Is Bruce Campbell now a powerful foe that Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange will regret messing with? Maybe! Thanks to a just-released deleted scene for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Campbell’s Pizza Poppa vows revenge on the Master of the Mystic Arts after being forced to spend two weeks punching himself in the face. The clip leans heavily into the actor’s well-honed, ham-fisted acting chops as he gives birth to the multiverse’s newest villain.
You can watch the deleted scene below:
#DoctorStrange beware! In this exclusive deleted scene, the true villain of the multiverse is born. His name? The Pizza Papa
Of course, for Pizza Poppa to find the Stephen Strange that doomed him to 14 days of face-punching, Campbell’s character is going to have to do more than just make delicious pizza balls. The two living in different realities (Strange on Earth-616, Poppa on Earth-838) so it would take an impressive feat of multiversal travel to hunt down the good doctor. Then again, the Poppa somehow forges pizza into edible balls, so god knows the limits of his power.
As for whether Pizza Poppa could show up in a third Doctor Strange movie, the chances are probably good. Director Sam Raimi delivered Marvel an absolute hit after original director Scott Derrickson exited the project, and he seems to come back again. Considering Raimi makes it a point to include Campbell in all of his films, as evidenced by Pizza Poppa’s existence, there’s a good chance he’ll be back.
Then again, Campbell played different characters in all three of Raimi’s Spider-Man films, so maybe don’t get too excited to see Doctor Strange have balls of pizza whipped at his head.
It is commonly said that someone having a messy bedroom is indicative of how their life is going. Beabadoobee, in the new live video for “10:36,” shows that one can reveal a lot about himself or herself through other parts of the house.
The “Talk” singer invites viewers into a living room large enough to fit an entire band, but one that is also far less than tidy. There are spilled drinks, dropped papers, and loose clothing scattered amongst the space as the 22-year-old addresses her co-dependence being independent of any love she feels for the man she’s speaking to. The Fake It Flowers artist even acknowledges she did not expect him to fall in love with her, because to her he is just the warm body she needs to sleep at night.
This intimate performance of “10:36” follows “Lovesong,” “See You Soon,” and “Talk,” one of which was released each month prior to June starting in March. All four of those tracks are set to appear on Beabadoobee’s upcoming second studio albumBeatopia, arriving on July 15. The 14-track album includes “Tinkerbell Is Overrated” featuring Pink Pantheress, “Picture Of Us,” “Beatopia Cultsong,” and “You’re Here That’s The Thing.”
Check out Beabadoobee’s live video for “10:36” above.
Despite all his whining about being “discriminated” against because he’s not vaccinated, Andrew Giuliani was an equal part of Tuesday’s New York Republican gubernatorial debate—just as he has been included in the many events that preceded it. If it seems like Rudy Giuliani’s adult son often acts like a spoiled child, Lee Zeldin, Andrew’s opponent in the race for governor, took a moment to remind everyone that SNL pointed that out nearly 20 years ago.
As Raw Story reports, things got a little heated between Zeldin and Giuliani the Younger during Tuesday night’s debate. After Zeldin claimed that his first act as governor would be to remove Alvin Bragg, the newly elected Manhattan DA whose lack of interest in filing criminal charges against Donald Trump created some minor chaos, Giuliani shot back that “You were with Trump before you were against him.” Zeldin had some pretty stellar zingers ready for Giuliani, who was beamed in via satellite because of his vaccination status.
“Alvin Bragg has to go,” Lee Zeldin says, saying it would be the first thing to do if elected — along with lifting any Covid mandates and investigating Cuomo for nursing home deaths.
In addition to describing Giuliani as a “Chick-Fil-A runner at the White House” who was “outranked by the Easter Egg Bunny,” Zeldin noted that his opponent’s “claim to fame was that Chris Farley made fun of him on Saturday Night Live for being an obnoxious kid, who [ended] up becoming more obnoxious and getting kicked off the Duke golf team.” Harsh but fair.
If you’ve never seen the actual footage of Andrew during his father’s 1994 inauguration, it’s worth your time.
Andrew Giuliani did work for Trump, though his official titles were “special assistant” and “associate director of the Office of Public Liaison”—whatever those mean. As Raw Story reports, his gubernatorial campaign has been marked by a series of embarrassments, including the time the 36-year-old told Fox News that he has spent “parts of five decades in politics” or when he talked about checking out his baby daughter’s vagina in the midst of an anti-trans tirade. Even outside of his political aspirations, Giuliani’s life seems like something straight out of a Looney Tunes cartoon. In January, he attempted to break up a fight on the streets of New York and was hit in the head with a flower pot.
There’s a ton of bourbon out there, folks. So many bottles line shelves that a trip to a liquor store can feel pretty overwhelming. Even pros like me struggle to navigate it and I taste a lot (and I mean a lot) of bourbons every week.
Today, to help you sort the corn from the husk, I’m blind tasting 45 bourbons released over the past 12 months to find the best bourbon EVER…among this bunch. (Sorry, that’s all any test or contest or tasting can try to pin down — the “best taste among the bottles sampled.”) But with so many bottles, this blind test needs structure. Here’s how things will go:
The top five from each round will move onto the “Finalist” round, creating a new 15-pour set to be tasted blind.
From the finalists’ round, the top five will move onto the “Championship” round for a final blind tasting.
Then, I will crown a winner. Shouts to my mother, who poured all of these and kept track of everything.
For clarity’s sake, I did choose the 45 bottles but I did not know which bottles moved forward besides their number in the blind tasting (though I had inklings of what was what after tasting some two or three times). A quick note before we dive in: I’m nosing and tasting through each dram in the first three rounds and going with what jumps out. If more than five pours do that, I’ll go back and eliminate pours until five are left by re-nosing and re-tasting (I will not be ranking these pours). In the “finalist” round, I’ll proceed in the same fashion until I’ve whittled it down to a final five (I will not be ranking these pours, either). Finally, in the last round, I’ll be working by a process of elimination by nosing and tasting over and over until a winner is picked. In that elimination run, I’ll rank the bottles.
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.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This feels very classic with a nose full of cherry, honey, cornmeal, and vanilla. The palate is part caramel popcorn and part woody vanilla with a hint of spiced cherry tobacco. The end is very lush with a hint of orange and wet slate.
Bottom Line:
This is very good but not extraordinary. It felt like the perfect cocktail whiskey.
This introductory juice from Four Roses is a blend of all ten of their whiskeys. The barrels are a minimum of five years old when they’re plucked from the warehouses, blended, brought down to proof, and bottled.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This is soft and full of dried apples and flowers with a hint of fresh honey and mild winter spices. The palate stays on that path as the apple and honey marry in a pie with a hint of vanilla pod and old wood. The finish is short and sweet with notes of green applewood, mild cinnamon, light stonefruit, and more honey.
Bottom Line:
Again, this felt more like a mixer than anything else. It’s good, but not “grab-you-by-the-lapels” good.
Chicken Cock has some serious bourbon history going back to 1856. It was also the bourbon of the infamous Cotton Club in Harlem during Prohibition. Fun fact, the hooch was smuggled into the club in tin cans that they cracked open tableside. The juice in this bottle is sourced from Kentucky (and not made at Bardstown Bourbon Company), but not much else is known as of now.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Tart apples and a box of Red Hots draw you in on the thin nose with a dash of vanilla. The body of this one is much bolder with buttery toffee, brown sugar, loads of dried fruit, almonds, and mulled wine spice. The vanilla turns into a moist cake as a hint of dried spicy tobacco and oak linger on the end.
