Rock ‘n’ roll and Republicans have never really gotten along, unless you’re counting Ted Nugent or late period Eric Clapton. It’s not for lack of trying. Donald Trump and the MAGA-verse love playing rock classics at their rallies and functions, which tends to piss off the artists who recorded them. One of them is Dee Snider, lead vocalist of metal band Twisted Sister, whose iconic anti-authority anthem “We’re Not Going to Take It” has been reclaimed by the far right as some rallying cry. Thing is, Snider is definitely not a Republican and has no problem telling far right fans where to go.
Snider’s latest sparring partner is Kari Lake, a gubernatorial candidate in Arizona, hardcore MAGA type, and cheerleader for the Big Lie. Lake has been playing “We’re Not Going to Take It” at her rallies, which enraged Snider — but not enough that he would break one of his cardinal rules.
“While I abhor what this ignoramus @KariLake stands for and the she deplorables (yup, Hillary Clinton had it right) she represents,” he tweeted Thursday. “I can NOT legally or morally stop her from using or singing my song. I wrote it for everyone…cherry picking who uses it is censorship.”
But what Snider could do is devote his feed to trashing Lake. And so he has, for days on end. On Sunday, after her official campaign account tweeted out the lyrics to the song, Snider pointed to the very first line: “We’ve got the right to choose it.” This is a PRO-CHOICE anthem you or co-opting. It was NEVER intended for you fascist morons!” he tweeted.
— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) July 31, 2022
Lake’s campaign account then tried to own the very person who wrote the song they love so much. “Remember when you were anti-establishment?” they posted, alongside a picture of Snider testifying in 1985 at a Senate hearing, where he came out against parental warnings on albums. “Now you’d be sitting next to Tipper Gore.”
But Snider had a comeback.
Remember when you didn’t read my testimony?
I stand for what I have always stood for. Anti right wing, anti fascist, anti asshole.
“Remember when you didn’t read my testimony?” Snider snapped back. “I stand for what I have always stood for. Anti right wing, anti fascist, anti asshole. Pretty much your candidate in a nutshell.”
Donald Trump is surrounded by scandal, enraging everyone from the Justice Department to families of 9/11 victims. But he’s still the presumptive Republican nominee for president in 2024, even if Fox News appears to be done with him. He’s a kingmaker, or at least he still thinks he is. But when it comes to endorsing a candidate for Missouri’s open Senate seat, he made a curious choice.
Trump’s had two Erics to choose from. There’s Eric Schmitt, the state’s sitting attorney general, who, like Trump, doesn’t think too kindly about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Then there’s Eric Greitens, the state’s former governor, who resigned in disgrace, and came under fire for an ad in which he hunts down “RINOs,” or Republicans who are insufficiently Trumpy.
Which Eric would he pick? On Monday, he made his decision. And it appears to be…both of them?
Trump endorses “ERIC” without saying whether it’s Greitens or Schmitt. A truly bizarre ending to the battle of Erics. pic.twitter.com/FTIBWsZG5r
“We need a person who will not back down to the Radical Left Lunatics who are destroying our Country,” Trump tweeted, as per The Kansas City Star. “I trust the Great People of Missouri, on this one, to make up their own minds, much as they did when they gave me landslide victories in the 2016 and 2020 Elections, and I am therefore proud to announce that ERIC has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”
Was it a typo? Or could Trump really not make a decision between two dodgy candidates? Or did he mean another Eric, like perhaps fellow mask skeptic (and onetime rock god) Eric Clapton? (Or one of his sons.) Whatever the case, it’s yet another outside-the-box move from a guy who may have buried his first ex-wife on a golf course so as to catch a tax break.
In 1965 Bruce Lee sat down for what at first appeared to be an interview but starts looking more like an audition. Either way, the video has resurfaced in time to give the world a little bit of a reprieve from all of the recent events. For years Bruce Lee made a name for himself with his kung fu moves with his signature near jet black hair above his brows like a curtain. But in 1965 he was acting in Hong Kong having yet to cross over to American films.
In the clip Lee gets into the difference between the styles of martial arts and explains why kung fu is his favorite style by comparing it to water. Yeah, water. He says that kung fu is the ancestor of karate and jujitsu but kung fu is more fluid. It’s hard to imagine how hitting someone or kicking the air at with the force of a lightning strike could be like water. But Lee explains it beautifully saying, “Because water is the softest substance in the world but yet it can penetrate the hardest rock, or anything, granite, you name it.” He goes on to say “water also is insubstantial. By that I mean you cannot grasp nor hold it. You cannot punch it and hurt it.”
