Month: June 2021

Dark rum is an easy spirit to skip over. Whiskey — bourbon especially — dominates liquor store shelves, pop culture, and almost all the conversation in the spirits world right now. It’s hard for dark rum to break through all that noise.

Today, we’re going to do our part and blind taste test some of our favorite dark rums that all clock in at under $50. These are dark rums that you should be able to find at pretty much every single liquor store across the land. Except for one.

I’m including a Cuban Havana Club expression in the mix. I know, Havana Club is still pretty impossible to get in the U.S. unless you go to Cuba and bring back your own bottle. But I wanted to share a sense of what the booze is actually like. I’m also curious to see how it holds up to the other rums from the Caribbean, Philippines, South America, and Central America in a blind.

Sound good? Let’s get tasting. And if any of these dark rums interest you after reading our ranking, click on the prices to try them yourself.

Part 1: The Taste

Taste 1:

Tasting Notes:

This opens with a mix of dried fruits, nuts, and holiday spice that’s very close to a holiday fruit cake in all the best ways. There’s a nougat creaminess to the body that plays well with those dried fruits and spices. This is very easy to sip and notably velvety.

Taste 2:

Tasting Notes:

Woah… There’s this clear sense of prunes stewed in a spicy sauce with hints of orange zest and vanilla pods. There’s a definite Christmas fruitcake vibe full of candied and dried fruits, dark spices, sweet and dark molasses, and a mix of walnuts and hazelnuts. The end is this delicate dance of those fruits and spices with the hint of vanilla-soaked tobacco.

Taste 3:

Tasting Notes:

This opens with a tropical fruit nose next to hints of light molasses and soft leather. The sip leans into bananas cooked in butter and brown sugar. There’s a slight note of musty cellar beams on the backend with a nice dose of bourbon vanilla.

Taste 4:

Tasting Notes:

This is pure pina colada. Hello, Kasama. It’s all pineapple juice and creamy coconut cream with a hint of sugar cane and a touch of wood. It’s surprisingly light… in a good way.

Taste 5:

Tasting Notes:

There’s definite dark molasses that leads towards a little holiday spice. The vanilla feels more like a vanilla extract than the real thing with an almost vegetal greenness and a hint of stale cream soda.

Taste 6:

Tasting Notes:

This is like spicy-yet-vanilla-heavy tobacco in a leather bag with a hint of cedar nearby. The palate brightens up with orange zest and sharp allspice (but not hot). This is crazy silky and really leans into that vanilla, spiced tobacco, and cedar.

Taste 7:

Tasting Notes:

Hum. This is … burnt coconut husks next to old figs and a stack of vanilla husks. There’s a honeyed dark cocoa presence next to a touch of soft leather and orange pith.

Taste 8:

Tasting Notes:

This is a bit thin on the nose with a hint towards vanilla, dark chocolate, and wet old wood. The taste has a slightly buttered toffee feel with some kind of fruit … maybe apple? The end is, again, thin and a little dry on the tongue.

Part 2: The Ranking

8. Brugal Añejo — Taste 8

ABV: 38%

Average Price: $20

The Rum:

The Dominican Republic’s Brugal makes some damn fine rums. This gateway expression is distilled multiple times and then loaded into ex-bourbon barrels where it rests for three to five years. The barrels are then married, proofed, and bottled.

Bottom Line:

This just didn’t pop for me today. It’s clearly mixing/cooking rum (and that’s fine) but it looks like the dark rum I’d order if I didn’t know anything about rum.

7. Goslings Black Seal — Taste 5

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $22

The Rum:

This rum is a blend of Caribbean rums that were aged for varying years in ex-bourbon barrels. The blend is specifically designed to be mixed but can work as a sipper. Really though, this is known as the base ingredient in a Dark ‘n Stormy and that’s really the best use for it.

Bottom Line:

It’s funny this tasted like stale soda given it’s primarily made to be mixed with ginger beer for a Dark ‘N Stormy. On its own, it’s not really worth getting too bothered about. It’s fine but 100 percent meant to be a mixer.

6. Kasama Small Batch — Taste 4

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $26

The Rum:

Kasama is a truly international spirit. The rum is made from noble cane juice. The distilled rum is then aged in ex-bourbon barrels for seven years under the warm, tropical sun in the Philippines. Finally, the juice is transported to Poland where it’s proofed and bottled.