Bottom Line:
Had the nose been a little brighter on this one, I think it would have landed in the next round. The flavor was great but it took a minute to get there.
RESULT: Eliminated
Heaven Hill Old Style Bourbon Aged 6 Years — Taste 4
Heaven Hill’s Green Label Old Style Bourbon is always affordable and very palatable. This expression adds an extra two years (or so) of aging to the entry-level juice. Beyond that, we’re talking about a standard bourbon meant to be mixed, shot, and enjoyed without breaking the bank.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This is fairly soft on the nose with a hint of mint buried in brown sugar with a vanilla smoothness and a note of raw leather (it’s cheap but good). The palate gets a little oaky with a touch of char next to woody vanilla, apricots, and pancakes with plenty of butter and syrup. The end is bold with warming buzz and more of that vanilla.
Bottom Line:
This really felt like it was reaching for some big heights but not quite getting there. That said, I could see taking this as a shot with an ice-cold Coors Banquet or mixing it into a very simple old fashioned.
RESULT: Eliminated
New Riff Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond — Taste 5
This four-year-old whiskey is rendered from a mash bill of 65 percent corn, 30 percent rye, and five percent malted barley. That whiskey is then blended under the bottled-in-bond laws and proofed down to 100 proof before bottling in New Riff’s flashy bottles.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Freshly baked sourdough cinnamon rolls with a butter and vanilla frosting draw you in on the nose with a hint of baked apple pies drizzled in caramel sauce. The palate has a hint of mulled wine spice layered into those stewed apples with vanilla pudding, salted caramel, and old cedar rounding things out. The finish has a touch of cotton candy next to more wintry spice (especially sharp cinnamon and ginger) next to lush vanilla tobacco stuffed into a cedar box.
Bottom Line:
This was above and beyond the last four pours. It was “instant love,” if you will. I wanted to actually go back and drink this one and not just taste and spit.
This new release from Kentucky Owl is meant to be an affordable and accessible Kentucky Owl from the otherwise elite brand. The juice is a blend of contract distilled whiskey from Bardstown Bourbon Company and sourced barrels from around Kentucky that are four to eight years old.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Circus peanuts and cumin with a dash of allspice greet you on the nose with toffee and pine tar. The palate has a soft raspberry vibe next to rich vanilla, cornmeal, and wet cedar. The end is all leathery and woody but a tad thin.
Bottom Line:
This starts off great but sort of peters out. That says to me that this would be a great piece to a cocktail puzzle since you can build off that nose and palate.
American Prairie Bourbon is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after sourced whiskeys. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of two to 13-year-old barrels rendered from high-rye and low-rye mashes alongside undisclosed whiskeys, some of which are sourced from MGP. The release supports the American Prairie Reserve by highlighting the project and supporting it financially.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
There’s a hint of funk on the nose that leads to raw leather, vanilla pudding, and buttered sweetcorn. The taste is soft and velvety with a touch of nougat next to quickbread biscuits with plenty of butter and vanilla-laced honey. The finish dries out toward vanilla pods and cedar bark with a hint of apple chips with a flake of Kosher salt.
Bottom Line:
This felt like a contender but didn’t quite stand out enough to get called up to the big leagues.
RESULT: Eliminated
Jeptha Creed Bottled-in-Bond Rye Heavy Bourbon — Taste 8
This whiskey from indy-darling Jeptha Creed is all about local corn. The mash is built with 75 percent Bloody Butcher Corn next to 20 percent malted rye and a mere five percent malted barley. That distillate spends a few years chilling in new oak before it’s batched, cut to proof, and bottled as-is.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
The nose on this is both soft and bold with sharp winter spices next to an orange cream pie with singed meringue and a hint of sour berries (cranberry maybe?) that’s all accented by a big dry sweetgrass note. The palate then veers into lemongrass and ginger with green reeds next to a light touch of salted caramel drizzled over lemon pudding. The ginger and woody vanilla lead back into the dry grass as the sour berries attach to a soft and chewy tobacco leaf.
Bottom Line:
This is pretty goddamn delicious. I’m excited to see how it stacks up to some cask strength and special finishes.
This whiskey is all about the blending process that Stellum employs to make this special and award-winning juice. The juice in the bottle is a blend of whiskeys from Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Basically, the process is a sort of hybrid reverse solera technique where the blend gets more juice to keep the proof high and the blend consistent in flavor as the batch is drained off. It’s a delicate balance of mixing great whiskeys to make something better than the individual parts.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This is a bold whiskey with a nose full of Christmas cake spices — anise, clove, cinnamon, and more — next to tons of dried fruit, candy citrus, and a touch of sour apple. The palate eases up on the spice as dry vanilla pods and powdered sugar lead to a hint of dried chili flakes attached to tobacco. The end softens more toward nutmeg and honey as the vanilla attaches to the tobacco for a final slow fade.
Bottom Line:
This was fantastic. I can see this going far.
RESULT: Next Round
Note: This is a cask strength bourbon that was accidentally put in this round. I didn’t know that while tasting, eliminating, and choosing what went to the next round, and it was automatically moved into the next round before I knew what it was.
George Dickel Bourbon Whisky Aged 8 Years — Taste 10
This whisky was a special release from Nicole Austin and a new direction for the brand. The whisky is the same Dickel simply pulled from barrels that leaned more into classic bourbon flavor notes instead of Dickel’s iconic Tennessee whisky notes. The barrels are a minimum of eight years old before they’re vatted. The juice is then cut down to a manageable 90-proof and bottled.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
There’s a soft yet dry candy sweetness on the nose that feels very Tennessee next to dried pine, apple fritters, and cinnamon toast. The palate has more of that dry candy (almost powdery) next to nutmeg-stewed pears, orange zest, and buttery toffee. The end is grassy with a nice cherry tobacco vibe.
Bottom Line:
This would make a great cocktail bourbon with that sweetness and dryness.
This is the same bourbon as Pappy. That means it’s a wheated bourbon made at Buffalo Trace in Kentucky. The difference is that this meets the Weller profile in the barrel before it’s batched and cut down with that soft Kentucky limestone water. The juice is bottled at a very approachable 90 proof.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
The nose on this one is almost malty with a hint of sour apple candy next to salted caramel kettle corn. The palate leans into floral honey as a hint of butterscotch leads to vanilla tobacco and cedar. The finish is soft and full of that floral honey before hitting a spiced cherry cake with a hint of chocolate with a little bit of warmth.
Bottom Line:
This was really nice but didn’t jump out. It’s good but more of a mixer in my estimation (according to the tastes before and after it today).
RESULT: Eliminated
Russell’s Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 10 Years Old — Taste 12
Jimmy and Eddie Russell go barrel hunting in their Wild Turkey rickhouses to find this expression. The juice is a marrying of bourbons Jimmy and Eddie Russell handpick with a minimum age of ten years old. They then cut it down to a very accessible 90 proof for bottling.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This is just a straight-up classic with depth on the nose leading to rich vanilla, salted caramel, sour cherry, wintry spices, and a touch of old oak. The palate opens with orange-oil-infused marzipan covered in dark chocolate next to bolder holiday spices, moist spiced cake, and a very distant whisper of barrel smoke. The end is a lush mix of orange, vanilla, chocolate, and spice leading to an old leather pouch full of sticky maple syrup tobacco.
