Month: January 2021

If you like Scotch whisky even a little bit, you probably know that starting a single malt scotch collection isn’t easy. Long matured, high-quality bottles of scotch typically come with a pretty hefty price tag — and yes, the difference is notable. The temptation is to stock your shelves with lower quality (and price) bottles, but what purpose does that really serve?

Better to build your collection slowly, over time. A $50 bottle here. A $250 expression there (hopefully these come as gifts!). Just try not to drink it as fast as you buy it.

To ensure that you don’t waste your hard-earned money, we asked a few bartenders for the bottles they think are worth the cash. Specifically, we asked them to name their favorite bottles of single malt Scotch whisky over $70 that they’re happy to splurge on. Check their answers below!

Lagavulin 12

Chris Johnson, beverage director at Oaxaca Taqueria in New York City

Lagavulin 16 is one of my true loves, but if you can get your hands on the Lagavulin 12 it just may change your definition of aged Scotch. Classic Islay brine and peat, but in a cask strength offering. The increased proof lends a bit more of an evolving oily texture that lets the peat develop on the palate.

If you can find some, let me know where.

Average Price: $145.99

Ardbeg Uigeadail

Gavin Humes, bartender at Scratch|Bar & Kitchen in Encino, California

There are a few great ones out there, but I’ll have to say the Ardbeg Uigeadail. While it can be tricky to pronounce, it’s a real delight on the palate. It’s got a bit of fruitiness, with a strong kick of that smoke from the peat.

Since it’s finished in ex-sherry casks, it features a gorgeous sweetness to it that I enjoy.

Average Price: $74.99

Aberlour A’bunadh

Hayden Miller, head bartender at Bodega Taqueria y Tequila in Miami

Aberlour A’bunadh comes through with excellent sherry notes that help to round out the cask strength heat. Perfect for the fall and winter season sippers.

Average Price: $87.99

The Dalmore Cigar Malt

Nicholas Wyatt, bartender at Teddy’s Bourbon Bar in Prattville, Alabama

The Dalmore Cigar Malt is well worth the price tag. It’s unbelievably rich and packed with delightful sherry notes. You can’t help but feel good sipping it.

Average Price: $149.99

The Balvenie Port Wood

Benjamin Pozar, bartender at Red Brick Craft Distillery in Philadelphia

The Balvenie Port Wood has always been a go-to when someone else is buying. It’s hard to get a flavor that rich without going super oily and peaty. I like a little peat, not a kick in the face.

Average Price: $219.99

Glenmorangie Nectar d’Or

Alex Clark, bartender at Square 1682 in Philadelphia

Nectar d’Or from Glenmorangie. This single malt is first aged in American bourbon casks, then switched over to wine casks from a sweeter wine-growing region in France. The use of two different barrels in the aging process brings a whole new profile to this scotch. You will get citrus on the nose and get flavors such as spices, nuts, and lemons.

This is a Scotch I could drink any time of the year.

Average Price: $73.99

The Macallan Rare Cask

Pablo Guerrero, food and beverage manager at Azabu in Miami

The Macallan Rare Cask. After being aged for up to 21 years, this Highland malt has so much to offer. It has many layers of spices, citrus, flavors, fruit and nuts, chocolate, and vanilla. The complexity and delicacy make this single malt worth its price.

Average Price: $369.99

The Glenrothes 18

Roberto Berdecia, bartender at La Factoria in San Juan, Puerto Rico

The Glenrothes 18. They use a unique combination of American and European casks and finished in sherry butts. The complexity of the flavors is amazing — with hints of dried cherries, vanilla, and honey.

Average Price: $159.99

Talisker 18

Can Coskunkal, director of operations for Street Guys Hospitality in Washington, DC

Talisker 18 is always underrated. It’s my favorite. It’s very complex and ultimately smoky. The flavors of oriental tea and tobacco are the most noticeable and attractive flavors in the mix.

Average Price: $179.99

Writer’s Pick:

Highland Park 18

Hailing from the northern island of Orkney, this well-balanced whisky has hints of vanilla, caramel, dried fruits, all tempered with a subtle smoky finish.

It’s crazy to say, with such an expensive expression, but I see this as a value buy.

