Like millions of his fellow Americans, Donald Trump has been glued to every minute of the explosive January 6th hearings. Unlike millions of his fellow Americans, Trump is also the main subject of these hearings—which, for him, might be part of the appeal.
Raw Story picked up on a story from CNN, which reported that Trump has been “riveted” by watching his misdeeds surrounding and leading up to the Capitol riots of January 6th play out on television. He’s also allegedly haranguing colleagues to get their takes on the hearings, and how they’re making him look.
“Trump is always watching,” New Day host John Berman said, adding that “Trump was particularly angry after hearing his former staffers and White House counsel.” But the former president’s preoccupation with these hearings has become a concern for some of his colleagues, who believe his focus should be elsewhere.
“We’ve heard he’s always following these hearings and that’s much to the chagrin of those around him who would hope that he would focus on the November midterms,” CNN correspondent Kristin Holmes told Berman.
While, in public appearances and on his own TRUTH Social media site, Trump has dismissed the hearings as a bunch of malarkey, Holmes says that “Behind closed doors he’s always talking about these hearings, asking those around him how they think they’re playing out.”
Hopefully, someone has had the balls to be honest and tell him: “Not well, Mr. Former President.”
Meanwhile, according to Holmes, “One of [Trump’s] biggest gripes… [is] still that none of these witnesses are being cross-examined and he feels he doesn’t have anyone defending him.” Which could have been different if he had not directed his many enablers to ignore their subpoenas or agreed to simply testify himself.
You can watch Berman and Holmes’ full exchange below:
Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish movies available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
Jerrod Carmichael is having a moment, garnering all the praise for his revealing and powerful HBO special (Rothaniel, watch it again!), a great turn as SNL host, and now, for the release of his festival fave narrative directorial debut, On The Count Of Three. But, of course, you knew Carmichael was a force from his previous specials and The Carmichael Show. You’re just happy to see everyone else catch up and, with this film, get the chance to see Carmichael flex his dramatic muscles opposite Christopher Abbott as two friends trying to get the most out of the last moments before they execute each other as a part of a suicide pact. Track it down on your VOD service of choice.
No one knows who really asked for this reboot starring Andy Garcia in Steve Martin’s shoes. Does this movie somehow involved literal shoes, as in the first movie? You’ll need to tune in and find out as Garcia’s character yanks everyone’s chain like he’s the real Bridezilla. If anyone can get him under control, it’s Gloria Estefan’s matriarch, and this is good, wholesome fun, people. Watch it on HBO Max.
10. (tie) Norm MacDonald: Nothing Special (Netflix)
NETFLIX
Look elsewhere for a meditative self-exploration of a comic inching toward the end of his life. Norm Macdonald just wants to tell jokes, delivering a very Norm set in a very non-Norm setting (recorded at home with no audience due to COVID) with urgency. David Letterman puts it perfectly in the loose conversation that follows with him, Conan O’Brien, Dave Chappelle, Adam Sandler, Molly Shannon, and David Spade, saying it’s not stand up, but something different. But it’s still something worth seeing for Norm’s swan song and also the aforementioned conversation, which brings a level of closure to fans who get to hear a few great Norm stories and some thoughts on what made him so unique. Watch it on Netflix.
Ambulance has everything you could want in an action movie: frenetic pacing, adrenaline-soaked chase scenes, Michael Bay doing everything at once, hot explosive nonsense, Jake Gyllenhaal as a villainous psychopath with crazy eyes, an ambulance, etc. It’s basically perfect, if this is the type of thing you’re looking for, which you probably are on a Friday or Saturday night. Make some popcorn or order a pizza and get in there. Watch it on Peacock.
Everybody clap your hands for Cha Cha Real Smooth, the second feature from writer and director Cooper Raiff. He also stars in the comedy-drama as a recent college graduate with an aimless life until he finds a job (bar/bat mitzvah “party starter”) and friends (a suburban mom played by Dakota Johnson and her autistic teenage daughter). It sounds like Indie Movie Trope Overload, but Cha Cha Real Smooth is a real charmer, with a heartfelt performance from Johnson. Watch it on Apple TV Plus.