According to the late actor and kung fu master, everyone that practices the art wants to be “soft like water and flexible and adapt itself to its opponent.” The interview wasn’t all philosophy and metaphors. Towards the end of the interview Lee is asked to demonstrate his unimaginable talent on a trepidatious volunteer that comically flinched every time Lee’s fist or foot came mere inches from his face. Honestly, while it was funny, any sane person would flinch if the Bruce Lee’s fist was flying towards your face with so much force that your hair flies backwards. Valid reaction.
Lee was one of the best at his craft in Hollywood and I’d wager to guess, around the globe. While he is no longer here, his legacy lives on through his films and this gem of an interview.
When people talk about visions of the future, “The Jetsons” is often the go-to reference. The Hanna-Barbera cartoon ran for one season of 24 episodes in 1962 and 1963 as a follow-up to “The Flintstones,” a show about people living in a prehistoric age.
“The Jetsons” was later rebooted for another 51 episodes from 1985 to 1987, as IMDB tells us.
“The Jetsons” depicts a future world where we have talking robot maids, flying cars and bathrooms equipped with automatic toothbrushes. What’s interesting is that the future is neither dystopian nor utopian.
“The Jetsons” is based on the idea that even though humanity has evolved technologically, George Jetson still has to deal with the same family and career troubles that any other sit-com dad had in the ‘60s.
In the world of “The Jetsons,” the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.
“We still speak about the future in Jetsons terms,” Jared Bahir Browsh, author of the 2021 book “Hanna-Barbera: A History,” told The New York Post. “A show that originally ran for one season had such an impact on the way we see our culture and our lives.”
A Twitter user by the name of Brendan Kergin went viral recently for pointing out that George Jetson was probably born on Sunday, July 31, 2022. The announcement of the birth of the most famous man of the future felt to many like a defining milestone in human history. Have we finally reached the future? Have we begun our march toward true progress as a species?
u201cI don’t mean to alarm anyone, but someone is about to give birth to George Jetson.u201d
In Kergin’s original tweet, “The Jetsons” page on Wikipedia claimed he was born on July 31, 2022. Since then, the page has been changed to 2022, with no specific date given.
According to Snopes, the show debuted in 1962 and was set 100 years in the future. In an episode that ran in the first year, George claims to be 40 years old, putting the year of his birth firmly in 2022.
On a deeper level, that means that, as a species, we have 40 years to get our quality of life up to Jetsons’ standards.
For those who are fretting that humanity has veered off course and is far from hitting the cartoon’s timeline, there is hope. Just think about how far technology has come in the past 40 years.
To all the people wondering where their flying cars are, remember what the world was like in 1982?
You must have a Facebook account to view images of him. We at least know that he graduated from Adrian C Wilcox high school. pic.twitter.com/7syRruoxb9
We’ve come close to re-creating a lot of technology that appeared in “The Jetsons.” We may not have sassy talking robot maids, but we do have Roombas that automatically keep the house tidy. We also have video calls, flat-screen TVs, and TV watches.
In the end, “The Jetsons” may serve as a warning to be careful about how we envision our future because we might just get it.
“[“The Jetsons”] speaks to this idea that as human beings we’ll always have something to complain about,” Danny Graydon, author of “The Jetsons: The Official Guide to the Cartoon Classic,” told The New York Post. “One of the problems with utopia, if you create a perfect world, that world might be quite boring.”
Ah, the ’80s. It was a totally tubular time for television—the sitcom still reigned supreme, dominating the time slots. In 1980, watching TV was an event—there was no DVR, no streaming. Heck, everything went off the air in the middle of the night and there weren’t even infomercials for life insurance or compilation CDs (there weren’t even really CDs yet!). As fall approached and the new TV season started, networks would go all out in their promotion. ABC wasn’t yet the network behemoth it is now, but it was pretty close. It had some incredibly popular shows in 1980, including the whole “Happy Days” universe.
Ahead of the fall season, the station created a series of promotional videos that were used to entice people to come back and watch TV after the summer hiatus. They were so extra and over the top, but it makes sense if you remember the fact that they’re promotional tools. This one from the 1980 “You and me and ABC” campaign features the network’s top stars in a very of-the-moment-style dance party setting. See how many stars you can recognize.
