The creator of “gazpacho police” is at it again. CNN’s Jim Acosta’s out there, doing his job as chief domestic correspondent. Today, his duties involved approaching QAnon cheerleader Marjorie Taylor Greene, which likely wasn’t something he looked forward to doing because she’s so confrontational. Nonetheless, Acosta needed to ask her about that text message that could get her removed from the 2022 ballot for reelection. Under testimony, that is, Greene straight-up lie under oath while denying that she advocated for “marshall law.” Yet her text to Mark Meadows told a different tale:
“In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law. I don’t know on those things. I just wanted you to tell him. They stole this election. We all know. They will destroy our country next. Please tell him to declassify as much as possible so we can go after Biden and anyone else!”
Acosta dutifully inquired about this text message, and he made sure to point out (two times!) how Greene misspelled “martial law.” She was pretty steamed and tweeted video of their discussion while writing, “I am repulsed that people gladly take a paycheck to lie and mischaracterize me like this guy, Jim @Acosta. I want to think good things about the press, but they behave like this and it makes me sick to my stomach.”
I am repulsed that people gladly take a paycheck to lie and mischaracterize me like this guy, Jim @Acosta.
I want to think good things about the press, but they behave like this and it makes me sick to my stomach. pic.twitter.com/jSOUPK9RM4
Acosta also asked her about her going full soulless ghoul about Satan and the Catholic Church, and Greene wasn’t having that either. More to the point, though, she simply doesn’t recall sending that text message, but if she did, she thinks that the “I don’t know on those things” line would absolve her of accusations that she wanted the military to take the place of law enforcement and overturn the election that Trump definitely lost.
The video’s less than four minutes, but it sure feels longer. After Acosta kept pressing her to answer a question, Greene exclaimed, “Stop harassing me!” Apparently, she feels much more at home while chatting with a sympathetic Laura Ingraham above a misspelled chyron on Fox News.
For this list, I’m pulling all the top-ranked Scotch whiskies from our four-month-long journey through each price point, in which I named 130 scotches I dig. To make this list as diverse as possible, I’m not repeating bottles from the same brand (I tend to rank Talisker’s expressions pretty high across all price points). That way, I hope you’ll have a broader idea of all the great Scotch whisky out there.
The 13 Scotch whiskies below — both blended whisky and single malts — are some of the best of the best. Yes, even the bottle in the $20 to $30 bracket. Hopefully, this list can help you find a great bottle so that you’re not stuck with a shitty one. Let’s dive in!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Scotch Whisky Posts of The Last Six Months
Chivas Regal is one of the biggest whiskies in the world, but that’s mostly outside of the U.S. The juice is a classic blend that is specifically built to be in a glass filled with rocks and maybe a splash of water.
Tasting Notes:
Cedar with hints of citrus, anise, banana, and salted caramel greet you. Creamy vanilla marries mild nutty notes as the nose carries on through the palate with hints of black pepper and malt. The finish is mellow, spicy, and creamy, albeit short.
Bottom Line:
This is a lot of people’s entry point to scotch in general. Chivas is a stone-cold classic and one of the original “scotch on the rocks” whiskies. So, yeah, pour this over some rocks and enjoy the fruity ride.
The lion’s share of this blend — 45 percent — comes from a single grain whisky aged in ex-bourbon from Cameronbridge Distillery. 22 percent is a single malt aged in ex-bourbon that comes from Linkwood Distillery. The rest is a mix of French oak and ex-bourbon single malts and blended malts from the Highlands, Clyneilish, Linkwood, and Balmenach. Those whiskies are vatted and then proofed down before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a very clear and concise note of apple candy with a hint of salted caramel ice cream cut with a touch of eggnog spices. There’s a nice maltiness that leans into a creamy vanilla, soft holiday spice mix, butter toffee, and a hint of milk chocolate near the end. The finish is warming with a whisper of tobacco next to a woody apple, spice candies (maybe ginger), and a final hint of cocoa and caramel.
Bottom Line:
Though Compass Box has been around for a couple of decades now, their releases always feel fresh. This blended whisky really has some great depth that makes it work over some rocks or layered into a great cocktail.
This is an entry whisky not only to Speyside but to single malts in general. The juice is aged in a combination of used American and European oak before it’s married, rested, proofed with Speyside’s iconic water, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
This dram is creamy like a vanilla pudding with a bright pear orchard vibe, some mild toffee, and hints of sweetgrass next to mild oak. That leads towards a very easy and soft woodiness with a touch of candied pear and more vanilla cream before hints of soft cinnamon spice poke up in the background with those soft malts. By the end, it’s clear how light and approachable this whisky is as that pear, vanilla cream, and milt spice slowly fade away, leaving you with a silken mouthfeel and just enough malts and toffee.
Bottom Line:
This is another easy landing for anyone looking to dip their toe in unpeated, or sweet, scotch. There’s a lovely fruitiness that’s clear and concise with a real creamy edge. Overall, this is a cocktail base more than a sipper but works either way.
Johnnie Walker’s Green Label is a solidly crafted whisky that highlights Diageo’s fine stable of distilleries across Scotland. The juice is a pure malt or blended malt, meaning that only single malt whisky is in the mix (and no grain whisky). In this case, the primary whiskies are a minimum of 15-year-olds from Talisker, Caol Ila, Cragganmore, and Linkwood.
Tasting Notes:
Soft notes of cedar dance with hints of black pepper, vanilla pods, and bright fruit with a wisp of green grass in the background. The palate really delivers on that soft cedar woodiness while edging towards a spice-laden tropical fruit brightness. The finish is dialed in with hints of cedar, spice, and fruit leading towards a briny billow of smoke at the very end.
Bottom Line:
This tastes as good — if not better — than whiskies three, four times the price. Even though Johnnie Walker Blue is considered the mountaintop of the brand, this expression slaps. It’s a fantastic sipper (neat or on the rocks) that also makes a killer cocktail or highball. It’s versatile (and among my favorites on this list).
Where many scotches spend time in ex-bourbon and then ex-sherry casks or some combination therein, this expression spends all 12 years of its maturation just in sherry casks. The barrels are imported from Jerez, Spain, and hand-selected for their excellence to mature this much-beloved whisky.
Tasting Notes:
Apple cider with a cut of cinnamon and clove in the juice greets you with a clear sense of vanilla, nuts, and plums on the nose. On the taste, those plums turn into prunes as orange peels mingle with sweet oak and a hint of tobacco spice. The end is long, full of that sherry, dried fruit, and sweetness, and returns back to the chewy tobacco spice.
Bottom Line:
The Macallan 12 is another gateway scotch. This is one of those pours that hooks folk into that malty and fruity side of things when it comes to whisky. But it’s just that, a stepping stone to bigger and better things.
This entry-point bottle to the wider world of Dalwhinnie is a hell of an easy drinker. The juice is aged in Scotland’s oldest distillery, making the maturation process a severe one. The juice spends 15 years hiding in those barrels as the temperatures dip well below freezing across all those winters.