Bottom Line:
When I say “stand out” up in the lede, this is what I mean. This was clearly a winner from the first nose. And then the flavor profile confirmed that building to a great journey through classic bourbon notes.
RESULT: Next Round
Yellowstone Family Recipe Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 6 Years — Taste 13
This is a rare whiskey released by Steven Beam, who’s a bit of a magician working behind the curtain at Limestone Branch Distillery. The juice — which is the first non-sourced release from the brand — is an old-school recipe that has a unique flavor profile (specifically making it a throwback). The juice is aged for six years before it’s tinkered with by Beam by batching it before proofing and bottling.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
The nose on this is very different with a hint of juniper next to pecans floating in maple syrup. The palate is soft and full of orange and marzipan next to high-desert scrub brush and woody huckleberries. The end sweetens considerably with a vanilla cake covered in a spiced cherry compote with a hint of chocolate and that dry juniper/desert scrub lurking in the background.
Bottom Line:
I can’t decide if I love this or hate it. I need to come back to it at a later date. Until then, it’s too funky to go on (because that “juniper” note is so high-desert that it’s nearly dry cat piss — if you spend time in the high deserts of the Pacific Northwest, you’ll know what I mean).
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.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
The nose on this is thin but does give you hints of dried roses, light eggnog, corn husk, and sour apple. The palate is also a tad thin with a nice orchard fruit vibe next to soft nutmeg, marzipan, and rosewater with a dash of black pepper. The end has a nice floral honey feel that leads to mild vanilla tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This was squarely in the “fine” bracket. It feels like a great whiskey to build a cocktail on.
Michter’s really means the phrase “small batch” here. The tank they use to marry their hand-selected eight-year-old bourbons can only hold 20 barrels, so that’s how many go into each small-batch bottling. The blended juice is then proofed with Kentucky’s famously soft limestone water and bottled.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a hint of ripe peach next to maple syrup, vanilla pancakes, and a hint of cotton candy. The palate leans into the vanilla cakes as the stonefruit takes on a grilled vibe next to peppery spice, fatty cream, and a touch of singed marshmallow. The finish leans into wintry spices as the stonefruit almost becomes smoked while toffee and vanilla cake counterpoint everything. The end has a nice layer of old cedar next to maple/vanilla tobacco leaves.
Bottom Line:
This was a pretty freaking good pour. It’s classic but fresh with deep flavor notes. It’s definitely a contender!
This award-winning bourbon from Barrell Craft Spirits is emblematic of the brand’s building prowess. The juice in this bottle is from Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana and is made from six, seven, ten, 15, and 16-year-old barrels. That batched whiskey is then bottled at cask strength and as-is without any fussing.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a mix of anise, spicy tobacco, and pine resin with a fruity underbelly full of apple pie and vanilla ice cream next to a hint of poppy. The palate meanders through hints of orange zest, sour cherry, soft strawberry, and a hint of marshmallow. There’s a bit of spice and powdered vanilla pudding on the end with plenty of cedar, spicy tobacco, and creamy root beer cut with cherry.
Bottom Line:
This was pushed through from the jump but sadly eliminated when I had to go back and whittle this section down to five entries for the next round. That’s all to say, this is a very good bourbon that likely would have dominated on a blended bourbon tasting.
RESULT: Eliminated
Still Austin Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 2
Still Austin is getting a lot of love for their very crafty (and fruity) bourbon, The Musician. This is that, but as cask strength and released as a limited offering. The juice in the bottle is a local, grain-to-glass operation that utilizes the best grains and water Texas has to offer.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Cedar and chocolate-cherry soda mix with a rush of dried mint on the now The palate has a touch of blackberry hand pie next to vanilla icing countered by sharp cinnamon to the point of almost feeling like old-school Dr. Pepper. The finish leans into that sharp spice and sweetness with a hint of warm dried chili pepper.
Bottom Line:
This was squarely in the ‘nice” section of the tasting. It’s a perfectly good sipper, likely on a rock or two, or a nice cocktail base.
This whiskey, from Owensboro Distilling Co., is all about the finish. The whiskey is finished in casks with staves from ex-bourbon, sherry, and French oak barrels. Once that whiskey hits the right point, it’s vatted and bottled as-is.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
There’s a mix of dark chocolate powder and vanilla oils with a sweet orange/toffee vibe that leads to granulated sugar. The taste adds dried berries to oatmeal cookies full of cinnamon and walnuts. The end sweetens further with a vanilla cookie dipped in eggnog next to hints of cornmeal and chocolate tobacco.
Bottom Line:
Again, this is pretty nice. It just didn’t jump out of the glass or take me on much of a journey. It felt like a great cocktail bourbon though. I can imagine it in a Manhattan.
This Michigan whiskey is made to highlight a true grain-to-glass experience. The juice is made from a mash of 71 percent corn, 25 percent rye, and four percent barley. It’s aged for four years in the extreme weather of the Great Lakes. Barrels are then hand-picked and bottled with no fussing.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Yellow cornmeal and orange zest come through on the nose with a hint of lemon marmalade and some toffee. There’s a touch of baked apples wrapped in bacon next to a slight black pepper feel. The finish arrives with orchard fruits and cedar planks next to vanilla and a hint of warmth.
Bottom Line:
File this one under “just fine.” Honestly, I’m almost 20 deep on this tasting and I could take this or leave it, and that’s not the whiskey’s fault at all.
Stellum Black Bourbon basically takes the recipe from Stellum Bourbon and uses the reserve barrels (sourced from Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky) from the series to create this heightened blend. The whiskey is batched and bottled at cask strength to let those barrels shine through in every sip.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Leathery notes wrap themselves around green peppers with a hint of salted caramel and barrel char sneaking in. The palate has an orange creamsicle vibe that leads to mocha lattes, winter spices, and a hint of vanilla tobacco with a very smooth feel. The end leans into the smooth tobacco as the pepper gets hot and the leather leads to thick and old wicker.
Bottom Line:
This was nice but didn’t wow me. I kept thinking about how good this would taste in a spicy old fashioned thanks to those pepper notes.
This sourced whiskey comes from Kentucky. The juice is a blend of 70 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and nine percent malted barley whiskey that’s aged for up to four years before bottling as-is.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Caramel, vanilla, oak, and maple syrup greet you on the nose. The palate has a winter spice vibe with dusty cinnamon and nutmeg-heavy eggnog that’s super creamy with vanilla tobacco in a cedar humidor accenting everything. That spice amps on the finish with a Red Hot tobacco chew and dry wicker finish.
Bottom Line:
This rules. It was a nice surprise with a deep nature and took me on a journey in a small glass.
RESULT: Next Round
George Dickel 15-Year Single Barrel Tennessee Whisky– Taste 7
The juice in this bottle is from single barrels, aged 15 years or more, and the proof varies accordingly. The whiskey showcases Dickel’s vast warehouses and the gems they have hidden deep on those ricks.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Pancake batter and cherry Necco Wafers mingle with a scoop of really good ice cream over spiced apple pie. The palate is very Cherry Coke with a bit of rootbeer float leading to a soft angel food cake. The end is full of cherry bark, applewood, and a good dose of cellar funk.
