Eric Carle may be best known for his beloved children’s classic, “A Very Hungry Caterpillar,” but he actually created more than 70 children’s books in his 91 years of life. His unique paper collage illustration style makes his books distinctive and instantly recognizable. With his passing this week, the world has lost not only an artist but a simply lovely human being, according to a delightful viral story shared by writer Lara B. Sharp on Facebook.
Sharp wrote:
“Eric Carle, the incredible children’s book author, has passed away…
Many years ago my chonky cat Julian — I called him The Shmoo — was let out of my apartment by an irresponsible and perhaps, in hindsight, diabolical landlord of my rent-stabilized apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I was absolutely devastated, of course, so I posted homemade fliers: Have You Seen My Cat? — with several of The Shmoo’s photos, and offering a substantial reward, ALL over the neighborhood.
The SchmooLara B. Sharp
Shortly after my fliers were up I received a phone call from a very concerned man telling me that HE was going out to look for my cat. Every day, for five days, morning and night, this unknown man called me to ask after my lost cat, and every day he reported back to me about his own search… He was so unbelievably kind to me, while I sobbed into my landline telephone… I told him that I had no education, and no career, and no family, and a boyfriend who was all Boy, and No friend… The Shmoo, my rescued dumpster cat, was my Everything… I talked and talked and talked about myself, and he endlessly listened…
Eventually, my extremely overweight cat was returned to me from the kitchen of the Italian restaurant a block away. He spent the whole time there, eating ravioli and meatballs. Aside from being four pounds heavier and stinking of roasted garlic and stewed tomatoes, he was fine.
The SchmooLara B. Sharp
The first person I called with the great news was the nice man on the phone!
He was as happy as I was about the return of The Shmoo, and he asked if he could meet him… Normally I’d be like, ‘Nah bro, you ain’t gettin’ my address’, but this unknown, older gentleman was so kind and so supportive of me – like the dad that I’d never had – that I said I’d love to meet him, and have him meet my fat, beloved kitty…
When he arrived, because I knew he loved cats, and not much else about him, and because I wanted to express my gratitude, I gave him a huge stuffed cat from FAO Schwartz as a gift, and after he met The Shmoo, as he was leaving, he handed me a thin envelope…
Inside, was a beautiful book, called ‘Have You Seen My Cat’, and it was signed by the author, Eric Carle.
The sensitive, selfless person who listened to my sobbing, for days on end, called me twice a day, and physically searched all of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for my chubby lost cat, was the famous children’s book author Eric Carle.
The revelation was so stunning to me that terminal shyness set in, and I never phoned him again.
To be treated like a daughter, when I’d never had a father, and by such an important person, who cared so much about a kitty that I loved so dearly, meant more to me than I was able to express at that time…
All these years later, it still means just as much. Many years later, when The Shmoo eventually passed away, I had him cremated with an Eric Carle postcard of ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’.
I’ve never told this story before, because it was so precious of an experience that I kept it to myself.
I’m sharing it today, because I have so much love for him, and I always will, and because I can’t stop thinking of him. I will never, ever forget him.
For five whole days, I had the world’s greatest dad.
‘Have You Seen MY Eric Carle?'”
People are loving Sharp’s story, as it gives us a glimpse into the private character of the man most of us only know through his kids’ books. What a lovely tribute to an author who not only brought joy into the lives of millions of families with his books, but who also took the time to help a stranger who needed support.
Rest in peace, Mr. Carle. Thank you for making our world a bit brighter while you were here.
There are few things more frustrating than going through the job interview process and not being told how much the position pays. It takes a lot of time and effort to update a resume, write a cover letter, and fill out an application. After that, there could be multiple interviews.
So, for an employer to make someone go through all of that effort only to find out that the pay is insufficient is seriously unprofessional. However, it happens all the time.
Companies that refuse to disclose a salary or hourly pay in a job posting are also perpetuating racial and gender pay gaps because people who already work for the company have no idea what the new employee is getting paid.
