Lost Nation/Two Roads/Evil Twin/Cigar City//Grimm/istock/Uproxx
Beer drinkers tend to gravitate towards lighter beers during the hot, humid months. Lagers, pilsners, wheat beers, and pale ales just hit different in the summer heat. They’re refreshing, crushable, and thirst-quenching. Sometimes we even want to crank up the refreshment up even further — that’s when we crack open a Gose-style beer.
While we won’t get into a long, meandering story on the history of Gose-style beers, we’ll give you a simple refresher. Originating in Goslar, Germany (hence the name), the gose is a (usually) wheat-centric sour beer that’s known for its citrus (or other fruit) flavors and the addition of coriander and sea salt. The result is a tart, sweet, slightly salty, highly refreshing summer sipper.
Though you might already have your favorite gose, summer ’22 seems like a good time to broaden your horizons a bit. We asked a few notable craft beer experts, brewers, and beer professionals to tell us the best salty, sweet, crushable Gose-style beers to drink this summer. They didn’t disappoint with their picks — keep scrolling to see all the new beers you need to add to your shopping list.
One gose that’s a go-to for me on a hot summer day is Grimm Artisanal Ale’s Super Spruce. This beer has an awesome flavor of fresh pine needles and pine sap and this thirst-quenching nature due to the sea salt and subtle dry hop that make you want to drink more! I remember first drinking it at this rad craft beer bar in NYC called beer culture and being blown away at how complex of a beer it was for being such a low abv and so simple.
I often find the simplest beers can be so mind-blowing as there is so much room for failure and off-flavors that it really lets the nuances of that beer shine.
While I don’t go for a Gose often, I did recently have Avery’s El Gose and found it very enjoyable. It is made with lime and salt, so there’s a nice combination of flavors there along with a good balance of sour, acidic, sweet, and salty. It’s a very well-balanced summer crusher.
Westbrook Gose can’t be beaten. It’s a light-bodied and crushable Gose with a hint of spice. An approachable amount of salinity and acidity without being overpowering. There’s a reason it’s one of the most popular gose-style beers you can buy.
Lost Nation Gose was the first one I tried, and I think it’s still a great example of the style and an excellent beer. Light, effervescent, and tart with a kick of saline. It’s a great summer day chiller that you’ll go back to again and again.
Anderson Valley The Kimmie The Yink And The Holy Gose
Anderson Valley The Kimmie The Yink And The Holy Gose
Anderson Valley The Kimmie The Yink And The Holy Gose is my pick. It’s got the perfect amount of tartness. The low ABV and dry finish make this a perfect day drinker for the summer months. While Anderson Valley makes a few Gose-style beers, this one is the best, most thirst-quenching one.
It’s hard to say, but one that comes to mind is Cigar City’s Paloma Gose. I love a good Paloma and I love a good Gose. So having the two together naturally appeals to me. The tart grapefruit flavor is a great match for the sour base and that hit of salt makes every sip pop.
Two Evil Geyser Gose
Evil Twin/Two Roads
Chris Elliott, chief brewing officer at Wild Leap Brew Co. in LaGrange, Georgia
My absolute favorite Gose is Two Evil Geyser Gose, a collaboration brew between Evil Twin and Two Roads. It is brewed with Icelandic Moss, smoked sea salt, rye, herbs, and sea kelp. The unusual ingredient list made me buy it, and I was incredibly surprised by how easy to drink and thirst-quenching it was. It was unique but so well balanced.
Original Gose from Ritterguts. The longest-running commercially produced Gose, Ritterguts is the original standard. Unlike many bracingly sour contemporary craft Goses, Ritterguts is only modestly tart with a refreshing hint of salinity. For this classic brand, the emphasis is on drinkability more than anything else.
It’s imported, so pick it up as fresh as you can at your best local bottle shops.
Cigar City Margarita Gose
Cigar City
Marshall Hendrickson co-founder and head of operations at Veza Sur Brewing Co. in Miami
Cigar City Margarita Gose is my go-to. Cigar City’s Margarita Gose is a perfect beer for a hot day. That’s because it’s refreshingly tart, and finishes with a little salty brininess, which is true to style. As the name suggests, it’s a beer that drinks like a Margarita. What’s not to love?
Salty Dog by Big Dog’s Brewhouse in Nevada is my favorite Gose. The fruity and citrusy provide a nice, clean, easy-drinking Gose without an overwhelming amount of tart flavors. This is also aged in tequila barrels which is a very welcome addition to the original flavors.