Average Price: $159.99

Donald Trump slammed Vice President Mike Pence in a tweet as the Capitol Building riots were unfolding last week. But after his Twitter account was permanently suspended, the president decided to air his grievances with his subordinate in person. One of the explicit words used in Trump’s diss has been making the rounds since Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” went viral, so Stephen Colbert and his The Tonight Show team decided to turn Trump’s comment into a politically-charged remix of the song.

As reported by the New York Times earlier this week, Trump allegedly pestered Pence before the vice president arrived at the senate to confirm Joe Biden as the new president. On their conversation, Trump reportedly told Pence: “You can either go down in history as a patriot or you can go down in history as a p*ssy.” Not missing the opportunity to mock the president’s word choice, Colbert’s team updated the “WAP” lyrics to fit the situation.

Over the recognizable “WAP” beat, one of Colbert’s team members delivered some hilarious lyrics in place of Cardi’s verse. “A sitting POTUS called his veep / A name that needs bleeped / Body part that scares Mike Pence so much / That night, he couldn’t sleep,” she rapped.

Colbert infusing “WAP” with politics mirrors how the song was surprisingly made political follow its release. After Cardi and Megan’s video debuted, many conservatives took offense to its raunchy nature. Everyone from US politicians to conservative talk show hosts Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro lost it when the song went No. 1.

Both the rappers weren’t expecting people to get angry about “WAP.” Responding to the backlash, Megan said the song’s critics should just cover their ears. “When I saw all of the politicians in an uproar about mine and Cardi’s ‘WAP,’ I was just really taken aback,” she said. “Like, why is this your focus right now? If you have an issue with what I’m saying, don’t listen to it.”

Listen to Colbert’s “WAP” remix above.

Some of the artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

In I Care A Lot, Rosamund Pike plays an unhinged woman with a bob haircut. Sound familiar? The trailer for the Netflix comedy-thriller, from The 5th Wave director J Blakeson, is giving people major Gone Girl vibes, except instead of Pike telling Ben Affleck that she’s “the c*nt you married,” she’s calling herself a “f*cking lioness.”

You love to see it.

“A crooked legal guardian who drains the savings of her elderly wards meets her match when a woman she tries to swindle turns out to be more than she first appears,” reads the official plot description. But that leaves out the part in the trailer above where Pike tells a guy, “I’ll grab your d*ck and balls and rip them clean off,” or when she threatens an old lady while vaping, or when Chris Messina and Peter Dinklage show up. If I Care A Lot is even half as good as Gone Girl (both feature narration from Pike!), it will be great. But interestingly, that wasn’t the film that came to mind while she read the script.

“That sort of wonderful rise of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character [in The Wolf of Wall Street], where you just see them just taking everyone for a ride and you just think, ‘Well, you know, it’s a brilliant scheme. Yeah, I have to give it to him.’ I felt a bit like that when I read Marla,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “And I haven’t seen a modern film with a woman [doing that] and running it sort of like a business.” The people, they care a lot for Pike.

I Care A Lot premieres on Netflix on February 19.

Dave Grohl turned 52 years old today, and he recently spent some time reflecting on his past: In a new interview with The Guardian, the Foo Fighters leader spoke about his biggest interests during his teenage years. Over the course of the conversation, he revealed that before Nirvana started to gain traction, his career plan wasn’t focused on music, but on becoming a graphic designer.

Grohl said:

“Like most musicians playing punk and underground music in the ’80s, I didn’t have aspirations to make a career of it. When I was in my later teens, the reward was just some sort of appreciation from the audience. At the most, I hoped that some day I wouldn’t still have to work in the furniture warehouse that I was working in back then, and would have my own apartment. […] I had a five-year plan: to learn music and become a studio drummer, then with the money I made go to college and become a graphic-design artist. When Nirvana got popular, all that sh*t went out of the window. I still can’t read music.”

He also spoke about his first brushes with live music, saying, “My introduction to live music came when my brother took me to a punk show in a small bar in Chicago. I didn’t have that festival/stadium/arena rock experience; I just saw four punk rock dudes on the stage, playing this fast three-chord music, with about 75 people in the audience climbing all over each other. It changed my life. […] By the time I was 14, I was cutting and dyeing my hair and wearing leather jackets. All I wanted to do was leave school, jump in a van and tour sh*tty basement clubs with my punk band.”

Read the full interview here.

If you’re on TikTok — or have anyone in your life who is — you’ve probably already heard the nursery-rhyme tune to Kenndog’s “Drip Like Me.” It’s inescapable melody, borrowed from the song “I Have a Little Dreidel,” has been used in over 1.3 million videos on the app to date. Now, he’s bringing the sing-along fave to UPROXX Sessions.