Employers that claim to believe in diversity and inclusivity surely are not walking the walk if they are hiding what they’re paying new hires.
Writer Matt Wallace sounded off on his frustration with companies that don’t disclose their salaries in job postings and he got a lot of agreement.
Seriously I’m sick to my fucking gills of job postings, especially freelance , that list NINE GODDAMN PAGES of educ… https://t.co/3AwP954KNa
So why are some employers less than transparent about compensation throughout the interview process? One reason is that withholding salary information gives employers better negotiating power. It also allows them to avoid competition with other companies in the same industry.
Keeping quiet about money also avoids competition between current and new employees, especially in a tight job market.
“In certain labor markets or in a tight labor market situation, employers may have to pay higher salaries to attract new employees than existing ones (a situation known as salary inversion). This can cause resentment among existing employees,” Professor Eddie Ng, the James and Elizabeth Freeman Professor of Management at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, told Bored Panda.
Wallace’s tweets inspired a lot of people to share how they handle salary negotiations with new employers.
What I’ve been saying when they ask me what payrate I’m going for, I tell them straight up what I’m being offered in other places. Or at least what I’ve seen in positions that are the same. Pressures them subtly that I’ll probably skip if I don’t get something similar — Noula//Jack Shrk (@NoulaJack) January 19, 2020
Recruiter: What is you current salary? Me: That’s confidential. What’s the range offered? Recruiter: I need to tell them what you’re making now before they give me a number. Me: Then I guess that’s the end of our conversation. — Yzzie (@opYzzie) January 18, 2020
I always am amazed at HR managers who try to discourage anyone sharing compensation information. They are amazed when I tell them that is illegal. — Paul Meisel (@PaulMeisel) January 18, 2020
Unfortunately, employers are going to continue to keep potential new hires in the dark over compensation for the foreseeable future. But there’s a growing movement to make it illegal for new employers to ask about your salary history. So when you do get the chance to discuss money, ask for as much as you can. In about half the states in the U.S., your pay history is no longer holding you back.
2004’s Dawn of the Dead and 2021’s Army of the Dead are two of director Zack Snyder’s three highest rated movies on Rotten Tomatoes, which is definitive proof that he should only make zombie movies (no one on the internet will be upset with this opinion). It’s fair to wonder with the similar titles and subject material if one is a sequel to the other, but Snyder says they’re not.
“I developed it right after Dawn, but not as a sequel,” he told Screenrant. “I wanted to do this other evolution in it of the zombies, so I needed another trope. I needed another origin story in order to make this other thing work, so I was like, ‘Okay, it can live in its own universe.’ And now we’re building this universe like nuts, so we’ll see. It’s kind of fun.” That being said, Army viewers have spotted a possible connection to Dawn.
Around the 30-minute mark of the Netflix movie, Marianne Peters, played by “sexy AF” Tig Notaro, is scrolling through her phone when a story about the United States nuking Las Vegas on July 4th catches her eye. Right below it, however, is this headline: “New Information Released About ’04 Zombie Outbreak In Milwaukee.” Dawn of the Dead takes place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was released in — you guessed it — 2004.
NETFLIX
I already checked: Leonidas from 300 does not appear in a post-credits scene.
Ellis first cemented herself as a songwriter who pens lush bedroom pop songs that dissect big questions on her debut album. Titled Born Again, the effort focused on the intersection of music and spirituality. While it’s been just over a year since her debut full-length release, Ellis is gearing up for another project which she further previews with the gossamer single “What If Love Isn’t Enough.”
Over comfortingly warm guitar chords, the song questions Ellis’ views on romance. Her honeyed vocals melt over the dreamy instrumentals, lilting lyrics about second-guessing herself in the face of love. The track offers another preview of her upcoming EP Nothing Is Sacred Anymore, which she first announced last month with the shimmering track “Hospital.”