Bottom Line:

This is starting to grow on me. That one note of pina colada is so dialed in and purposeful that I forgive this rum for the fact that there’s not much more. This bottle clearly knows what it is and that’s fine.

5. Flor de Caña 7 Gran Reserva — Taste 7

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $25

The Rum:

The Nicaraguan rum is a quality product at its price point. The juice — which is made from local cane grown in volcanic soil — is aged in fresh white oak barrels for seven years in the shadow of the San Cristóbal Volcano. The barrels are then batched and proofed down with volcanic soil-filtered spring water.

Bottom Line:

This was pretty solid today. While this isn’t the bottle I’d reach for out of habit, this is certainly a rum on the rocks I wouldn’t turn away. It’s well-rounded and a little basic and that’s kind of nice for beach sipping.

4. Bacardi Gran Reserva Diez — Taste 3

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $40

The Rum:

This is Bacardi’s high-end expression that’s crazy cheap. The rum is aged for ten long years in lightly charred oak before its charcoal filtered and brought down to proof, creating an ultra-refined expression.

Bottom Line:

I thought this was going to win. I like this a lot but, alas, here it is at number four. Still, this is a nice sipper on a rock and a killer cocktail base, especially if you want to replace whiskey in that cocktail.

3. Havana Club Añejo Especial — Taste 6

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $25

The Rum:

Cuba’s Havana Club makes some consistently great rums. Their Añejo Especial is a blend of rums aged in fresh white oak. The blend is formulated to be a workhorse that’s easily sippable in everyday situations and easily mixable all night long.

Bottom Line:

This is a really easy-to-drink rum. It’s complex while also being approachable. There are no rough edges and the rumminess is front and center. For what it’s worth, this is my go-to mixing rum.

2. Appleton Estate Rare Cask 12 — Taste 1

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $35

The Rum:

This expression is what happens when you let quality rum a little longer to really dig deep on flavors. Each rum in the blend has been aged at least 12 years (some many more) and is hand-selected by legendary blender Joy Spence for its exactness in texture and flavor.

Bottom Line:

This is so well-crafted and … just … delicious. Even if you only passively drink dark rum, this will grab your attention as an easy-sipper if you’re anywhere near a beach.

1. Diplomatico Mantuano — Taste 2

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $25

The Rum:

Venezuela’s Diplomatico is one of the best rum houses on the planet. Their antique stills, high-altitude Amazonia aging, and masterful blending prowess make for great expressions. Mantuano is a blend of rums made on all three of their antique stills that are aged in ex-bourbon and ex-single malt barrels for eight years.

Bottom Line:

Really, it was very clear that this was the runaway winner. It’s complex and deep without being overwrought or unapproachable. It’s so soft and delicate on the palate with no rough edges and a real matrix of complex, rummy flavor notes.

Also, at $25 it’s one of the best value buys in the entire spirits world.

Part 3: Final Thoughts

In the end, I’d have to say the top five were all really solid. Though, I wouldn’t say they were interchangeable. Each expression in the top brought their own vibe to the table and built on classic rum notes until you got to a really high plateau, especially for this price point.

That all being said, besides the top two, these all felt way more like cocktail rums than sipping rums. So, I guess it’s time to shake up a rum cocktail. Salud!

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As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.

Game 3 between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Brooklyn Nets could best be described by one word: ugly. It was a total slugfest between a pair of teams that have championship aspirations, and by the time the final buzzer sounded, the Bucks defended their home court by coming out on top, 86-83.

One moment that summed the night up came when Kevin Durant and PJ Tucker went nose-to-nose. The two did some jawing with one another, which led to teammates and officials stepping into to break the pair of Texas Longhorns up.

It was the kind of ultra-tense moment you expect in the playoffs, but this had an interesting twist. Despite things not being all that aggressive outside of some normal jawing, a security guard sprinted onto the court to break things up. As for why that happened, Joe Vardon of The Athletic reported that the dude was Durant’s personal security guard.

It was, as far as low-scoring, knock-down, drag-em-out, playoff games of the ’90s go. At one point, with less than five minutes left in the third quarter, Durant and P.J. Tucker were nose to nose, speaking heatedly, as though they were upset. Durant’s personal bodyguard, who is on the Nets’ payroll, charged the court to break them up, and shoved Tucker. The Bucks’ crowd, at full capacity for the first time this season, serenaded Kevin with “f— KD” chants.

