US domestic Early Times is not, but the export one is -- and a completely different (far superior) product. Don't you just hate this kind of market differentiation? I'm told ET has a big reputation in Japan and thus the brand was kept as a premium product while in the US it was made into cheap entry-level undrinkable swill Gotta love the US market! Pity the poor tourists who buy it in the US. There are many other spirits which suffer from this same condition -- same branding but a different product in different countries.