Doug Allen of Baton Rouge, La. (center, with cup) shares a $1,000 mint julep with friends, including Tom Rathmann (left) and reigning Miss Louisiana Lacy Minchew. Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.

Brown Forman spokesman Tim Laird takes us back to whiskey’s medicinal roots.

“In the early days of farming, you didn’t have Tylenol and medicines like that, so people would have whiskey as a sort of a bracer to start the day,” Laird said.

So, people quaffing down mint juleps at 11 a.m. could not be seen so much as strikingly early imbibing as much as continuing an agrarian tradition. And Derby morning, it was a tradition Doug Allen of Baton Rouge, La.  was paying $1,000 to continue — for the third year in a row.

“It’s a good way to start off a great day,” Allen said, as friends passed his $1,000 cocktail in the golden cup around.

John Birkhofer, Matthew Birkhofer and Mike Smith enjoy some juleps in the morning.

He said Derby is a great time to drink a julep because the bourbon is fresher in Kentucky and there’s a greater variety here.

Mike Smith of Fairfax, Va., was enjoying his first juelp — of the Early Times $10 variety — and it sounded like it wouldn’t be his last.

“It’s got a nice taste,” said Smith, who was enjoying one of several Derby traditions at his first Derby, including wearing a seersucker suit. “I think I’ll make this part of my drinking repertoire.”

His friend, Matthew Birkhofer, a University of Louisville law student, is more inclined to confine his julep drinking to Derby day, saying, “I prefer my bourbon straight.”