Maybe it’s because of the instantly recognizable piano strain that starts off the song (you know it, even if you can’t remember where it comes from) or because of the aspirational relatability of its catchy hook, but the LA rapper’s lighthearted track has become a go-to for anyone who wants to flex, twerk, or in some cases, show off their hair care routines. Kenndog’s bio is a little light on details for now — he’s really new — but his introduction to the world has made him an instant favorite.

Watch Kenndog perform “Drip Like Me” above.

UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross, UPROXX Sessions is a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.

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

In the last few months, we’ve seen the British-born Kingsley Ben-Adir play two of the most famous Americans of the last century, Barack Obama in The Comey Rule, and now Malcolm X in Regina King’s wonderful One Night in Miami (which hits Amazon on Friday). The premise of the film, based on the night in which Muhammad Ali (then using the name Cassius Clay) beat Sonny Liston, has Ali (Eli Goree) hanging out with Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) and Kingsley Ben-Adir’s Malcolm X. This night actually happened, but the dialog is imagined.

Obviously, there’s already a pretty famous portrayal of Malcolm X By Denzel Washington in Spike Lee’s 1992 film, which isn’t lost on Ben-Adir. So how does one navigate that, while still being true to the role? Ahead, Ben-Adir explains this is a Malcolm X viewers might not be used to seeing.

Also, here’s a movie about four men with differing opinions, trying to come to an agreement about how to use their fame and influence for the greater good. In a time we are living through now, it’s a refreshing thing to see. And Ben-Adir does his best to make sense of what we are living through now in relation to the message of the film. (As I asked, I then realized what a heavy question that was. But he does a pretty great job answering it.)

It’s good to talk to you.

My pleasure Mike. How are you doing?

I don’t know how to answer that anymore.

How are you really feeling right now in this moment?

Pretty terrible, how are you?

I’m sort of feeling kind of a little bit in la la land, just because of lots of repetition and coffee, but that might be a good thing?

So, you’ve just played two of the most famous Americans to ever live. Do you think about that more than if you’re playing someone else? It seems really heavy.

No, I feel like it was. My memory of the experience of working both jobs, there was a real feeling of excitement. Yeah, I was buzzing. I was like, god, I’ve got an opportunity here to explore transformational acting and trying to figure out how to kind of play people who actually existed. As an actor, the challenge is really quite stimulating and exhilarating.

With Malcolm X obviously there’s a very famous portrayal already. I’m curious if that’s in your head or not, or if it’s just like, no, I don’t think about it at all.

I made a decision not to think about it when the audition came through, because I just felt like it wasn’t going to be particularly helpful trying to figure out how to best represent Malcolm in this film. Because the Malcolm that this movie was asking for was really a very specific moment in his life where so many things were changing. A moment in his life where his 12-year relationship with Elijah Mohammed and the Nation of Islam was really coming to an end. He was really at a moment where his political and religious thinking was shifting in such a monumental way.

Regina and I really connected on the idea that the vulnerability of Malcolm needed to be the heartbeat and center of this story arc. Regina needed to feel comfortable with the person she employed to play Malcolm in this film. She understood that Malcolm was a father and Malcolm was a husband, and trying to show this heroic figure in a place of real vulnerability. So, Malcolm’s humanity, people could see their own humanity in him. I think that was what was really important. I feel like this film was a really unique opportunity to explore that side of Malcolm. My job was to convince Regina that I was excited and fearless and up for the challenge. If I was feeling nervous at all, there was the pressure of playing him because Denzel’s performance is so iconic. I definitely did a terrific job of pretending I wasn’t nervous. I don’t know if I actually was or I wasn’t, I just knew that if Regina got any sniff that I was, she definitely wouldn’t have cast me.

I am curious how you get to that vulnerability. It’s still Malcolm X and he probably can’t be too vulnerable, for people who haven’t seen a performance depicting him before. That seems like a needle to thread.

You’re right, that there were moments where you sort of had to at least question whether we were going too far with it or what the right balance of emotion was. Regina definitely had a lot more heavier emotional versions of the character in the can. She constructed and built my emotional performance in the way that she thought was right. It was a constant conversation. We had to keep checking in about it. It was certainly one of those instances where thinking you knew what the answer was wasn’t going to be helpful. We had to just keep checking in and talking and checking in and talking and trusting that our intentions were healthy. Our intentions were to reflect Malcolm in a way where people could really feel his humanity.