Bowen Yang may be the best talent to emerge from Saturday Night Live in years – a fact underscored by the recent departure of comedy greats like Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant – but he’s not the only reason this sweet and silly gay romcom works. A BIG reason, sure, but not the only one. There’s also Margaret Cho playing a loopy lesbian house mom, a setting that allows a group of Queer misfits to find a sense of belonging amidst MDMA hazes and pulse-pounding raves, and a central love story that borrows from the period romance wellspring of one Jane Austen. It’s a booze-infused Pride & Prejudice in short swim trunks for the gays and the theys, but the fact that it works so damn well is also proof that the romcom genre should be welcoming more Queer and minority romantic leads into its ranks. Watch it on Hulu.
“A little girl boards a boat captained by a legendary hunter of sea monsters” is a plot that could work for almost any genre of movie, from action to horror to, apparently, in this case, a cute animated movie for kids. Netflix doesn’t have the track record of, say, a Disney/Pixar operation when it comes to these things, but they sure do appear to be trying. Sea monsters are a decent place to start. Watch it on Netflix.
Adam Sandler plays a scout for the Philadelphia 76ers who discovers a raw but promising player in Spain. Hijinks ensue. Kind of. It’s more of a dramedy than, say, Jack & Jill, but it’s still Sandler doing his thing. Basketball fans will no doubt be just as interested in the action as they will be picking out all the cameos by NBA stars. It looks like a good time. Watch it on Netflix.
5. Jerry and Marge Go Large (Paramount Plus)
PARAMOUNT PLUS
Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening play a married couple who discover a loophole in the state lottery and use it to win millions and millions of dollars. There should be more movies like this. Hundreds of them, probably. But this is a good start. Watch it on Paramount Plus.
Kevin Hart, Woody Harrelson, and Kaley Cuoco team up for a comedy about mistaken identity and assassins and probably a few other things, but mostly those. The fuller description looks like this: A loser from Pennsylvania wakes up on vacation and is somehow assumed to be a world-famous contract killer. Hijinks, presumably, ensue. Watch it on Netflix.
Though we get distracted by countless other pursuits, true connection with the ones we love stands as our ultimate pursuit, weighted by its impact and the clock that ticks loudly, making it impossible for us to ignore. Don’t Make Me Go is the kind of movie that takes those truths head on, blessing us with the always delightful John Cho as a father faced with his own mortality and the incomplete task of connecting with raising his teenage daughter; something he tries to do with the tried and true diversion of a long road trip. Watch it on Amazon Prime.
2. Beavis and Butt-Head Do The Universe (Paramount Plus)
PARAMOUNT
Beavis and Butt-head debuted on MTV something like 30 years ago and is still, somehow, against truly staggering odds, still going strong, with this movie sending them to the cosmos and other projects in the works down the line, too. It’s good news, to be sure, but please do imagine telling someone from like 1997 that these two would still be around in 2022 and would be going to space. It would be almost as shocking as the thing where time travel was apparently invented. Watch it on Paramount Plus.
Bob’s Burgers creator Loren Bouchard insisted on The Bob’s Burgers Movie getting a theatrical release instead of being plopped directly on streaming. He was right to do so: The Bob’s Burgers Movie is, like the show itself, an absolute delight with lovely animation, fun fan service, and catchy songs (it’s also Disney’s first hand-drawn 2D animated movie in over a decade). If you didn’t catch it in theaters, however, you can now enjoy “Sunny Side Up Summer” at home. Might I suggest pairing it with an Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Zucchini Burger. Watch it on Hulu.
Prince Andrew, the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II, sat down with BBC’s Newsnight in 2019 to discuss his connections to the American financer Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender who ran a high-profile sex trafficking operation. Epstein was arrested in 2019, and died by suicide in prison. Epstein had connections to a network of influential and famous individuals, among them was Prince Andrew. The film, titled Scoop, is based on Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews by Sam McAlister, a former producer on Newsnight.
Prince Andrew’s BBC interview did not go as the royal family had likely planned. The royal received backlash for dodging questions and for a lack of sympathy toward Epstein’s victims. He also failed to explain why he hung out with a convicted sex offender. Following the disastrous interview, Prince Andrew was removed from royal duties.
Per Deadline, Hugh Grant is rumored to be among the names on a wish list for actors to play the disgraced Duke of York. British playwright Peter Moffat, who wrote HBO’s The Night Ofand Showtime’s Your Honor is writing the screenplay. Shooting for the film is set to begin in November. Moffat told Deadline that the film is “about how the BBC’s Newsnight team got the scoop, then the actual filming of it. The other thing is, ‘why did he agree to do it?’”