While we have created a new sense of normal in our COVID-19-stricken world, the threat of the virus is still present. In some unfortunate news, Twitter users learned that Run The Jewels will no longer be able to perform at Something In The Water this weekend because El-P tested positive. He sent out a public notes app apology coupled with the humorous caption, “looks like i picked the wrong month to stop sniffing glue” (a reference to the 1980 movie Airplane!).
Something In The Water is a three-day festival founded in 2019, and this is the first year it is going to be held in Washington DC. The lineup includes names like Tyler The Creator, Lil Baby, Lucky Daye, Usher, Ashanti and Ja Rule, J Balvin, Pharrell, Clipse, Justin Timberlake, SZA, NORE, and many more.
With it being nearly a full year since Run The Jewels releasedRTJ4(Deluxe Edition), fans will now have to a little longer for a big festival set from the group. There are over four decades of history between El-P and Killer Mike both as individuals and together, yet they are still in high demand evident in the many well wishes shared with El-P.
As someone who has been releasing music for over a decade, Zola Jesus is no stranger to the innate catharsis of writing a song. But on her upcoming album Arkhon, she’s leaning on her art as a way to make sense of her own inner turmoil. “I suppose some feelings require you to write a pop song in order to fully understand them,” she said about her recent single “The Fall,” which a down-tempo, confessional track.
It’s this sense of understanding the unknown that inspired Zola Jesus, moniker of musician Nika Roza Danilova, on her LP Arkhon. Taking a new approach to songwriting, Zola Jesus began shirking her need for control in the studio and invited collaborators into her process’s early stages, something she hadn’t done before. The result is a touching 10-track album led by Zola Jesus’ incredible, classically trained vocals that allows her to uncover grief, loss, and disappointment — all while holding on to her inner power.
Ahead of the release of Arkhon, Zola Jesus sat down to talk about Philip K. Dick’s influence and her love of exploring new places in our latest Q&A.
What are four words you would use to describe your music?
Emotional, primal, direct, cathartic
It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
Well, I’ll be 61 so hopefully still making music.
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?
I like going to new places, so my favorite city is the one I’ve yet to go to.
Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?
Philip K. Dick. The way he saw the world changed how I see mine.
Where did you eat the best meal of your life?
Kajitsu in New York. One of the few shojin restaurants in the West. I go there as much as I can afford.
What album do you know every word to?
None, I’m actually really horrible at knowing or remembering the words to songs. Even an album I’ve listened to 100 times I’d only know a handful of the lyrics! It’s sort of weird.
What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?
Black Leather Jesus in Los Angeles.
What is the best outfit for performing and why?
One that’s easy to move in and doesn’t get in the way of me performing.
Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?
rfedortsov_official_account on on Instagram. He’s a fisherman who posts wild photos of deep sea fish.
What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?
Henry Rollins’ Get In The Van audiobook is essential listening on tour.
What’s the last thing you Googled?
“Inanna in original Sumerian”
What album makes for the perfect gift?
Alice Coltrane’s Universal Consciousness. It’s a great vibe to share.
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?
A bed and breakfast in Ireland that had what seemed to be a two-way mirror between my room and the main office.
What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?
I have zero tattoos. I’m too indecisive to have tattoos.
What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?
Dua Lipa. Rihanna.
What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?
The people who have been supporting my Patreon the past couple years. Truly kind souls.
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
That everything that you think is wrong, and everything you know is right.
What’s the last show you went to?
It’s been since before 2020, I don’t even remember anymore. What’s a show?
What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?
Waterworld. That movie slaps.
What’s one of your hidden talents?
I can run really fast.
Arkhon is out 6/24 via Sacred Bones. Pre-order it here.
Following through on his threat to never vote for another Democrat again, Elon Musk is proudly boasting that he voted for a Republican during a special election in Texas on Tuesday. The embattled Tesla CEO made it known that he pulled the lever for Mayra Flores, who flipped a Democratic seat by running against abortion rights and employing QAnon hashtags in her social media posts.
“I voted for Mayra Flores – first time I ever voted Republican,” Musk tweeted at The Texan News. “Massive red wave in 2022.”
I voted for Mayra Flores – first time I ever voted Republican.
However, Musk didn’t stop there. After being asked by Tesla Owners Silicon Valley if he’ll vote for a Republican for president, Musk initially said “tbd” before admitting that he’s leaning towards Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
As Mediaite notes, Flores wasted no time thanking Musk for voting for her as Republicans no doubt wouldn’t mind leveraging his massive social media presence going into the midterms. Not to mention, he still could end up owning Twitter.
“I woke up this morning still feeling surreal from everything that’s happened over the last 24 hours,” Flores tweeted Wednesday. “Earning Elon Musk’s vote was just the icing on the cake and I can’t wait to work with his team! The American Dream is worth fighting for.”