I’m sorry to keep repeating myself. But that’s really what was crucial about this, that people understood that Malcolm, yes, he was a hero and yes he died for Black people in America and he stood up to white America and demanded respect in a way that was so incredible and moving. It was important that we wanted to show him as someone who probably did feel fear around this time. I heard that Malcolm had said to his friend Dick Gregory that he felt weak and he felt hollow and no one knew the torments he went through around this time. Dick really described Malcolm as a sweet, kind, bashful and good-humored man. The demagogue that we all know was really a character that Malcolm slipped in and out of. It didn’t represent everything about who he was. If Malcolm were here now listening to us talk he’d be embarrassed. So there was lots of wonderful things I found out about Malcolm as a man behind the cameras: private, and the games he would play with his children over the phone, and the love he had for his family. That was the Malcolm who I was interested in looking at. The other Malcolm you can just go on YouTube and watch the videos of. That’s where the process got really interesting.

You mentioned there were times you had had discussions about taking this too far? Is there a specific line or specific moment you remember?

Yeah, listen, the scene in the room with Sam Cooke, when we get back in from the roof?

Right.

There were versions where I went for his throat.

Oh wow…

I mean metaphorically.

Okay, I’m glad you clarified that.

Yeah, there were just much heavier versions of so many of the moments and there were lighter moments. Because I trusted Regina so much I wanted to play around with some different versions sometimes.

I saw this movie back in September and have thought about it a lot since, especially in the last couple of weeks. It’s hard to not think, here are four powerful people talking through their differences. I don’t know how much you’ve thought about this, especially this week, and I know Britain has had its own issues the last few years. Are we past that?

What’s that? The message of the film?

Well, not just specifically the message of the film, but more just the idea are we getting past the point where people can just talk through anything anymore, after what we witnessed.

Yeah, I feel like I don’t know, man. Communication and listening to other people’s thoughts and ideas and decency and kindness and humility and love and sharing and … I don’t know man. Sometimes it feels like everything is a bit all over the place. I don’t want to talk too much on what’s going on in your country at the moment because for me it feels very surreal seeing it.

Oh, same here.

It’s literally unpacking as we speak. It’s pretty fucking nuts. But, I’m trying to answer your question, I feel, you know … I don’t know, man.

Sorry, I hit you with a really heavy one at the end.

It’s all good. It’s all good.

I’m not going to expect you to fix everything on that one last question.

I do not have all the answers for humanity, unfortunately.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

There’s no obvious favorite for Best Picture at the 2021 Oscars yet, but Nomadland is a strong contender. Chloé Zhao’s follow-up to The Rider (also very good) was one of the best-reviewed movies of 2020, with a predictably stellar lead performance from Frances McDormand. “How is it a 2020 movie if it hasn’t come out yet?” you might be wondering. That’s because Nomadland made the “virtual cinema” rounds over the fall and winter, but don’t worry, it’s getting a wide release soon.

Variety reports that Nomadland “will debut in select IMAX venues on Jan. 29 before opening in traditional theaters and drive-in locations on Feb. 19. On the same day as its wide release in February, Nomadland will premiere on Hulu.” Every one of those formats works for Nomadland: IMAX, because the cinematography is stunning and deserves to be seen on the biggest possible screen; drive-in theaters, because so much of the movie is about being in a car or van; and Hulu, because of the accessibility.

“Nomadland firmly establishes Chloé Zhao as one of the best directors working today. Not that this declaration couldn’t be seen coming with her last film, 2017’s The Rider. But Nomadland is just one of those types of movies that announces a director’s presence with authority. It’s the type of movie that changes everything for an up and coming director. At this point, it would be an absolute shock if it isn’t somehow nominated for Best Picture,” our own Mike Ryan wrote in his glowing review. Zhao’s next project: the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Eternals, out on November 5.

(Via Variety)

One of the WNBA’s most promising and successful franchises has new ownership. Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis announced on Thursday that he has agreed in principle to purchase the team from MGM Resorts International, and the deal is pending approval from the WNBA Board of Governors.

“I am excited to announce that I have entered into an agreement to purchase the Las Vegas franchise in the WNBA from MGM Resorts International,” Davis said in a statement released by the team. “I will have more to say once I receive official approval from the WNBA Board of Governors and have had a chance to speak with the players, coaches and administrators of the team.”