The fact that he’s on the Nets’ payroll makes it a little less weird, but still, it’s a bit strange that this all happened. Regardless, tensions didn’t boil over, which is all you can really ask for.

Kids dancing is one of the best, purest things on the planet, no matter what their skill level. But when a tiny little human has actual moves, the cuteness factor shoots way up.

That’s why a video of 3-year-old Liang Liang dancing alongside a group of uniformed, choreographed dancers has gone viral. It’s not the first time we’ve seen this little fella—videos of him dancing first went viral in 2019—but it’s definitely worth another round of virality for those who missed him the first time.

Check this out. Look at his perfectly coordinated little shuffle.

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This little man dancing with the big folks is the Twitter content I’m here for… https://t.co/ikpuHdM8CC

— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman)
1623258328.0

And then check him out again. Absolutely amazing.

Three years old! His mother has said that they noticed his rhythmic talents early on, when he would rock back and forth to the music sitting on the floor at six months or standing and holding onto the wall at nine months. “At that time, he could do some simple moves like shaking his hips or stomping his feet, but he was able to move to the rhythm,” she told the South China Morning Post.

It’s clear from the energy he puts into his movements that Liang Liang loves dancing. And if you think that’s adorable, check out the segment he and his mom did with The Ellen Show in 2019. He must be four or five years old now, but at three he already seemed older than his years in some ways. He even does a sweet little magic trick and has a whole little introduction he can do in English. What a delightfully confident kid.

And of course, he breaks out some of his signature movies for the audience as well. Enjoy.

Adorable Kid Dancer Liang Liang Busts a Move!

www.youtube.com

Quavo went on First Take on Thursday morning ahead of Migos’ newest release, Culture III, which dropped on Friday. Part of what made his cameo on the show so much fun was it gave him and Kendrick Perkins the chance to have a conversation — Quavo and Perk have been involved in a back-and-forth over the last few years ever since Perkins’ name came up on 2018’s Quavo Huncho.

The two seemed to really go at one another on the show, which raised the question: Do Quavo and Kendrick Perkins legitimately have beef with one another, or is this just two dudes having fun? In a new interview on Complex’s 360 With Speedy Morman, Quavo made clear that he’s mostly having fun.

Via Complex:

“I don’t give a damn about no Kendrick Perkins, man,” said Quavo with a smile. “He’s an analyst. He said his kids love my bars, his kids running around and teasing him. Matter fact, I’m gonna take the kids on a field trip and just leave pops at home. Settle the beef like that.” He made it clear that it’s mostly in jest, however, and that it’s just as “funny” to participate in the beef as it is to watch it all unfold.

It’s unclear whether Perkins views things the same way, but hey, at least Quavo’s having a good time with this whole thing.

“Miserable little pile of secrets,” begone! Netflix has revealed a Castlevania spin-off series is in the works, confirming rumors that a new show was coming following the series finale earlier this year. According to showrunners Kevin Kolde, Adam Deats, and Sam Deats, the upcoming spin-off takes place during the French Revolution and follows the grandson of Trevor and Sypha Belmont, Richter.

The Castlevania Universe is getting even bigger.

An all new series starring Richter Belmont (the son of Sypha and Trevor) and Maria Renard, set in France during the French Revolution, is currently in the works. #GeekedWeek pic.twitter.com/tsdeDpvNGQ

— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) June 11, 2021

While not much else was revealed about the project, based on the show’s 1792 setting we can pretty safely assume it’ll be loosely based on the PlayStation Portable game Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, which follows Richter Belmont as he takes on the freshly resurrected Dracula in order to save the love of his life, Annette. The showrunners also confirmed the series will feature Maria Renard, a distant relative of Richter who is a playable character in Rondo of Blood. Interestingly enough, Maria is also the main romantic interest of a character we already know and love in the anime: Alucard.

During the announcement, the showrunners also stated their work in the Castlevania universe was far from finished, meaning that a highly-anticipated Symphony of the Night series could directly follow the Rondo of Blood spin-off. In Symphony of the Night, players control Alucard as he attempts to either save or kill the possessed Richter, with the help of aforementioned love interest Maria, of course.

While no release date was given, based on the lack of trailer and the fact that Castlevania just finished up last month, we’re unlikely to see a release date in 2021 for the spin-off series. Either way, fans of the franchise will certainly be happy this journey isn’t over just yet.