1980 ABC PROMO You and Me!
The video has been making the rounds on Twitter, and everyone is playing the game “spot the network star.” It’s actually quite fun. In this one, I spotted Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams from “Laverne & Shirley,” Joyce DeWitt from “Three’s Company,” Hal Linden from “Barney Miller,” Tom Bosley and Al Molinaro from “Happy Days,” Roscoe Lee Browne from “Soap” and Robert Guillaume from “Benson,” among others. People on Twitter are absolutely losing their minds over how attractive Henry Winkler (still in his Fonzie days) looks with a beard. It actually took me a minute to recognize him!
The side effect of seeing these resurrected ABC promo videos from the ’80s is realizing that young, bearded Henry Winkler was a total goddamned smoke show! WAY hotter than Fonzie.
There’s another, longer promo video from the same season that’s even more hilarious than the first one. In it, a series of ABC stars show up in a random town to paint a mural on a building to tell everyone to watch ABC that fall. Again, see which stars you can spot.
You & Me and ABC promo 1980
“STUNNING ABC promo that will never be equaled…The emotion, the tight editing, and all those ABC stars…One of a kind!” one comment on the video reads.
In a LinkedIn post from 2018, John Knox, a brand manager, tried to give some insight into why the network would put so much money into promos like these. “I strongly believe that these worked on the same premise that jingles do,” he explained. “Ear-worms are damn good marketing – always. These ear-worms happened to combine visuals of fleeting glances of celebrities you know.”
They don’t make promos like this anymore, and it’s kind of a shame. But thanks to the internet, these will live forever.
I don’t think I’m exaggerating by stating that losing a beloved pet is one of the most painful experiences ever. If pet owners are lucky enough to know that the rainbow bridge approaches, then sometimes there is the small mercy of being able to make that last day a truly special one.
Celebrating a pet’s final moments need not be an arduous event. According to the American Animal Hospital Association, it can be as simple as indulging on a last meal of forbidden treats, capturing photos and videos to use later for albums, or simply enjoying some of your favorite activities together. I will never forget the last day at the dog beach with our beautiful black lab named Estrella. We had to carry her in a little wagon across the sand, but her smile was there nonetheless.
No, it doesn’t really soften the blow, but creating ceremony around this inevitable tragedy of pet ownership can at least provide some peace. There is undeniably some inherent comfort in knowing that one last memory is full of love and nurturing to hold onto as we say goodbye. A dash of sweet to cope with the bitter, if you will.
A recent TikTok posted by Ellie Buckler (@ellibuckler) offered a touching glimpse into the last day spent with her good boy named Baxter.
The 12-year-old shar-pei was struggling with breathing and walking and was on lots of painkillers. Buckler felt that it was selfish to keep him as he suffered, so she made that never-easy decision to put him down. But that didn’t stop Buckler from giving him the best last day possible.
Warning: This video requires a box of tissues.
Baxter’s last day started off with a McDonald’s breakfast, followed by a “slow walk” to the shop for some ham. Buckler and Baxter would share the pack. She even let him try a small bit of chocolate for the first time, which he happily devoured and washed it all down with a nice cup of tea.
And of course, it was a day filled with “lots of cuddles and kisses.”
His health might have been compromised, but his little tail could be seen wagging for the entire video. He could certainly feel the love being showered over him.
Then, the final car ride came. The TikTok ends with an actual rainbow caught on camera—perhaps a good omen for Baxter’s trip across planes.
Unsurprisingly, this video tore at peoples’ hearts. Many sent their praise to Buckler for being such a caring owner. Others reflected on their own experiences of pet loss. And then some were simply crying at the heartbreaking video. Regardless, folks showed support in different ways.
This video, though tear inducing to say the least, is a great example of how to make those final moments into a beautiful memory. Of course, one can celebrate a pet’s life in many ways—what matters is spending quality time with that sweet creature that has given love unconditionally. Rest easy Baxter, you are now in all of our hearts.
Kweli was 15 at the time and he and his friends were trying to get into a club called The Building, known for legendary rapo shows. Hip-hop icon KRS ONE was recording a live Boogie Down Productions show and Kweli and his boys were trying to get in. They were hanging around out front when they scored a chance meeting with ATCQ member Jarobi.