Earlier this week, the story of a 10-year old rape victim who was forced to travel to travel from her home in Ohio to the state of Indiana in order to undergo an abortion made headlines—for all the wrong reasons. Rather than criticize what is inarguably a horrifying ordeal for any woman, let alone a child, right-wing media personalities like Fox News’ Jesse Watters instead pounced on the story and claimed it was a hoax. Even The Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed casting doubt on the veracity of the story, which was disgustingly titled “An Abortion Story Too Good to Confirm.”
So a lot of people were left scrambling for a way to save face when, on Wednesday, The Columbus Dispatch reported that a 27-year-old man had been arrested for the crime and admitted to raping the child on at least two occasions.
As we live in The Age of Donald Trump, a.k.a. a time when screaming “hoax” and pointing fingers any which way but inward is much easier than admitting to a mistake, those who were initially suspicious of the story are changing the narrative. The Wall Street Journal added an editor’s note to their op-ed about the “fanciful” tale, yet left the story itself up. Jesse Watters went a different route.
On Wednesday night, Watters actually tried to take credit for the arrestby claiming that he and his network were the ones “putting pressure” on authorities to find the person who brutalized this young girl (presumably besides themselves).
A 10-year-old Ohio girl was raped and forced to travel to Indiana to get an abortion
First, the right-wing claimed the whole thing was a hoax
Now the Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita says he’s investigating the DOCTOR who helped the girl https://t.co/5r8DxXTPNP
Watters was joined by Indiana attorney general Todd Rokita, who went straight to eleven when he claimed the whole matter was really an “illegal immigration issue.” Yes, the man in charge of maintaining law and order in the state of Indiana is turning the tragedy of a little girl having to travel hundreds of miles to undergo a medical procedure that has been available to all child-bearing Americans for the past 50 years because of a Supreme Court whim into an immigration battle as the man who confessed to the crime is a Guatemalan immigrant. But Rokita was just getting started:
First of all, this is an illegal immigration issue because, likely, of Biden’s lawlessness at the border and everything going on down there. That’s why Indiana, as a non-border state, has actually filed several independent lawsuits on that. Then we have the rape, and then we have this abortion activist acting as a doctor… We’re gathering the evidence as we speak, and we’re going to fight this to the end. Including looking at her licensure. If she failed to report [the young girl’s rape], in Indiana it’s a crime to not report—to intentionally not report.
A photo of the doctor (who Rokita made sound like some rogue quack who wasn’t actually a doctor) remained on the screen throughout the bulk of this conversation, by the way, unnecessarily endangering her life.
Fox News had the Indiana AG to say he’s opening a criminal investigation of the doctor in the 10 year-old abortion story. They then aired the doctor’s photo. They’re either actively trying to get her killed, or just don’t give a damn that they’re putting her in danger.
While Rokita clearly wanted to downplay the rape at the center of this entire ordeal—like how he just sort of sandwiched it in between illegal immigration and doctors performing abortions?—he did take a moment to parrot some of Donald Trump’s favorite catchphrases when discussing the role the media played in this story. But he wasn’t talking about the way people like Watters dismissed the story outright; he seemed more angry that people wanted to report on it at all:
Todd Rokita is a monster. Dear God. And Fox News helping smear this doctor who helped a 10 year old rape victim is disgusting. We were told this is about states rights and every step of the way we see this is about controlling women no matter where they go. https://t.co/9pOeqXv7iF
This is a horrible, horrible scene caused by Marxists and socialists and those in the White House who allow lawlessness at the border. And then this girl was politicized—politicitized!—for the gain of killing more babies. OK, that was the goal. And this abortion activist was is out there front and center. The lamestream media, the Fake News, is right behind it. And unfortunately in Indiana, the paper of record is Fake News. And they were right there jumping in on all of this, thinking that it was going to be great for their abortionist movement when this girl has been so brutalized.
Todd Rokita is a monster. Dear God. And Fox News helping smear this doctor who helped a 10 year old rape victim is disgusting. We were told this is about states rights and every step of the way we see this is about controlling women no matter where they go. https://t.co/9pOeqXv7iF
There are few summer pastimes more memorable than a day at the beach. I spend many a frigid winter day dreaming about it, and once it’s warm enough I take any chance I can get to spend a summer day with my feet in the sand. While the perfect day includes a comfortable chair, an umbrella, and a good book, we also need a cooler stocked with summery food and frosty, easy-drinking beer.
