Month: November 2021

We’ve been talking a lot about rye whiskey lately. The gist is rye is taking the world by storm right now with expressions popping up all over, especially outside of the U.S. One of the newest additions to the rye style is coming from Ireland.

Irish Distillers created a micro-distillery that operates within their huge Midleton campus down in County Cork. Midleton is renowned for making the lion’s share of Irish whiskey with names like Powers, Redbreast, Paddy, and Jameson under their roof. Their micro-distillery focuses on one brand though, Method and Madness, which operates as a sort of Irish whiskey lab for unique mash bills, maturations, and blends.

Their latest release, Method and Madness Rye and Malt, embraces both the current trend of unique Irish whiskey drops and the world’s love of rye whiskey. We were lucky enough to get our hands on a bottle recently so let’s get into what’s in that bottle.

Method and Madness Rye & Malt

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $105

The Whiskey:

Distiller Katherine Condon created this whiskey using a mash bill of 60 percent rye and 40 percent malted barley. That spirit then spent several years chilling out in ex-bourbon casks before it was proofed and bottled.

Tasting Notes:

There’s this juxtaposition of lemon pepper and a rush of lavender on the nose that’s so pronounced it’s almost impossible to get anything else. The palate veers away from that towards a cedar box stuffed with spicy, dry tobacco leaves dusted with white pepper, cloves, and a dark chocolate powder cut with ground-up dried chili flakes. The mid-palate sweetens slightly with a touch of dates soaked in black tea next to ginger snap cookies.

The Bottle:

Method and Madness’ bottles are cool on their own. The glass has a great art-deco vibe with a label that invokes Alfons Mucha. It’s hefty, eye-catching, and feels totally unique.

Bottom Line:

This was an interesting entry in the rye pantheon. It felt very familiar while having a lightness that ringed very Irish, which was a good thing. It’s balanced and nuanced. But, in the end, it feels more like a really solid cocktail whiskey that you only grab as a sipper in a pinch.

Ranking:

89/100 — This was a solid, albeit light rye. It’ll be way too light for some fans of the powerhouse, high ABV ryes coming out of Kentucky. But as an easy-sipper and cocktail base, it shines.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, then the knowledge that Taylor Swift is slowly but steadily re-recording and re-releasing her back catalogue has probably made its way to your brain. But all the weird time lapses and crossovers that are going to result from this probably hasn’t sunk in yet. Like, for example, with the re-release of Red as Taylor’s Version, the fact that though Taylor and Jack Antonoff didn’t start working together until 1989, on this new version of Red, Antonoff would absolutely be present because he’s now become one of Taylor’s go-to producers.

For his part, Antonoff was as humble and deferential to Taylor and her brilliance as he always is, excitedly tweeting along with fans and fellow Swifties about his excitement over the new music. He had quite high praise for the ten minute version of “All Too Well,” too, which has already been deemed heavenly by Taylor Nation. “Honor of a lifetime to produce the 10 minute version of ‘all too well,’” he wrote. Following that up with a few more tweets: “As well as ‘babe’ and ‘forever winter’ …. but ATW needed it’s [sic] own tweet. Love you taylor and love these beautiful re records – go listen to REDtv.”

That about says it all! Check out the ten minute version of “All Too Well” up top — and don’t miss Taylor performing it on SNL this weekend, either.

Those who call themselves Swifties will never be the same. Tonight, Taylor Swift re-released a brand new version of her most beloved album as Red (Taylor’s Version), and the highlight of the release by far is the new, ten minute version of her fan-favorite track “All Too Well.” While most fans are hard-pressed to pick and all out favorite song from Swift, for many, this song is the one. So to get a brand new version that’s almost twice as long as the original is pretty overwhelming. What’s even more overwhelming? That despite the lack of announced tours (ahem, where is it Tay??) fans will still get to hear Taylor do the new ten minute version live.

We all already knew that Taylor would be performing on Saturday Night Live this weekend in support of the new version of her album, but what we didn’t know is what songs she would be doing. That is, until she went on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and gave the kind of hint that’s actually just the information needed. “What if, it wasn’t two songs as much as it was one song that is the length of three songs?” she asked, quite rhetorically.

Make sure to tune in on Saturday night, this one is going to be a doozy. Also is it wrong that I still hope she gets to do two songs, including the lengthy “All Too Well”?? Can someone ask Pete Davidson to cut a sketch or two, just for this weekend, so we can see more Taylor? Sorry not sorry, get Pete the message. If you haven’t heard it yet, check out the ten minute version of “All Too Well” above.

Yes, there’s now a short film accompanying “All Too Well.” premiering tomorrow afternoon. Yes, there’s now a ten-minute version of the song thanks to Taylor Swift constantly listening to what her fans love best about her music and knowing how to double down on it. For Red (Taylor’s Version), Ms. Swift made it clear from the start that she was going to do more than just re-release a re-recorded version of her fan-favorite record, which is considered by many to be one of the greatest albums of the last few decades. Instead of simply re-doing what she’d done before, Taylor has been adding new songs, like her new collaboration with Phoebe Bridgers on “Nothing New,” and a whole host of gems unearthed from the vault.

Just like when she re-recorded and re-released Fearless, she’s also done a careful job of restoring the album that was there before, but this is still Red like you’ve never heard it. And the fans? Well, they’re kind of losing their minds. Since the song is long-rumored to be about Taylor’s relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal, there’s lots of reactions on that front, too. For anyone who has spent the last decade and a half revering one of the greatest songwriters on the planet, tonight is nothing short of a holiday. Check out some of the most excited reactions to the new album — and the extended version of “All Too Well” in particular — below.

Polo G earned his first No. 1 album earlier this year with Hall Of Fame. The 20-track project saw him swing for the fences thanks to contributions from Nicki Minaj, Lil Durk, The Kid Laroi, Roddy Rich, Young Thug, DaBaby, and more. The project was a heavily promoted one that also saw a No. 1 single thanks to “Rapstar” as well as numerous videos. While some might have thought the rapper would close the chapter on Hall Of Fame, he’s not ready to do so yet as he recently announced a deluxe reissue for it would arrive next month. Polo G begins the rollout for Hall Of Fame 2.0 with his brand new single, “Bad Man (Smooth Criminal).”

The track samples Michael Jackson’s hit song for what proves to be a mischievous effort from the Chicago rapper. The song was first previewed in a trailer for Hall Of Fame 2.0 that Polo G released earlier this week. “Hall Of Fame…That was me beating my chest, really coming into my own as an artist and showing I’m gonna stay,” he says at the beginning of the video. “But before I just close out this chapter, I feel like we should turn up this one more time.”

Hall Of Fame 2.0 is out on 12/03 via Columbia. Pre-order it here.

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

Fans of Juice WRLD are in for a new treat next month. The late rapper’s team announced that his second posthumous album, Fighting Demons, is set to arrive on December 10. It’s seemingly the first of a trilogy of projects that his estate said his supporters would receive in the future. At the time of the announcement, it was revealed that a project called The Party Never Ends would be the first release out of the three, but the estate’s plans may have changed. Nonetheless, new music is on the way and it started with “Already Dead.”

The new track is an eerie beginning to the rollout of Fighting Demons, Juice’s first posthumous album since 2020’s Legends Never Die. “There was nothing Jarad “Juice WRLD” Higgins enjoyed more than delivering new music to his millions of fans around the world,” the late rapper’s mother Ms. Carmela Wallace said in a statement about the upcoming posthumous release. “He left behind an astonishingly deep catalog of music that will ensure his fans will have new songs to listen to for years to come. Jarad was always searingly honest about his struggles and through his musical genius he articulated what was on his heart and mind vividly through his art.”

She added, “We encourage all of you who struggle with addiction and mental health to never give up the fight. We continue to extend free support to you via LiveFree999.org created in his honor.” LiveFree999.org is the organization that was created to honor the late rapper and help those struggling with addiction.

Fighting Demons is out 12/10 via Interscope. Pre-order it here.

The Beyhive have endured a grueling last few years in the music department has Beyonce’s releases have been scarce since she shared her beloved sixth album, Lemonade. Besides Everything Is Love, her joint album with husband Jay-Z, Beyonce’s releases have mainly come in the form of singles and guest features. Now she’s back with her first song in over a year thanks to “Be Alive.” The new track is a spirited and riotous track that appears in King Richard, the biopic that follows tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams’ rise to stardom.

The new song was first teased in a trailer for the new film that was shared last month. Listeners got a good preview at the motivating single thanks to lyrics like “Can’t nobody knock it if they try / Do you know how much we have pride? / How hard we have to try?” As for the movie itself, Will Smith plays the tennis stars’ father in King Richard while Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton play Venus and Serena respectively. King Richard is available in both theaters and on HBO Max starting on November 19.

The new song arrives as Beyonce’s new Ivy Park collaboration with Peloton was released. The entire collection featured 29 pieces including T-shirts, bike shorts, tights, sports bras, shorts, windbreaks, and cropped hoodies.

You can listen to “Be Alive” in the video above.

Days before the summer season got underway earlier this year, Taylor Swift announced that her 2013 album, Red, would be her next re-recorded “Taylor’s Version” album. The news came months after she shared a new version of her 2008 sophomore release Fearless. In the announcement at the time, Taylor said Red “resembled a heartbroken person” who was “happy, free, confused, lonely, devastated, euphoric, wild, and tortured by memories of the past.” Along with new recordings of the project’s original 16 songs, Taylor added 14 previously unreleased or unheard records to the song, including “Nothing’s New” with Phoebe Bridgers.

The track is a soft, guitar-led that allows Swift and Bridgers’ bright vocals to shine on the track that focuses on a reciprocated love. Bridgers spoke to Billboard about the collaboration for an October feature on her Saddest Factory Records label. While the quotes did not make the feature, the publication shared them outside of it. “It’s just been a dream,” Bridgers says. “I just am so excited to have people take it at face value the day that it comes out, because I got teary recording it. I just couldn’t be more excited.” Bridgers also said Swift re-recording her albums is “really inspiring for me and a lot of musicians.”

You can press play on the video above to hear “Nothing New.”

Red (Taylor’s Version) is out now via Republic. Get it here.

Thursday was not a good night for the Utah Jazz, as the West’s current No. 2 team struggled with the Indiana Pacers at home, as the backcourt of Malcolm Brogdon and TJ McConnell lit them up.

Things went from bad to worse in the fourth quarter when three Jazz starters got ejected after one of the weakest “fights” in recent memory between Myles Turner and Rudy Gobert.

It all started with Gobert pulling Turner down to the ground by his shorts, which led Turner to give Gobert a shove as they got up to run up the floor, and then the real shenanigans started as Gobert went to wrap up Turner and the two sort of wrestled/hugged until people got in between to break it up.

The two big men were, obviously, tossed for the altercation, but Joe Ingles and Donovan Mitchell also got tossed for how they came barreling into the fracas late, with Ingles pushing a referee who was breaking things up and Mitchell came in and was deemed to have been trying to escalate matters. With those three out for Utah, any hopes of a late comeback were effectively dashed and the Pacers pulled ahead for a comfortable 111-100 win. Fines are surely coming for the parties involved, but it’d be surprising to see any suspensions for what was a relatively tame rumble — unless they deem Ingles’ contact with a referee worthy of more than just the ejection and fine.

After falling short of sky-high expectations last season, the Arizona State Sun Devils entered the 2021-22 campaign with more modest fanfare. Bobby Hurley’s team opened the season with a Tuesday night win over Portland in breezy fashion and, at times on Thursday, it looked as if Arizona State would improve to 2-0 in non-conference play by toppling the UC Riverside Highlanders. However, the Sun Devils were stunned as the buzzer sounded in Tempe, with UC Riverside forward J.P. Moorman II knocking down a 60-foot heave to secure the upset victory.

In the moments following the play, videos made the rounds in chronicling the play, including a view from inside the building that added to the drama.

And the UC Riverside radio call was also spectacular.

Moorman II finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, and he shot 4-of-8 from three-point range. It was not as if the visiting Highlanders put together an offensive showing for the ages, scoring only 66 points including the buzzer-beater, but this one shot was enough to pick up a landmark victory.

On the Arizona State side, this one has to sting. Not only is it a loss to a mid-major opponent, but the Sun Devils endured some self-inflicted issues in the game, including 39 percent shooting and nearly as many turnovers (10) as assists (12). In the grand scheme, this result may not swing Arizona State’s season in a negative direction, but it is certainly a moment to be cherished for Moorman II and the UC Riverside men’s basketball program.