Tasting Notes:
Imagine a bowl of pear and apple peels sitting next to an open jar of floral summer honey on the nose. Dots of citrus oils mingle with that honey as a smooth vanilla character arrives on the back of sweet brown bread bespeckled with smoked walnuts. The nuts, sweet bread, and floral honey all converge on the finish as it slowly fades towards a final billow of sweet smoke at the back of your mouth.
Bottom Line:
This is where things get really good. This is a peated malt whisky that’s far more of a sweet, fruity, and nutty whisky than an acrid “smoky” one. That makes this a great place to start with peated malt. You have to go easy before you go hard.
This is the most recognizable Lagavulin out there. The malts are smoked just down the road from the distillery at Port Ellen and the juice is crafted expertly by the sea at Lagavulin. Then the whisky spends 16 long years mellowing in old American and Spanish oak.
Tasting Notes:
Imagine a beach fire that’s using dried seaweed as fuel next to mugs of honeyed black tea and a clump of wet moss on the nose. The taste of this dram meanders through dried pipe tobacco smoke laced with hints of vanilla and tart apple while notes of briny caramel lead towards an oyster shell minerality. The finish is pure silk as the seaweed grows wetter and the smoke sweetens towards that caramel, vanilla, and apple.
Bottom Line:
Speaking of going hard, Lagavulin 16 is a pretty spectacular whisky that bridges the worlds of peat monsters and fruity sweet whisky damn near perfectly. There’s going to be some seaside funk in this whisky, but that’s what so many folks fall in love with.
The 2021 Distillers Edition is a classic Talisker, aged by the sea, that’s finished for six months in Amoroso sherry casks. The whisky was distilled in 2011 and bottled at 10 years old. It was then finished in another Amoroso sherry cask, making it “double” matured.
Tasting Notes:
The nose runs deep on this whisky with mild hints of beachside campfire smoke whispering in the background as hints of red fruit, wet driftwood, and green peppercorns draw you in. The palate embraces the red berries with a slight tartness next to the sweetness as the peat remains dry and distant and tied to the brine of the sea with an almost oyster liquor softness. The finish lingers for just the right amount of time as sweet berries and dry peat lead towards soft dark cacao powder with a tiny note of vanilla and one last spray from the sea.
Bottom Line:
The refinement of this whisky is astounding. This is also one of those “ah-ha” whiskies that are either going to drive you deeper into the style or push you away for good. It’s also a perfect raw oyster or caviar pairing whisky.
$100-$125 — Laphroaig Càirdeas 2021 Pedro Ximénez Casks
Laphroaig is always innovating its line. 2021’s Càirdeas is a triple-matured, cask-strength whisky. The whisky first mellowed in ex-bourbon casks before being moved to quarter casks and, finally, finished in Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. That whisky was then bottled as is.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a lot going on with this nose from a starting point of fresh Band-Aids to rich marzipan with plenty of rose water to apples stewed in holiday spices with hazelnut and caramel to a light touch of bourbon vanilla and maybe a hint of cherry tobacco. The palate takes that Band-Aid and turns it toward a sharp but very fatty smoked bacon vibe while a medley of smoked apples, salted licorice, and eggnog spices mingle beneath that bacon. The mid-palate leans into a very dry cedar as notes of nori, fennel, and sharper brown spices, almost Red Hots, warm the back end of the finish.
Bottom Line:
Heavy peat and sherry casks really marry well. This whisky is bold with a capital “B” but retains some real nuance. That PX sherry cask adds this beautiful layer of dried fruits and nuts that works with the big peaty flavors of the spirit. This is a big swing if you’re new to peated malt, so think about working your way up to it.
Oban’s location on the Scottish coast, next to both the Inner Hebrides and Highlands, allows it to harness the best of both regions when making its whisky. This year’s 12-year release is built on the backs of both ex-bourbon casks and refill bourbon casks, allowing the stronger notes of those new bourbon casks to get a light mellowing from the refill wood. The results are bottled at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Briny — that’s the draw here. The nose has this mellow mix of spicy nori crackers that lead towards an old wooden cutting board that’s slick with olive juice, fish oils, salt, and black pepper that you then take a heel of bread to mop up while a slight note of smoked whitefish lingers on the very backend. On the palate, a burst of citrus oils arrives to cut through all that umami, oil, and brine as a light malty fruitiness adds a little tart and sweet to the mix, with a sense of cedar chips soaked in mild chili oil driving a sense of warmth. The finish lets that spice build towards a dry pepperiness thanks to the wood as the fruit ties itself to a very mild tobacco leaf and another note of that smoked fish sneaks in at the very end.
Bottom Line:
This is another massively distinct whisky with serious depth. The beauty of this bottle is in how exact the flavor notes are. You really feel every nuance as you take your time sipping this one.
Ardbeg’s boilers breaking down led to this whisky. Instead of throwing out the mash until the boilers were fixed, Dr. Bill Lumsden (the mad-scientist distiller behind Ardbeg) decided to see what would happen if they let it be. The washback lids were opened and the mash was allowed to ferment with the sea-kissed Islay air for three more weeks. To put that in perspective, Ardbeg (and most whiskies) usually ferment for 72 hours before distillation. Once the boilers were back up and running, the whisky was distilled and then barreled in first-fill and re-fill bourbon casks. 13 years later, Dr. Bill decided it was ready.
Tasting Notes:
The nose starts off with this burst of fresh green grass just after the rain that melts into a summer herb garden (mint heavy), grapefruit seeds, and smoked butter with sweet lemon candy and orange trees that are underpinned with a dark and rich soil that’s been turned with manure. Going deeper on the nose, you get fresh tires, mossy fir bark, and maybe a hint of fennel-heavy focaccia. The palate starts off incredibly soft with a toffee note before veering into burnt scones, hints of absinthe, turmeric, and finally Marlboro Red cigarette ash. That ashiness builds on the palate as a slight Windex note pops in next to a hint of mint candy and some more mild toffee. The finish lets that sweetness stay while the cigarette ash builds towards a crescendo and leaves your senses feeling like you’ve licked an ashtray with a hint of minty toffee candies.
Bottom Line:
There should be a warning on this bottle: “This might blow your mind.” There’s a lot going on here that somehow just works. Yes, even the ashtray vibes. In the end, if you’re looking at spending nearly $200 on a limited edition peaty from Islay, you’re probably already on the road to loving these types of whisky. If not, maybe try a Dalwhinnie first.
$200-$250 — The GlenDronach Parliament Aged 21 Years
Don’t let the name fool you. The “parliament” in this case is the collective noun for rooks — a type of European crow that nests above the distillery. That dark essence is rendered in the whisky through 21 long years of maturation in Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks exclusively.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a lot going on with this nose, starting with blackberry brambles hanging heavy with ripe fruit leading towards a well-spiced oatmeal cookie vibe and cut with hints of orange zest and vanilla. A sticky toffee pudding sweetness arrives (heavy on the dates) with flourishes of bitter dark chocolate notes and a sharp holiday spice matrix. The end is very long but very velvety with hints of dark fruits and spices warming your body as it fades away.
Bottom Line:
Taking a sip of this is like seeing the clouds part and the sun shine through for the first time. This is perfect malt whisky with a succinct flavor profile. Everything is so clear and makes sense as you sip it. You kind of don’t want this one to end because it’s like a silken flow of all your holidays, nostalgia, and hopes rolled into one glass of whisky.
