Month: November 2020

It’s Fox News anchor against Fox Business anchor, which is something that no one would have expected to see a year ago (since Shep Smith left town, that is), but President Trump’s fake “election fraud” claims are tearing the cable news set apart. Things were bound to get interesting after Fox and Friends crapped all over Trump’s conspiracy about evil software changing people’s votes, even as Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson are keeping their tin-foil hat-dream alive. And now, Eric Shawn isn’t here for colleague Maria Bartiromo’s lie-filled Trump interview from this past weekend.

This would be the same interview in which Trump complained to Bartiromo about “massive dumps” that cost him the election. That’s bizarre enough, but Bartiromo didn’t challenge any of Trump’s claims, despite judge after judge shutting down the Trump campaign’s “voter fraud” lawsuits and the New York Times securing statements from state officials, who all say there’s no evidence of voter fraud. Trump, however, insisted to Bartiromo that there’s “so much evidence” to support his allegations, and mean judges “won’t allow us” to run with it.

Bartiromo did no fact-checking on Trump’s baseless claims. In response, CNN’s Brian Stelter stated, on air, of the interview, “This was not hardball. It wasn’t even softball. It was t-ball.” Stelter also tweeted this clip of Eric Shawn’s on-air refutation of the debacle.

Here’s what Eric Shawn said:

“He doubled down on his claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, even though local and national election officials, as well as federal and state courts in multiple states, and in some cases the Trump campaign’s own lawyers, have said there is no evidence to prove that. Experts say such claims are unsupported falsehoods that are not backed up by any facts.”

Things are not looking good for Maria Bartiromo here, right? She was cool with Trump declining to provide the evidence that he insists exists, despite experts and state officials insisting that this evidence does not exist. It’ll be interesting to see how Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson handle this one, given that Bartiromo (as Vox’s Aaron Rupar puts it) is “basically a North Korean news anchor now.”

The Gallagher family will soon take a final lap on Showtime’s Shameless for an eleventh season to match the duration of the show’s U.K. counterpart, which (of course) entered finale territory in a different manner. For one thing, we’re still in the middle of a pandemic, one that pushed back Showtime’s summer release plans. Following rewrites, the show got back on course for a December 7 return date with plans to not-ignore what’s happening with a Chicago South Side spin. One can obviously expect the show to tackle Covid-19 in a different context than, say, the gruelingly appropriate Grey’s Anatomy treatment that’s ongoing. Whether the Shameless version will treat the virus with gallows humor or as a strictly-practical component of the story, who knows?

What is more certain, though, is that many open threads remain from the most recent season, which capped off the show’s Emmy Rossum-less voyage. Mickey and Ian are now married (will it last?), Lip has fallen off the wagon after another blowout with Tami, and Frank’s still an irredeemable mess. According to this season’s synopsis, Carl will become a cop (no kidding) while Lip juggles increased patriarch duties. Series creator John Wells also revealed that Debbie must register as a sex offender, which feels like post-dated comeuppance after she lost her virginity (and became pregnant) by raping Derek back in Season 5. So, those things will definitely happen, but what else should happen? I made a wish list for the last Shameless rodeo.

5. At least drop some hints about a future spinoff:

Not too long ago, the show torched its best chance at setting up a spinoff for Liam, who would have been ideal to revisit in a few years or even a decade. The framing was optimal, given that Liam found a role model (Mavar) outside of the family and a real chance at escaping Gallagher-dom. Unfortunately, Liam — after showing a ton of character development and exasperated awareness of his purpose as a tool for Frank’s grifting — instead chose to tell Mavar to go to hell. It made no sense after the writers propped up Liam’s situation, so that he might actually break away from the Gallagher cycle, but yeah, I gave up on a Liam-and-Mavar buddy-comedy series. Now, I can only hold out hope that Veronica and Kevin could fuel their own little spinoff-startup down the street. They are endlessly entertaining and a lot less stressful to witness than the Lip-and-Tami train. Oh, and Frank definitely would not be invited to the party, and that’s a promising detail that can’t be overlooked for a fresh take to launch a franchise.