“I was there from like nine, until eleven- waiting outside,” Kweli says. “Me and my friends dressed like we were in A Tribe Called Quest. Here come you and Jarobi. Jarobi saw us trying to get in and was like [telling security] ‘Let these lil n***** in!’ So they let us in. And I got pictures of you, me, and Jarobi.”
Ali Shaheed Muhammad’s blend of tight drums, stylish jazz, and mellow breaks helped define hip-hop in the 1990s. With A Tribe Called Quest he created timeless hip-hop albums like Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders, among others. His anthology of music includes work with Yasiin Bey, Faith Evans, D’Angelo, and others. He also served as co-producer for the hypnotic theme song for theLuke Cage soundtrack, working with longtime collaborator Adrian Younge.
Thinking back to the era Kweli and Muhammad met, Ali says, “That was a really good time in hip-hop. In New York City, specifically. There was a lot going on. And The Building was not too far from Jive [the record label head offices]. It reminds me of hanging out with our contemporaries. And hearing other people’s music drop- and feeling excited. Like if Gangstarr dropped or Brand Nubian… We’d dream like ‘One of these days!’ but then in ‘91 the day was there for us.”
Anitta’s big 2022 is far from over. The Brazilian pop star who wowed at Coachella with Snoop Dogg and Saweetie joining her on stage, has stayed firmly on the radar following the April release of her album Versions Of Me. She was recently named one of PETA’s two “Most Beautiful Vegan Celebrities Of 2022,” and appeared on “No Mas” by her boyfriend Murda Beatz along with J Balvin, Quavo, and Pharrell. Pretty soon, you’ll be able to add Missy Elliott to that growing list of Anitta’s collaborators when their new track, “Lobby” comes out on the upcoming deluxe edition of Versions Of Me.
“Versions Of Me Deluxe coming soon,” Anitta tweeted this past weekend. This was just the first teaser from the “Envolver” singer.
The trilingual Anitta put out a short PSA type clip, saying she has three music videos on deck from the deluxe album. In Portuguese, Spanish, and Portuguese, she explained that she’ll be dropping one each week until the extended album drop.
Anitta announces 3 new music videos for week until the release of the “Versions of Me” extended album. pic.twitter.com/DitWTe8wc6
Then, after posting a photo with Missy Elliott to her Instagram Stories saying, “I honestly can’t believe what’s happening right now,” she let Missy do the rest of the talking for her. “Anitta one of the sweetest artist & had me laughing so hard yesterday,” Missy said in a tweet along with the photo. “You a Star! And I am truly GRATEFUL to you & your Team you all treated me with so much LOVE & KINDNESS. Let’s go #Lobby”
.@Anitta one of the sweetest artist & had me laughing so hard yesterdayYou a Star! And I am truly GRATEFUL to you & your Team you all treated me with so much LOVE & KINDNESS Let’s go#Lobbypic.twitter.com/wbuUHCF0JP
Along with “Lobby,” Anitta also confirmed a song called “El Que Espera” featuring Colombian singer Maluma. But she shared a clip of “Lobby” on her TikTok saying “Lobby featuring Missy Elliot is coming, are you ready?”:
Piers Morgan has a lot of enemies. The British journalist seems to enjoy picking fights, be they with Meghan Markle or (former?) pal Donald Trump, whom earlier this year he accused of storming out of an interview. Now he has another hater: Vladimir Putin.
As per The Daily Beast, the Russian government issued a new list of figures banned from entering the nation, what now been at war with Ukraine for the last six months. This time they focused on the United Kingdom, putting sanctions on 39 Brits. The most prominent was former prime minister David Cameron. There were also many journalists and media figures, including BBC News head Jonathan Charles Munro as well as top editors at The Guardian, The Sun, and The Telegraph.
And there was Morgan, who’s done a number of pieces on Ukraine, even sitting down with president Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena. (For the record, he’s also hosted a panel with Ann Coulter, who called on America to stop giving them support.) For what it’s worth, the ban didn’t seem to faze Morgan, who joked, “It wasn’t on my immediate vacation to-do list.”
Morgan and company join a long list of figures banned from entering Russia, including much of the Biden administration and even Hillary Clinton.
Morgan last made news when he did an interview with actor Mickey Rourke, who decided to use his time slamming Tom Cruise, whom he called “irrelevant, in my world.”