As MGM continues to sell off many of its physical, non-gaming properties, including the Bellagio and MGM Grand Resort on the Las Vegas Strip, they also seem to have been pursuing a sale of the WNBA franchise they purchased just over three years ago. In doing so, MGM gave a lifeline to a crumbling San Antonio franchise and gave Las Vegas its second professional sports team alongside the NHL’s Golden Knights.

Now, with Davis having moved the Raiders to the desert starting with the 2020 season, he gives himself a chance to dominate pro sports in Las Vegas.

“We will continue our enthusiastic support of the WNBA, NBA and basketball in Las Vegas,” said George Kliavkoff, president of sports and entertainment at MGM.

Having sold the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino where the Aces play their home games and where the 2019 WNBA All-Star game was held, and moving to a business model focused solely on casinos and sportsbooks, this sale was seemingly in the making for months.

Still, that Davis, valued at $500 million, would sign on to own a WNBA team is an interesting wrinkle here, as he becomes immediately among the wealthiest and most well-known team governors in the league.

It’s not easy to have a song reach a billion plays on Spotify, but now a new artist has been welcomed into the club of performers who have pulled it off: Today, Harry Styles’ hit single “Watermelon Sugar” has apparently topped a billion plays. As of this post, the Spotify play count for the song is at 999,056,008 on my desktop Spotify app, so either my count isn’t updated or the song will very soon eclipse a billion. Regardless, Styles fans are celebrating the feat, as both “PROUD OF HARRY” and #1BWatermelonSugar were trending topics on Twitter today.

Meanwhile, “Adore You” has surpassed 700 million plays today to become his third most-played song, just after “Sign Of The Times,” which has over 750 million plays.

Introducing the song before playing it during his Tiny Desk concert back in March 2020, Styles described how it came to be, saying, “[I wrote ‘Watermelon Sugar’] in 2017, while I was on tour for the first album. I was in Nashville on my day off, and we went into the studio just to kind of play around a little bit. We started some ideas and then I was with the guys that I made the first album with and we had this idea, this chorus melody, it was pretty repetitive […] This song became ‘Watermelon Sugar.’ It’s probably the longest it’s ever taken me to finish a song.”

Now that the James Harden trade is official as of Thursday morning, Rockets players are free to move forward and think about the future of this team post-Harden, and in a shootaround call with reporters on Thursday, it was Eric Gordon, the longest-tenured player on the team, who clarified the mood in the locker room.

According to Gordon, the deal gives the Rockets a chance to move forward with a “real direction.” After spending so much time winning at a high level alongside Harden, Gordon was willing to give the superstar the benefit of the doubt, but made it clear that Harden had made up his mind to leave Houston and it wasn’t going to work any longer.

With a core of Christian Wood, John Wall, and the newly-acquired Victor Oladipo in addition to veteran role players like Gordon, DeMarcus Cousins, Danuel House Jr. and others, the Rockets are in good shape to remain competitive in 2021. They likely will trade P.J. Tucker who seems to still be unhappy and should have a nice trade market according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic.

When Gordon was asked about the identity of the team going forward, he hyped up the opportunity for Houston to be “aggressive,” playing the type of fast-paced and overwhelming style that new head coach Stephen Silas has tried to install since being hired.

Through nine games, Houston is 12th in pace and they have had some stellar offensive nights when Harden or Wall had it going. Wood is scoring 23 per game. All the shooting accumulated over the years is still here, and Wall is a capable offensive conductor even if he’s not an MVP-level player like Harden.

A change of scenery could be good for Oladipo, who looks physically like himself again, has started hot from deep, and is a nice partner as a defender and scorer alongside Wall. The Rockets will have the chance to re-sign him this summer.

It’s hard to say that the Rockets will be chasing home-court advantage again as they have for nearly every season with Harden, but Houston will surely be able to stay afloat. Sometimes addition by subtraction can be what’s needed for a group to come together, as we’ve seen countless times in sports.

Of course removing an MVP candidate from the equation will make this team worse overall, but the difference between this deal and other superstar trades is that by nabbing Oladipo and keeping Wall and Wood, the bottom will not fall out. And judging from how harshly Cousins and Wall responded to Harden’s tirade this week, the Rockets were clearly tired of the cloud looming over them.