But you can’t just bring any beer to a day at the beach. The conventional wisdom would tell you that lighter beer is the way to go, the lighter the better, and Chris Pinns, tasting room manager at Societe Brewing Co in San Diego agrees.
“Beach beers for me are all about drinkability,” Pinns says. “I want something low in alcohol, but not lacking in flavor. Clean, crisp lagers or bright, citrusy session IPAs are my go-to beach beers.”
Courtney Servaes, owner of Servaes Brewing Company in Shawnee, Kansas opts for fruity, juicy IPAs.
“Since I enjoy IPAs so much, if I’m headed to the beach, I’m taking one with me.” Servaes adds, “With a little twist. Tired Hands Brewing Company out of Ardmore, Pennsylvania makes some of the best Milkshake IPAs you can find. The twist on an IPA by adding fruit and lactose makes it perfect for the beach.”
Lagers, pilsners, IPAs, blonde ales, and are well-suited for a beach day. In the hopes of finding the best of them, we turned to the professionals for help. This week, we asked a few notable craft beer experts and brewers to tell us the one beer they always bring to the beach. Keep reading to see all of their picks.
Modelo Especial is a hard-to-beat beach beer. Abundant, cheap, and available everywhere, so I don’t care if my can gets sand in it. It also happens to be one of the few beers I will put fruit into. Try it with a lemon instead of a lime. Crushable, crisp, and perfect for a hot day.
Drake’s Denogginizer
Drake’s
Jeremy Marshall, brewmaster at Lagunitas Brewing in Petaluma, California
This one is tough because I kind of live on a beach. Everyone pictures a sunny, warm perfect beach like San Diego, but Northern California beaches are unfortunately more like being sandblasted in an arctic tunnel. The waves are all neck snappers, and the great white sharks are there waiting. Therefore, as much as I want to say that any beer is a beach beer if you bring it to the beach, I always need something a little meaty and mean for my beach — and that means a Drake’s Denogginizer. It’s a double IPA literally designed to help keep your head from blowing away—well, perfect for our beaches up in NorCal, and also a superb medley of the American C hops and maybe some Amarillo or something kind of like resinous berries.
Sonoma Springs El Valiente
Sonoma Springs
Eric Espinoza, bartender at Signia by Hilton in San Jose, California
Sonoma Springs El Valiente is an amazing beach beer. It’s very crisp and gently bready. Such a refreshing and easy-drinking Mexican-style lager. I love bringing this one to share because it’s not one of the usual suspects. My friends are always surprised to see something other than the heavy hitters we all expect to see in the cooler.
Bitburger Pilsner
Bitburger
Justin Tisdale, head brewer at Rejects Brewing Co. in Middletown, Rhode Island
While the state of Rhode Island has its opinions on what liquids are permitted on their beaches, most brewers will readily admit they’ve found a way to quietly imbibe, and I’m certainly no exception. If I’m playing a round of ‘secret beers’ near the ocean, It almost always involves failing miserably at surf-fishing, and discreetly getting through a handful of Bitburger Premium Pilsners. It’s the benchmark for the style and one of my all-time favorite beers.
Tripping Animals No Mames
Tripping Animals
Nancy Lopetegui, taproom general manager at Wynwood Brewing in Miami
No Mames by Tripping Animals. It is a Mexican-style lager with low ABV, refreshing, and pairs perfectly with beach snacks. When picking a great beach beer, I always tend to lean towards crisp, easy-drinking lagers and No Mames definitely fits that bill.
Narragansett Del’s Shandy is a perfect beach beer for its juice-like profile and crushability. An ice-cold Del’s shandy on the beach will keep you hydrated and refreshed. It’s like a mixture of beer and a lemon ice. What could be more refreshing on hot beach?
True North Ale Company’s Cerveza is a perfect beer to bring to the beach. At only 4.3% ABV it’s a Mexican-style lager and a great example of their crispy refreshment perfect for a hot day at the beach. Light and super clean with mild juiciness from the El Dorado hops.
Wynwood La Rubia
Wynwood
Marshall Hendrickson, co-founder and head of operations at Veza Sur Brewing Co. in Miami
Wynwood Brewing Co. La Rubia is my go-to. This beer is a Miami classic. It was brewed by Miamians for Miamians, so it goes without saying that this beer is perfect for a hot day on the beach. Just make sure you bring a cooler full of ice to keep them cold all day long because you’re definitely going to want to put down more than one.