4. Put a fork in Frank, for real this time:

Enough, already. Yes, Frank is an anthropomorphized cockroach, but even roaches can be exterminated. After he’s caused misery (and even, in some cases, death) to so many people in his path, the time has finally come for Frank to die. How should it happen? That’s a tough one. It shouldn’t be a coronavirus-caused death. That’d be too fraught with mixed emotions, and it would paint Frank in a sympathetic light. That can’t happen. He’s trash, so he needs to go out as a direct consequence of his own actions. Or fall into the river. I’d be alright with that, too. Don’t let anyone be sad about it, and don’t make it bleakly funny either. Frank ceased to be comic relief seasons ago, and after he faked his own demise and somehow survived destroying his own liver, the show should just do it and move right on to the next scene. He deserves no more and no less.

3. Let’s see both Mandy Milkovich-es: Why not?

Alright, I’m being absurd here, but I think that a fine bottle episode could be had by bringing back Mandy, and by that, I mean both Mandys. So, we’d see the version sweetly played by Jane Levy and the gritty devolution portrayed by Emma Greenwell. That tonal transformation was abrupt (even though it made sense without explanation), and Mandy never saw a proper resolution to her story. Instead, we saw her return for one Season 6 episode, when she called upon Ian to help her dispose of a dead body. That latter Mandy incarnation saw only tragedy and left her abusive family home to become an escort. I’d like to see the show actually put the two Mandys together (one perky and the other world-weary), and they could exact vengeance upon those who wronged them. It’d be nuts. Come to think of it, I’d watch Being Mandy Milkovich as a spinoff, too.

2. Allow Lip to feel enduring (and maybe even everlasting) happiness:

I got silly, and now it’s time to get serious. The death of Lip’s sobriety (the last time we saw him) was one of the greatest tragedies ever highlighted on this show. Years of hard work slipped down the drain, and now, he must claw his way back while juggling unsustainably increasing family responsibilities and dealing with Tami’s garbage treatment of him. Things are never as real for anyone else on Shameless than they’ve been for Lip, but it’s time to cut this guy a break. At least, let him achieve some form of peace. More AA meetings. More doing well at work. More of concentrating upon his own kid, rather than raising his siblings. Maybe less of Tami would help, and Lip surely deserves some freaking self-care time. I don’t care what it is: working on bikes, getting a mani-pedi, whatever he needs to unwind. Let him live some semblance of a normal life.

1. Bring back Fiona for the finale, and let Steve/Jimmy come, too:

I might get roasted for this one because Justin Chatwin’s character was very clearly a con artist, but he was still somehow less of a d*ck to Fiona (when he wasn’t disappearing, that is) than any other dirty, rotten scoundrel she dated. I mean, he didn’t exactly want to get kidnapped and stuffed on a boat and forced into “slave labor at a Brazilian cocoa processing plant,” right? Yeah, that was probably semi-embellishment from Steve, but he let Fiona know upfront that he was trouble. Whereas her other boyfriends hid drug addictions, publicly humiliated her, and gaslit her into oblivion. So if Emmy Rossum plans on making a quickie appearance as the show bows — and let’s face it, this has to happen — allow her to her do it after secretly reconciling with her first love on the show. It’d be a grand surprise to see this happen after Shameless finally removed Chatwin’s naked butt from the opening credits last year. Let the butt come back, too! And maybe Steve will have the medical degree that he wanted, so he can refuse to let Frank once again grift his way into organ-donation-land. See, now we’re having fun and solving problems because, guess what? Frank must die.

Showtime’s ‘Shameless’ will return on December 7.

When Meek Mill isn’t rapping, he’s doing his best to do good for his community through various initiatives. Now, he’s trying to get a big-time video game player involved in a new one, as he wants to team up with Sony or Microsoft to give away some new PS5 and Xbox consoles to kids who might not otherwise be able to have one.

Over the weekend, Mill tweeted, “Play station or Xbox should do a collab with us in the hood with those PS5’s and new Xbox’s this Christmas for the ones who can’t afford em! I’ll put up money…I do big toy drives in Philadelphia every year let me know.. them games keep them kids out of them bad environments!”

Indeed, the toy drives Mill mentioned he does are big. Last year, he and Dreamchasers hosted the second annual drive, which provided toys to over 3,500 kids. For the event, Mill was joined by NBA player Trey Burke, rapper Shawn Smith, boxer Darmani Rock, and dirt biker Chino Braxton.