Louisville’s Whiskey Row is where the big kids who love whiskey go to play. The whole concept of a “whiskey row” is pretty self-explanatory on the surface — there are several distilleries lined up along Main Street over a little less than two miles of road — but beyond those whiskey experiences, there are also hidden bars, plenty of good food, and hotels worth splurging for. You definitely need a travel guide to navigate it all.
Today, I’m diving deep into Whiskey Row (and a few spots right off of it). I’m including distillery experiences and the best places to eat, drink, and sleep, plus a few hidden gems thrown in for good measure. It should be noted that Whiskey Row is part of the greater downtown Louisville area, so there are tons of other venues, restaurants, and bars outside of the Row. But as worthy as those spots are, I’ll save them for a broader travel guide to the city — I’m keeping this laser-focused on the whiskey.
Let’s dive in!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
Starting at the far west end of Main Street, you’ll find Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co. — the best place to start your Whiskey Row experience. The distillery is where everything happens for Peerless whiskey from mashing to distilling to aging to bottling. This is a real working distillery (that’s not 100 percent true of a lot of the other whiskey “experiences” on the Row) and you’re likely to see the Master Distiller actually making the whiskey you’ll taste after your tour.
Can’t Miss Opportunity:
The distillery tour is very small, as Peerless is still a small-ish craft operation. And while that’s totally worth doing, what you really want to do is get the in-house tasting in their tasting room and buy a distillery-only bottle from the gift shop.
The bottle shop will have limited releases and special single-barrel expressions you simply cannot get elsewhere. The tasting room experience will walk you through Peerless’ award-winning and delicious rye and bourbon whiskeys with a tasting expert guiding your every sip.
Cost/Times:
Distillery tours cost between $15 and $28 and run Monday through Saturday at 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, and 2:30.
Tastings cost between $10 and $18 and run Monday through Thursday at 1:45, 3:45, and 4:45, and Friday at 1:45 and 3:45.
Continuing west on Main Street, you’re going to hit Michter’s Fort Nelson Distillery next. This micro-distillery and gift shop is located in one of downtown Louisville’s best preserved historic buildings.
The actual distillery is a small operation with three small, wooden mash tanks and two stills. The moment you walk into the place, you can smell the grains fermenting in the back. A few choice barrels are aged on-site as well. That all said, this is a tourist experience — the full distillery is out in Shivley (West Louisville) and closed to the public.
Can’t Miss Opportunity:
What you’ll want to do at Fort Nelson is fill your very own bottle of Fort Nelson Michter’s Rye straight from a barrel. For that, you’ll need to take the Legacy Tour ($100), which is two hours, and includes a tasting with Michter’s 20-Year Single Barrel Bourbon (!), and the opportunity to also fill a barrel of whiskey on site.
Basically, you’re getting a chance to both sample a $200 pour at any high-end whiskey bar and walk away with a bespoke bottle from the distillery. That’s unbeatable.
Cost/Times:
The tours last one, one-and-a-half, and two hours and cost $20 to $100, depending on the tour. Tours run Wednesday through Saturday every hour between 11 am and 4 pm and Sundays between 1 pm to 4 pm. Each tour comes with a tasting at the end.
Evan Williams is one of the cheapest whiskey on the shelves, so this might be the must-stop for every bourbon lover out there. The Experience is right in the middle of the Row and one of the busier stops (there are sometimes lines to get in).
Once inside, the stop is part whiskey shop, part museum, part bar, and part micro-distillery. The mini-distillery is kind of there for show (the real distillery is out in Bardstown and totally worth the drive down), but whiskey is being made behind the glass as you’re guided through the place. As with all of these tours, the final stop is the destination of choice — it’s where the tasting is.
Can’t Miss Opportunity:
While this sounds pretty straightforward, Evan Williams Bourbon Experience has some serious variety when it comes to the tours and tastings. You can get a tour that ends with a charcuterie and whiskey pairing experience, a speak-easy experience in a hidden bar, or a cocktail course.
What you really want to make sure you do is hit the On3 Bar. Since Evan Williams is part of the larger Heaven Hill family, you’ll be able to find serious pours behind this bar. You can grab several Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond expressions, Parker’s Heritage pours, and the main expressions from Elijah Craig, Larceny, and, naturally, Evan Williams, plus a few true gems you’ll have to be savvy enough to ask about.
Lastly, don’t forget to grab a bottle of Evan Williams 12-Year from the bottle shop on your way out. You can’t get it outside of Kentucky and it might be their best expression.