Bagby Beer Company No Hype Helles (German-style Light Lager). When you’re going to take a beer to the beach, it’s probably best if it’s brewed close by. Enter Bagby Beer Company in San Diego. The team at Bagby is known for world-class beer and No Hype is no different. Light and easy and liquid gold, No Hype is the perfect beer for a skip day at the beach. Refreshing and thirst quenching but also containing a fine amount of fuss-ability (the qualities in beer that allow one to spend excessive concern or time with it). I may have made that word up, but I think it applies here.
Red Stripe is my go-to beer for a day in the sun. This is the perfect beer to drink during long days at the beach. Its light body and flavor make it refreshing while still enjoyable as an easy-drinking beer. Light, malty, flavorful, and crushable. A seemingly perfect beach beer.
Cruz Blanca Palm Shade (Tropical Hazy IPA) is a great beach beer. This beer was made beach ready. With a tart, dry finish and tropical hop aroma, characters like passion fruit, pineapple, and a hint of melon as well as citrus and pine flavors that balance with a nice bitterness and a teeny bit of dank, it’s super refreshing on a hot beachy day.
One look at this beer’s can and you can tell this hazy pale ale is meant to be enjoyed on a beach. This year-round beer is loaded with hazy, juicy tropical fruit and citrus flavors. All with a healthy hop backbone. It’s the kind of beer you’ll want to bring every time you go to the beach.
Barack Obama reportedly scolded former White House physician and now Texas congressman Ronny Jackson for questioning Joe Biden‘s cognitive health during his 2020 presidential campaign. According to Jackson’s upcoming memoir Holding the Line: A Lifetime of Defending Democracy and American Values, Obama fired off a “scathing” email after Jackson fired off a tweet about Biden.
In an excerpt provided to Fox News, the former White House physician wrote that he was growing frustrated with people ripping him for determining that Donald Trump was in “excellent mental shape” and “had absolutely no cognitive or mental issues whatsoever.” After watching a video of Biden having a “cognitive misadventure” on the campaign trail, Jackson had enough and retweeted the video along with an attack on Biden.
Remember the cognitive test I gave @realDonaldTrump? The one he aced! Sounds like somebody else might need some testing done!! Scary!! https://t.co/MhantZoHIy
“Remember the cognitive test that I gave @realDonaldTrump? The one he aced! Sounds like somebody else might need some testing done!! Scary!!” Jackson tweeted.
Twenty minutes after sending the tweet, Jackson received an email from Obama scolding him for taking a “cheap shot” at Biden and disrespecting his former friends and co-workers. Via Fox News:
“I have made a point of not commenting on your service in my successor’s administration and have always spoken highly of you both in public and in private. You always served me and my family well, and I have considered you not only a fine doctor and service member but also a friend,” Obama wrote in the email.
“That’s why I have to express my disappointment at the cheap shot you took at Joe Biden via Twitter. It was unprofessional and beneath the office that you once held. It was also disrespectful to me and the many friends you had in our administration. You were the personal physician to the President of the United States as well as an admiral in the U.S. Navy. I expect better, and I hope upon reflection that you will expect more of yourself in the future,” Obama told Jackson.
According to Jackson’s memoir, he contemplated calling Obama but chose not to respond after taking advice from right-wing radio host Dan Bongino. Yup.
“I thought, You know what? Screw that guy! I’m not doing it,” Jackson wrote. “I just walked away from it, which was the last time I had any contact with [Obama].”
In November of last year, Britney Spears was finally granted freedom from her conservatorship. This was not the end of legal battles. But today the pop star is experiencing another victory with the ruling from Judge Brenda Penny that her father, Jamie Spears, has to sit for a deposition and produce the documents requested by Britney’s team.
Within the next 30 days in L.A., the father will have to produce all documents related to electronic surveillance, which will help the “Toxic” singer’s case after all of her allegations about being monitored and recorded. “I’ll go years without contact, and then I’ll get a call every once in a while from her in a closet,” her ex-manager Sam Lufti once said. “Last time she called me, she was at Ralphs, in Calabasas[…] After she hung up, I got a call from the same number — it’s an Asian doctor, who says, ‘Wow, this is surreal, Britney just borrowed my phone.’ Five years ago, she borrowed a phone at the gym and just made off with it.”