Mill has also been helping out during the pandemic, as his and Jay-Z’s Reform Alliance got a $10 million donation for protective equipment in prisons. Meanwhile, around this time last year, he and Michael Rubin outlined a plan to donate millions of dollars to Philadelphia schools.

Meek Mill is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

It’s tempting – tempting! – to explain away the recent, undeniable resurgence of the Star Wars Prequels the same way Poe Dameron explains the return of Emperor Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker: “somehow the Prequels returned,” and just be done with the whole thing with no further explanation. But, no, there’s a lot going on here and, unfortunately for me, I can’t help but find the whole thing fascinating. Or, in other words, using current internet slang that I know in a few years I’ll regret: The Star Wars Prequels live in my head rent-free.

At first I tried to ignore the post-The Rise of Skywalker Prequels surge, thinking it would fade. But the lack of no new Star Wars movies anywhere on the immediate horizon has let this surge continue unabraded. Actually, the lack of any real blockbuster type movie has probably played a role here. But it’s tricky, because is this a case of actually misjudging these three movies? Or was The Rise of Skywalker just such a misfire we are getting the weird, “In retrospect, George W. Bush was actually good,” type of phenomenon going on? In reality, it’s probably a little bit of both.

A friend of mine always makes this great point about the Star Wars Prequels: If they had a different director, better acting, and better dialogue, they’d be pretty great. On the surface that seems very dismissive. But when you pick apart what that means, there’s a lot of truth there. Because the overall arc of the three films, the story, is actually there. Compare that to The Rise of Skywalker, which had a great director, good acting, and decent enough dialogue. If the story isn’t there from beginning, the movie is doomed before it even begins. Which is why both my appreciation and my frustration for the Prequels has increased. My appreciation because it’s a great story and, as we’ve seen, that’s not a given. My frustration because it’s all right there, it’s just not properly executed.

The thing that made the Original Trilogy work so well is that even though all three movies had a different director, the central storyteller was Lucas himself. And even though Lucas made things up as he went along – contrary to some opinions the Original Trilogy was certainly not “all laid out” before they were individually written; in the first draft of The Empire Strikes Back Vader still wasn’t Luke’s father, and Leia being Luke’s sister was a pretty lazy way to tie up a loose end Lucas didn’t want to explore any further – at least it was his story to make up as he went along. As we saw in the Sequel Trilogy, filmmaking out of spite for the other director who didn’t do what you would have done doesn’t really make the best story. Lucas doesn’t get enough credit for writing the second draft of The Empire Strikes Back, which is the first draft that looks anything like the final movie. But he was smart enough to hire Lawrence Kasdan to come in and tighten up the dialogue. And the dialogue in that movie is tight. Then Lucas just let Kasdan write the third movie himself, based on Lucas’s story.

Lucas should have followed this template for the Prequels. He’s mentioned numerous times he hates directing, yet he directed all three Prequels himself. And, yeah, it kind of shows in all three of them that he hates directing. (He assembled a fantastic cast for those movies, but didn’t really put them in a place to succeed. A lot of “acting with tennis balls.”) And he wrote all three scripts himself without anyone (at least officially) punching them up for him.

Over the years I’ve had a lot of different opinions about The Prequels. In fact, there’s probably nothing I’ve changed my mind on more, and more dramatically, then those three movies. I saw all three of them at midnight the night they came out and, on first watch, I loved all three. Then, over the next few weeks that followed each, after repeated viewings, I slowly realized that there were some real problems. I fell for this same routine every time, three times in a row. (The Rise of Skywalker is still the only Star Wars movie I disliked while watching for the first time. And I had paid money to fly myself across the country to the premiere: literally the best atmosphere to watch a Star Wars movie. I mention this to point out, at the time, I certainly thought I’d be liking this movie.)

After The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi (two movies I still like or love, individually) I wrote how the Prequels would become these weird three movies, that look nothing like the other movies, and would almost be strange footnotes that would wind up becoming “cool.” (Yeah, I admit that was somewhat wrong. Though, the “cool” part isn’t far off. But I sure didn’t see The Rise of Skywalker coming, a movie so scattershot, we’d have to rethink everything about this franchise.) I’ve also written that Revenge of the Sith was the worst Star Wars movie, primarily because the story was all set up. It was an easy slam dunk, yet it still somehow missed. (I still maintain Revenge of the Sith is still the worst prequel for the very reason I thought so before. But I no longer think it’s the worst Star Wars movie. To the point I now actually see some merit in ROTS.)

