)?

[@stuffandwhiskey]

Metal cap Sazerac bottling

[@DueyVarian]

My question for Erin is why is the Amazon man delivering packages and not the UPS man?

[@stuffandwhiskey]

Excellent question! 😂

[@travisrobeson306]

Got a laser code on the ET bottle?

[@stuffandwhiskey]

Somebody cue Cam! 😂

[@877-MASH-NOW]

WHISKEY CHEERS 🍻

[@IzzosPlace]

Great blind friends

[@xiamengbaby]

Is that the old ET bib or the newer stuff?

[@stuffandwhiskey]

Metal cap Sazerac bottling

[@xiamengbaby]

@@stuffandwhiskey wow, and you still liked it that much!

[@xiamengbaby]

I've got a long opened plastic top and an unopened metal top. I'll have to do my own blind comparison.

[@mpopudrebko]

You guys so much fun. haha.

[@RyanDickey-lp3sn]

I’d pick wild turkey 101 all day. Maybe it’s just the bottle I have, but early times bottled in bond is not great to me

[@89sooner]

Boo on that intro, Josh!

[@89sooner]

I had the old bottle of ETBIB (BTW, I did a double blind of old vs new ETBIB a couple of months back, and the new easily the old, so on that trial, I am with y’all…I wasn’t with a single blind or two…but those were tight). ETBIB beat WT101 pretty convincingly for me tonight. It was so good tonight. David

[@brettheiner7125]

ET totally smokes WT101 for me. I think WT101 is one of too many products that are slipping in quality.

[@zacharyanderson6133]

If I shaved my beard, it might crush my wife 😂

[@stuffandwhiskey]

You and me both!

[@Redbeard662]

Budget goat

[@stuffandwhiskey]

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