Until very recently, it had been kind of a while since we last heard Drake and Nicki Minaj together on a song, or even seen them in the same place at the same time. A lot of that was probably due to the rigors of their individual schedules and some of it might have been residual resentment over Drake’s tiff with Meek Mill while the latter was dating Nicki and a bit of it could just have been the results of growing up and growing apart, which happens to a lot of people in life.

But fortunately for fans of their tag-team chemistry, the duo recently reunited — along with Young Money founder/mentor Lil Wayne — on “Seeing Green” from the DSP version of her seminal mixtape Beam Me Up, Scotty, which she finally got around to uploading a month ago. Despite Nicki admitting that her collaborators “washed” her on the track, the result was a satisfactory conclusion that seemed to also wash away the years of disconnect between the trio, as Nicki revealed in a behind-the-scenes clip from the making of the song.

It seems that Drake and Nicki also finally found time in their busy schedules to link up in real life, as Nicki posted the first photo of them together in years on her Instagram in a post hyping her newly released collaboration with Polo G, “For The Love Of New York.” “Oh, look who stopped by, ya’ll?” Nicki purrs as Drake poses and mugs in the background. It’s unsure whether they were working on new music or just finally sharing the playdate they previously penciled in for their kids. For some fans, it’s just enough to see two of the icons of the past decade still flourishing after all this time.

Some of the biggest names in YouTube and TikTok will be going pound-for-pound this Friday (June 12) at the Miami Hard Rock Stadium for the highly-anticipated event Social Gloves: Battle of the Platforms. Ahead of the massive showdown, a few of the fighters, including YouTube superstar Austin McBroom of the Ace Family as well as TikTok influencers Vinnie Hacker, Ryland Storms, shared with Uproxx the songs that get them amped up and ready to rumble.

For McBroom, who will go up against TikTok topliner Bryce Hall, it’s the vibey-yet-hard-hitting 24KGoldn cut “Company” by 24KGoldn featuring Future. “Makes me feel like I’m on top of the world,” he told us.

Hacker, who will see YouTuber Deji, chose “Young, Wild and Free” by Wiz Khalifa. “I first heard this song when I was filling up my car with E10 and it stuck with me,” he said about his choice.

Popular TikTok star Michael Le, who is expected to face off with YouTuber Faze Jarvis, uses J. Cole’s “95 South” to get pumped. “’95 south’ is a raw, dope ass song,” he told us. “The energy I get when I listen to it is the exact vibe I want people to feel when they see me Saturday night. I’m goin’ in with a beast mentality, ain’t nothin shakin’ that off me.”

Storms, who will fight YouTuber Tanner Fox, happens to get his adrenaline going with Giorono’s Theme from anime series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, whereas Deji prefers to get hype off his own song “The Truth.” YouTube star AnesonGib on the other hand, who will fight TikTok’s Tayler Holder, likes to get in the zone by listening to the rambunctious “Original Nuttah 25” by UK Apache with Shy FX, which he described as “A song fit for a mad man!”

Fans can livestream the PPV fight on the LiveXLive.com Platform. If you want to catch it in person tickets are available over at Ticketmaster. Lil Baby, Migos, Trippie Redd and DJ Khaled are all expected to grace the stage with fire performances.

“It’s going down at Social Gloves on June 12, and I’m excited to be a part of it,” Lil Baby said in a press release. “It’s great to see all these YouTubers and TikTokers putting in the hard work to prepare for these fights. We are bringing big energy to Social Gloves. I’m looking forward to this day, and I’m sure fans won’t be disappointed.”

Social Gloves: Battle of the Platforms is the first in a series of events planned in partnership with LiveXLive.

Check out the Social Gloves: Fight Night playlist below featuring picks from Austin McBroom, Vinnie Hacker, Ryland Storms, and more!