Cost/Times:
Tours and tasting cost between $18 and $85 and last 45 minutes, one hour, and two hours. The tours run from Tuesday to Thursday from 11 am to 4 pm, Friday and Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm, and Sunday from 1 pm to 4 pm.
Old Forester Distilling Co. is another stop that will likely have a line out the door, especially if there was a special whiskey drop that day. The distillery inside is worth the wait, even if it is a microcosm of the larger Brown-Forman facility (also out in West Louisville in Shivley).
The tour is a solid walk through every step of the process of whiskey making. The big ripple here is the on-site cooperage. You walk through every step of the barrel-making process from stave selection to charring the barrel. It’s a unique experience for Whiskey Row and adds to the already great tour. Naturally, all of this ends with a tasting and cocktail experience.
Can’t Miss Opportunity:
The Nothing Better In The Market Tour ($70) has the best tasting when it comes to Old Forester whiskey. The lineup is very high-end and includes Old Forester’s famed and fleeting Birthday Bourbon. Since that is one of the rarest (and spendiest) bourbons out there, you cannot miss a chance to try a pour.
Cost/Times:
Tours run between $32 and $70 and last about 90 minutes with a tasting. The tours operate daily and hourly between 10 am and 5 pm. Be warned though that several days are booked up months in advance. So plan ahead.
Old Carter isn’t a distillery so much as it’s a bottle shop for one of the best bottlers in the game right now. The “shop” is in a historic building and really is an insider-only spot.
You’re going to have to follow Old Carter’s social media to find out when their Pop Up bottle shops open at this location. If you are in town at the right time, you’ll be able to buy some of the most sought-after sourced bottlings in the game right now. The actual location is also a great, old-school whiskey bar-style location that oozes whiskey lounge.
Can’t Miss Opportunity:
Hitting up a pop-up bottle release is a must if you’re in town. You’re only allowed one bottle per person but you’ll walk away with a great bottle of whiskey you won’t be able to get anywhere else (not for retail prices anyway).
Cost/Times:
You can visit by appointment only or on pop-up days, which vary.
At the far east end of Main Street, you’ll find Angel’s Envy Distillery. The distillery is the biggest distillery location on the Row with a fully working distillery and warehouse right in town, across the street from a minor league baseball stadium.
The distillery was built into a historical warehouse where the team at Angel’s Envy created an industrial cathedral to all things whiskey. The tours range from taking you through the “cathedral” which overlooks the distilling floor to a tour on the floor where you can feel (and see) the whiskey getting made.
The whole experience is bright and shining and very new. This is a big facility that feels like you’re walking through a destination and not just a factory for whiskey. There’s also a great bar and plenty of space to savor the juice.
Can’t Miss Opportunity:
The whiskey tastings at the end are the real treat here. There’s a great, but small, whiskey and chocolate pairing that’s definitely worth it as it leans into Angel Envy’s overall vibe. After that, grab a bespoke cocktail from the bar and let it all wash over you.
Cost/Times:
Whiskey tours cost $20 to $25 and run on Mondays and Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 am to 5 pm and on Sundays from 1 pm to 5 pm.
We’ve made it to the official end of the whiskey tour and we’re technically off of Whiskey Row (but it still counts!). Rabbit Hole is another brand new distillery experience right in the middle of the city. The distillery is a mix of modern and street art and a full-on distillery and aging facility, which makes it one of the cooler destinations in the city.
The distillery is very modernist and expansive with one of the most interactive experiences on Whiskey Row. It’s also the sort of place you kind of what to just hang out at a get a drink. Taking a tour is fun, but it’s not the only thing to do — the whole place is a vibe.
Can’t Miss Opportunity:
The tour and tasting are definitely the draw but don’t sleep on the Over Look bar. You’ll end up here for a five-dram tasting of the core line. Stay for some cocktails and enjoy the view. Then make sure to peruse the art collection throughout the distillery for a bit of culture outside of whiskey.
Cost/Times:
Tours and tastings cost $20 to $25 and last 30 to 60 minutes. They run Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm.
Repeal is probably the one place you have to eat at while in Louisville on Whiskey Row. This is the best of what Kentucky has to offer from superb steaks cooked over fires fueled with old whiskey oak staves to the best wedge salad in the game to what I claim are the best dinner rolls in the country (fermented for a week before they’re baked!).