I woke up this morning still feeling surreal from everything that’s happened over the last 24 hours. Earning Elon Musk’s vote was just the icing on the cake and I can’t wait to work with his team! The American Dream is worth fighting for @elonmusk#SaveAmerica#TX34
— Mayra Flores For Congress (@MayraFlores2022) June 15, 2022
Musk’s heel turn to voting Republican has earned him the nickname “The New Mike Lindell” thanks to his increasingly conspiratorial rants. Namely, that the recent allegation that he sexually harassed a SpaceX flight attendant is a “political attack” by the Democrats who Musk claims is now the party of “division and hate.”
Twitter continues to be both a gift and a curse for up-and-coming artists, as Saucy Santana is now learning due to some of his outrageous early online behavior. After appearing on XXL‘s 2022 Freshman Class feature this week, signaling his impending superstardom, he apparently came under fire from the Beyhive, the aggressive self-declared defenders of Beyonce’s online dignity. Their stinging tweets prompted him to address his “childish, hateful tweets” while encouraging the Stans to do some self-reflection and growing up themselves.
“Fake woke ass bitches!!!!” he wrote. “People don’t care about old tweets. The internet have this weird thing with power! Thinking they have the power to cancel someone… NEWS FLASH! You don’t! Y’all be thinking y’all have someone by the balls about situations you don’t give a damn about.” The old tweets in question saw the outspoken then-makeup artist opining that he thought he was “prettier than” Beyonce and calling then-toddler Blue Ivy “nappy headed.” They likely rankled fans in light of Santana’s new song “Booty” heavily sampling Beyonce’s breakthrough solo single “Crazy In Love.”
Fake woke ass bitches!!!! People don’t care about old tweets. The internet have this weird thing with power! Thinking they have the power to cancel someone… NEWS FLASH! You don’t! Y’all be thinking y’all have someone by the balls about situations you don’t give a damn about.
In a follow-up thread, he explained why he tweeted such things and highlighted some of the changes he’s made since then. “Stop all that cap! Tryna ruin ppl Careers cuz you at home miserable and broke. I was miserable and broke too making childish, hateful tweets in 2014. Im 28 years old. A grown a– adult. A completely different mindset on life from when I was 20. But, yall knew dat. It be the people in the comments… tryna force you to apologize or say sorry. To who?! To y’all?! If I did something to offend someone I should I apologize to them!!!! Not u bitches. Told y’all, y’all think got power over ppl. But, go head.”
Celebrities are human. Not robots and they for damn sure ain’t perfect. I still talk about a bitch like a doggggggg til this day. Not publicly because my opinion matters to a lot of ppl now. I be Chillin. I don’t even insert myself in shit that don’t involve me.
Stop all that cap! Tryna ruin ppl Careers cuz you at home miserable and broke. I was miserable and broke too making childish, hateful tweets in 2014. Im 28 years old. A grown ass adult. A completely different mindset on life from when I was 20. But, yall knew dat.
He certainly has a point. Everybody — and I do mean “everybody” — seems to be way too invested in other peoples’ lives online and while it may seem like the folks we target for fun are distanced from the fallout, having hundreds or even thousands of people tweeting such horrible things at you would eventually get to anybody. If anything, perhaps the Hive was stressed out because they thought Beyonce was going to announce a new album and didn’t. If that’s the case, then they should really give another listen to her self-titled album and do their best to chill out. Meanwhile, it’s nice that Saucy has learned his lesson; let’s just hope the time comes when apologies for boorish online behavior are no longer needed at all.
The Philadelphia 76ers have two All-Stars, one of the brightest young players in the league, and a whole lot of questions about whether or not they are capable of competing for a championship. As such, this offseason revolves around examining everyone on the team beyond Joel Embiid, James Harden, and Tyrese Maxey, and figuring out what needs to happen to maximize the likelihood that the Sixers can field a contender with those three at the heart of things.
According to a new report by Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, the team is kicking the tires on a number of players and the 23rd overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft in an attempt to try and answer that question. The most prominent player of the bunch is veteran forward Tobias Harris, while soon-to-be third-year wing Matisse Thybulle — who Pompey says “was deemed untouchable before last season’s trade deadline” — is likewise getting discussed.
Multiple league sources have said the team is gauging team’s interest in Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle, Furkan Korkmaz and Shake Milton, in addition to potential trade partners for Danny Green and the No. 23 pick.
…
The Sixers realize their current roster is not suited to win a NBA championship. They’re determined to upgrade it with established players that can help propel them.
Philadelphia finished the 2021-22 season with a 51-31 record, but got taken down in the conference semifinals by the Miami Heat in six games.