This 21-year-old whisky, released in 2021, was crafted with help from old Port, sherry, and bourbon barrels. The peated whisky from the tiny Campbeltown region is built to highlight the unique and very fruity notes of the style while having its own vibe.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is all about the malt that’s a mix of oatmeal cookie and a Graham cracker with rich vanilla pudding notes, a touch of buttery toffee, and a final burst of deep red strawberries. The fruitiness takes on a savory note that’s kind of like smoked watermelon before heading back towards those cookies with plenty of cinnamon warmth and nutty depth on the palate. The finish arrives slowly with a nod towards peat as a passing fancy that’s buried beneath a vanilla cream laced with cinnamon, oats, raisins, and bitter over-roasted coffee beans.
The Bottom Line:
This bottle is very “go big or go home.” It’s super rare, very delicious, and just unique enough that you really need to dig in to find all of those deep flavor notes. Overall, this is a bit of a show-off bottle, sure, but it’s also just really goddamn good.
New bottles of whiskeys drop pretty much every day. That means that we’re all neck-deep in the latest whisk(e)y boom, whether we know it or not. One of the most interesting sections of that boom is rye whiskey. New and interesting rye whiskeys arrive left and right these days and it can be pretty hard to keep track of them all (it’s tough even if you’re in the industry and it’s your job to do exactly that). One way to separate the wheat from the chaff is to taste through and see what actually rules (and is thereby worth spending your hard-earned cash on).
That’s where I come in. Luckily, I get a fair few whiskeys to taste. For this blind tasting, though, I’m going hard. I’m going to taste ten new rye whiskeys that were released over the last year. The ripple is that I’ll be tasting these “double-blind.” That means I won’t have an inkling of what’s in those Glencairns besides that they’re “rye whiskey” and “newer.” No price tags, no branding, and no PR emails are going to sway my mind and palate during this taste test.
Since this is a “double-blind” taste test, I’m going to jump right in and see what rises to the top. My guess is that the “good stuff” will win out but a cheaper ringer might steal the whole show. Let’s see what happens!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Blind Taste Test Posts Of The Last Six Months
The nose opens with a mix of wicker, old leather, caramel, and vanilla with a hint of dried potpourri. The palate hits pretty sweet with sugar candy on the front of the tongue as more wicker leads to dry spice and soft vanilla cream. The finish circles back to that sweetness with a rock candy vibe with a hint more of that wicker and vanilla.
Taste 2
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
A lot of citruses (orange, grapefruit, pomelo) are rolling around on this nose with floral honey, grainy malts, almonds, and rum-raisin. The taste builds on those raisins with an apple crumble vibe next to dried roses and black pepper with a honeyed mid-palate. The spice kicks up with some fresh ginger, more black pepper, and dark chocolate powder that leads to a spiced, gingery tobacco finish.
Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This is completely different with a nose of fresh dill, rosemary sprigs, fennel, and mustard seeds with a hint of leather, moss, butter pads, espresso-infused tobacco, and dried bamboo. The palate builds on that nose with peanut butter cookies dipped into an oat milk latte with a hint of Almond Joy. The mid-palate bursts with oolong tea, olive brine, grapefruit peels, and cherry cough drops. The finish circles back and lets that oolong really shines with old leather gloves and a bitter tobacco leaf.
This is clearly in a different league than the first two.
Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Another 180! This opens with a gentle note of what feels like cold leather layered on dry straw, sour candies, and a distant hint of pine boxes full of apple tobacco. The taste opens with a hint of wet wicker next to freshly presses apple cider that feels hazy and a chewy apple tree bark. The mid-palate veers away from the apple toward vanilla candies with a little chew to them, soft winter spice (think nutmeg and clove), and a whisper of quince jam on a buttery brioche.
Taste 5
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose starts with a familiar old leather vibe that leads to dried roses and a hint of beef bouillon cube. The palate starts with a dried apple chip dipped in salted and buttery toffee with vanilla cookies in the background. The mid-palate works away from the sweet vanilla toward soft notes of nutmeg, almond, and apple blossoms.
Taste 6
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Old leather and vanilla pods mingle with Cinnamon Toast Crunch, streusel, and cellar beams on the nose. Rum-raisin kicks off the palate with good doses of nutmeg, clove, and anise leading to a peppery spice matrix. The sip then leans into dry tobacco leaves in an old cedar box and cherry cream soda straight off the fountain as the anise, clove, and nutmeg fuse with tobacco on the slow finish.
Taste 7
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Bright notes of cherry, nutmeg, cinnamon, and even leather dominate the nose. The palate leans into vanilla extract wth a spicy cherry cough syrup vibe. Granny Smith apple cores punctuate the mid-palate as the finish mixes up brown sugar, winter spice, wet wicker, and vanilla tobacco with cherry.
Taste 8
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Wet grains and leather mingle on the nose as dried flowers, lemon marmalade, and cherry pie lurk in the background. Creamy vanilla sauce and eggnog drive the palate with nutmeg and allspice making appearances until caramel corn pops on the mid-palate. That’s countered by fresh ginger spice and black-tea-soaked dates drive the finish toward a woody tobacco end.
Taste 9
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Winter spice and orange zest lead the way on the nose with candied almonds (those red ones) and the slightest echo of tomato paste. The palate leans into dried orange peels next to nutmeg and clove with more of those candied nuts. The finish arrives with plenty of vanilla and brown sugar but the umami promised on the nose doesn’t quite come back.
Taste 10
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Wet straw, sticky oatmeal, raisins, and apple blossoms make for an interesting nose. The palate leans into vanilla cream countered by chili extract with soft oak and caramel rounding out the sip. The finish has a sweet touch of vanilla candy but then just kind of disappears.
This drop from fall 2021 is all about Elvis in the branding. The actual juice in the bottle is a 95 percent rye (with five percent malted barley) from an “undisclosed” distillery. Those barrels are sent down to Grain & Barrel Spirits in Tennessee where they’re blended, proofed, and bottled.
Bottom Line:
This had a lot of promise on the nose but then just petered out. It felt like a $15… maybe. I’ll put it this way, there was no hesitation in putting this last.
This whiskey from Michigan is a blend of Traverse City’s own-make (a 100 percent rye) and MGP’s 95 percent rye. The whiskeys are aged for about two years before they’re vatted and proofed down with that clear Michigan water.
Bottom Line:
This is the part of the ranking where “it’s fine” rules the roost. This was just fine but not all that memorable, especially compared to the bangers in the bottom half of this list.
This Maryland whiskey (though part of it is still sourced from Indiana) is two rye mash bills that are put together for maximum ryeness. The low and high rye whiskeys are aged four to six years before vatting. The juice is then proofed with limestone water from a Maryland ahead of the bottling.
Bottom Line:
Again, this was fine but I felt a little let down that the umami on the nose never came back on the palate. That said, this feels like a perfectly workable cocktail whiskey.