Oh, yes, speaking of having a movie all set up for an easy slam dunk… When The Rise of Skywalker came out a year ago, I expected the people who hated The Last Jedi — for having the audacity to actually take chances with the characters — to grit their teeth and pretend they liked The Rise of Skywalker. What I wasn’t expecting was those people to dislike The Rise of Skywalker, yet still somehow blame it all on Rian Johnson, who had literally nothing to do with that movie. The talking point goes that of course The Rise of Skywalker is bad because the way The Last Jedi left off, there was nowhere to go. Oh puh-leeze. The Last Jedi ends with our heroes being defeated and barely escaping, with now so few of them left they all fit comfortably on the Millennium Falcon. Meanwhile, Kylo Ren just killed his boss and has now taken over an entire military.

Here’s the truth: from that ending you can literally do anything. The sky is the limit. It’s the opposite of being painted into a corner. The possibilities are literally endless. And, yes, as it turns out, one possibility was “retcon the things the new team didn’t like about the middle movie.” Again, as it turns out, a movie and plot driven solely by pure spite doesn’t really make a great movie. I’d understand this line of thinking if, in the last scene of The Last Jedi, Poe says to Rey, “Now we must go find the doohickey that leads us to the hidden asteroid planet that leads us to the knife that leads us to knife map that leads us to the Death Star that leads us to a room in the Death Star.” If that had happened, yeah I suppose the next movie needs to clear that all up. But give me a break that that just had to be the plot of The Rise of Skywalker.

And, see, it’s in moments like right now, going through the plot points of The Rise of Skywalker – that literally all sound fake as I write them out, but, somehow, aren’t – that makes me think fondly of all three Prequels. Well, just the fact they don’t exist as spite is a big thing going for them. But when I think of them and think of the story – they endear themselves to me. They have an actual point of view. They are legitimately trying to say something. When they veer too close toward something confusing and boring about the Force – midichlorians – they just drop the subject and move on instead of doubling down on Force dyads, or whatever. You see, right now I’m pretty sure I like these movies!

And then I watch them and I immediately go back to, “Well, there are some cool scenes and the story really is great, but there are moments when these are not easy to watch.” But that’s the key, “moments when these are not easy to watch.” That’s a far cry from, “I can’t watch this.” I’ve literally tried re-watching The Rise of Skywalker over the past year and I just can’t do it. It’s just too big of a mess. Again, the story itself, from the beginning, is just so off from the start, nothing can save it. It’s the exact opposite of the Prequels. And that’s why the Prequels will always live on with us, because we know they are like Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi. We know there’s some good in there and we will forever try to mine that good out of those movies. And, now, after much thought, I think it’s worthy to keep trying. To paraphrase Vader’s last words, “You were right about them. You were right.”

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Rudy Giuliani’s press conference on November 19 was an all-timer. Not only did Donald Trump’s highest-priced, most bumbling lawyer quote My Cousin Vinny and break out a terrible Joe Pesci impression, black goo started leaking down his face.

Fox News called him a liar, Anderson Cooper said he was “pathetic,” and even Geraldo Rivera, the same Geraldo who thinks the COVID vaccine should be called “the Trump,” has had enough of the former-mayor of New York City. Giuliani didn’t discuss the Venom-looking ooze at the time — he was too busy peddling false conspiracy theories about the election — but he joked it about on a recent episode of The Not Even a Show.

When asked by comedian Chris James about the “black stuff that was seeping out of your head,” Giuliani replied, “Oh my God, it was some of my brains, it was some of my brains. I was thinking so hard. God, it was like, this was a very rough press conference, gotta get everything across, gotta think really hard.” Those are the kind of comedy chops that got him an SNL hosting gig (seriously, what a strange little man). Rudy also said he used a “rag” to put his brain back in, which “rejuvenated” his “brainpower.” This rag?

You can watch The Not Even a Show episode below.