Rye whiskey is booming, much like the rest of the whisk(e)y industry around the world. But rye whiskey is no flash in the pan. The style was being made in Europe long before Dutch and German colonizers landed on these shores with their mash bills and stills. Historically speaking, rye whiskey was the first whiskey actually made in the American colonies, all the way back in the 1600s.
So there’s a deep heritage the brown juice still carries with it to this day. Of course, rye did comparatively fall out of fashion for a time, and most of the classics we see on shelves today are from the last half-century or so — though some labels may bear names and dates that pre-date those decades.
All of which lead me to ask: what’s a great, classic (modern or not) rye whiskey that’s actually worth stocking on your bar cart? To find out, I decided to taste 10 bottles blind. My wife pulled bottles off the rye shelf and poured and listed them for me, and then I started nosing and tasting.
Our lineup today is:
Basil Hayden’s 10-Year Rye
Wild Turkey 101 Rye
Rittenhouse Bottled-in-Bond Rye
Michter’s Single Barrel 10-Year Rye
Woodford Reserve Rye
Sagamore Spirit Rye
Sazerac Rye
Knob Creek Rye
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Rye
Jim Beam Prohibition Rye
Let’s get into the thick of it!
Also Read: The Top Five Rye Whiskey from the Last Six Months on UPROXX
This is somehow both rich and thin on the nose, with light black pepper countered by soft oak, rich vanilla, and a sense of proofing water. The palate leads to a buttery toffee sauce with a flake of salt next to orange zest and a winter spice mix that leans more nutmeg than cinnamon. The finish layers in some vanilla and caramel with a hint of cherry wood before cinnamon-chocolate pipe tobacco adds a light dryness on the very end.
There was a thinness and lightness at play that gives this away as a pretty low proof (guessing Basil here). That said, a promising start.
Taste 2
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Interesting, rummy savory fruit, peppery spice, old cedar, and a hint of firecracker black powder lead the way on the nose. The palate veers away toward creamy vanilla sauce with a hint of poppy seed that’s accented by holiday fruit cakes full of nuts, spices, and candied fruits. The mid-palate is a little tinny with a hint of mint-chocolate ice cream leading towards a finish that’s full of spicy apple pie pipe tobacco with a hint more of that old cedar.
This was good. Wild Turkey good.
Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Huh… This has a nose that feels like the plastic lid and cardboard cup from a berry Slushie with a hint of vanilla extract next to “oak” and “spice.” The palate is largely the same with a black pepper spice that hints at lemon and orange as the wood stays kind of blank, like a two-by-four fresh off the dock. The finish is short and plasticky with hints of the berry syrup and cardboard cup again.
“Huh” sums this up nicely.
Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Rich and buttery toffee greet you on the nose with a nice flake of smoked sea salt next to rose water and marzipan, apple-cider-dipped cinnamon sticks, and an old leather jacket layered with decades of cigarette smoke and drug store aftershave. The taste leans into a whole box of Red Hots with orange oils layered into a vanilla cake with a dark and bitter espresso-chocolate frosting next to a tiny whisper of dried chili pepper. The whole sip goes super lush on the mid-palate as the vanilla and rose water lead to a soft and sticky chili-chocolate tobacco leaf wrapped around an old bunch of sweetgrass and cedar bark.
Yeah, this is the pour to beat.
Taste 5
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This opens nicely with soft green grass next to a dusting of freshly cracked black pepper and dry cedar that’s countered by pear and marzipan. That pear infuses into the marzipan on the palate as floral honey balances a rye pepperiness and hint of clove. A whisper of fresh mint drives the mid-palate toward more of that sharp clove with a final note of honey-soaked pear on the thin finish.
This is pretty nice. A little thin and short, but nice.
Taste 6
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Winter spices and orange oils mingle with candied walnuts and deep umami, kind of like tomato paste. The taste marries dried orange peels with nutmeg and vanilla cream with more candied walnuts and a hint of pecan. The vanilla amps up with a cookie vibe that leads to more of those winter spices and a good dose of wet brown sugar with a wet wicker end.
Interesting… I’ll just leave it at that.
Taste 7
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
There’s a vanilla underbelly that’s pretty luscious which supports star anise, sasparilla, clove, cardamom, and a hint of red peppercorn. The palate has big Christmas time vibes with fruit cakes full of candied fruits and nuts with plenty of dark spice, mulled wine, more of that red peppercorn, and a hint of black licorice with old pine wood paneling lurking in the background. The finish is bold yet soft and lush with anise and candied fruits creating a spicy cream soda with an old sweetgrass rope drying things out.
This is a contender!