Repeal also showcases some amazing seafood with a killer oyster menu of baked and raw oysters. It’s worth noting Louisville has a great seafood scene thanks to it being UPS’s hub. That means all the seafood from each coast stops in Louisville before it goes everywhere else in the country. That, in turn, means that Left Coast and East Coast fish and shellfish are fresher in Louisville than, say, Chicago because no matter where it’s headed, it stops in Louisville first.
Anyway, Repeal also has a killer bar scene with some seriously great cocktail mixers working tirelessly to make you the perfect sipper while you wait for your dinner rolls, oysters, and steak.
Can’t Miss Dish:
The Oysters Rockefeller is an easy win. Bacon creamed spinach and bread crumbs are accented with absinthe and baked over medium. But I’m going with the Iceberg Wedge as the pick (though the French Onion Gratinée soup is also killer).
The Wedge is a massive quarter head of iceberg that’s light and perfectly salted covered in a massive slab of in-house-cured and smoked bacon, gorgonzola crumbles, tomato, cucumber, pickled onion, and a buttermilk dressing with a hard-boiled egg. It’s a wedge amped up to its extreme. It’s also a full meal by itself.
Merle’s Whiskey Kitchen is probably the most fun you’ll have while eating and drinking on the Row. The bar/restaurant is right across the street from both Repeal and Old Forester. It’s an open indoor space with a good-sized outdoor patio. There’s a killer bar with a great staff who can sense what your orderis going to be as the night wears on. Make sure to sample the barrel picks from behind the bar, especially if you’re looking for a special pour from Wild Turkey or Buffalo Trace.
The food menu is a list of classic Midwest-meets-Southern classics. Sweet potato casserole, baked mac and cheese, and cornbread all make appearances alongside pulled pork, fried chicken, and “dunked” Cuban sandwiches.
Can’t Miss Dish:
You cannot sleep on Merle’s fried chicken. The whole half-fried chicken is the way to go if you’re planning to share. It’s an entire half of a chicken that’s battered and deep fried and then drizzled with hot honey. It’s pretty much perfect bar-food fried chicken and pairs awesomely with a tall boy of Coors Banquet and a pour of the Buffalo Trace Bourbon barrel pick.
The Bar at Fort Nelson is the bar above the Michter’s distillery. This place is special and you’ll need to call ahead for a table. First and foremost, the staff is amazingly well trained. They have that special bar-sense of knowing how much attention to give you and when, while keeping 100 percent cool and collected even when slammed. Next, they make their own huge blocks of ice and process them into various-sized cubes, orbs, and crushed ice in the back. This makes for a massively better cocktail-making experience as block ice holds the cold better without over-diluting drinks.
Then there’s the setting. This is a chill bar with a touch of Belle Epoque meets Lost Generation vibe in a very comfortable setting. The fermenting malts from the distillery below waft up to the bar, creating a sense of place. Lastly, you can get a pour of some seriously rare Michter’s expressions here… for a price.
Can’t Miss Drink:
I’m partial to the Boulevardier. It’s served up with a large ice ball. It’s the perfect mix of Campari, Michter’s whiskey, and sweet vermouth with a couple of special touches to elevate it.
From there, you might want to consider your bank account before you dive into the 20 and 25-year pours of Michter’s.
Louisville is full of hidden bars behind no-descript doors. It’s a town that suits secret speakeasies. Hell or High Water is a well-known and well-hidden speakeasy right on Main Street.
The bar — which requires a reservation well in advance — is impossible to find if you’re just looking for it. Once inside, you’ll be treated to a plush library of booze with big velvet booths, old leather wingback chairs, and a bar menu second to none.
Can’t Miss Drink:
I’m partial to the My Oh Mai!, which is a bourbon take on a Mai Tai with plenty of rum too. It’s tropical, boozy, and full of nuttiness that plays nicely with the Old Forester 1920 at the base of the drink.
As with all bars like this in Louisville, there’s an incredible whiskey bottle list as well.
This is just off Whiskey Row (by less than a block) and worth hitting up after the other bars close — a lot of Louisville closes down by 11 pm (or earlier). This is after hours with bands, karaoke, and bacchanal every night, but especially on the weekends. It’s also a dive bar so it’s incredibly cheap to drink here. Basic shots and bottles of beer are a couple of bucks each.