(Via Mediaite)

Thanksgiving was last week and the holiday could mean bad news for life in the pandemic. Dr. Anthony Fauci believes there could be a surge of coronavirus cases after people travel to and from Thanksgiving celebrations, and the CDC website recommended celebrating with people you live with and/or having virtual celebrations with those who don’t share the same roof with you. So, when Cardi B revealed over the weekend that she had a big Thanksgiving gathering, she saw some backlash.

Last night, Cardi reflected on her holiday weekend, writing on Twitter, “12kids and 25 adults over the holidays.It was lit !!” Following that tweet, there were responses critical of Cardi’s decision to have a large celebration, like one that read, “i hope it was worth it for you and those 25 adults and 12 kids. i truly hope it was because i can promise you it’s not worth it to everyone else who is affected by your poor choices aka the healthcare workers who you will run to when you’re sick.”

Cardi insisted, however, that she was abundantly cautious in preparing for the event, saying that she “spent soo much money” on coronavirus tests for everybody in attendance. She tweeted, “Sorry my bad wasn’t trying to make nobody feel bad.I just had my family in my home for the first time and it felt so good & uplifted me .I spent soo much money getting every1 tested but it felt worth it.I wasnt trying to offend no1.” She later added that regular testing has become a part of her routine, writing, “ME specially and everyone that works around me get tested literally 4 times a week.Im In the middle of work and Everytime we clock in we MUST GET TESTED !” She also wrote, “People be trying tooo hard to be offended.I wonder how they survive the real world [laughing emoji].”

Meanwhile, despite what Cardi declares in “WAP,” it appears that she did in fact cook something for Thanksgiving.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

When Donald Trump leaves the White House in January, he’ll take his family with him. That includes senior advisor son-in-law and senior advisor daughter, Ivanka, who’s not looking fantastic on joint father-daughter tax issues, and what will happen with that drama is TBD. Ivanka seems kinda oblivious to reality, though, while issuing not well-received tweets on greenhouse gas “victories” (which had a tragic cause, along with the unavoidable reality that her dad pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accord) and stock market “celebrations” (which had everything to do with Joe Biden confidence from the market). She’s very obviously tweeting in the wrong direction on most days, and where shall she go next year? Probably not New York City.

Billboards from the Lincoln Project have already warned Ivanka and Jared that they aren’t welcome in Manhattan, and the New York Times has tipped the pair for setting up shop in New Jersey, given the well-documented anti-Trump sentiment running through the Big Apple, where Donald still technically owns tons of real estate, including Trump Tower. (Dad will probably head to Mar-a-Lago in Florida instead? Or, you know, Russia, if things get really hairy, legally.)

According to this tweet from The Good Liars (comedic duo Jason Selvig and Davram Stiefler), the anti-Ivanka-and-Jared campaign has reached street level with these “Not Wanted”-style posters.

The Good Liars is, um, enjoying this era in U.S. history. They’ve already snapped up a domain name for the future.

Meanwhile, Kushner is flying to Saudi Arabia this week amid rising tensions over the assassination of Iran nuclear program head Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Kushner is expected to (attempt to) broker a deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel? Oh boy.

As for Ivanka? Still tweeting.

For many viewers of The Walking Dead: World Beyond, the chief reason they have been watching is to find out how the series would eventually connect to the mystery surrounding Rick Grimes. As we know, in the ninth season, Rick Grimes was medically evacuated by the CRM on The Walking Dead and taken to an unknown location. Other than that, all we know is that Grimes’ whereabouts will be explained in the eventual Rick Grimes’ movie.

In the meantime, the second spin-off of The Walking Dead, World Beyond, concerns itself specifically with the CRM, which we now know is short for Civic Republic Military. Over the course of the first two season of The World Beyond limited series, we have learned that the CRM is headquartered in New York, that they are experimenting on humans in order to find a cure, and that they are trying to assemble the people most useful to extending civilization into the future.

Everyone else is expendable.

In the parlance of the CRM, “B”s are useful to building the future of civilization (“A”s, meanwhile, are used as test subjects in human experiments). Rick Grimes is a B. Hope, one of the characters in The World Beyond, is also a B. She has genius-level intelligence, and after the CRM tricked her into journeying across the continent from Nebraska to New York, Hope also now has real-world skills. That makes her, like Rick Grimes, very valuable to the CRM.

