Month: July 2021

Blanton’s Single Barrel is one of the most revered and sought-after bourbons on the market. And, if I’m being completely honest, that’s always pushed me away from the brand. I was above the hype for a while. Then, after re-tasting the whole line, I gave into it completely.

Now, I don’t shut up about Blanton’s. Yup, I’m that bourbon drinker. I even like the figurines on the corks.

Since I’m deep on this Blanton’s wave, I thought I’d rank their three core bottles — the Single Barrel, Gold, and Straight From The Barrel expressions. I was going to include the Special Reserve but that’s still only an international release (for the U.K.) and a fleeting one at that.

This is a look at each of the three core bottles and an examination of how they stack up, flavor-wise. As you can see from the photo below, I was doing some “research” over the weekend to keep things up to date.

If any of these bottles jump out at you, click on the prices to give them a try!

3. Blanton’s Single Barrel

ABV: 46.5%

Average Price: $110

The Whiskey:

Buffalo Trace’s Blanton Single Barrel is made up of hand-selected single barrels that meet the sky-high standards of former Master Distiller Elmer T. Lee, who created the expression back in 1984.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a clear sense of Christmas spices right away, leaning towards honey spiked with vanilla and an old cedar cigar humidor. The taste holds onto the spice, especially nutmeg, as caramel kettle corn, more fresh honey, fresh red berries, and vanilla husks dominate the palate. The end doesn’t overstay its welcome as hints of eggnog spice, dry vanilla, and popped corn surface on the fade.

Bottom Line:

I had no idea what to rank third on this list. The very idea is kind of ridiculous. This is a great bourbon, a great single barrel, and a great whiskey in general. The only thing that maybe brought it down a notch was the low ABV. It’s not like it was watery. It’s more that I’m not sure it needs to be quite so low after tasting it right next to the Gold and cask strength versions.

2. Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel (Barrel No. 159)

ABV: 65.15%

Average Price: $400

The Whiskey:

Blanton’s is “The Original Single Barrel” bourbon, and this expression is the purest form of that whiskey. The juice in this case is from the barrels that need no cutting with water and are perfect as-is, straight from the barrel. All the barrels will come from Warehouse H (where Elmer T. Lee stored his private stash of barrels back in the day) and arrive with varying proofs.

The through-line is the excellent taste of that single, unadulterated barrel in each sip.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is full of very bespoke dark chocolate-covered salted hard caramel toffees encrusted with almonds and pecans — the kind you get from a chocolate shop that imports their goodies from somewhere like Belgium. The nutty toffee carries through into the taste as oily vanilla pods mingle with cedar boxes of dried tobacco leaves and a touch of floral honey. The end is very long and lingers in your senses, with a hot buzzing that subtly fades through all that sweetness.

Bottom Line:

This is a little warm on the nose and palate. A single rock turned this into something magical. But I was tasting these neat and ranking them like that, so a pretty impeccable product ends up in the #2 slot.

I know this is a very “this porridge was too hot … this porridge was too cold” situation, but I have to find some way to rank these!

1. Blanton’s Gold

ABV: 51.5%

Average Price: $440

The Whiskey:

This single barrel masterpiece was made for the international market but is now available widely in the U.S., albeit for a hefty price. The juice is all about the refinement of the single barrel aging process, with masterful finishing to bring this down to a very drinkable 102 proof.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a big greeting on the nose with notes of spicy tobacco leaves next to honey, dark berries, and orange oils. The palate carries those notes forward while leaning into the tobacco and amping up the rye pepperiness then balancing it with a bit more honey and caramel. The finish takes its time fading out as notes of vanilla, spice, and oak linger — with a final billow of pipe tobacco popping at the very end.

Bottom Line:

This really hit well on this go-around. It’s so goddamn soft and refined while still holding onto big notes that make it “Blanton’s.” That citrus, honey, berries, tobacco, spice … everything just works.

This wound up first because this was the dram I wanted to drink again, right after the tasting. That’s got to say something.

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Game 1 of the 2021 NBA Finals was almost entirely good for the Phoenix Suns, who saw their three stars all play tremendously well, led by Chris Paul, in a comfortable 118-105 win to open the series.

However, there is one significant portion of concern as backup big man Dario Saric left for the locker room in the first quarter and did not return with a right knee injury. On Wednesday, the Suns top reserve center underwent further testing and an MRI, which revealed he had suffered a torn ACL.