Taste 8
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Cherry-Vanilla Coke with cedar, black pepper, and old oak staves? Hello, Knob Creek. The palate builds on the nose with a supple vanilla cream sauce next to fresh and ripe cherries, a hint of orchard wood, old tobacco leaves, and pepper before a whisper of dried dill and fennel hits on the mid-palate. The end layers cherry and dark chocolate into the dry tobacco leaf, adding a nice chewiness to it, while dry black potting soil and old porch wicker round out the end.
We have another contender here…
Taste 9
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This is very mellow with soft layers of rich vanilla pudding, peach/apricot, rum-raisin, and cinnamon-heavy oatmeal cookies on the nose. The palate lets the cinnamon sharpen a bit as the silky vanilla takes over and leads to applewood, floral honey, and a hint of nutmeg. The mid-palate lets the fruity sweetness fade as a vanilla/cinnamon tobacco chewiness leads to an old oak stave.
The last six pours have all been pretty freaking good. It’s going to be interesting.
Taste 10
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Cherry, caramel, vanilla, oak… This feels more like a bourbon. There’s a hint of pear on the palate that leads back to the cherry, which has a candy sweetness. The vanilla kicks in and adds a smooth layer to a hint of winter spice, which is very cinnamon heavy. The finish is soft and thin with a cherry/vanilla tobacco note next to cinnamon sticks.
This has to be Jim Beam. It’s good but not one of the greats.
This rye is very much a bourbon drinker’s rye. The mash bill is only 51% rye with 37% corn, and 12% malted barley. The juice then matures under the federal regulations allowing it to be “bottled-in-bond” and is barely proofed down to 100 proof with that soft Kentucky limestone water before bottling.
Bottom Line:
This was so thin and plasticky. I guess I’d put it a rye and Coke, but that’s about it.
This rye was designed by the master himself — Master Distiller and whiskey legend Fred Noe — as a return to the bigger and bolder days of rye before Prohibition defanged a lot of the industry and its recipes. The juice is a throwback recipe to the 1920s version of Beam’s rye, giving the whiskey a fruitier and spicier edge in the process.
Bottom Line:
This was fine. It was leaps and bounds above the Rittenhouse above. Still, it felt like a mixer for highballs or maybe a cheap and easy cocktail.
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 spring ahead of the bottling.
Bottom Line:
That umami note on the nose always throws me off. For the lineup today, it was just too out of place as it didn’t seem to tie into the journey of the flavor profile at all.
This is Beam’s high-end brand and their high-end rye within that brand. The barrels are the ones that made it to 10 years and hit just the right marks of flavor and texture to be batched, proofed down to a very accessible 80 proof, and bottled.
Bottom Line:
Had this been less washed out by the proofing, it’d be a lot higher. There are a lot of good notes under all that water, begging to get out and shine.
Wild Turkey’s signature rye benefits from the brand’s signature moves in making all their whiskey. The juice is matured for around six years in heavily charred “alligator” barrels. That heavy char and longer aging imbues a lot into the whiskey before it’s batched, lightly proofed down to 101 proof, and bottled.
Bottom Line:
This is where things get interesting (and good). While this feels like a really solid cocktail foundation, it didn’t wow me today. Still, I’d pour this over rocks in a heartbeat any ol’ day of the week.
This whiskey was a long time coming. Master Distiller Chris Morris tinkered with this recipe for nine years before it was just right. The juice has a fairly low-rye mash bill — for a rye, that is. The bill only calls for 53% of the spicy grain. The rest is made up of local corn and malted barley. The whiskey then spends up to seven years maturing at their Versailles, Kentucky facility before its blended, proofed with soft limestone water, and bottled.
Bottom Line:
This was refined and very easy to drink. I’d still say it felt more like a cocktail base but it works as an everyday sipper in a pinch with a nice level of refinement.
This release from Jack asks “what would straight rye whiskey taste like if it was given the ol’ Lincoln County treatment?” Jack’s mash bill utilizes 70% rye mash bill and water from the nearby Tennessee mountains. They then treat the hot distillate as they would a standard Tennessee whiskey, with sugar maple charcoal filtration and new oak barreling.
Bottom Line:
This was pretty goddamn good, all things considered. The flavor profile was complex yet approachable with a nice depth. Plus, it was super easy to drink with no rough edges at all.
This is a bourbon drinker’s rye with a mash bill that’s believed to be a very low rye. The barrels are batched and proofed at a higher ABV, allowing more of the barrel and rye to shine through than, say, a Basil Hayden’s Rye.
Bottom Line:
This was a solid pour. While I wanted to build a cocktail around this rye, I also wanted to just enjoy it as-is. That’s a good rye.