We do not know how Rick Grimes feels about the CRM, but we do know that Hope is not a fan. In the season finale of The World Beyond, the chess pieces were essentially put into place for what will be another All Out War, of sorts, in the second and final season of The World Beyond pitting the CRM against Hope and her alliance. Hope — who allowed herself to be abducted by the CRM — will be attempting to take it down from the inside, while her friends )in addition to the survivors of the Campus Colony) will be trying to dismantle the CRM from the outside (the CRM massacred almost everyone at the Campus Colony because they were not useful to them).

This All Out War between Hope and her alliance and the CRM will almost surely culminate with the Rick Grimes movie. Some of The World Beyond characters may still be alive, and some may even figure into the movie, but I would guess that The World Beyond storyline eventually lights the match that leads to a broader effort, led by Rick Grimes, to overthrow the fascist military organization. No offense to the characters on The World Beyond, but most of them are kids, and they don’t have the experience or leadership skills to overthrow a huge military organization. Rick Grimes does.

That’s ultimately where I expect Rick Grimes will come in. After Hope and the remainder of the Campus Colony light the match to start a revolution, Rick Grimes (and possibly Michonne!) will take over and (hopefully) lead that revolution to victory.

The pieces of this puzzle will continue to come together again starting in February 2021, when The Walking Dead returns.

Picking the absolute best bourbon of 2020 is an incredibly onerous task. There are a lot of great bourbon whiskeys out there. Tons. Seriously, soooo many. With new expressions dropping all the time. Naming one “the best” of them all is nothing more than a matter of opinion and personal taste at the end of the day.

Still, we drink a lot of the stuff around these parts and trust our own palates highly. So we’re happy to take a shot at it. We’ll even rank our favorites in order.

This year was a solid year for bourbon, all around — both in terms of new expressions and yearly releases of classic bottles. For us, the great definer of who landed where on this “best of” list is simple: How does it taste? Price in the bourbon world is all too inclement to change. Relatively accessible bottles like one of the expressions from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection carry a $99 MSRP (suggested retail) but hit shelves marked at $500 per bottle or more. Still, we wanted to keep things sort of reasonable, so our list spans prices from $25 to… a whole lot more than that.

In the end, the ten bottles below are simply bourbon whiskeys we loved this year. Whether you’re looking for something new to try during the holiday season, eager to treat yourself after a generally sh*tty 2020, or just curious about how an old standard holds up, our ranking will help you find the perfect dram of bourbon as the year draws to a close.

10. Old Tub

ABV: 50%
Average Price: $24

The Whiskey:

Old Tub is a throwback to Jim Beam’s early days, when the whole brand was actually called “Old Tub.” The juice is an unfiltered version of the best-selling bourbon in the world, bottled at a higher proof (also a throwback). It used to only be available in half-bottles at the distillery, but this year Beam decided to take it nationwide in full-sized bottles — a win for us!

Tasting Notes:

Kettle corn covered in salted caramel greets you on the nose, alongside classic bourbon vanilla with a small dose of oak. The taste delivers on those notes and amps up the flavors with sharp spice and sweet apples. The oaky bitterness comes in late and adds a chew to the shortish end of the sip.

Bottom Line:

For around $20, you really can’t beat this bourbon. It’s a workhorse that’ll help your shots, cocktails, and highballs shine.

9. Baker’s Single Barrel 7 Year

ABV: 53.5%
Average Price: $60

The Whiskey:

This is a brand-new release from Beam’s high-end line. It’s also the first single barrel release from Baker’s, which intends to phase out its small-batch expressions in favor of this bottle. The juice comes from hand-selected barrels from specific spots in the Beam warehouses, with whiskey that’s at least seven years old.

The bottle has also been redesigned, adding a nice heft and a cork that makes it clear you’re drinking something special.

Tasting Notes:

This is a single barrel expression so there’ll be variation. Expect big bourbon notes of spice and vanilla with a real sense of the oak with a slightly musty edge. Our bottle leaned into the vanilla and spice and accented it with savory herbs, mild fruitiness, and a hint of tobacco smoke. The end was medium-length with footing in the vanilla, spice, and oak quadrants until the very end.