As part of its Geeked Week event, Netflix has shared the first teaser for The Witcher Season 2, and it offers a very brief glimpse at Ciri (Freya Allan) as she begins her training to become a Witcher. When the first season ended, the wayward princess with mysterious and destructive powers finally found her way to Henry Cavill’s Geralt as their two paths were destined to intertwine. Pulling heavily from The Witcher novel, Blood of Elves, Season 2 will see Ciri begin her path to becoming a fierce warrior while also trying to wrangle her dark powers, and that ever-looming danger is evident in the teaser below:

Considering production on the second season just wrapped, The Witcher fans will be waiting a while before they get to see what happens next to Ciri, but for now, Netflix has shared an official synopsis of what our heroes are up against:

Convinced Yennefer’s life was lost at the Battle of Sodden, Geralt of Rivia brings Princess Cirilla to the safest place he knows, his childhood home of Kaer Morhen. While the Continent’s kings, elves, humans and demons strive for supremacy outside its walls, he must protect the girl from something far more dangerous: the mysterious power she possesses inside.

The Witcher Season 2 doesn’t currently have a release date, and might see its premiere slip into 2022, but we’ll let you know when Netflix picks a date.

(Via Netflix Geeked)

The Witcher‘s popularity spans several mediums, and the franchise’s widespread appeal reflects as much. The fantasy book series led to the canon-divergent games and the shockingly good TV series starring Henry Cavill as loner monster hunter Geralt of Rivia. In other words, author Andrzej Sapkowski created a highly addictive monster-universe, which now practically holds conversations with itself. At least, that’s what was happening on Thursday when the CD Projekt Red (the developer of The Witcher video games) and Netflix (the maker of The Witcher TV show) started bantering around on Twitter while teasing a mysterious July 9 event.

Lo and behold, Netflix’s Geeked Week entered its final day with the announcement (“Geralt, meet Geralt”) of the first ever WitcherCon coming as a team effort from CD Projekt Red and Netflix.

The event will be a global online celebration of The Witcher universe, which will unite fans of the games and TV series. Although it must be noted that the two groups are not mutually exclusive, more of a team effort could only help matters. Total The Witcher domination will begin with this set of WitcherCon objectives:

– A variety of entertaining and interactive panels spotlighting the people who brought The Witcher to life in-game and on-screen.
– Breaking news, exclusive behind the scenes and never-before-seen reveals from across The Witcher franchise.
– Intimate looks into the creativity and production behind CD PROJEKT RED’s games, including the upcoming mobile game The Witcher: Monster Slayer, comic books and fan gear, AND Netflix’s live action series The Witcher plus merchandise, as well as the anime film Nightmare of the Wolf.
– Expert explorations into the lore, legends, monsters and origins of the Continent.

The event will be held exclusively online on July 9 on YouTube and Twitch, and another stream will run on July 10. As of now, though, Netflix’s The Witcher doesn’t have a Season 2 release date, although post-production is ongoing, so fingers crossed for a late 2021 release. And please, let’s have more bathtub action, since the TV show officially made it canon, a status that all bathtubs should enjoy.

There’s no Chris Farley story that I won’t read, especially if it involves him getting kicked out of a strip club for dancing naked.

Tom Arnold was a guest this week on The Howard Stern Show, where he talked about his friendship with Farley, including when he was the late SNL great’s sober sponsor. “Lorne Michaels called me and said, ‘You have a lot in common with Chris Farley. Would you please spend time with him?’ He wanted to be sober and I think Lorne was really worried about that, so I was his sponsor for a few years,” the Roseanne star recalled. His advice for Farley: “I always told Chris, you can’t be fat and do drugs, you just can’t. You gotta pick one. I can speak from experience. Pick one, you can’t do everything.”

Later in the interview, Arnold discussed one of his favorite memories with Farley.

Farley wound up being Arnold’s best man at the actor’s 1995 wedding to Julie Lynn Champnella. Tom told Howard that they had a bachelor party at Scores strip club, where Chris stole the spotlight. “What happened was, all the guys, David Spade was in the wedding, there was a lot of guys… and then Farley disappeared,” Arnold recalled. “And then came on stage, naked.”

Everyone in their group got “kicked out” of the strip club due to Farley’s antics, but Arnold wasn’t mad. “He’s a big guy and he did not mind being naked,” he said.

Farley taking his clothes off at a strip club of course brings to mind the famous Chippendales sketch on SNL, where he dances alongside peak-hunk Patrick Swayze. Arnold remembers his phone call with Farley about the sketch. “He called me that week and said, ‘I am so embarrassed. They wrote me this thing, it’s embarrassing because I’ll be the fat guy next to Patrick Swayze, what do you think?’ I think if you could be the funniest fat guy ever doing this thing, then you should do it and you should really go for it,” he said. “He was naked a lot. There’s no shame in his game.”