In a statement about the song’s meaning, Ellis says the song title is a nod to a question she tends to ask herself:
“I mean, this is a question I’ve asked myself a bunch, usually when I’m being a little bit dramatic which happens to be often. But I’ve also seen relationships fizzle out even when two people seem to really love each other. We place so much emphasis on love but I guess I just wonder about all the other stuff needed to make it last forever. I’m a hopeless romantic at heart but sometimes I’m just hopeless.”
Listen to Ellis’ “What If Love Isn’t Enough” above.
Nothing Is Sacred Anymore is out 6/25. Pre-order it here.
“The Mount Rushmore of [blank]” has become a common framework people like to use to establish who are the best or most important figures of a certain field. For example, The Rock once shared his list of people who would be on his personal Mount Rushmore of wrestling. Now there’s a Mount Rushmore of 2010s rap making the rounds, and Nicki Minaj (who was not included on it) has some thoughts… or rather, one concise but open-ended one.
This afternoon, the Twitter account for Spotify’s popular RapCaviar playlist shared a rendering of a 2010s rap Mount Rushmore, and the graphic features Drake, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and one blank spot. The tweet asks, “Who takes the fourth spot on the Mount Rushmore of the 2010s?” Minaj saw that list and had a simple response, replying on Twitter, “Wow.”
Drizzy, K-Dot, Cole and ??? Who takes the fourth spot on the Mount Rushmore of the 2010s? pic.twitter.com/trTOivIG6q
— BEAM ME UP SCOTTY OUT NOW (@NICKIMINAJ) May 27, 2021
Of course, “wow” could mean a lot of things. Perhaps Minaj is upset that she wasn’t one of the initial three rappers chosen. Aside from her own exclusion, maybe she doesn’t agree with RapCaviar’s picks. Or, maybe seeing Drake, Lamar, and Cole all together gave her perspective on how great hip-hop was in the 2010s and she was responding to that with awe. Whatever the case, the image certainly got a reaction out of Minaj.
It’s not hard to make a case for Minaj to appear on this Mount Rushmore. Her four studio albums (all released in the 2010s) have all been certified Platinum at least once, her first two topped the Billboard 200 chart, and her most recent two achieved chart peaks at No. 2. During the decade, between her own songs and featured appearances, she had 16 top-10 singles, including top-3 highlights like “Super Bass” and “Anaconda.” She also racked up ten Grammy nominations during the 2010s and has been dubbed by many as the “queen of rap.”
Old Forester/Jim Beam/Four Roses/Elijah Craig/iStock/Uproxx
After a busy day of (still mostly virtual) work, few things help us unwind better than a glass of bourbon neat or on the rocks. We’ll sit somewhere comfortable and slowly sip the stresses of the day away. But while we enjoy sipping bourbon, a well-crafted cocktail also hits the spot. Sometimes, you just want something a little less direct.
When it comes to mixing with bourbon, we definitely don’t want to use a ridiculously expensive bottle, but we also don’t want to ingest bottom-shelf swill. Andres Rairan, lead bartender at High Tide Beach Bar & Grill in Miami understands that picking the right bourbon for mixing can be a tricky endeavor.
“You don’t want to shoot for something too high-end, because then you ruin all the flavors the distillery was going for,” he says, adding, “however, using a less than desirable whiskey in a cocktail can also ruin it. Meeting halfway is your best bet.”
Finding mid-range, highly mixable bourbon whiskeys isn’t easy. That’s why you have us. Me, of course. And the rest of our team. As if that isn’t enough options, we also asked 18 well-known bartenders to tell us their favorite bourbons to mix with. If you can’t find a bottle that fits your palate with all these excellent options… maybe try tequila.
Elijah Craig is my pick. The vanilla, caramel, nut, and oak highlight the smooth flavors in this bourbon. The nose is slightly above average and enjoyable, but also quite simple, which makes this brand the perfect bang for your buck when it comes to making mixed cocktails.
Siobhán Cusumano, bartender at Buya Ramen in St. Petersburg, Florida
I love Angel’s Envy for sipping, and even more for cocktails. The port finish leaves you with some amazing chocolate and dark fruit notes to play within a cocktail. The complexity of this finished bourbon leaves so much to the imagination as far as flavor pairing.