Sazerac Rye is a great entry point for a refined touch and a throwback to the 1800s. The brand was named after the famed Sazerac Coffee House on Royal Street in New Orleans where the Sazerac cocktail was born. Today, this expression is a true classic made at Buffalo Trace from their iconic rye mash bill.
Bottom Line:
This was complex but familiar. It went down softly but delivered something engaging and fun. It wasn’t as complex as the next entry (by a mile) but holds its own just fine.
Michter’s 10-year rye is a true modern classic. This release goes through the same rigorous barrel-selection process as the Michter’s 10-year Bourbon. However, because the point of Michther’s was to bring rye back to mainstream prominence, this bottle holds a very special place in whiskey drinkers’ hearts. In fact, this is the rye flavor profile that other distillers are still chasing to this day.
Bottom Line:
This was the best pour by a fair amount. There were some nice pours, but nothing really came close to the complexity and ease of this dram. It was just so engaging and deep without being pretentious or over-done. It’s just nice.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
I was surprised to see Sazerac Rye so far up in the rankings. I rarely reach for that bottle but this blind tasting has given me a reason to.
Overall, the Michter’s 10 is hard to deny, especially on this lineup. Though, I could have seen (and maybe bet on) Knob Creek pulling an upset. But here we are. And trust me, that Michter’s 10-Year Rye lives up to all the hype (and price) with every single sip.
New Scotch whiskies are dropping left and right. It’s hard enough to keep up with new bourbon whiskey drops, so you can be forgiven for not keeping up with the scotch ones too. It’s a lot. But that’s why you’ve got me. I’m lucky enough to get to taste a lot of these whiskies when (and sometimes before) they drop.
To that end, I gathered up a whole bunch of tasters and new bottles and put them to a blind taste test. For this lineup, I’m only focusing on new labels and/or new editions of limited-edition releases. As for the blind tasting, I do know the lineup but I have no idea the order. This is about finding the best-tasting new Scotch whisky for you to track down and add to your bar cart.
With the exception of one pretty rare bottle (rare in the U.S. anyway), these are all pretty easy to find and relatively affordable.
Anyway, the lineup today is:
Mossburn Vintage Cask No.12 MacDuff 10-Year
Bowmore Aston Martin Masters Selection 21 Year Old
Lochlea First Release
Springbank 10
Kilchoman Madeira Finish
Longrow Peated
Ardbeg Ardcore
Laphroaig Cairdeas PX Cask Finish
Let’s dive in!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Scotch Whisky Posts of The Last Six Months
The nose is kind of like a bowl of raw oats and fresh red berries drizzled with floral honey and just touched with fresh mint. The palate spices things up with a dusting of ground cinnamon and a hint of fresh ginger sharpness as the mid-palate sweetens with a hint of salted caramel and more of that honey. The finish builds towards an oatmeal cookie with raisins, walnuts, and another hint of cinnamon with an echo of old oak and a touch of water.
This is a nice start. We’ll see where it goes.
Taste 2
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This is pretty interesting with a balance of creamed honey next to woody maple syrup, Nutella, boot wax, and a hint of creamy peanut butter. The palate is part sweet and spicy mulled wine and part savory fig and almost squash with mocha lattes, smoked cherrywood, and bespoke Almond Joy hitting on the mid-palate. The finish slows the sweetness of all that lush chocolate and candied fruit and hits notes of burnt marshmallow, sticky chili-chocolate tobacco, and dark fruit leather with a whisper of smoked plum and maybe singed cedar bark.
This is complex and luxurious. This is definitely the dram to beat out of the gate.
Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
There’s a touch of black licorice with old peaches and honey but it’s all very light and malty. The palate leans into spiced malts with bruised banana and melon next to a hint of non-descript oak and maybe some dry oats. The finish has a nice peppery warmth with a hint of bourbon vanilla smoothing things out on the short and slightly watery end.
This is very young but very promising. I’m not so sure it’ll rank too high though.
Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This is soft on the nose with layers of bourbon vanilla, prunes, toffee, spiced honey, and an earthy mix of wet moss and dry sage. The taste is very orchard forward with sweet, tart, and dark fruits leading to a slightly spicy hint of black pepper and cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and clove. The end sweetens with salted caramel as dried peat adds a dark soil and moldy grass vibe to the end.
Bourbon vibes and mossy/peaty funk? This has to be a Springbank.
It’s a little sharp on the tongue though. I’ll have to think about this one.