It’s been a big week (month, really) for rappers going off on police officers. Maybe it’s a little bit of payback for the seemingly constant surveillance and harassment hip-hop artists have endured from the authorities, or perhaps the outcry against prosecutors for focusing on rappers’ lyrics in cases like those against Young Thug and YoungBoy Never Broke Again has emboldened them. Either way, we’ve seen a growing boom in videos of rappers reacting to being arrested — or intervening in others’ arrests — and the latest to inadvertently join this trend is Baton Rouge’s Boosie Badazz.
In a video currently going viral on Twitter, Boosie can be seen handcuffed during a traffic stop in Georgia and really laying into the officers detaining him. “I can’t be going through this though, bro,” he exclaims. “It’s harassment, it’s every day. I can’t even live. I moved to the country to f*ckin’ live, bro.” He also seems to threaten the officers with both physical altercation and legal action, while pointing out that they seemingly have no good reason for pulling him over in the first place. “Car’s not stolen, registration is right, the tag is right,” he says. “You f*cking motherf*ckers are targeting my vehicles.”
According to TMZ, the original source of the video, Boosie and his driver were pulled over for tinted windows and concealed tags. The officers claim they smelled marijuana, searched the car, and found a plastic bag with weed in it. Eventually, he was cited and the weed was confiscated but he was released.
The video doesn’t paint Boosie in the best light, despite having a legitimate claim about possible harassment, but at least he’s yelling about someone actually bothering him — unlike the other times he’s gone viral in recent years.
While it’s been a few years since 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool, now is actually a great time for Radiohead fans. Side project The Smile recently released a new album and have more new music on the way. Now, Thom Yorke has dropped off a solo offering, a new version of “Bloom” recorded for a Greenpeace video called “The Lonely Shark.”
The rendition, led by Yorke vocals and piano, scores an animated video of two sharks happily enjoying a life together in the ocean until one of them meets a tragic and bloody demise after getting caught in a fishing hook.
The video description reads, “These two aren’t the only sharks with an unhappy ending… In the last 50 years the global shark population has plummeted by 70%. Sharks are being wiped out by overfishing for profit. But our oceans can recover if we protect them. Sign the petition for a strong Global Ocean Treaty: www.greenpeace.org/protecttheoceans.”
When it comes to the original song, Yorke previously told BBC 6 Music it was inspired by documentary series The Blue Planet, saying, “It was me lying on the sofa trying to go to sleep after being up too late with my young son and it was just coming in and out of my subconscious.” Fittingly, in 2017, Yorke and Hans Zimmer re-worked the song into “(Ocean) Bloom” for Blue Planet II.
Buffalo Trace is renowned for high-priced bourbon whiskey that, these days, is damn near unattainable (Weller, Pappy, Stagg, Eagle Rare…). The thing is, Buffalo Trace is a massive distillery operation with 19 brands coming off their stills, which means they’re also producing plenty of inexpensive bourbon whiskey. Benchmark is just such a whiskey, and today I’m going to rank the whole line.
Benchmark is one of the many brands that come from Buffalo Trace’s “Mash Bill no. 1,” which is their low-rye bourbon mash (one of Buffalo Trace’s four core mash bills overall). Of course, Buffalo Trace doesn’t divulge the exact parameters of any of their bills, so we don’t know how “low” the rye content is or how “high” the corn content is. We do know that the same mash bill is used to make Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Stagg, Eagle Rare, Old Charter, and Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. bourbons.
While using the same mash bill doesn’t quite make Benchmark the “poor man’s Eagle Rare,” it does speak to the quality of the spirit that goes into the barrel and eventually the bottles. Each of the bourbons from that famed mash bill are still all housed and aged in unique ways that inform the flavor profile of the final product. Benchmark is batched, proofed, and bottled to match Benchmark’s flavor profile, not Taylor’s or Stagg’s.
That said, Buffalo Trace is still a business with a bottom line too. If, say, a few barrels of Eagle Rare or Old Charter don’t quite meet the flavor profile standards of those brands, those barrels will likely end up (ie, be blended out) in a Benchmark, which is still a bottom-shelf whiskey. That said, this is also a cheap bourbon that’s having a bit of a moment thanks to awards love over the last year or two (it’s still a Buffalo Trace product after all). Multitudes, folks!
Alright, let’s dive in and rank some great bourbon — on taste alone — from the bottom shelf.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
The juice in this bottle is from the aforementioned Buffalo Trace Mash no. 1. This is a standard straight bourbon. Once the barrels are vatted, the whiskey is proofed all the way down to 80 proof for bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Faint lemon candies and honey lead to an old vanilla wafer and wet cornmeal on the nose but not much else. The taste is “classic” bourbon with very watery hints of leather, spice, and cornmeal next to vanilla extract, caramel, and old buttered popcorn. The end is very faint and almost vodka-like with a tapwater vibe.
Bottom Line:
This isn’t great. It’s pretty watery and faint overall. It might be fine for a shot and a beer but that’s about it.
This is a standard “small batch” though there’s not a whole lot of information on what that entails exactly. The “batch” could be 20 barrels or 200. The bourbon is cut down slightly less to a bolder 90 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Vanilla extract, slightly wet oak, and that Buffalo Trace Bourbon raw leather/wet grain dominate the nose. The taste pretty much stays in that arena with caramel apples and floral honey popping up next to a slight metallic note and soft mineral water mouthfeel. The end is short and sweet and leaves you with that leather, oak, and vanilla primarily.
Bottom Line:
This feels like a good shooter or mixer for a whiskey and Coke. Beyond that, it’s a little watery still for highlighting in a cocktail.
This expression says it all in the name. The barrels are pulled from the top floors of the Buffalo Trace warehouses. Essentially, heat rises and the barrels on those top floors age/mature more quickly and can have a deeper flavor thanks to that accelerated process. This whiskey vatted from those barrels and proofed down to a slightly higher 86 proof.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a mild sense of orange oils and Christmas spice on the nose with a touch of buttery yet sweet caramel and a whisper of raw leather. The palate follows along that path pretty closely as butterscotch and orange marmalade with a hint of sourdough pancake lead to caramel corn and subtle “oak” on the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is simple but good. I could see drinking this in a highball or maybe even on the rocks as an everyday table bourbon.
This is a four-year-old bonded bourbon that’s not that far off the Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. line, as all of those bourbons are bonded too. That also means that this bourbon is only proofed down to 100 proof, far above the Old No. 8 entry point above.
Tasting Notes:
This is surprisingly bright with a nose full of lemon-honey tart sweetness, a touch of vanilla extract, a hint of charred wood, and maybe a little wet leather. The taste keeps it simple and really leans into the oak and vanilla while the honey sweetness mellows to a standard caramel with a hint of spicy tobacco. The end is pretty short but leaves you with that vanilla, honey, and tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This is actually good. For $20, this is great. I’d mix an old fashioned with this in a heartbeat. I’d go a little easy on the sugar as this is already on the sweeter side, but it’d be a good cocktail.
This is the standard Benchmark bottled at barrel proof. Well, it’s more than that. Only a few barrels of Benchmark make it to a flavor point that’ll allow full proof barreling. So, this batched bourbon is all about the pure juice from the barrel with no cutting with water to tame it.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a mild intensity with notes of spicy dry tobacco next to dark chocolate, a hint of eggnog spices, and creamy vanilla. Overall, it’s creamy on the nose with that leathery/wet grain note completely gone. That all delivers on the palate with the addition of spicy stewed apples soaked in brandy, a touch of dark fruit leather chewiness, and a long, spicy tobacco finish with a hint of orchard fruit in the background.
Bottom Line:
This is where things get interesting. This is a really solid mixing bourbon for cocktails. Those high ABVs are almost non-existent (to me) but really pop in a cocktail format. The flavor profile also feels very “classic” bourbon, which would make a hell of a Manhattan or old fashioned.
This expression is from the single barrels that actually hit that prime spot/flavor profile to be bottled one at a time. This is the best of the best of the barrels earmarked for Benchmark in the Buffalo Trace warehouses. Those barrels are watered down slightly before bottling at a healthy 95 proof.
Tasting Notes:
That orange and caramel really come through on the nose with a thin line of creamy dark chocolate and some nutmeg and cinnamon. The palate largely adheres to that flavor profile while adding in layers of dark fruit, old leather, mild oak, and orange cookies. The finish arrives with a sense of winter spices and dark chocolate oranges next to a twinge of cherry-kissed spicy tobacco chew and a final note of old porch wicker.
Bottom Line:
This was hard to place. I really like it but it’s not quite as bold as it could be. That said, this is a perfectly fine on-the-rocks sipper or cocktail base. It’s complex enough to handle mixing while also blooming nicely with a little water or ice. Plus, come on! That price for a single barrel bourbon in 2022? That’s pretty amazing.
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