Eagle Rare is my go-to bourbon for a boulevardier, Manhattan, or old fashioned. With the higher proof balanced with some orange and vanilla bean underlying flavors, it pairs well with any balance of bitter or sweet.
Rowan’s Creek is a solid choice. Its caramel, vanilla, and floral notes highlight this small-batch bourbon. This along with its reasonable cost make it one to look for.
Ryan Cunningham, bartender at Anchor and Brine in Tampa, Florida
Four Roses Yellow Label. This is one of the oldest distilleries in the nation so it’s safe to say that they know what they’re doing. Readily available throughout most of the states this whiskey is light and not overpowering while still bringing out that natural heat of whiskey and sweetness of bourbon.
This is ideal for cocktail making especially when getting into some of the fancier ingredients and techniques.
Jim Beam. No need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to classics that still compete with big boys today. Jim Beam is found everywhere, including the dorm rooms, which means the price is still right.
My go-to bourbon for cocktails is Old Forester 86. It is a beautifully balanced bourbon with spice, vanilla, and orange. It has the perfect proof to not only blend delightfully into shaken cocktails like a gold rush, but it’s strong enough to hold its own neat, in a Manhattan, or old fashioned.
At around $20 a bottle, it offers a huge benefit at an extremely affordable price point.
Dean Clark, bar and beverage manager of The Fish House in Pensacola, Florida
Woodford Reserve because of its simplicity, mixing ability, and affordability. The flavors that make it great for mixing into a cocktail are complex citrus, cinnamon, dried fruits, and cocoa. The price tag on a Woodford Reserve cocktail would roughly cost $10.
Jeff Rogers, bar director for Jester Concepts in Minneapolis
I love Old Grand-Dad 100 proof Bottled-in-Bond and Old Grand-Dad 114 PF. They are spicier bourbons with great depth of flavors. Warming spices start followed by a vanilla and caramel-smooth finish. The higher proof allows us to control the dilution in our cocktails better.
Buffalo Trace is absolutely fantastic to drink neat or mix in cocktails, and it makes fantastic old fashioneds. With hints of orange, cherry, and vanilla on the nose, the palate is between caramel, vanilla, and cherry. Very easy to drink. The price point being $20-25 dollars, it’s a safe bet for any situation.
Andy Printy, beverage director at Chao Baan in St. Louis
For cocktails involving mixers other than other spirits, I like Ezra Brooks bourbon. It’s has a lower price point ($20 or less) which is great for your margins. The profile has some heat that you would expect for a young whiskey, but the spice and barrel are balanced and strong enough to shine through your kitchen-crafted syrups.
Old Grand-Dad Bonded. It’s great for cocktails because it isn’t so high-end that you feel guilty for mixing it. It has nice caramel and oaky flavors that pull through.
Jake Strawser, bar owner of Billy Club in Buffalo, New York
Tommyrotter’s NVHC Bourbon is my go-to for cocktails. At 95 proof it shines through modifiers, citrus, and simple syrups. Through the mix, its profile of dark fruit, vanilla, and oak is still present which really adds depth to the cocktail you’re working on. It’s not rail-price bourbon but positioned accessibly to permit bar owners to present their clientele with a great cocktail, built on a high-quality bourbon.
Nikole Calvo, bar manager at SIX in Tampa, Florida
The best bourbon to mix cocktails with is Marker’s Mark. It’s affordable, tasteful, and pleasant on the palate for those who are new to drinking bourbon. This bourbon is versatile because you can use it in classic cocktail drinks, or you can mess around with it to make new bourbon cocktail drinks.
Makers Mark also is a great bourbon to use and pair with any food items on your menu. It has a sweet caramel finish that clinches your palate.
I like Four Roses Small Batch for the price tag, but also for a great example of what a classic, “no-nonsense” bourbon is. While not terribly complex, it still carries all of the familiar vanilla, caramel, oak, and toffee flavors of some more expensive bourbons and is a good option to keep on hand for a lot of different occasions.