Taste 5
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
There’s a clear sense of oaty malts next to sweet plums, Christmas spices, singed cotton candy, candied citrus peels, and a hint of new leather. The palate dives further into those notes while bringing about a spicy mulled wine vibe next to red berry leather and rock candy with a good dose of cinnamon and nutmeg rounding things out. The end is a lush slide into sticky berry tobacco with a dash of sharp cinnamon, an echo of old cellar beams, and a fleeting hint of mince meat pies with a sugar frosting.
Damn, this is good. It’s like Christmas in a glass.
Taste 6
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Vanilla pudding mingles with a line of smoke from a smoldering backyard firepit while a savory herb garden grows nearby and then the nose veers toward singed marshmallows and burning fruitwood. The palate leans into that burning fruity wood before creamy vanilla leads to a brand new Ace Bandage. That medicinal note gives way to a wet clay with a nice minerality before the sweet and fruity smoke kicks back in and layers together vanilla, winter spice, and leather sandwich on the finish.
Taste 7
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
There’s a hint of wet charcoal next to sour and almost waxy cacao nibs on the nose next to white pepper, grapefruit, and a hint of dried florals. The palate has an old cigarette ashtray vibe (Hello, Ardbeg!) with a hint of black licorice, buttery scones, dark chocolate, and cardamon. That Islay medicinal note hits on the mid-palate like a fresh box of Band-Aids before a menthol-chocolate tobacco cigar ash leads to a whisper of dry asphalt.
This is by far the boldest whisky so far. Now, I just have to figure out what that means against these other whiskies.
Taste 8
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
There’s that bold medicinal note right up top. It’s like taking a deep inhale on a bin of used Band-Aids next that’s immediately countered by Nutella and marzipan with a touch of apple pie filling and vanilla tobacco ash. The iodine and medicinal notes give this away as Laphroaig immediately. The palate confirms it with more of that old Band-Aids vibe (with a hint of iron) next to salted licorice, smoke apple chips, and dill or fennel. The funk really kicks in on the mid-palate with smoked bacon wrapped in nori next to hints of seawater and Red Hots rounding things out.
This brand new release from a brand new distillery is aiming to put the Lowlands of Scotland back on the map. The juice is a 100 percent malted barley whisky (naturally) that’s aged for three years in a combination of first-fill bourbon and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. Those barrels are blended and the result is proofed down with local spring water for bottling as-is.
Bottom Line:
This is young whisky. It’s clear from the nose onward. That said, this wasn’t bad by any stretch. I just think it needs two to five more years to really reach its initial potential.
Mossburn Vintage Casks releases are all about finding the orphan barrels out there and giving them a home. This release is from a few select casks from the Macduff Distillery in the Highlands. The barrels are masterfully blended by the crew at Mossburn and proofed down before bottling with no other fussing.
Bottom Line:
This was fine. It didn’t blow my mind. I could see this being a great highball whisky or a cocktail base to build your empire upon.
This Campbeltown whisky is distilled at the iconic Springbank Distillery. The whisky is a no-age-statement release that leans into the peatier end of the Springbank offerings. The whisky is bottled with a little water added to cut the proof down but without filtration or added color.
Bottom Line:
This was good but didn’t pop today. Again, this felt like a solid highball or cocktail base more than something you have to have in your life every single day.
Laphroaig is always innovating. 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.
Bottom Line:
This was a lot. The experience was lush for sure, but it’s really hard to get past “old bloody Band-Aids” if you’re not into that. That said, there’s a lot of love in this pour once you do get past that.
This is the gateway to Springbank, the heart of the Campbeltown whisky region of Scotland. The single malt is aged in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks with a 60/40 split respectively in the final blend before proofing with local spring water and as-is bottling.
Bottom Line:
This is where things get good on this list, but not “great.” I think this is a solid mixing whisky for a killer cocktail that works on the rocks in a pinch.
2022’s Ardbeg Day release is an outlier for the distillery. The juice is made with a mash of peated Islay barely mixed with a heavily roasted barley in the mix. That dark barley imbues a layer of dark chocolate to the juice that lasts through the aging process.
Bottom Line:
This hit nicely today. All that chocolate kind of made it feel like a good digestif whisky with a dessert feel that still had some serious Islay peat vibes. All of that aside, this whisky took me on a journey and it was a fun, chocolate-y ride.
This young whisky from the youngest distillery on Islay packs one hell of a punch. The juice is made from peated malts made in-house on Islay. The whisky then spends four years aging in Madeira casks before it’s bottled as-is at cask strength.
Bottom Line:
This was nearly number one. It’s complex, deep, and really f*cking tasty. That said, it was just a tad less interesting than the next pick. But that’s splitting microscopic hairs on the back of a flea for the sake of this ranking.