Bottom Line:

This is just a nice, easy-sipping bourbon. It’s also inexpensive enough for single barrel cocktails like a Manhattan or Brown Derby.

8. Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon

ABV: 55%
Average Price: $400

The Whiskey:

This year’s Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch is a hand-selected blend of four different bourbons made at Four Roses (they actually make ten different bourbons in-house). The whiskeys were between 12 and 19 years old and leaned into yeasts that highlighted “delicate fruit” and “mild spice.”

Tasting Notes:

Fruit orchards full of apples and oranges mingle with fresh honey and clear bourbon vanilla on the nose. The apple then becomes more pear and bushels of peaches arrive on the taste with light touches of red berries and dusty spice. The end embraces the spice, fruit, and oak as it slowly fades out, calling you in for another sip.

Bottom Line:

Four Roses always delivers with their whiskeys. This is a dram you should sit with. A nice hit of water will help it bloom into its full beauty.

7. Balcones Texas Blue Corn Bourbon

ABV: 64.5%
Average Price: $58

The Whiskey:

Waco, Texas’ Balcones remains one of the most interesting craft distilleries in America. A big reason is their masterful use of locally sourced and sustainably grown blue corn. Their Texas Blue Corn Bourbon is a yearly limited release that just keeps getting more refined every year.

Tasting Notes:

Cornbread dripping with butter and honey draws you in, with a sense of mint, tobacco, and white pepper. The palate dances between Red Hots, bitter black tea, campfire roasted marshmallow, and a bold note of bitter-yet-sweet orange marmalade. The corn and cinnamon hold on through the long end; toasted oak arrives late on the gradual fade.

Bottom Line:

This is a “what’s that?” bottle that delivers as a workhorse whiskey worth sipping with water, mixing into a cocktail, or using for your new favorite highball.

6. Elijah Craig Barrel Proof

ABV: 66.4%
Average Price: $75

The Whiskey:

This small-batched barrel proof whiskey has been delivering year after year since 2013. The draw with this expression is that you’re getting exactly what was in the barrel without any water added or filtration. This is pure whiskey and it rocks.

Tasting Notes:

Rich caramel mingles with tart apple, orange oils, and a dose of toasted oakiness. The palate brings about a rich vanilla creaminess with toffee hints and plenty of fruit, spice, and oak, keeping the taste steady. The spice becomes a mix of peppery and cinnamon-forward notes, as the vanilla and toffee slowly fade away — leaving you warm and fuzzy inside.

Bottom Line:

This is a hot sipper that needs some time to open up with water. But it’s well worth the wait. It’s also one hell of a cocktail base, thanks to the deep flavors and high proof.

5. William Larue Weller — 2020 Antique Collection

ABV: 67.25%
Average Price: $700

The Whiskey:

This year’s Buffalo Trace Antique Collection was another stellar roll-out of whiskey. Our standout was their 12-year-old William Larue Weller. This wheated bourbon slaps. The juice was aged on very specific floors on specific spots of the Buffalo Trace warehouses, where 73 percent of the whiskey was lost to the angels, leaving this wonderous elixir behind.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a mildness that draws you in on the nose — alongside creamy vanilla, spicy oak, and caramel. The taste leans into the vanilla and adds warmth, with a note of cherry and dark cacao powder bringing a coffee bitterness, especially with a few drops of water. The spicy oak kicks in as the sip slowly fades through your senses with that vanilla, cherry, and dark chocolate lingering.

Bottom Line:

The MSRP on this bottle is only $99. Sadly, you’re never going to find it for that price. That being said, if you could find it for $99, this would likely be our favorite all-around whiskey of the year. It’s just so f*cking sippable and always brings a smile to our faces.

4. Barrell Bourbon Dovetail

ABV: 61.45%
Average Price: $115

The Whiskey:

This year’s release of Dovetail was another smashing success. The juice — from the bespoke Louisville blending house — marries whiskeys from three different barrel programs. The core is ten-year-old whiskey aged in Dunn Vineyards Cabernet barrels, blended with an eleven-year-old finished in blackstrap rum barrels and port casks.

The results are a well-rounded dram with serious depth.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a creamy vanilla pudding that’s counterpointed by oily nuts, leather, and spice. The vinous notes come through on the palate with dried fruits, Christmas spice, black pepper, mild savory herbs, and a hint of molasses. The end is just long enough and hits on the nuts and sweetness but adds in an almost eucalyptus note mingled with some dark chocolate when you add water.