Bulleit Bourbon is my go-to that will elevate cocktails. The oak, toffee, and nutmeg flavors nicely accent a classic old fashioned or aged Manhattan and at only $30, it’s a great product.
Jim Beam Black is my go-to mixing bourbon. It’s perfect for a Bourbon and Ginger. But, there are other options as well. Maker’s Mark for a mint julep, Maker’s 46 for a Manhattan, Knob Creek for an old fashioned. The Market is filled with value bottles of bourbon.
On the heels of his emotional track “Need Somebody,” PnB Rock is back for his third preview of his upcoming LP To Be Honest. Tapping Pink Sweats and Swae Lee to lend verses on the song, PnB Rock shares the lovelorn tune “Forever Never” alongside an emotional video.
Directed by Lily Thrall, the visual depicts PnB Rock risking it all for love. He rides a motorcycle through the city in hopes of catching the eye of his crush. PnB Rock manages to get her attention, but not before severely injuring himself in a crash.
While the “Forever Never” video shows PnB Rock getting into a motorcycle wreck, the scene isn’t too far off from an accident the rapper was involved in earlier this year. PnB Rock had reportedly been participating in a Burbank, California street race in January when he swerved and totaled his car. The rapper was seated in a white BMW and topped 100 MPH during the race. He eventually lost control of the car and crashed into three parked vehicles. Thankfully, PnB Rock and his passenger sustained only minor injuries, but he was later arrested and charged with reckless driving and served a DUI.
Watch PnB Rock’s “Forever Never” video above.
PnB Rock is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Listen, it’s perfectly okay if you scoff at spending over $500 on a bottle of booze. Beloved whisk(e)y or not. It sounds fundamentally ridiculous. But so are all things that become collectible and (thereby) unattainable. We’re all filling a void with stuff that pleases us — from travel to booze to food to shirts with box logos to mushrooms. Spend responsibly, but it’s absurd to pretend that one luxury purchase is somehow more meaningful than another.
This price point is where scotch and bourbon diverge fairly dramatically with regards to what you’re actually getting. The Scotch whisky below doesn’t cost this much because of the whiskey hype machine. The cost is (mostly) due to spending decades in tiny warehouses where very little juice actually survives. It’s rare and thereby pricey, but not artificially so. Paying nearly $1,000 for a 12 or 15-year-old bourbon from Kentucky with an MSRP of $150 just isn’t the same thing.
The ten Scotch whiskies featured below are absolutely exquisite if you’re financially able to spend almost a month’s rent on a bottle of whisky. Click on the prices to give one of these a shot (or add them to your vault).
This whisky from The Glenrothes Soleo Collection was aged in sherry casks that held sherry made from sun-dried grapes. The juice is then built to highlight those sherry casks before it’s cut with soft mineral water and bottled in The Glenrothes iconic bulbous bottles.
Tasting Notes:
This one sneaks up on your senses with subtle nods towards mango and pineapple by way of dry cedar bark and a touch of rummy spice. The palate veers away from the fruit towards a rich and vibrant salted caramel vanilla ice cream with a crunchy waffle cone maltiness next to a flourish of dried lavender on a sunny day. The end really holds onto the floral edge as it slowly fades away through the sweetness of the caramel all the way back to the acidic notes of the pineapple.
Bottom Line:
“Well-rounded” would be an understatement. The fruitiness, floral, and sweet/savory aspects are so engaging that you’ll want to make this an everyday sipper.
This was Diageo’s first Orphan Barrel from Scotland (they usually focus on long-forgotten bourbons). The juice in this bottle is a 26-year-old single malt from the long-shuttered and now-demolished Pittyvaich distillery. So not only are you getting a super rare and old whisky, you’re getting something that we’ll never see again.
Tasting Notes:
The nose draws you in with sharp green apples nestled in loose straw in wicker baskets in a sunny orchard with a throughline of light vanilla cream. The apple and vanilla mellow out into an almost cream soda note on the palate, as a rush of orange oils and wet cedar spice things up. The end adds in a dry cedar and apple tobacco vibe with a hint of silken maltiness.