This whiskey from Nevada is a single estate spirit. That means it’s made with 100 percent rye in the mash bill and that rye (Winter Rye specifically) came from the Frey Ranch farmland. The spirit was then aged a few years before only a few thousand bottles were filled.
Bottom Line:
This is definitely where things started getting better. This had real depth and felt like a decent sipper over some rocks. It wasn’t quite as nuanced as the next couple of picks, but there’s more than enough to enjoy here.
This whiskey from Owensboro Distilling Co. in Kentucky is another 95 percent rye. In this case, the rye is aged at least two years before blending, proofing, and bottling.
Bottom Line:
I had no idea what this was, but it tasted pretty good today. And when I say that, I meant middle of the road. There were classic rye notes, it was well built, but there was nothing that grabbed or held my attention.
5. Redwood Rocket Top Bottled-in-Bond Rye — Taste 5
This new release from Redwood Empire Distilling out in California is a unique whiskey. The mash bill is not a 95 percent rye. I know, shocking. Instead, we have five-year-old rye made from a mash bill of 87 percent rye, seven percent malted barley, and six percent wheat.
Bottom Line:
This was a pretty good sip all around. I could see drinking this over a rock or two at the end of the day and being pretty happy about it. Still, it was more classic than anything else, which is not a diss.
This rye is an outlier thanks to a very unique finish. The juice is standard, contract-distilled 95 percent rye that spent seven years in the barrel. That whiskey was then transferred into ice cider casks (from Eden Specialty Ciders in Vermont) where it rested for another 364 days. The ice cider casks, which held a dessert hard cider with a lot of sweetness built into the French oak, are then emptied and the whiskey is bottled with a touch of water as-is.
Bottom Line:
There was a lot of apple-ness on this one that could have made it one note. But this really felt dialed into something a bit more than just a spicy apple bomb. There was a delicate interplay here that was very enticing but, in the end, this felt…quiet. And I just was wowed a little more by the next three.
Nashville Barrel is all about the barrel picks for retailers, bars, and whoever comes along (within reason). The juice in this case is 95 percent MGP rye that’s around eight years old. The whiskey went into the bottle at barrel strength without any additional fussing.
Bottom Line:
This felt like everything I could ever want in a classic rye whiskey. It was so tightly dialed into rye whiskey vibes that I just wanted to pour another and not think about anything else. That’s a powerful pull.
This release is a blend of whiskeys from Kentucky and Maryland (which is the source of America’s rye whiskey heritage). The Kentucky rye is from Bardstown Bourbon Company (a 95-percent rye), which is contract distilling and aging whiskey for Pursuit United. The other rye is from Maryland’s famed and beloved Sagamore Spirits (a 52-percent rye), which makes some of the best ryes in the country. Kenny Coleman and Ryan Cecil took barrels from each warehouse and masterfully married them to create this expression with a touch of water to bring the proof down a notch.
Bottom Line:
This beat out the above by being both classic and also having something more happening on the palate that elevated this sip. Overall, this felt the most “rye” on the list while also feeling fresh.
Last year’s Barrell Seagrass Rye was beloved across the whiskey world. This year, Barrell upped the ante by releasing a special edition that’s a 16-year-old version of that same whiskey. This whiskey is made from a 100 percent Canadian rye that’s finished in Martinique rhum, Madeira, and apricot brandy casks. Those casks are vatted at Barrell’s warehouse and bottled as-is at a very high ABV.
Bottom Line:
This was number one from the moment it hit my lips. This is so bold, new, fascinating, and kind of weird in the best way possible. I loved this sip. That said, if you’re looking for classic rye with some spice, check numbers two and three because this ain’t it. This is a wild ride that has no end.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
This was a fun ride. The only disappointment was the Elvis whiskey. The rest were all pretty good overall with the top four each bringing the heat.
As for the number one spot, I can’t deny that I’m always looking for the weird and new and am drawn to it like a fly to a buzzing light. Still, it’s a whiskey that is unique that excites me. I love the classics as much as the next whiskey drinker, but sometimes something comes along that reshapes how you look at a style of whiskey and that’s it, that’s all you want from there on out. Barrell’s Seagrass 16 was that rye for me. It’s spectacular.
In the end, though, you really can’t go wrong with six through two either. They each have their own charms. But if you want something a little otherworldly, Barrell is the pick.
The offensive line is where football games are won and lost in college football, but despite strong offensive line play being crucial to success, plenty elite athletes who line up in the trenches don’t get recognized. That’s because the average person really only pays attention to the line when a quarterback is being sacked. Evan Neal, a stud lineman out of Alabama, didn’t spend too much time watching his QBs lay on the ground in college.
Since arriving in Tuscaloosa, Neal protected elite signal callers like Tua Tagovailoa, Mac Jones, and 2021 Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young. Neal started during his freshman year, and while that’s a situation that would overwhelm some, the soon-to-be first-round pick viewed it as an opportunity to grow and quickly mature.
“The thing that I’m most proud of is being a young guy coming in and playing early and having to mature. Being a freshman, being in the situation where you have to perform to the level of a veteran, it kind of forces you to just grow up, and I’m definitely thankful for that experience,” Neal tells UPROXX.
It can be stressful playing at Alabama, as every player thinks he will play on Sundays some day. On top of trying to stay on top of his game, Neal quickly found himself a leader in the locker room. And in his downtime, he found the best way to relax was to chill out and play some Call of Duty.
“For me, [playing Call of Duty and playing football] are two different mindsets,” Neal says. “I like to play video games just for leisure. Even though Call of Duty can be a stressful game, don’t get me wrong, the mindset is definitely different. The competitive fire is still there, I don’t wanna lose, I don’t wanna get killed, but mentally I approach it differently.”
It is interesting listening to him talk about his approach to the game. His overall goal, keep his K/D ratio up and not be a negative to the team, sounds a lot like how a lineman approaches their job: keep the quarterback up, don’t chase highlights, and above all else, do not hurt your team.
“I just try to kill and not be killed,” Neal says. “I’m not the biggest gamer in the world, but I do my best. I don’t really have a strategy, but I just try to keep my K/D ratio up and that’s all I try to do.”
Even if it doesn’t always change the game, a good K/D ration helps the team immensely. Being okay with that is something that is a surprisingly rare trait among the average Call of Duty player. All of this could be unrelated, but it’s hard to not think about how that team-first attitude has helped Neal become the leader he was at Alabama.
Nothing — not football, Call of Duty, nor draft prep — seems to phase Neal. Maybe it’s his personality, or maybe everything is just easier once you’ve gone through the grind of the Alabama football program.
“It definitely helped harden my steel and sharpen my iron, just being in such a competitive environment forces the best out of you,” he says. “So I’m definitely fortunate for Alabama and coach [Nick] Saban for helping me develop my skills as a football player, and not only that, but as a man as well.”
It’s hard imagine a scenario where Neal isn’t spending the next decade-plus playing in the NFL. And when the games are done and he heads back home, he knows he’ll have his favorite game waiting for him, as he told me, “I’m never going to stop playing [Call of Duty]. I go through phases where I just want to play the game, and if it’s there, I’m gonna play it.”
Ava Max is back, and teasing the follow up to her debut album, Heaven And Hell. After popping up in late 2021 with the dark and rebellious banger, “The Motto,” a collab with Tiësto, Ava is back out on her own and thinks “Maybe You’re The Problem.” In the lead single for her second album, Ava takes on the old adage that “it’s not you, it’s me,” and turns it on its head.
Swapping out her short/long blonde hair for some fiery red locks, Ava finds herself agreeing with a former partner’s ex-girlfriends opinions on this breakup anthem. “Everyone always says ‘it’s not you it’s me’ but sometimes the problem really isn’t me, it’s you!!” Ava said of the song. “’Maybe You’re The Problem’ was so much fun to create. This new music I’ve been working on is the most personal music I have ever made. I can’t wait to share it with you very soon.”
In the Joseph Kahn-directed clip, Ava sunbathes in the snow, gets inserted into a video game, and reflects on a relationship she couldn’t be happier to be out of. Check out the new video up top and keep an ear out for more news about her upcoming new album.
Taking on college-related debt is something that most Americans now expect when graduating high school, especially if their parents are middle class or working poor. There are only so many scholarships to go around and so much you can earn from work study. In fact, the average millennial has just under $40,000 in student loan debt and Americans owe around $1.7 trillion in student loans. Taking on large amounts of debt fresh out of high school has become the norm, but that may be changing soon.
Some states are already offering two free years of college for graduating high school students, and now the 30th state is ready to sign on to do the same. Some states are taking it further than two years of free college and extending it to four years with the option to use the program for trade and technical schools as well. In New Mexico, the Opportunity Scholarship provides free college to its residents and expands that even further to include adult learners, returning students and immigrants regardless of immigration status. That last provision is unheard of, because, contrary to popular belief, undocumented immigrants are not typically able to participate in any sort of government funding or programs due to their lack of social security number and other documentation needed for participation.
The long-term effects of free college could be massive for the average American. It would open up the door for other opportunities that may have otherwise been hindered by holding so much college debt. Homeownership would be easier to come by for graduates due to an inherently lower debt-to-income ratio. It could also allow college graduates to save more money for retirement, a down payment on a house or to open their own business because they wouldn’t have to spend a large portion of their earnings on student loan payments. This could help bridge some of the wealth gap between higher earners and people that went into a lower paying profession such as teaching or social work.
Thirty states signing on to this type of initiative would bring us much closer to having universal college. And this would help give a fighting chance to those who may feel like they started life on the lowest rung. New Mexico’s Higher Education Department Secretary Stephanie Rodriguez told CNBC, “We want to be the national example of how you create a higher education ecosystem system that’s inclusive and accessible, so nobody is turned away from the opportunity to go to college.”
Maine would be state number 30 to allow for free college if the bill passes. Governor Janet Mills has proposed a plan that would make two years of community college free. When speaking to CNBC, Morley Winograd, president and CEO of the Campaign for Free College Tuition, said “If we get to 50, it’s mission accomplished.” Most are “last dollar” scholarships, which essentially means that any federal aid and private scholarships would be applied first, and the state-funded scholarships would cover the remaining balance.
The age of 13 is a turning point in a lot of people’s lives. It’s right before you enter high school and begin to be exposed to a whole new world of temptation in the form of drugs, alcohol, dating, sex, smoking and gangs, to name a few.
When you’re a kid you can make a mistake that doesn’t follow you forever. But once the teen years hit, your decisions can have lifelong repercussions.
Imagine if you could go back in time and tell your 13-year-old self what pitfalls to avoid and which decisions to make? A Reddit user by the name kiwipangolin asked the online forum an intriguing question about how they’d handle such a meeting: “You meet your 13-year-old self, but you can only tell them three words. What do you say and why?”
Three words aren’t much, but they’re easy to remember.
A lot of the people who responded wished they could tell themselves to avoid a lifetime of addiction, mostly cigarettes and drugs. Some wished they would have let loved ones who passed away know how much they cared. While others would have let their past selves know their friends or family members were in danger.
There are a lot of people in the Reddit thread who have some serious regrets. While some of their stories are tragic, they also serve as powerful reminders for the rest of us to watch out for our health, look out for those who may be in trouble and to let our loved ones know how much they matter.
Here are 20 of the best responses to the question: “You meet your 13-year-old self, but you can only tell them 3 words. What do you say and why?”
1.
“Don’t fucking smoke.” — whateverathrowaway00
2.
“Love dad more.” — RealLifeHaxor
3.
“Yes Kimmy California. My sister wanted to move to California near where I was living. My life was really complicated at the time and I really discouraged it. My marriage was a mess and I was afraid it would make it worse. She stayed where she was. About a year later she was killed by a drunk driver. My marriage ended. I would do literally anything to still have my sister here.” — purplecrazypants
4.
“Stay off ATVs. Rolled a 4-wheeler when I was 16. Left leg has never been the same.” — Cloudkicker91
“I work in a pediatric operating room in an area where ATVs are popular. Anytime the weather is nice and the kids are out of school, the number of add-on surgeries we have for atv injuries is mind-boggling. 4 year old, shattered femur, ATV rollover. 8-year-old, broken left arm, ATV roll over. 13 year old, ATV ejection, emergency crani. Shattered pelvis, degloving of the leg, brain bleeds, punctured lungs… On and on and on. So much agony. So many kids. It’s easily the number one cause of emergent surgery we do.
In my book, putting a kid on an atv is about the same as giving an infant a loaded gun for a pacifier.” — YamGroundbreaking953
5.
“Keep making music.” — douglas_yancie
6.
“Stop copying others.” — Kyndron
7.
“Evie needs help. Maybe then I’ll still have my big sister.” — Space GeneralAmerica
8.
“Drugs ruined you.” — GizmoTheLion
9.
“Brush your teeth.” — mynameisusama
10.
“You are autistic. That’s my three words. That would’ve solved so many god damn problems, knowing who I am.” — kelcamer
11.
“Go to therapy.” — cornygiraffe
12.
“Stay in school.” — Julie-Andrews
13.
“Don’t trade Charizard.” — facepwnage
14.
“No student loans.” — TravelingGleeman87
15.
“Wear a condom.” — NicksterPro
16.
“Treat her better.” — VinFamous
17.
“Never start gambling.” — elegantBullfrog2417
18.
“Exercise, socialize, study.” — LesbianStan
19.
“Happiness isn’t linear. Everyone needs to know this at any stage of life but I wish I was told that back at 13, so I would know earlier that life is full of ups and downs, the downs will go back up, tho the ups don’t always last long.” — Evangelion-02
This year, I’ve endeavored to call our the best bourbon at every price point from the bottom shelf to the locked glass cabinet. Overall, I’ve called out 130 bourbon whiskeys that I think are worth your time and money from $10 to $500. That’s… a lotof whiskey. So to help you focus that even further, I’m narrowing those 130 bottles down to just 13 amazing bourbon whiskeys. That’s right, I’m naming my favorite bourbon from each price point.
The only ripple on this list is that I’m not doubling up on any brands. For instance, Wild Turkey ended up in the number one spot three times out of 13 this year. Due to that, I pulled my favorite of those three bottles and slotted in the next ranked bourbon from the other two articles into the price point listed below. Not that I don’t think you should just buy all the Wild Turkey (I sorta do), it’s more that I wanted to widen the net of the whiskeys listed here — and if one-quarter of them are just Wild Turkey, it doesn’t feel like I’m doing that. Plus, you can see what I think of the whole Wild Turkey line here.
Okay, let’s get into it and find the best bourbon whiskey at every price from $10 to $500. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your new favorite whiskey below!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
The juice is a tribute to what Jim Beam was — both on the label and in the bottle — before Prohibition. Yes, Jim Beam used to be known as Old Tub Bourbon worldwide. The bourbon is standard Beam that hits an old-school flavor profile. The whiskey is bottled-in-bond at 100 proof and goes through no filtration before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a subtle roughness to this whiskey that draws you in — rough-milled dry corn, raw honey, freshly sawed wood, soft cherry, and vanilla pods. The caramel popcorn sweetness is there but not overdone as the vanilla, woody oak, and very distant spice and cherry come together to create an all-around easy-sipper by the end. As that end lingers, you get a final note of orange citrus that’s counterpointed by a lingering sense of limestone.
Bottom Line:
This stuff rules, especially for the price. This is one of those bottles that we like to call a “workhorse” in the bar biz. That means it works as well as a cocktail mixer as it does in a highball or on the rocks — or as a shooter with a beer back for that matter.
This tiny and new distillery was founded in West Louisville by brothers Victor, Chris, and Bryson Yarbrough. The distillery is the first African-American-owned brand working in the state. For now, this bottle is contract-distilled (distilled at a big distillery based on their own recipe/concept) in Indiana from a mash bill of 75 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and four percent malted barley.
Tasting Notes:
You’re greeted with dried roses, marzipan, and creamy eggnog on the nose with a hint of apple and dry corn. That apple drives the taste with more orchard fruit (think pears) as the nutmeg really spikes and the marzipan takes on a rosewater note next to a very distant flutter of pepper spice in the background. The finish sweetens with a spoonful of fresh and floral honey as those orchard fruits affix to a mildly spicy and vanilla-forward tobacco leaf.
Bottom Line:
This stuff has really grown on me. It reminds me of classic bourbon at a classic price. There’s no pretension whatsoever but there’s a real flavor profile at play that works really well in cocktails, highballs, and on its own.
This is Maker’s Mark classic wheated bourbon that’s bottled at a higher proof to bring about a “richer flavor.” Well, that’s what the label says anyway. This is classic Maker’s that’s treated with a little less of that limestone water to let the barrel techniques shine a bit more while still holding onto the Maker’s vibe.
Tasting Notes:
This is a bowl of vanilla ice cream covered in stewed apples that have been drizzled with extra caramel. The taste really focuses on that caramel with hints of oak next to roasted almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg, dry wicker, and a drop of soft mineral water. The end lingers while it fades through salted caramel apples towards a mellow floral spiciness with a dried reed finish and a touch of vanilla tobacco chew.
Bottom Line:
This is a great example of Maker’s Mark that dials in the classic wheated bourbon’s vibe thanks to those higher ABVs. This is really good over a few rocks. Add in a few drops of Angostura bitters, a little raw sugar, some orange oils, and a dark cherry and you’ll have a stellar old fashioned in your hands.
This is the mountaintop of what Wild Turkey can achieve. This is a blend of the best barrels that are married and bottled untouched. That means no filtering and no cutting with water. This is a classic bourbon with nowhere to hide.
Tasting Notes:
Crème brûlée greets you with a nice dose of Christmas spices, mild pipe tobacco, orange zest, and a distant hint of fresh mint sprigs on the nose. There’s a pine resin nature to the woody flavors on the palate that accents the orange oils, spices, vanilla, and sweetness. The sip takes on a Christmas cake-feel late with a velvet end that is just the right amount of everything you want from a bourbon.
Bottom Line:
This might be my overall favorite whiskey on the list. While this is a pretty amazing sipper (neat or with a rock), it’s a truly stunning cocktail whiskey. A Rare Breed Manhattan that leans more into the whiskey than sweet vermouth is a winner every time.
This is the bigger and bolder sibling of Rowan’s Creek bourbon, which is also made at the famed Willett Distillery. Simply put, it’s the same small-batch juice that’s not proofed down as much.
Tasting Notes:
Maple syrup-covered walnuts greet you with a sense of dark dried cherries and a hint of rose water next to old leather books and holiday spices. The taste holds onto those notes while adding in a stewed plum depth with a whisper of caramel apple and orange oils. The vanilla and sweet oak kick in late with a rich depth and well-rounded lightness to the sip fades towards lush cherry tobacco, soft leather, and winter spice matrix tied to prunes and dates.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those bottles that’s always a pleasant surprise. It’s so soft and silky with a classic bourbon feel to it. I dig this over a rock or two or in a classic and simple bourbon cocktail.
Kentucky Peerless Distilling takes its time for a true grain-to-glass experience. Their Small Batch Bourbon is crafted with a fairly low-rye mash bill and fermented with a sweet mash as opposed to a sour mash (that means they use 100 percent new grains, water, and yeast with each new batch instead of holding some of the mash over to start the next one like a sourdough starter). The barrels are then hand-selected for their taste and bottled completely un-messed with.
Tasting Notes:
Expect notes of blackberry next to worn leather, rich toffee, vanilla oils, and wet tobacco leaves. The taste holds onto the toffee and vanilla as the tobacco dries out and spices up, with touches of cedar bark and a few bitter espresso beans. The end is long, holds onto the vanilla and tobacco, and touches back on the berries as it fades through your senses.
Bottom Line:
While I adore the Rare Breed up above, this is what I reach for when I need a little bigger kick (I know, the ABV is lower here). The sweet mash allows the darker aspects of the flavor profile to come through, which helps this shine as a cocktail bourbon. There’s a bit more edge to this bourbon — this is kind of like the Germs to Rare Breeds’ Green Day.
$70-$80 — Henry McKenna Aged 10 Years Single Barrel Bottled-in-Bond
This very affordable offering from Heaven Hill is hard to beat. The juice utilizes a touch of rye in the mash bill and is then aged for ten long years in a bonded rickhouse. The best barrels are chosen by hand and the juice is bottled with just a touch of water to bring it down to bottled-in-bond proof.
Tasting Notes:
Orange zest, caramel, vanilla, and nutmeg-heavy holiday spice are counterpointed by a flush of fresh mint and soft, wet cedar on the nose. The vanilla and caramel carry through as the wintry spices kick up the sharpness alongside a burnt orange feel, vanilla cream, and a slight hint of dry tobacco leaves. It all slowly fades out on the charred oak finish with a minor hint of smoke deep in the background.
Bottom Line:
This is just classic from top to bottom. The issue here is that you’re going to be pretty hard-pressed finding this outside of the Ohio Valley area. They are out there but pretty sparsely distributed. That said, if you’re planning on hitting up Bourbon Country, U.S.A., this year, this is definitely a bottle to bring home.
2022’s first Barrel Proof drop is a 12-year-old whiskey made from Heaven Hill’s classic bourbon mash of 78 percent corn, 12 percent malted barley, and a mere ten percent rye. Those barrels are masterfully blended into this Barrel Proof expression with no cutting or fussing. This is as-is bourbon from the barrel.
Tasting Notes:
Caramel draws you in on the nose with a slight sourdough cinnamon roll with pecans, a touch of floral honey, and a soft and woody drug store aftershave with an echo of vanilla candle wax and singed marshmallow. The palate rolls through a soft leather and vanilla pie note as cinnamon ice cream leads to spicy oak. The mid-palate leans into a sweeter, almost creamy spice (think nutmeg-heavy eggnog) which, in turn, leads to a dry cedar bark next to a dry stewed-apple tobacco leaf folded into an old leather pouch for safekeeping.
Bottom Line:
This is another classic bourbon whiskey. This particular release, winter 2022, is great as an on the rocks sipper. Some previous versions — which you might run into on liquor store shelves still — are a little more tilted towards cocktail mixing than sipping. Either way, you’ll have a good bourbon in your hands.
Remus Repeal Reserve V is a hell of a whiskey. The MGP of Indiana signature bourbon — now Ross & Squibb Distillery for their own brands — is comprised of nine percent 2005 bourbon with a 21 percent high-rye mash, five percent 2006 bourbon with a very high-rye mash of 36 percent of the sticky grain, 19 percent 2006 bourbon with the same 21 percent high-rye mash, 13 percent 2008 bourbon with that 21 percent rye mash, and 54 percent 2008 bourbon with the 36 percent high-rye mash.
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this is brilliantly fruity with touches of fresh raspberries, strawberries resting in dry straw, candied cherries, freshly peeled tangerines, apple cores and stems, and a touch of caramel malts. That caramel sweetness merges into a fresh honeycomb next to Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda vanilla and pep while the fruit dries out, leaving you with meaty dried figs, dates, and prunes driving the midpalate toward the finish. A touch of candied ginger spices things up as a fruity but dry tobacco leaf rounds out the end with the faintest touch of walnut shells.
Bottom Line:
This is where we start to get into “wow” territory. This is a stellar sipper or cocktail bourbon with real class and depth.
Knob Creek is what Jim Beam becomes with a little massaging, the right aging locations in warehouses, and some luck from the whiskey angels. The juice is made from Beam’s standard 77 percent corn, 13 percent rye, and 10 percent malted barley mash. Then it’s left alone for 15 years in the Beam warehouses on specific floors in specific locations. The best barrels are then small batched and proofed down to 100 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Old saddle leather mingles with musty oak cellar beams and dirt cellar floors with an undercurrent of sweet dark fruits and mild caramel. The palate holds onto that caramel as the fruit becomes dried and a cedar note arrives with a rich and almost sweet tobacco. The dry cedar woodiness carries on through the end as the tobacco leads towards an almost oatmeal raisin cookie vibe with a good dose of cinnamon and nutmeg, leaving you with a sweet buzz on your tongue.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the best 15-year-old bourbons out there. The fact that you can actually find this and buy it at its MSRP (suggested retail price) is also kind of a miracle.
This whiskey is hewn from 90 30-gallon barrels of four-year-old bourbon that were transferred into 26 59-gallon Tawny Port casks for a final maturation of nearly two years. That juice was then bottled with a touch of water added.
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this bursts with raspberry, blackberry, redcurrant, and blueberry, all stewed with plenty of holiday spices and folded into a cobbler topped with dense buttery buttermilk biscuits. The palate leans into the spice with a focus on clove, nutmeg, and a very small whisper of anise as the berry turns more towards a fresh strawberry with dark chocolate-covered espresso beans chiming in on the mid-palate. That chocolate-bitter vibe drives towards a finish full of cinnamon-spiked dark chocolate tobacco leaves, stewed plums, and a dollop of floral honey.
Bottom Line:
This stuff is delicious. It’s also pretty unique given the craft involved in making this whiskey down in Texas. Overall, this is a no-brainer buy if you see it on a shelf.
This new age statement released from Jack Daniel’s feels like a throwback to a bygone era in Tennessee Whiskey. The whiskey is aged for at least ten years. During that time, the barrels spend time in the “Buzzard’s Roost” at the top of the rickhouse. Once they hit the right flavor profile, those barrels are moved to the bottom floors of other warehouses to slow the aging down. Finally, the whiskey is vatted, proofed, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a rich matrix of cherry syrup, apple cores, sticky toffee, vanilla ice cream, and a thin line of wet and sweet wood. The palate opens up towards the dark fruit but dries it out and marries it to a sticky and spicy tobacco leaf alongside toasted cedar soaked in salted caramel paired with dry corn husks that are just singed. The finish really takes its time as the cherry attaches to an old cinnamon stick and the tobacco takes on a sticky chewiness with a mild savory fruit edge.
Bottom Line:
This whiskey seemingly came out of nowhere last year and changed the way people think about Jack Daniel’s. This is great whiskey that’s worth seeking out even though this is on the rare side now.
$200-$500 — Michter’s Single Barrel 10-Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon
The juice in this bottle is a little under wraps. Michter’s is currently distilling and aging their own whiskey, but this is still sourced. The actual barrels sourced for these single barrel expressions tend to be at least ten years old with some rumored to be closer to 15 years old (depending on the barrel’s quality, naturally). Either way, the juice goes through Michter’s bespoke filtration process before a touch of Kentucky’s iconic soft limestone water is added, bringing the bourbon down to a very crushable 94.4 proof.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with subtle notes of soft wood and worn leather next to light touches of dark berries, orange oils, eggnog spice, and slight toffee sweetness next to a fluttering hint of roasted marshmallow. The palate starts off equally soft with a maple syrup sweetness which then leads into a rush of berry brambles. The mid-palate hits on a bit of dark spice, vanilla tobacco, and dark cacao and espresso bitterness. The finish leans into a dry-yet-almost-sweet oak with a touch of an almond shell and dry grass coming in at the very end and a final hint of that now almost burnt marshmallow.
Bottom Line:
This list rules. Maker’s 101, Rare Breed, Peerless, Garrison Bros, Jack 10, and now this. These are all killer whiskeys from top to bottom, but Michter’s 10 is that notch above. It’s elevated juice that feels like going home again. That’s a hard balance to pull off. Brasstacks, the price of this is only going to be going up (since there’s no release this year), so buy some now or forever hold your peace.
The Paloma is one of the best tequila cocktails you can get (it was Uproxx’s “Cocktail of the Summer” in 2019!). The basic recipe is also very easy to make at home. It’s really just a highball with tequila, freshly squeezed lime juice, and grapefruit soda — some ride or die for Squirt, others for Jarritos. That’s it. With that simplicity, though, comes a lot of room to tinker. So today, I’m going to make a bar-chef-y version in a batch that you can have ready to go at your next backyard BBQ or Cinco de Mayo celebration.
The thing with a fizzy drink like this is you really want to maintain that effervescence. The best way to do so is to make this a pour-your-own, 50/50 ratio, easy-peasy batched cocktail. Basically, I’m getting everything into the batched cocktail base that simply needs to be poured over ice and topped with the bubbly water of your choice. It’s low impact for your party guests and that little bit more delicious than just opening a 2-liter of Squirt and throwing some limes on a table next to a bottle of tequila and ice bowl — which… I’m down for that set up to, don’t get me wrong.
Anyway, the recipe below is very low impact. It takes maybe five minutes of “cooking” time and a little patience while the batched cocktail cools in the fridge. That’s really it, so let’s dive in!
Also Read: The Top Five Cocktail Recipes of the Last Six Months
You should be able to source all of these ingredients very easily at any grocery store/liquor store. I’m using Corralejo Reposado because I really like it as a mixing tequila. There’s a nice woodiness with a burst sweetgrass vibe and plenty of roasted agave piña.
There are some nuances here that add more depth than just tequila with grapefruit juice. The maple syrup is there as a sweetener with more depth. You can use simple bar syrup or agave syrup, but they’re too saccharine for this recipe. There’s already a lot of sugar in that grapefruit juice so something a little subtler, like maple syrup — which plays nicely with the vibe of reposado tequila.
The apple cider vinegar works as a sort of adhesive link between the tartness of the grapefruit and lime and the sweetness of the tequila and maple. It adds in this layer of almost tart creamy fruit that really helps this recipe shine.
Oh, and this is supposed to have a salted rim. I really dislike anything on my rim, so I skipped that step. If you want to salt your rim, knock yourself out.
Zach Johnston
What You’ll Need:
Large pot
Wooden spoon
Funnel
Large bottle
Collins Glass
Hand juicer
Paring knife
Zach Johnston
Method:
Add the grapefruit juice, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, salt, and cayenne to a large pot. Bring the mix up to just a simmer while stirring to mix everything together. As soon as a simmer starts, turn the heat off.
Cool the base to room temp and then add in the tequila and stir until everything is well mixed.
Funnel the base into a waiting bottle (I used an old wine bottle). Seal and place in the fridge to cool completely.
To make the cocktail, fill a Collins glass with ice. Add the Paloma mix to the bottom 1/2 of the glass. Top with fizzy mineral water (50/50 mix) and stir.
Garnish with a lime wedge and serve.
Bottom Line:
Zach Johnston
Holy shit is this refreshing. It’s like a ray of sunshine in a glass. The tequila really does shine through with a nice, almost creamy counterpoint (kind of like a grapefruit-touched Key Lime pie).
This drink goes down easily, has real depth, and is so easy to make. The batching took a whole five minutes, probably a bit less. Within an hour, this was cool enough to make cocktails — a lot of them too. Honestly, this is worth doing just to have around for a post-work spritz of brightness from day-to-day.
The only thing I’d change is that there was a bit of pulp in the batched base. I’d use a strainer to remove that next time (learn from my mistake!). Otherwise, this is pretty goddamn delicious.
Are you feeling the need for speed, too? Literal years of pandemic delays for Top Gun: Maverick are nearly over. Only one month remains before the sequel brings Tom Cruise’s protagonist back into the realm of Val Kilmer’s Admiral “Iceman” Tom Kazanzky, and apparently, Iceman is the reason why Pete “Maverick” Mitchell’s been summoned back to the program. The sequel will likewise send Tom back to Cannes for the first time in three decades.
Before that happens, a little volleyball action came to CinemaCon, where Maverick apparently thrilled the crowd. The movie also stars Jon Hamm, Jennifer Connelly, and Miles Teller (as the son of Maverick’s late bud, Nick “Goose” Bradshaw). Ghosts from the 1980s and Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” will (according to Gaga) hold “multiple layers… spanned across the film’s heart, my own psyche, and the nature of the world we’ve been living in.” That song presumably steps into the shoes of Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” from the original movie, and overall, the film sounds like a raging success.
In fact, critic Eric Sneider calls it “the perfect blockbuster.” He added, “Not only did it feature dazzling aerial combat sequences, but I actually cried, it’s that emotional. And call me crazy, but I humbly predict that it WILL land a Best Picture nod next year. It’s not just THAT good, it’s VERY good.”
TOP GUN: MAVERICK is the perfect blockbuster. Not only did it feature dazzling aerial combat sequences, but I actually cried, it’s that emotional. And call me crazy, but I humbly predict that it WILL land a Best Picture nod next year. It’s not just THAT good, it’s VERY good.
From there, there’s a lot of promises that fans will be “blown away” by the “killer” aerial scenes and emotions that run high throughout the project.
Absolutely loved #TopGunMaverick. Blown away by the cinematography and flying scenes and of course @TomCruise’s performance. Rest of the cast was great with special props to @Miles_Teller and @glenpowell. This is the kind of movie you want to see on the biggest screen possible. pic.twitter.com/PIfs2aGi2v
Top Gun Maverick is going to completely blow away fans of the original and may even make some new ones along the way. Truthfully, even though the plot is very dependent on that of the original, I found the film to be better than the original in almost every way. #TopGunMaverickpic.twitter.com/t7P4VLxMeU
Top Gun: Maverick: Just because something is predictable doesn’t make it any less satisfying. It has a near-identical structure to the original, but with some added drama between Maverick and Goose’s son. Absolutely killer air action. It’s exactly what fans will want.
#TopGunMaverick offers interesting parables for Tom Cruise asserting his movie star dominance in a changing industry, and some strong aerial footage. Alas, it’s otherwise a deeply generic/formulaic follow-up that’s dependent on “80s hit = cultural myth” nostalgia. #Cinemacon2022pic.twitter.com/ROSKTVZZ33
Yes. So much yes. #TopGunMaverick is a masterful adrenaline rush. Tom Cruise is our greatest movie star. This delivers EVERYTHING you want in a blockbuster. Aerial scenes are jaw dropping. Character work is fantastic. Pure action with massive heart. A must see! pic.twitter.com/c8WvoInUze
One word: Wow! #TopGunMaverick is absolutely terrific in every conceivable way. The action & flying is crazy intense & continually changes & evolves. You’re on the edge of your seat. I was not prepared for how emotional it was, too. The crowd cheered a dozen times. It’s real deal pic.twitter.com/G1dacuZctz
Also for those wondering, @ladygaga’s #TopGunMaverick new single is divine. It plays over the closing credits/curtain call (very much like the first movie) and brings home the emotion of finale. Like everything else with this movie, it’s note perfect. pic.twitter.com/Vb7ZBTgrRD
#TopGunMaverick easily lives up to its name and is without a doubt the best movie release this year! Tom Cruise did amazing as expected. Also Lady GaGa’s song #HoldMyHand closed the movie flawlessly!
And yes, thank goodness for “shirtless beach volleyball” and the return of Kenny Loggins. It’s almost “Danger Zone” time, people!
#TopGunMaverick nails it. Huge, emotional, LOUD Hollywood moviemaking at its most rah-rah ridiculousness. Shirtless beach football, Kenny Loggins, Val Kilmer, final 30 minutes of pure action. Also extremely interesting geopolitical angle I’ll have to get into later… #CinemaConpic.twitter.com/OrNW1VAYd2
Top Gun: Maverick arrives in U.S. theaters on May 27.
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