Bottom Line:

This is as tasty as it is unique. You really only need a little water to open this one up and then just sit back and enjoy the ride.

3. Michter’s 10 Year

ABV: 47.2%
Average Price: $199

The Whiskey:

Michter’s continues to hit it out the park with this limited edition release. This year’s single barrel 10-year bourbon release was another masterpiece from the Lousiville shingle. The barrels are all hand-selected from their warehouses for their well-accentuated bourbon-iness (it’s a thing!) and bottled with little to no fuss.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a maple syrup sweetness next to a deeply toasted oak nature on the nose. The palate edges towards oily bourbon vanilla with a rush of buttery toffee and sharp spice next to musty oak and worn leather. The end touches back on the maple syrup as it quickly fades through the old wood.

Bottom Line:

This is just a good goddamn dram of whisky. It’s complex, opens nicely with a little water or ice cube, and will wow any whiskey lover.

Yes, it’s a little pricy. But as a holiday gift, it’ll be a winner.

2. Basil Hayden’s 10 Year

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $74

The Whiskey:

This whiskey just dropped. Well, it drops every year just in time for the holiday shopping season. This year’s release is another classic 10-year-old expression in a bottle. The juice is aged six years more than the standard Basil Hayden’s bourbon, giving it a well-aged and well-crafted depth that doesn’t break the bank.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a subtly at play that’s super enticing. Old oak, rich vanilla, and mild spice fill your senses on the nose. The taste leans into the oak, with a toasted nature next to a little library mustiness. Worn leather, peppery spice, and creamy vanilla also pop in. The sip opens up with water, adding in a dark cacao edge with minor notes of caramel, more spice, and more of that musty oak as it slowly fades away.

Bottom Line:

This wins for its price. This bottle could easily cost twice as much and people wouldn’t know the difference. It’s a fine whiskey that is an easy sipper but still cheap enough to pour into a cocktail.

1. Woodinville Bourbon Port Cask

ABV: 45%
Average Price: $50

The Whiskey:

This whiskey from Seattle is raking in the awards for their bourbon. This expression is their award-winning five-year-old bourbon that’s finished for six to 12 months in port casks. The result is a finely crafted bourbon that suits this time of year almost perfectly.

Tasting Notes:

Candied fruit, roasted nuts, and bourbon vanilla entice you into the sip. Those notes lead right into a Christmas cake full of dried fruits, spice, nuts, and plummy sherry depths. The end shines in all of those notes, adding a warming feeling that revels in all the candied fruit, cake, spice, nuts, and oak while it slowly fades away.

Bottom Line:

This is one of our favorite whiskeys of the year. Maybe our even favorite. It’s just so good — a great sipper with a little water or ice and a world-class cocktail base for a Manhattan, Sazerac, or boulevardier.

Releasing an album on Black Friday is generally considered to be a good idea, people are already out shopping and on holiday, timing couldn’t be better right? Well, apparently not. Miley Cyrus only recently announced that her new album Plastic Hearts would be coming out on November 27, which is the Friday after Thanksgiving this year.

But because of issues with stocking all the other sales items and prepping for crowds of shoppers that Black Friday notoriously brings, physical copies of Plastic Hearts were not available for eager fans. Those who ordered a copy to be shipped to them faced delays, and shoppers looking to go purchase it day of were similarly unable to find it.

Miley took the time to respond to frustrated fans with the following statement:

“My fans are everything to me and to know y’all are disappointed when going out to stores/calling/checking stock to be let down I am equally/if not more frustrated.

When choosing 11/27 THE SUGGESTED DATE for album release my team and I were never told major retailers don’t stock physical albums on Black Friday and wouldn’t get copies of PH until a few weeks after release. The packaging of the record is intimate, honest, and a visual reflection of the sound of my new record that I am so proud of. It was created BY ME personally at home making art FOR YOU. I want it in your hands!

I’ve outgrown blame. It’s a waste of time and energy. This album was a labor of love and nothing can sabotage my admiration for the record my collaborators and I have created.”

Check out Miley’s response below, as well as screenshots from frustrated fans: