The wood lends to the color and characteristics of a distilled spirit. At bottom, the quality of the wood lends to the quality of the product.
By law, calling a whiskey 'bourbon' requires that it be aged in virgin barrels. As the article notes, Early Times re-uses barrels and, thus, cannot call itself 'bourbon' -- it's label reads "Kentucky whiskey". And they employ artificial coloring agents and flavors to keep the color and taste consistent from one batch to the next.
You want whiskey aged in re-used barrels? All scots whisky is -- the wood has little to do with the flavor or the color of scotch.
Indeed, the scots whisky distilleries pay a premium for used Jack Daniel's barrels.
Tennessee would be making a huge mistake to relax the rules for "Tennessee whiskey".
Early Times is, excuse the pun, bottom of the barrel then?
Absolutely true. Of course, it also true that, historically, some makers of spirits have included additives. There is a story of a producer of Scotch whisky who was stringent about quality. The result was a pale, straw-colored spirit. Critics were unhappy -- "Why is your whisky so pale?" they asked.
"Why is my competitor's so dark?" he replied.