Bottom Line:
This is certainly old and from Tennessee. Overall, it’s good but not insanely so. It’s just solid and that’s not quite enough for this tasting.
This craft darling from Washington state is all about local ingredients. The mash is rendered from locally grown corn, rye, and barley. The spirit is distilled in Western Washington and then shipped to Eastern Washington to age for at least five years. That juice is then batched and bottled as-is with no fussing or cutting.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Mocha and leather mix on the nose with fresh-cut green grass and piping hot cornbread dripping with butter and caramel sauce. The palate starts off with a nice and subtle barrel char leading toward Almond Roca toffees, cherry-chili tobacco, and velvety vanilla cream. The finish leans into a stewed apple with a hint of clove and sassafras that, in turn, leads to almond tobacco and plenty of cedar wrapped in old leather.
Bottom Line:
This is great. In fact, this is one of the first drams that kind of blew me away. Huge contender for the crown right here.
RESULT: Next Round
Bardstown Bourbon Company Discovery Series #7 Blended Whiskey — Taste 9
The latest Discovery from Bardstown is a mix of pretty astounding bourbons. 64 percent of the blend are two 12-year-old Kentucky bourbons and one 17-year-old Tennessee whiskey (also a bourbon). The rest is a mix of 100 percent corn whisky from Ontario and seven-year-old rye from Indiana. Those whiskeys are masterfully blended and put in the barrel at cask strength to create this blend.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Cream soda and old leather open the nose with summer flowers, walnuts, cinnamon toast, and a hint of orange chocolate. The palate combines dark chocolate with sour apple and a hint of vanilla before warming wintry spices come into play. The finish has a nice balance of aged wood and worn leather with chocolate/orange/spiced tobacco leaves and a touch of brown sugar syrup.
Bottom Line:
This was very easy to both love and send to the next round. It’s just delicious, engaging, and super subtle for such a high proof.
2022’s first Booker’s release brings the ABVs and the deep flavors. The juice is hewn from the middle floors of five different Beam warehouses. Those barrels are then masterfully blended and then bottled as-is.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
There’s a soft nose with a mild floral perfume next to cherry-vanilla bark, cinnamon and anise spice, and a touch of cedar beams with a slight singe. The palate is immediately huge with a full high-proof buzz that eventually leads to sharp winter spices mixed with a hint of a nursery store’s fertilizer aisle (in the best possible way). The mineral aspects give way to chili-infused cherry tobacco with a nice dose of dry cedar bark braids and old vanilla husks.
Bottom Line:
This is nice but that mid-palate high-proof blowout takes it down about a half-a-notch. If this was poured over a single rock, it would have slain the competition. Yet, here we are.
RESULT: Eliminated
Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel 2021 Special Release Coy Hill High Proof — Taste 11
The whiskey in the bottle is the classic Jack Daniel’s mash of 80 percent corn, 12 percent malted barley, and eight percent rye. The Tennessee whiskey was filtered through Jack’s drip-drop sugar maple charcoal system before barreling and aging at the very top — where the air is dry and warm — of rickhouses number eight and number 13. The whiskey is bottled straight from the barrel with no other fussing.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Barrel char and dark fruit leather mingle with soft notes of vanilla and sasparilla as a hint of caramel sauce and salt flakes present on the nose. The palate has a serious heat to it but it doesn’t overpower the spicy Cherry Coke, cinnamon, allspice-heavy sticky toffee pudding, and sharp ginger. The end warms up a tad before a creamy vanilla malted shake takes you to spicy cherry tobacco with a nice chew to it.
Bottom Line:
This sadly got eliminated when I had to go back over the panel of pours and whittle it down to only five to move on to the next round. That said, this was delicious, which was a bit shocking when I learned it was a hazmat bourbon.
RESULT: Eliminated
Milam & Greene Castle Hill Series Bourbon Whiskey Batch Two 13-Year-Old — Taste 12
This whiskey is all about the batching process. The mix contains just 26 13 to 14-year-old barrels. Those barrels are masterfully blended down in Texas and then bottled at cask strength without any fussing.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This opens with a root beer vibe next to stewed cherry next to old cinnamon sticks and suede on the nose. The palate marries the cherry with the cinnamon with extra layers of dry pine and old sweetgrass that give way to soft vanilla cream. That creaminess carries into the finish with poppy seeds and toffee next to spicy cherry tobacco inside an old wicker box with a hint of mold.
Bottom Line:
This is another whiskey that’s damn good but there were no fireworks when I tasted it. I wrote in my notes “very good” but little else. Had there been an extra layer of something deeper, this would have moved up.
RESULT: Eliminated
Lost Lantern Frey Ranch Nevada Three Grain Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 13
This single barrel series from Lost Lantern is highlighting the best craft barrels out there right now. This release is a whiskey made from 67 percent corn, 21 percent winter rye, and 12 percent two-row malted barley, which was all grown at Frey Ranch. The farm distiller then aged the juice for five years before it was bottled as-is straight from the barrel.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This opens with a nose full of oatmeal cookies dipped in dark chocolate with hints of anise, clove, and fresh mint making appearances. The taste layers the clove into the chocolate with a hint of soft oatmeal cut with cinnamon and brown sugar next to sweetgrass and minor notes of caramel and vanilla. The finish lingers on the mint and chocolate while the oatiness gets a little wet and the spice leans into chili-infused chocolate tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This was another one that was eliminated on a second pass. It was so damn good but inched a tad lower thanks mostly to the next entry.
RESULT: Eliminated
Lost Lantern Starlight Distillery Indiana Straight Bourbon — Taste 14
Starlight Distillery in Indiana is quickly becoming the whiskey insiders’ favorite craft distillery. This single barrel pick for Lost Lantern is from a cask that aged for four years in a 53-gallon barrel. The juice inside that barrel was made from a mash of 60 percent corn, 20 percent malted barley, ten percent rye, and ten percent wheat. The whiskey was then bottled as-is.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Apple strudel with rich and frothy vanilla cream sauce mixes with ground cinnamon and caramel drizzle on the nose. The palate has a lemon cream pie vibe that gives way to a little bit of wet cedar bark, dark fruit leather, and fresh bales of straw. The end has some notes of apple cores and cherry bark next to a creamy backbone of vanilla pudding and chewy malted root beer tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This was a great pour. It was immediately clear it should go forward and stood up to second and third passes. It’s just great.
This whiskey from Penelope really helps solidify the brand as a powerhouse in blending. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of three bourbon mash bills (one is 21 percent rye, another 90 percent corn, and a 45 percent wheated bourbon — all from MGP), which create a four-grain (corn, wheat, rye, and barley) bourbon. All of this is to say that this is a masterful blend of four to five-year-old barrels into something bigger than the individual parts.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Mulled wine spices, fresh cornbread, wet brown sugar, and fresh cedar bark all mingle on the nose. The palate leans into brandy-soaked cherry layered between rich sheets of chocolate cake with a hint of buttery frosting and stewed stonefruit. The mid-palate has a toffee sweetness that leads to a finish with dry wicker, dry cherry tobacco, and a hint of chili chocolate.
Bottom Line:
This was another one that was immediately going to the next round. It’s complex and really engaging while still being easy drinking and, well, just damn good.
RESULT: Next Round
Zach Johnston
ROUND THREE — SPECIAL FINISHES
Zach Johnston
Barrell Craft Spirits Gold Label Bourbon (Partially Finished in Toasted Virgin American Oak Casks) — Taste 1
This whiskey is a blend of Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky bourbons. Each barrel in that blend is a minimum of 16 years old. The barrels were specifically chosen for their cherry, nutty, high-proof, and chocolate profiles. Half of those barrels were then finished in new American oak for a final touch of maturation before vatting and bottling as-is.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This has a great nose with a hint of freshly pressed sugar cane next to damp cherry tobacco, cedar bark, and sour cherry and that Tennessee chalky vibe. The palate is massive with sour cherry leading to candied ginger, orange marmalade, toasted sourdough, pine resin, and Key Lime pie. The finish lets that tart cherry shine as a mix of sharp and dark spices leads to waxy cacao nibs, orange blossoms, and cedar boxes full of sour cherry tobacco touched with winter spices and old leather.
Bottom Line:
This is pretty spectacular from the jump. It’s a massively deep and fresh sip.
RESULT: Next Round
The Di2tance Puncher’s Chance Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished In Cabernet Sauvignon Barrels Aged 12 Years — Taste 2
This sourced whiskey is a 12-year-old Tennessee straight bourbon whiskey. Those barrels are emptied and the juice is re-filled into old Cabernet Sauvignon casks for a final maturation before proofing and bottling.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This opens with a soft leather nose next to a clear Tennessee whiskey cherry-chalk vibe. The palate is a tad thin with notes of cherry pie next to mulled wine spices, old cellar beams, and potting soil over soft vanilla and a touch of toffee. The end is short and hits on the cherry-chalk note again before fading into a light spiced fruit pie filling with some leather lurking in the background.
Bottom Line:
This was fine. It didn’t jump out at me today, but that doesn’t mean it might not on a different blind tasting panel amongst, say, only Tennessee whiskeys.
RESULT: Eliminated
Buzzard’s Roost 5-Year-Old Toasted French Oak Finish Bourbon — Taste 3
This sourced whiskey (from MGP of Indiana) starts off as a double-barreled bourbon with a standard mash of 74 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and four percent malted barley. After five years that juice is then re-filled into toasted French Limousin oak barrels for a final rest before proofing and bottling as-is.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
That tannic barrel char comes through on the nose with plenty of old leather and sour cherry next to a hint of freshly baked cornbread. The palate is tannic AF with vanilla beans, dark chocolate, and orange zest all playing second fiddle. The finish is a bit like menthol-chocolate tobacco stuffed in an old cedar box and more of that barrel char.
Bottom Line:
This was a little too barrel forward for my palate. I might mix this into a cocktail to calm that down a bit, or just add some rocks.
RESULT: Eliminated
Bardstown Bourbon Company Founders KBS Stout Finish Bourbon — Taste 4
This new whiskey from Bardstown Bourbon Company leans into beer barrel finishing. The juice is a ten-year-old Tennessee whiskey (which is, technically, bourbon) comprised of 84 percent corn, eight percent rye, and eight perfect malted barley (which, coincidentally, is the same mash bill as Dickel). That whiskey is then transferred to KBS Stout barrels from Founders Brewing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The whiskey spends an additional 15 months mellowing with the stout-infused oak before bottling.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
You get soft dark cacao on the nose that leads to a vanilla-mocha latte with a nice bitter snap to it, malted chocolate shakes, Nutella, and a touch of orange. The palate dials all of that into ground hazelnuts, mulled wine spices, thick cherry syrup, and woody vanilla. The end leans into the cherry/dark chocolate vibe with a good dose of espresso cream layered into spicy orange tobacco with a hint of vanilla-cherry smoothness.
Bottom Line:
This is f*cking delicious. It’s deep and dark yet playful and fresh.
RESULT: Next Round
Blue Note Crossroads Straight Bourbon Whiskey Toasted French Oak — Taste 5
This is the same bourbon as above but finished in toasted French oak. Those barrels are blended in Memphis and proofed down to a little higher proof, allowing more of that toasted barrel to shine through.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This has a fair amount of oakiness and sour cherry on the nose with hints of burnt pine resin and dark toffee. The palate leans into the tannic woody aspect with a decent layer of vanilla tobacco and sour apple. The end is short and dry with cedar and moldy wicker hinting at woody Christmas spices.
Bottom Line:
This was pretty good but a little one-note in that all those flavors seemed to be filtered through some sort of wood.
This bottle from Beam Suntory marries Kentucky bourbon, California wine, and Japanese whisky blending in one bottle. Legent is classic Kentucky bourbon made by bourbon legend Fred Noe at Beam that’s finished in both French oak that held red wine and Spanish sherry casks. The juice is then blended by whisky blending legend Shinji Fukuyo at Suntory.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This is subtle with hints of plum pudding and minced meat pies next to vanilla-laced toffee on the nose. The palate leans into strips of cinnamon bark next to a whole nutmeg and mulled wine-soaked oak staves. The end is slightly jammy with a spiced plum jam feel and a hint of dustiness.
Bottom Line:
This was plummy, jammy, and woody but not a whole lot else. It’s really good but feels more like a cocktail base than anything else.
This whiskey takes Woodinville’s signature (and much-lauded) five-year-old straight bourbon and gives it a new finishing touch. The juice is finished in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks, making a sort of sibling to our favorite bourbon of 2020, the Port Cask Finish. But while there are similarities between the two, this feels like a step up in many small, tough-to-define ways. Point being: It’s very special.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Dried orange and holiday cakes mingle with dried florals and a touch of woody spice. The palate leans into the holiday spices while dark chocolate oranges and eggnog mingle on the sesses with a hint of orchard fruit. Toffee sweetness drives the palate toward a finish full of apple cider tobacco leaves and more dark woody spice.
Bottom Line:
This was up there. I liked it enough to not eliminate it on the first pass, but it feel off when I had to whittle this section down to only five picks.
This Diageo whiskey is a sourced Kentucky bourbon that’s aged at the famed Stitzel-Weller distillery for four years. The whiskey is then finished in red wine barrels from California before blending, proofing, and bottling.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This is a mix of spicy/sour kind of like dried-out red wine next to green cherries that are all tied together with old porch wicker. The palate leans into the tart cherries as soft oak and woody spice lead to soft vanilla and nutmeg. The end is full of butter dark chocolate and sour cherry with a touch more of that wicker.
Bottom Line:
This was very “Yup, that’s a good whiskey.” It just didn’t jump off the page, so to speak.
RESULT: Eliminated
Broken Barrel California Oak Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished With Broken Barrel Staves — Taste 9
This Kentucky bourbon from Owensboro Distilling Co. married the Bluegrass state with California’s wine country. The whisky — made with a mash of 70 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and nine percent malted barley — spends a few years in new oak. The prime barrels are then transferred to steel tanks filled with 80 percent broken California cabernet cask staves and 20 percent broken new French oak staves. After a long rest with those staves, the whiskey is proofed and bottled.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Fresh cinnamon rolls and tart berries lead to old oak and a hint of floral oils on the nose. The tartness goes full sour cherry on the palate with a twinge of Granny Smith and white peach in the mix. Vanilla and woody spice come in late and warm things up on the palate near the finish.
Bottom Line:
Again, this is middle-of-the-road “nice.” There’s nothing to complain about but maybe the first pour of this round set the bar too high?
This year’s drop from Stephen Beam’s Yellowstone line is a mix of seven-year-old and 15-year-old bourbons. The 15-year barrels are high-quality bourbons hand-selected by Beam. The seven-year barrels were finished by Beam in Amarone red wine casks before this batch was put together, proofed, and bottled.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Spicy stewed fruit mixes with savory figs, old prunes, and sultanas as tart berries vibe with powdered sugar, old boot leather, and a dusting of dark chocolate. The palate has a vanilla cream smoothness that leads to more tart berries, buttery toffee, and meaty figs and prunes. The end lets all the dark dried fruit, woody spice, and sour berries combine for a powerful finish.
Bottom Line:
This is big and bold and really great. It’s so easy drinking but delivers a real punch.
RESULT: Next Round
Peerless Double Oak Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 11
The whiskey is around five to six years old and comes from one barrel that lets the grains shine through before it goes into another barrel that lets the oak shine through. That final barrel is bottled at cask strength, as is.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with salted butter over popcorn with soft suede, oily vanilla, soft walnuts, and a fresh chili pepper edge. The palate dries out with notes of spice berries and barks next to soft cherry tobacco leaves, salted caramel, and stewed dark fruits. The finish leans into the spices without overpowering the sip while fresh floral honey and fresh wicker lead to a hint of cellar funk and menthol.
Bottom Line:
This is outstanding. It’s a definite contender for the final round.
This whiskey combines two mash bill programs. Rye-heavy and wheat-heavy bourbon barrels are aged for five years before they’re vatted and then re-filled into Cab casks from Napa. That juice then rests for a final spell before batching, proofing, and bottling as-is.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This is spritely on the nose with sour red wine mingling with tart apples, fresh honeycomb, vanilla pods, and a hint of fresh cinnamon stick. The palate largely sticks to the nose and builds some more sour berries into the mix with a nice layer of smooth vanilla and tannic oak char. The end is short and sweet with a sour edge that leads back to the oak and sour red wine.
Bottom Line:
This is pretty damn good. It balances that oak char with the sour really well. Unfortunately, this one got whittled out on a second pass to get this list down to five for the next round.
This whiskey special finishing with a unique mash bill. The juice is made from Woodford’s oat-forward bourbon mash. That whiskey is then finished in heavily toasted oak for a final maturation before bottling as-is with a touch of proofing water.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
The nose is complex on this one with a mix of tannic barrel char, sour cherry, almonds, cinnamon powder, and a hint of dark chocolate powder. The palate is all about the spiced oatmeal raisin cookies with vanilla, clove, allspice, and orange zest all making appearances next to a hint of wet sweetgrass. The end dries out as the dark chocolate leans toward espresso beans and the spices lean toward wood with a hint of that sour cherry attaching to dry tobacco leaves.
Bottom Line:
This was great, fresh, and fun to drink. That’s a winner.
RESULT: Next Round
Isaac Bowman Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished In Port Barrels — Taste 14
This Virginia whiskey leans hard into port barrels on the finish. The well-aged bourbon is re-filled into Virginia port casks and Portuguese port casks (made with American oak and French Limousin oak respectively) for a final three to six months of maturation before blending, proofing, and bottling.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This opens with a lot of dark fruit — prunes, figs, plums, sour cherry — next to a line of woody vanilla and soft caramel. The palate then veers into a hint of kiwi skin before hitting on anise and dirty tree roots with a dash of leather. The end is funky and underpinned by vanilla, plum pudding, and a touch of orange tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This is an oddball. I’m not really sure where to place it. This is one I need to try again in a different setting to get a handle on it.
RESULT: Eliminated
Angel’s Envy Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Port Wine Barrels — Taste 15
This is a modern classic and helped relaunch the “barrel finished” movement in the U.S. The juice is made from sourced bourbon from undisclosed distilleries around Kentucky along with Angel Envy’s own-make coming out of Louisville. The whiskey is aged around six years before it’s reloaded into Ruby Port casks (French oak). No more than 12 barrels are then small batched, proofed with local water, and bottled.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Raw biscuit dough and tart berry jam mix with butter, dried fruit, and vanilla on the nose. The palate mixes black pepper with winter spices as vanilla and raisins mingle on the sweet, toffee-forward mid-palate. The finish lingers on the spice and dried fruit with a hint of tannic barrel chat and spicy tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This was good but not amazing. I can see drinking this over a couple of rocks and being very happy. But it just didn’t stand out on this list today.
RESULT: Eliminated
Zach Johnston
ROUND FOUR — THE FINALISTS
Zach Johnston
For this round, I’ll be listing each whiskey with a new “Bottom Line” only since we already have all the tasting notes and bottle info above. Basically, I’ll be going fast and hard (and kind of brutal in my estimations of these).
New Riff Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond — Taste 1
Zach Johnston
Bottom Line:
There has a nice chili pepper vibe on the nose but ultimately this is a little hot on the tongue. It’s nice but feels like something I’d pour over ice.
RESULT: Eliminated
Blue Note Juke Joint Whiskey Uncut — Taste 2
Zach Johnston
Bottom Line:
The nose is funky but there’s a nice sweet/spicy balance. Overall, it’s a little average with a perfectly fine body.
RESULT: Eliminated
Barrell Craft Spirits Gold Label Bourbon (Partially Finished in Toasted Virgin American Oak Casks) — Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Bottom Line:
This feels like the vitamin aisle in a health food store. There’s a bold Tennessee whiskey chalkiness that dominates everything, and you really have to work to get past that.
RESULT: Eliminated
Jeptha Creed Bottled-in-Bond Rye Heavy Bourbon — Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Bottom Line:
Wood piles, dry grass, and wood piles. This is slightly funky but not enough to overcome the wood pile.
There’s a killer mix of dark chocolate and almond on the nose that’s hard to beat. Then this just keeps going deeper and deeper.
RESULT: Next Round
Russell’s Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 10 Years Old — Taste 10
Zach Johnston
Bottom Line:
This came across kind of thin on this go around. The body is good and robust but fades quickly.
RESULT: Eliminated
Lost Lantern Starlight Distillery Indiana Straight Bourbon — Taste 11
Zach Johnston
Bottom Line:
I really dig this. I exuberantly put it on the list. But as I went back the third and fourth time, it just didn’t quite hold up to the final five status of the rest. It was just a tad green.
RESULT: Eliminated
Peerless Double Oak Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 12
Zach Johnston
Bottom Line:
This has a great nose that then builds to a journey through classic and fresh bourbon notes. This is a serious pour.
This was so good. It’s nuanced and yet so easy to drink while offering a good time on the palate. Yet, I had to whittle this one off the final list sadly.
This was funky in all the right ways. The tannic oak made sense with the soft nuttiness and brilliant oatmeal cookie nature.
RESULT: Next Round
Zach Johnston
ROUND FIVE — THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
Zach Johnston
For this round, I’ll be dropping new “bottom lines” as the bottle details and tasting notes are above. I’ll also rank these from five to one (the champion).
This has a spicy grainy nose that leads to wet grains/oats/leather that I have a love/hate relationship with. Today, I was simply tired of it and, hence, this ranked last among the finalists.
Being classic couldn’t save this one against the killers on this list. That cotton candy, maple syrup, and Cherry Coke are all great, but there needed to be a bit more for this to win.
This is where things took a while. I went back and forth on these top three about six or seven times, looking for nuances in the nose and palate to help one rise above the other. In the end, this was more easygoing but had an old perfume note that didn’t square with me.
I went back and forth on tastes 1 and 3 a lot. This had a big nose with serious depth. There were great chili-chocolate vibes, almonds, toffee, and sweetgrass. It was all great but felt ultimately felt a little (and I’m splitting hairs here) less interesting than the top pick today.
In the end, this felt fresh and vibrant. It was bright and new while still grounded in deeply hewn classic bourbon notes while being lush and soft. This is just a great pour.
Epilogue — Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
Once I had the finalists and top five revealed, I was pretty shocked to see some bourbons I rarely reach for in real life. Blue Note and Jeptha Creed being at the top of that list.
Special shouts outs also have to go out to the bottles that were eliminated by whittling down the lists to only five.
Old Tub
Weller
Barrell 031
Jack Daniel’s
Booker’s
Legent
Daviess County
Buzzard’s Roost
Penelope
Bardstown (twice)!
All of these bottles deserve hype right along with the top five. That all said, Peerless Double Oak was a killer from the first round to the last. It’s just delicious. Enough said.
Mo Brooks’ wild roller coaster ride appears to have come to an end. As The Daily Beast reports, the Alabama congressman’s dreams of becoming an Alabama Senator have been dashed when he was pretty easily defeated by Katie Boyd Britt in a runoff election on Tuesday night. The two were fighting for the seat of Richard Shelby, who announced his plans to retire in early 2021; he has served the state for 35 years.
In October 2021, Rolling Stonedropped a political bombshell when it reported that participants in the January 6 Capitol riots claimed to have had “dozens” of meetings with members of Congress and Trump White House staffers ahead of their deadly insurrection. Brooks, who spoke at the Ellipsis rally the morning of January 6 (and wore body armor), was among the Congress members cited as taking part in these meetings—a charge he vehemently denied. The further Brooks attempted to distance himself from the events of that day, the more blame he placed on both his staff and Trump himself.
When it became clear that Brooks wasn’t about to sacrifice himself at the altar of Trump, and that the congressman could end up becoming a “star witness” for the January 6th committee, Trump took the unprecedented step of rescinding his endorsement of Brooks for going “woke” by claiming that Trump could not be legally reinstated as president.
As The Daily Beast writes, Brooks’ beef with Trump “seemed to enliven Brooks’ fading campaign. Armed with an ax to grind, Brooks surged in the polls. He began hitting Trump, and hard, needling him for his focus on the 2020 election by repeating his belief, anathema to the ex-president, that Republicans should focus on the 2022 and 2024 races.”
Unfortunately, and even with all that anti-Trump vitriol, Brooks wasn’t able to triumph over Britt, who was a top aide to outgoing senator Shelby. Surely it’s only a matter of time before Trump has something to say about the defeat.
XXL Freshman Doechii has been getting plenty of attention over the past few months, mainly as a result of the TikTok popularity of her 2021 song “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake.” But since then, she’s released two new songs, “Persuasive” and “Crazy,” showing off a new direction influenced by the dance music of the ’80s and ’90s — just in time to catch the wave generated by Drake’s head-turning surprise album, Honestly, Nevermind (I guess it’s true: High tides lift all boats). And now, in a feat of timing that frankly feels fated, Doechii’s XXL Freshman freestyle has arrived.
Just like the rest of the freestyles, Doechii’s finds her rapping acapella as the camera rotates around her and she shouts out her “stripper peers” while showing off a flow that shows off the Nicki Minaj DNA that runs throughout her work. She even lets out a primal scream, highlighting the next level that her live performances often reach and showing off the charm and charisma that are guaranteed to make her a star.
The genre-bending TDE rapper’s new Vevo DSCVR performance is also going viral as Drake’s house music turn dominates the discourse. Doechii performs both “Crazy” and “Persuasive” with the help of her DJ in a lightbox that allows her to capture all the attention. The video has reached Twitter, where it’s already going viral in multiple tweets, bringing added attention to the rising rapper. Knowing TDE, they’ve already got a plan to capitalize.
Watch Doechii’s Freshman freestyle and live performances above.
Back in April, Gorillaz kicked off their tour and made a splash by debuting some new music. One of the songs was a Thundercat collaboration called “Cracker Island,” and now they’ve gone ahead and shared the studio version of the track.
Thundercat’s influence on the tune is clear, as it’s a funky, punchy number, on which his rhythm and backing vocals mesh so well with the Gorillaz sound that’s always been so open to guest influence. Gorillaz also produced the song alongside Greg Kurstin and Remi Kabaka Jr.
Virtual band member 2D says of “Cracker Island,” “It’s nice to be back, I’m well into our new tune, it brings back weird and scary memories of stuff that hasn’t happened yet.”
As for the narrative behind the tune, a press release notes, “The world’s biggest virtual band have relocated to Silverlake, California where it turns out that the answer to life’s question — the one truth to fix the world — is to invite fans to join ‘The Last Cult,’ with Murdoc as its self-appointed Great Leader.”
The new song is the latest in a long line of collaborations for Thundercat, who has recently worked with Kehlani, Flying Lotus, Kaytranada, and others.
Listen to “Cracker Island” above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Once upon a time, in the mid 1970s, “Sesame Street” traded its bright, sunny atmosphere for ominous gray skies. Most of us would have probably never known this had it not been for the power of the internet.
An entire episode of the beloved children’s show has resurfaced online after being initially pulled for allegedly being “too frightening” for kiddie viewers.
What on earth could be so scary in a place where the air is so sweet, you might wonder. As it turns out, even “Sesame Street” isn’t impervious to a wayward witch broom.
The video clip starts with upbeat, fast-talking David (played by Northern Calloway) exiting Hooper’s store, struggling to make his way through powerful gusts of wind.
“Look at that! Something’s falling right outta the sky!” he shouts gesturing up as the wind whirls. David drops to one knee and catches an incoming broom just in the nick of time. Suddenly the wind stops. Yay?
Unfortunately, our hero’s troubles are just beginning. Sinister music begins to play, and unbeknown to David, who should come lurking from around the corner but the original Wicked Witch of the West herself.
No, you’re not in Dorothy’s dream. That is Margaret Hamilton reprising her role as the one, the only, the Wicked Witch of the West. Guess that bucket of water didn’t quite do her in.
“I know I’m not in Oz anymore,” Hamilton says while looking around, concluding she “must be over the rainbow somewhere.” Determined to find her broom and fly away, she marches over to David, demanding he give it back.
Unfazed, David does not immediately give back the broom, insisting that she should be more careful and treat him with more respect (can’t have a “Sesame Street” episode without a life lesson, after all). The lecture only further agitates the witch, but David won’t budge. Finally she tries to snatch the broom away, only to be electrocuted.
“Oh I forgot!” the Wicked Witch exclaims. “I can’t so much as lay a finger on the broom as long as somebody else is holding onto it!” What an oddly specific and important detail to forget. Oh right, kid’s show.
The Wicked Witch disappears in smoke, promising that this is not the last we’ve seen of her. She proceeds to terrorize poor David throughout the entire episode, including creating an indoor thunderstorm and threatening to turn him into a basketball. Savage.
Finally the Wicked Witch concocts a plan to get her broom back by turning herself into a sweet, regular looking older woman, a scheme so fiendish she wins the heart of Oscar the Grouch in the process. The plan works, but the witch still has to ask for it nicely. So, you know … compromise.
Though Big Bird called the ordeal “interesting and exciting,” apparently audiences didn’t quite hold the same view. Mike Minnick, who posted the episode on YouTube, claimed that it only aired once in the mid ’70s before getting the pull for being “too scary for children.” According to an article published by AV Club, the show was on the receiving end of a deluge of complaints from the parents of freaked out kids.
Some reminiscing fans agreed that yes, as kids, the episode was terrifying. One wrote that it “scared me beyond belief when I was 5. I would anxiously watch the start of each episode after seeing this one, to make sure it wasn’t the ‘witch one’ again.”
However, the main sentiment shared in the comments was gratitude that the footage found its way back into viewing.
“What a real joy to see … I know she scared the bageezus out of me when I was a little one watching The Wizard of Oz every year on television. Now, it’s just plain old nostalgic to see the original Wicked Witch,” wrote one person.
Another added, “People have no idea how huge this is. I honestly thought I’d never see the day. One of the holy grails of lost media has been found.”
Mostly, the whole thing became one giant Margaret Hamilton appreciation fest. Here are just a few of the heartfelt comments:
“From the bottom of my heart, Thank you SO SO much for making this available to watch and experience! This really was a great treat and seeing Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch again just brought out the kid in me!”
“Lmao when she turns into a cute little grandma and does the evil laugh, I loved it! She is so cute, what a legend.”
“Margaret Hamilton…. I love her so much and miss her desperately. I love how 40 years later she was still able to play the wicked witch as incredible as she always was.”
You could say that Hamilton was born to play a witch. During her interview with Mister Rogers—yes, Hamilton frequented children’s shows in her heyday—she shared that as a little girl, she always dressed up as a witch for Halloween. So it’s no wonder that getting the chance to play perhaps the most iconic witch of all time made her “very, very happy.”
Hamilton felt her cackling, green-skinned, shoe-obsessed character wasn’t all that wicked, just misunderstood. She told Mister Rogers, “Sometimes the children think she’s a very mean witch, and I expect she does seem that way. … She also is what we refer to as frustrated … because she never gets what she wants.”
Under that definition, there’s a bit of witch in all of us.
This uncovered relic, traumatizing as it might have been, has brought some major joy with its epic return. Perhaps even wicked witches can be a source for good.
MTV was a major part of youth culture for the last three generations. Gen X loved the channel for its dedication to music that went way beyond videos, and in the ‘80s and ‘90s, viewers tuned in to “Unplugged,” “Yo! MTV Raps” and “Headbangers Ball.”
Although the channel was less about the music by the time millennials came of age, “TRL” was its flagship show while it focused on edgy reality shows such as “The Osbournes,” “Jackass” and “Pimp My Ride.”
By the time the millennials grew up and Gen Z started watching, the channel was mostly reality TV, but shows such as “The Hills,” “Teen Mom” and “Jersey Shore” were pop culture juggernauts.
However, things began to change dramatically in 2010 after MTV dropped the “Music Television” branding. In the video below, YouTube user Patrick CC does a great job of describing how it happened.
“Instead of adapting, it seems like MTV just kinda rode out what was working,” Patrick CC says. “Plus, the world was moving at a much faster pace. By the time they came up with a new idea, cast, shot, edited and released the new show it could be irrelevant to the kids.”
Patrick CC’s video, “How MTV Destroyed Their Network (They Gave Up On Music),” does a great job of explaining the rise and fall of MTV over the course of 23 minutes. But if you want to see why it all came to an end, you can skip ahead to 19:25.
Want to relive what MTV was like at its inception? The following video shows the channel’s first two hours when it launched on August 1, 1981.
There are few jobs that require people to be as nattily dressed as a TV news anchorperson. One has to look good for the camera while also projecting professionalism and credibility.
“It’s part of our uniform,” Tim Pham, the morning anchor on “Up with KREM” in Spokane, Washington, told USA Today. “It’s required in TV, I guess. It’s not written on paper, but when you turn on the news, the viewer expects to see someone who is dressed professionally.”
Having to look good every day means you accumulate quite an impressive wardrobe. Pham had a large collection of 250 ties—many of them crammed beneath his work desk—so he decided to share them with any young, up-and-coming journalists who may need one.
He put the offer out to his followers on Twitter.
u201cYoung professionals/journalists: I am giving away some of my ties! 8 yrs ago I opened up my first paycheck in TV for a whopping $600! I worked 3 jobs just to get by, let alone buy ties for work. If you need a tie, DM me. All I ask is that you pay it forward one day. n#PhamilyTiesu201d
“8 yrs ago I opened up my first paycheck in TV for a whopping $600! I worked 3 jobs just to get by, let alone buy ties for work,” the tweet said. “If you need a tie, DM me. All I ask is that you pay it forward one day.”
Pham couldn’t believe the response.
“It did reach a lot of journalists,” Pham told USA Today. “But I also heard from people in different industries, recent college grads, a lot of seniors in college. Nonprofits even reached out to me. There was a jail that reached out to me asking about filling their closet for people leaving the prison system to then go find a job for an interview.”
Overwhelmed by the number of requests, Pham had to figure out the logistics of sending out all of the ties and some businesses reached out to help. A laundry company said it would help wash the ties. A shipping company said it would send the ties free of charge and others reached out to donate their used ties to the cause.
Pham now calls his mini charitable organization “Phamily Ties.”
Pham told Upworthy that Phamily Ties has sent out around 100 ties and handed out more than a dozen locally in Spokane since his tweet. He hopes his tie giveaway encourages young journalists to “keep working hard” and to pursue their dreams.
“They shouldn’t be counted out from a job they are qualified for because they don’t have the means to buy a tie,” he told Upworthy. “I hope this initiative encourages others to pay it forward and help the next generation coming behind us. So many people invested in me, now it’s time to do it for someone else.”
u201cBack in the saddle after a much needed vacation. Co-anchoring #UpWithKREM with @CProctorNews. Fun fact, Cody and I worked at competing stations in Great Falls, Montana 6 years ago. @KREM2 #GreatFallsMafiau201d
He also believes that having the right tie can help young professionals get the confidence they need to succeed.
“A tie by itself is nothing impressive, it’s a piece of fabric stitched up,” he told Upworthy. “However, when worn, it adds more than style, it boosts confidence and shows others they are a professional. Everyone should be able to walk in this confidence and professionalism, yet the cost of ties is out of budget and not a priority for journalists who make pennies in their first job.”
As for now, Pham isn’t accepting donations but is getting his partners together for another tie drive in 2023.
“I am in the early stages of developing another giveaway next year with the help of sponsors and my company to help organize a campaign/event,” he told Upworthy.
People often deride Twitter as a place that fosters negativity and creates division in America. However, Pham’s experience is wonderful proof that there are still a lot of great people out there and that social media can bring them together to help those making their way in the world.
Way to pay it forward, Tim!
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