Saric is the Suns lead backup for Deandre Ayton, and while his minutes have dropped to 10.5 per game in the postseason, he provides them with a small-ball alternative as a capable spot-up shooter when they need to give their young star big man a breather. Without Saric, who only played two minutes in Game 1 before his injury, it appears the Suns will be willing to extend Ayton’s minutes when needed (he played 39 in the opener), turn to Frank Kaminsky for spot minutes (he played 4 minutes) and also experiment with real small-ball with Torrey Craig, Jae Crowder, and Cam Johnson playing frontcourt minutes without a traditional big man at times, depending on the matchup.

Hopefully Saric is able to make a full recovery and return to the strong form he showed this season, but the timing of the injury puts his 2021-22 season in jeopardy. In the immediate, Phoenix is going to have to look at a variety of options in these Finals, with the Bucks’ rotations likely dictating when and how often the Suns try to go without a traditional big man on the floor.

There have been rumors about a lot of new Post Malone material coming this year, and finally, some of that is starting to materialize. Today, Posty announced that on Friday, July 9, he will be sharing a new video for “Motley Crew.”

He shared a brief snippet of the song’s video, which is directed by Cole Bennett of Lyrical Lemonade and was made in collaboration with NASCAR. Given the latter connection, naturally, the clip features Posty driving a car around a track, fully decked out in a racing jumpsuit and otherwise having a good time.

Aside from the upcoming visual, Malone has a few pre-existing connections to the NASCAR world. Back in 2018, he expressed an interest in playing PUBG: Battlegrounds with Bubba Wallace. Last year, Clint Boyer also told a story about his wife wanting to see Malone in concert, and when they went, he didn’t have an awesome time: “Posty showed up two hours late, he was drunk, played seven songs kind of, then left. Posty sucked [laughs]. […] I couldn’t figure it out. Anybody that can tattoo their face to that extent, drink beer on stage, show up two hours late, and leave after seven songs… he’s doing something right. And somehow, she was satisfied.”

Woodstock ’99 included performances from Korn, Rage Against the Machine, Limp Bizkit, Sheryl Crow, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. But that peak late-1990s lineup is not what anyone remembers about the troubled festival. The HBO original documentary Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage will examine “how the festival eventually collapsed under the weight of its own misguided ambition,” according to the network.

Here’s more:

The musical lineup reflected acts that dominated MTV and radio airwaves at the time and leaned heavily towards artists catering to a young, male demographic. Intense heat, lack of adequate sanitation and access to free drinking water agitated a crowd already at a breaking point. Shortcuts and cost-cutting measures had diminished security, allowing the anger and frustration of the mob to explode into unchecked rioting and destruction. As much as Woodstock 69 became known as a celebration of peace and inclusion, Woodstock 99 became a flashpoint for burgeoning white toxic masculinity.

Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage, which premieres on July 23 on HBO Max, is the first installment in HBO and The Ringer‘s six-part “Music Box” series. The other episodes will cover Alanis Morissette, Juice WRLD, Kenny G, Robert Stigwood, and DMX. For much more on Woodstock ’99, check out our own Steven Hyden’s Break Stuff: The Story of Woodstock ’99 podcast.

Megan Fox’s early career can only be described as very Transformers-heavy. She and director Michael Bay famously (and publicly) exchanged insults, and Steven Spielberg sided with Bay, and things grew very contentious before, eventually, she and Bay put the past behind them to work on those Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles flicks. Before all that happened, Fox spoke out during a 2009 interview with Jimmy Kimmel to promote Transformers: Rise of the Fallen. Over a decade later, that clip went viral, given that Fox relayed how Bay had sexualized her at age 15 (by having her dance under a waterfall, while wearing a bikini and heels on the set of 2004’s Bad Boys II). The interview clip in question didn’t go over well at the time, although the perception back then was that the incident was somehow “funny,” as observed by Kimmel.

At the time, Fox told her waterfall story while adding, “I was in 10th grade, so that’s a sort of a microcosm of how Bay’s mind works.” In response, Kimmel said, “Well, that’s really a microcosm of how all our minds work, but some of us have the decency to repress those thoughts and pretend that they don’t exist.” In the harsher light of 2020, people started to realize that Fox endured some hellish vibes during the resurfaced interview and overall in her career, and the clip went viral.

Well, Fox has now reflected upon that interview while speaking with The Washington Post. She’s now calling that Kimmel interview “a microcosm of my whole life and whole interaction with Hollywood.” She also declared, “It was just very dark.” Here’s an extended version of her quote:

“That was a microcosm of my whole life and whole interaction with Hollywood. It was just very dark. I was so lost and trying to understand, like, how am I supposed to feel value or find purpose in this horrendous, patriarchal, misogynistic hell that was Hollywood at the time?”

Fox previously (in 2018) discussed her own reluctance to speak out during the #MeToo movement, and her take was a sobering one. “I didn’t speak out for many reasons,” she declared at the time. “I just didn’t think based on how I’d been received by people, and by feminists, that I would be a sympathetic victim. And I thought if ever there were a time where the world would agree that it’s appropriate to victim-shame someone, it would be when I come forward with my story.”

As a result, it’s 2021, and Megan Fox is finally starting to really come forward with her story. People are listening.

(Via Washington Post)

As the end credits rolled for Annette during the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival, the crowd launched into a five minute standing ovation, so Adam Driver did what anyone would’ve done in that situation: Lit up a cigarette.

No, really. You can see for yourself.

In Driver’s defense, even though the moment was clearly tongue-in-cheek, there were a couple things going on here. For starters, the cigarette was handed to him by Annette director Leos Carax, who Driver gamely obliged. As for the length of the standing ovation, it’s not an uncommon occurrence for audiences to stand and clap for the whole credits during Cannes. Although, this year, the crowd was in an understandably festive mood that permeated the air. Via Variety:

It was by no means a record for Cannes, but it also felt like the crowd wasn’t just celebrating the movie. The world’s glitziest film festival had pulled off a comeback, after taking a year off in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Indeed, it was not the same Cannes that met crowds two years ago on the French Riviera. While many of the visitors at Cannes have been vaccinated, there have been added precautions as the Delta variant sweeps across the globe.

However, Driver’s Annette performance does include him singing while performing cunnilingus on Marion Cotillard, so let’s not rule out that factor in the lengthy ovation. It’s gotta be in the mix.

(Via Variety)

It’s been a few months since City Girls served up their hit “Twerkulator,” their unofficiall entry for this year’s song of the summer. Fans have been absolutely loving the track — it instantly went viral on TikTok and City Girls brought the song to the 2021 BET Awards stage for an eye-catching performance. Now following up on the release, City Girls tapped Missy Elliot to direct a vibrant video for the single.

The visual opens with Elliott’s voice booming through megaphones. “This is not a test. Everyone, please take shelter immediately,” she says. “The Twerkulators have already invaded Twerk City and you don’t have much time. They’ve already landed and they’re taking over. Run for cover, motherf*ckers.” City Girls’ JT and Yung Miami then show up to reclaim their spot on the block alongside a number of twerking backup dancers.

“Twerkulator” marks City Girls’ only solo track of 2021, though they did appear on a remix of BRS Kash’s “Throat Baby” earlier this year. Other than that, City Girls have been remaining in the public eye with their recent relationships. Yung Miami was recently seen holding hands with Diddy while JT has been going steady with Lil Uzi Vert. In fact, JT revealed the rapper gifted her $30,000 on their first-ever date.

Watch the “Twerkulator” video above.

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

The last we heard from Courtney Barnett, she was teaming up with Vagabon to cover Sharon Van Etten’s “Don’t Do It” for the Epic Ten reissue (Don’t forget, these two have been great together before). Last year, she also gave fans a Gillian Welch cover with a little help from Phoebe Bridgers. Now, she’s done with covers for the moment and is back to releasing new music of her own. With today’s new single “Rae Street,” Barnett has shared her first new music since her 2019 MTV Unplugged Live In Melbourne album, or, really, since 2018’s Tell Me How You Really Feel.

But the single isn’t the only new music on the way from Barnett, as fans might’ve guessed from her recently announced tour dates, Barnett also shared the news that her next album is called Things Take Time, Take Time and that it will be out on November 12 of this year.

Watch the Rae Street video above and check out the Things Take Time, Take Time tracklist below.

1. “Rae Street”
2. “Sunfair Sundown”
3. “Here’s The Thing”
4. “Before You Gotta Go”
5. “Turning Green”
6. “Take It Day By Day”
7. “If I Don’t Hear From You Tonight”
8. “Write A List Of Things to Look Forward To”
9. “Splendour”
10. “Oh The Night”

Things Take Time, Take Time is out 10/12 via Mom + Pop Music/Marathon Artists. Pre-order it here.

WNBA star Nneka Ogwumike could play for Nigeria in the Tokyo Olympics just weeks after being snubbed from Team USA’s 12-player roster. Ogwumike and her sister/Los Angeles Sparks teammate, Chiney, are awaiting clearance from FIBA after the country’s basketball federation announced the duo, along with their younger sister, Erica, were part of the 15-player provisional roster.

The eldest Ogwumike spoke about her Olympic snub for the first time, saying she did not want to wait around and be a potential alternate on the American team. “I just wanted to bet on myself and also be a part of an organization that prioritizes me,” Ogwumike said about the potential to play for Nigeria, according to ESPN. “My perspective was like, ‘If it’s not impossible, I’m going to go for it.’ Because I believe I have Olympic status and I plan on being an Olympian.”

According to ESPN, both Nneka and Chiney, who have dual citizenship with the United States and Nigeria, have been released by USA Basketball upon request as an initial step to compete for Nigeria. Typically, FIBA holds players who have competed for a country past their 17th birthday to that program for future events. But there is a loophole if the organization’s secretary general believes it’s in the best of interest of the growth of basketball in Nigeria for the Ogwumike sisters to compete.

“It’s something I know my family would be very proud of,” Ogwumike said, according ESPN. “For it to happen would be such a blessing. To be able to do something big for a big part of our heritage would be fantastic. I’m hoping it will contribute to the growth we’re experiencing for Africa in basketball.”

It was a huge shock that the 6’2 forward — who was the MVP of Team USA’s 2020 Olympic FIBA Qualifying Tournament, was one of eight original invitees to the program’s college tour against top-10 programs in 2019, and won gold medals in 2018 and 2014 FIBA World Cups — wasn’t invited to play in Tokyo. She is the only WNBA MVP (2016) to not make an Olympic roster.

“It was more of a hurt than a shock, because I had experienced it before,” Ogwumike, who was cut from the 2016 and 2012 rosters, said to ESPN. “But there are decisions made in this life that you can’t control. I allowed myself to feel the hurt, but moving on, I decided, ‘I’m going to try to put matters in my own hands.’”

There was speculation that Ogwumike’s grade 2 knee sprain, which was reported on June 3 to keep her sidelined for four-to-six weeks, was the reason she was left off the team, but Erica publicly refuted that explanation, and Nneka told ESPN she believes she’ll be ready to compete in exhibition games starting next week.

Two members of the U.S. Olympic selection committee, University of Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma and Connecticut Sun head coach Curt Miller, have declined or deferred comment on Ogwumike’s omission.

Several people in basketball have come to Ogwumike’s defense:

https://twitter.com/dame_lillard/status/1407933676625620996

We’ll have to wait and see if FIBA allows Nneka and Chiney to play, but if they’re cleared it won’t take long for us to watch them compete.

Team USA plays an exhibition game in Las Vegas on July 18 against Nigeria, which Nneka could play in if she’s healthy. If she chooses to wait until Olympic play, Team USA plays Nigeria in its opening group stage game on July 27.

At the start of this month, Halsey teased “a very special album artwork reveal & release date announcement” for her Trent Reznor- and Atticus Ross-produced album If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. It turns out she wasn’t just drumming up anticipation with hyperbole, as the art is definitely noteworthy: She shared it today, and it features Halsey freeing the nipple, as one of her breasts is exposed in the art, which was inspired by a Renaissance painting (specifically, “Virgin And Child Surrounded By Angels,” from the Melun Diptych by Jean Fouquet).

That’s the sort of thing that tends to turn heads, and indeed, it did, as it didn’t take long for Halsey to become one of the day’s top-trending topics on Twitter as reactions to the reveal poured in.

At least one user observed a trend in skin-bearing album covers, as Halsey’s arrives not long after the also-viral Lorde album art for Solar Power.

Others noted that this image is a continuation of Halsey’s strong history of standout cover art.

When sharing the art, Halsey said of it:

“This album is a concept album about the joys and horrors of pregnancy and childbirth. It was very important to me that the cover art conveyed the sentiment of my journey over the past few months. The dichotomy of the Madonna and the Whore. The idea that me as a sexual being and my body as a vessel and gift to my child are two concepts that can co-exist peacefully and powerfully. My body has belonged to the world in many different ways the past few years, and this image is my means of reclaiming my autonomy and establishing my pride and strength as a life force for my human being.

This cover image celebrates pregnant and postpartum bodies as something beautiful, to be admired. We have a long way to go with eradicating the social stigma around bodies & breastfeeding. I hope this can be a step in the right direction!”

Find the NSFW art and more reactions below.

If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power is out 8/27 via Capitol. Pre-order it here.