1. Bowmore Aston Martin Masters Selection 21 Year Old — Taste 2
This collaboration between Islay’s Bowmore and Aston Martin is about luxury. The blend of this single malt follows the golden ratio to create an aesthetically pleasing vibe. The base is 61.8 percent 21-year-old single malt aged in first-fill Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry casks. The rest of the blend is equal parts of Bowmore’s other casks that are at least 21 years old ranging up to 35 years old.
Bottom Line:
Yeah, this was the clear winner from the jump with only Kilchoman nipping at its heels. This is just lush and inviting with such a deep yet accessible palate. It’s easy but rewarding. Pretty goddamn great.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
Yeah. I know, I know. The most expensive whiskies won the top three spots. But that value is in that those are just more refined and better built. That’s something you have to pay for in the whisky world, whether it’s from Scotland, Kentucky, Japan, or anywhere else.
All of that said, I think you can easily reach for any of the top five depending on your palate. With the top three getting my biggest seal of approval.
Protip: Look out for the Bowmore 21 Aston Martin Edition the next time you’re at Duty-Free at the airport. The price should be much closer to $400 per bottle.
For a few brief and glorious moments back in late May, Fox News viewers witnessed the faintest glint of a teeny tiny spark of empathy from Tucker Carlson when he railed against the inactions of the police in Uvalde, Texas while 21 people were murdered at Robb Elementary School. It was a short-lived dalliance with compassion, as Carlson was back on his bullsh*t the following evening—and hasn’t stopped since.
On Tuesday night, as Mediaite reports, Carlson decided to launch a mock endorsement campaign for Kamala Harris as president in 2024. After playing a montage of some of the vice president’s less eloquent speeches, Carlson feigned outrage that anyone would “deny” Harris the chance to rise to the highest office in the land and, yet again, brought up the fact that she once dated Montell Williams (an odd tidbit the Fox News is oddly obsessed with repeating):
You would deny that person a chance to serve? That is the person that Democratic insiders are tonight, ladies and gentlemen, trying to remove from the public stage. And if no one else will say it, we will: it’s wrong. Despite appearances, Kamala Harris is not a disposable consumer product. She’s a pioneer. Do you know what she went through trying to get a fair shake in this systemically racist country as the daughter of college professors? It wasn’t easy. You know how hard she worked? At one point, she even dated Montel Williams…
Now, simply because she’s a moron and no one likes her or even agrees how to pronounce her first name, the Democratic Party is trying to throw Harris away—toss her out the window like a used Big Mac wrapper. Now, Kamala Harris may be stained with secret sauce, but she deserves more than that. Yes, she does. Mediocrity is no excuse for firing someone. A low I.Q., terrible personality, total inability to do the prescribed job—those are not reasons to deny someone a job.
Tonight we are endorsing Kamala D. Harris for the 2024 Democratic primaries. She deserves it. And so do Democrats. They created her. They should be forced to live with her. Anyone who disagrees with that is, by definition, a racist. https://t.co/WaeGEzMO2tpic.twitter.com/KOUkP01BG4
With that, Carlson announced that he was “endorsing Kamala D. Harris for the 2024 Democratic primaries” because “She deserves it and so do Democrats. They created her. They should be forced to live with her.”
Ryan Gosling has been shirtless a lot. It’s not uncommon for him to rip off his clothes for dramatic effect (is that what it is?) in a movie like Crazy, Stupid, Love or The Notebook or in every meme from 2013. We are delighted to inform you that Gosling is at it again! Only this time he’s shirtless while wearing some denim cutoffs. Also, he may or may not be a plastic doll. The plot is unclear.
Warner Bros released the first look at Gosling in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie that’s slated to be released next July. Gosling will play Ken, the world’s most popular boyfriend who has abs instead of a personality. And he sure looks the part, sporting some KEN underwear (in case he forgets!) while just hanging out beside a neon-pink set.
Warner Bros.
Gosling will act alongside Margot Robbie, America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Kate McKinnon, Alexandra Shipp, Will Ferrell, Issa Rae, Hari Nef, Michael Cera, and Emma Mackey, with a script from Gerwig and Noah Baumbach. Details about this movie are kept under wraps, but early reports allude to there being some sort of Barbie Multiverse situation. Robbie herself told Vogue that nobody knows what to expect: “People generally hear ‘Barbie’ and think, ‘I know what that movie is going to be,’ and then they hear that Greta Gerwig is writing and directing it, and they’re like, ‘Oh, well, maybe I don’t…’”
People are…thrilled? Confused? Excited? All of the above!
There is ZERO heterosexual explanation for any of this. HAPPY PRIDE YALL!!!!! https://t.co/GqW0BF95fp
— Dax ExclamationPoint (@Daxclamation) June 15, 2022
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