Bottom Line:
That shaggy-haired Scottish Highlander cow on the label is a great example of how this whisky will make you feel: Chilled the f*ck out. Taking a sip of this soon-to-be-gone whisky, you get a warm feeling of, “It’s all good, man…” It’s really that silky smooth.
This blend from Johnnie Walker is a celebratory Blue Label variant. Part of what you’re paying for is the extinct Port Ellen distillery juice in the bottle. Another part is that all the whiskies in the blend are from distilleries that were running when King George V reigned in the U.K. between 1910 and 1936. Then, of course, there’s the bespoke flint glass decanter that has its own serial number (don’t throw it away!).
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a delicate dance between honeyed almonds dusted with coarse salt, dark chocolate just kissed with vanilla, and an orange-honey sweet smokiness. The taste builds on that orange-honey vibe with a touch of rose water and marzipan as the dark chocolate sharpens its bitterness and the smoke moves far into the background. The end is like pure velvet with a bright fresh rose note next to the final slow fade of smoked oranges and almonds.
Bottom Line:
This is a very delicate entry in the wide pantheon of Johnnie Walker. Given the combination of an extinct whisky in the blend and a bespoke decanter, it’s easy to see why this one costs what it does.
This whisky is a marriage of American bourbon barrels, Spanish sherry casks, and Talisker’s seaside location. The whiskies in this single malt spend a minimum of 25 years resting in old bourbon and sherry barrels a few short steps from the sea in the Isle of Skye. Talisker’s tiny warehouse feels a bit like an old pirate ship that’s seen too many sea battles and that aura is imbued into every barrel as it matures.
Tasting Notes:
This one opens with a note of wet wildflowers next to sweet beeswax candles (unlit) with hints of murky apple cider, creamy chocolate, and a whisper of briny campfire smoke. The taste really brings out the wooden beams of the Talisker warehouse with notes of sea salt next to cobwebs and wet moss that’s all counterpointed by a blossoming wisteria, orange tobacco, and a little bit more of that campfire smoke lurking in the background. The end holds onto the florals as it slowly fades away, leaving you with a wisp of smoke, a mist of sea spray, and a touch of that orange.
Bottom Line:
One of the best experiences of my professional whisky career was drinking this on the Isle of Skye while looking out over the sea. There’s not really anything that can top that when it comes to whisky moments. And that’s what this whisky is … it’s a moment that will mean something from the first sip you take.
Oban remains one of the most important and quaintest distilleries in Scotland. The tiny distillery, tucked between a huge rock wall and the sea, lets this juice rest for at least 21 years in former bourbon barrels and second-fill ex-sherry barrels. The use of well-used barrels, imparts a very subtle flavor and texture into the whisky, allowing it to be bottled at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a holiday vibe from the get-go with this dram, as ginger cookies mingle with stewed apples, plenty of eggnog spice, and creamy bourbon vanilla whipped cream on the nose. The palate amps up those spices and brings along a marzipan nuttiness next to a slight malt, ripe pear, and almost savory herbal note. A touch of salted caramel by way of saltwater taffy arrives late and the fade takes its time, leaving you with a touch of orange, fruit, caramel, and spice.
Bottom Line:
The 2018 version of this is my all-time favorite dram of whisky. I tend to drink about 1/4 of the bottle per year. If you look at it that way, $600 over four years is equal to a $150 bottle of whisky per year. That feels much more manageable … in my head, at least.
Malt Master David Stewart hand-selects these Balvenie barrels for bottling. He searches through refill ex-bourbon barrels that are 25-years-old to find one that’s exactly right according to his legendary abilities. The whisky is then touched with a drop of water to help highlight the flavors and textures Stewart is looking for.
Tasting Notes:
This draws deeply from woody holiday spices that are stored in an old cedar box that once held honey-dipped cigars. A flourish of orchard fruit arrives by way of spicy stewed pie filling and a honey tobacco sharp-yet -weet buzz that leads towards a silky — almost … calm — mouthfeel. The finish holds onto the honey as notes of vanilla husks, dried wildflowers, stewed pears, and more of that velvet honey slowly fade away.
Bottom Line:
Each single barrel release is never more than 300 bottles, making this a rare find. This really is also a chance to get into the head (and olfactory) of a true master and innovator of Scotch whisky.
This whisky spends 30 years resting in Glenfiddich’s warehouses under the watchful eye of their team. Then Malt Master Brian Kinsman handpicks minium 30-year-old whiskies matured in former bourbon and sherry casks to build this astounding single malt.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a plummy spiced jam element on the nose that leads towards an old wooden cutting board that’s been used to cut bread for decades. That mild woodiness carries through to the palate as bright floral honey arrives with a touch of orange oils, savory figs, and soft vanilla tobacco leaves next to velvet malts. The end comes back around to that spicy plum jam and soft wood, as creamed honey arrives as a final note on the slow fade.
Bottom Line:
There are whiskies in this single malt that reach back into the 1980s. That’s an incredible amount of time for a whisky to survive without simply evaporating away. This is a special dram that somehow survived those three decades, and did so in a way that makes it taste absolutely delicious.
This whisky from the far north of Scotland, up on the Orkney Islands, is all about intensity and time. The juices spend at least 25 years in old sherry casks, used American oak, and former bourbon casks. The barrels are painstakingly watched over for all those years and then married into this expression.
Tasting Notes:
Imagine a bright yet tart and sweet red berry crumble with hints of nutmeg and allspice, touches of brown sugar and butter clumps, and a sprinkling of crushed walnuts on the nose. Then comes a drizzle of dark chocolate sauce and a spray of vanilla cream on the palate with a lingering echo of wet peat by way of floral honey. The sweetness moves more towards a brown-butter toffee as the sip fades away through a thin line of peat next to a touch more of those walnuts and that spice.
Bottom Line:
Highland Park is a great bridge between the world of smoke and sweet when it comes to Scotland. This leans far more into the sweet with a faint reminder of smoke, which makes it very accessible (to drink, not price-wise).
Mortlach is a Dufftown icon. The juices in this bottle are single malts that are small-batched and then refilled into former Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry seasoned casks for final maturation. The whisky was then bottled at cask strength, allowing you a full vision of what was in the barrel.
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a holiday cake feel with plenty of candied fruits, spices, dried fruits, and nuts next to a touch of cream soda and a line or two of rich toffee syrup. The palate builds on the holiday cake vibe with chili-infused dark chocolate next to hints of ripe cherries and plums with a light echo of dried tobacco and cedar. The end is not too long and leaves you with a silky mouthfeel and a spicy warmth.
Bottom Line:
This is a very rare and phenomenal whisky that’s only slightly marked up from its $750 MSRP. Is it worth it? Yes. This is something we might not ever see again. Plus, the stag on the packaging is pretty boss.
Master Distiller Graham Coull created this expression using five whiskies dating back to 1978. The whisky was created to celebrate Glen Moray’s 120th anniversary while reaching back into the distillery’s history. The juice was vatted and then bottled at cask strength, allowing the craft of the distillery and warehouse managers to shine through in each sip.
Tasting Notes:
This opens with warm scones with creamed butter and red berry jams next to a hint of soft, almost warm, cedar and a dusting of eggnog spices. Those spices drive the palate towards a marzipan nuttiness next to flourishes of salted caramels, floral honey, and a dash of espresso beans. The finish dries out with raisins and almonds leading back towards the red jam and a bit more of that warming spice.
Bottom Line:
There were only 1,000 bottles of this made. So, it might be hard to find in your region. Still, it’s one of those drams that are just … balanced. Everything is in its place and means something. It’s rounded and so damn easy to drink.
As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.
Foxing have built their brand clearly in the realm of emo-leaning music, but it appears they’re changing that for their next era. Today, they announced an album called Drawn Down The Moon (which is out August 6), which they preceded with “Go Down Together,” which was basically straight-up pop. Now they’re back with a new single called “Where The Lightning Strikes Twice,” and in recent years, only Brandon Flowers and company have made songs that are as The Killers-esque as this one.
The band’s Conor Murphy says of the album, “It’s about the idea of your cosmic significance. The way you feel like a tiny speck in the grand scheme of the universe, that’s a feeling everybody has. You can get lost thinking about how small you are. Draw Down The Moon explores how our connections to people and places and ideas are what binds us to the universe and reality.”
Press materials also note that the band worked on the album in their St. Louis studio with guitarist Eric Hudson producing. They eventually found their way to Georgia, where they spend a few weeks working on the album with members of Manchester Orchestra.
Listen to “Where The Lightning Strikes Twice.” Below, find the Draw Down The Moon art and tracklist.
Grand Paradise
1. “737”
2. “Go Down Together”
3. “Beacons”
4. “Draw Down The Moon”
5. “Where The Lightning Strikes Twice”
6. “Bialystok”
7. “At Least We Found The Floor”
8. “Cold Blooded”
9. “If I Believed In Love”
10. “Speak With The Dead” Feat. WHY?
Draw Down The Moon is out 8/6 via Grand Paradise. Pre-order it here.
If you were a teenager growing up in the early aughts, you couldn’t hear the lyrics to Phantom Planet’s “California” without thinking of a group of over-privileged West Coast teens and the increasingly criminal shenanigans they got up to.
One of the greatest teen soap dramas of a generation, the Fox series launched the careers of names like Adam Brody, Ben McKenzie, Mischa Barton, and more delivering the kind of romantic melodrama and high school hierarchy struggles that fueled our collective angst over just a couple of decade ago. And now, thanks to a podcast hosted by former O.C. stars Rachel Bilson and Melinda Clarke, we get to relive all of the real-life drama that happened behind the scenes.
Of which there was plenty because these were 20-something heartthrobs and “it girls” all dating each other and clubbing together and dominating the tabloids at the time. Of course, there were more mature, veteran actors on the show, like Clarke and recent podcast guest Tate Donovan, and they’re more than happy to drag their younger co-stars for their, um, unprofessional behavior once the show had reached the heights of its popularity.
Donovan guested on the podcast’s latest episode to share more about his experience both starring in and directing some of the series, and Bilson kicked things off by offering a blanket apology (via EW) for any bad behavior she may have exhibited in her youth:
“You went on to direct us on The O.C., which we can talk about more, and I know some of us kids were little a–holes,” she said. “And I think that that speaks to that whole unaware, young, youthful, ignorant — just idiots, you know what I mean? And I hope I wasn’t as bad as it’s come off … You know, you get influenced, I’d say, by your surroundings.”
That apology references a comment Donovan made in an interview with Vulturein 2013 where he detailed the struggle he had when directing the very famous cast.
“By the time I started to direct, the kids on the show had developed a really bad attitude,” he said in the interview. “They just didn’t want to be doing the show anymore. It was pretty tough; they were very tough to work with. The adults were all fantastic, total pros. But you know how it is with young actors — and I know because I was one of them once. When you achieve a certain amount of success, you want to be doing something else.”
Of course, now that everyone’s matured with age, the co-stars can laugh about the whole situation, which is what they did on the podcast after Donovan reassured Bilson she was “a total sweetheart” to work with. The two rehashed Donovan’s directing experience and he was quick to poke fun at Bilson’s attitude on set at the time. He recalled a scene in which he was hesitant to give Bilson notes, with Bilson interjecting, “I think I know where this is going.”
When Donovan gave the young actress a bit of direction on her performance, referencing notes in the script, he said she gave one of the “best quotes” he’s heard from an actress in his career.
“You go, ‘Tate, I don’t read scripts, I smoke pot,’” Donovan revealed while laughing with the hosts.
So sure, the O.C. kids may have been a nightmare to work with, but with that kind of improved, iconic line delivery, we can’t deny that they had talent.
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