The decor is an uber-dive bar with chalk graffiti everywhere, pinball in the back, a funky pool table, and neon everywhere. It’s a dive bar, you get it.
Can’t Miss Drink:
A beer and shot. This is where the tattooed and pierced crowd go after they had their dinner and cocktails so don’t expect fancy unless it’s someone belting out the song on karaoke night.
PART III — The Hotels
21c Museum Hotel Louisville, 700 W Main St.
21c Museum Hotel Louisville
The Hotel:
21c Museum Hotel is probably your best bet for a little culture next to great food (Proof on Main in the lobby is a must-stop for brunch or cocktails) and comfy rooms.
The hotel is right in the middle of Whiskey Row, making everything in this guide within walking distance. The lobby is a small art exhibit attached to a larger installation/full-on museum that rotates through art seasonally. The rooms are bespoke but simple — really, this is where the cool kids go to take selfies next to art, meaning the bedrooms are not the real draw.
The overall vibe is young and hip from the lobby to the bar to the rooms. There’s a full-sized golden statue of David outside, which tells you that this is a place to be seen.
Hotel Distil, Autograph Collection, 101 W Main St.
Hotel Distil
The Hotel:
Hotel Distil is the hotel attached to Repeal listed above. This is a boutique hotel with another great location right in the middle of the action. If you’re planning on just focusing on Whiskey Row on your trip to Louisville, you won’t have to rent a car if you stay here.
The hotel has a great lobby scene thanks to the bar at Repeal overflowing into Distil’s actual lobby. You can get drinks from Repeal and sit in the overstuffed chairs in the lobby and chat if you like. The lobby also serves cold pours of free bourbon on the weekend evenings around 6 pm. Expect something like JTS Brown Bourbon.
A great bar with free whiskey in the lobby? I think you’re sold.
As for the rest, the rooms are slightly corporate but plush with great amenities. The hotel is also super dog friendly with welcome baskets for your pup, which is a nice touch. The beds are very comfortable and the amenities are top-notch as well, but not mind-blowing. It’s a great hotel, not a luxury resort.
What is mind-blowing is the bar cart you can get delivered to your room. It’ll have super rare bottles like Pappy 10-Year and Eagle Rare 17-Year on there. The bar cart will have everything you need to pour the perfect dram or mix up the perfect cocktail, but it’s going to cost you.
Justins’ House of Bourbon is a multi-faceted stop. One aspect is the excellent bottle shop that’s the heart of the establishment. This is where you get all the bottles you can’t find at home or aren’t willing to stand in a two-day-long line for. Justins’ is also one of the best places in the country to score a dusty (old bottle from a bygone era). Again, these are not cheap, but if you’re a collector/investor, this is probably going to be the place where you spend the most time (and money).
Beyond the bottle shop, there’s also a very unassuming-but-great bar in the middle of it all. You can get a serious cocktail while contemplating that $500 bottle of Old Crow from the 1960s. You can also get a pour of some serious whiskey ranging from old-school Pappy to modern gems that flew under the radar. The best bet is to get a flight of whiskeys. The Weller flight covers all the expressions and is only $35. That’s a steal.
And then there’s the tasting room which leads us to…
The Hidden Gem:
The true hidden gem of this place is the hidden whiskey tasting room behind a wall of whiskeys in the main room. If you plan ahead and plan to buy some real bottles, you can ask for a private tasting with one of Justin’s expert staff members (everyone who works here is a true pro). You’ll get to pick a handful of bottles and you’ll be guided through a historical tasting of some of the best bourbons ever made. There’s nothing else quite like it in America.
Doc’s Bourbon Room, 129 W Main St.
Docs Bourbon Room
The Gem:
Doc’s Bourbon Room, attached to Doc Crow’s restaurant is one of those places that seems like a pretty standard whiskey bar on the surface. There’s a long bar up front and a lot of seating that stretches toward a backroom. Like Justins’ above, this is open to the public. Hell, they even serve a great brunch every morning.
In the evenings, this place can get hopping as well. People in the know drop in for a bite (Doc Crow’s next door is another great Southern-ish Kentucky restaurant) and a pour. The black walls are decorated with what seems like endless bottles, which leads us to…
The Hidden Gem:
This is the largest collection of whiskeys on a single menu in all of Kentucky and they’re what decorate the place. All of those shelves and shelves of whiskey on the walls from every corner of the world are on the menu, which is — wait for it — FIFTY-EIGHT eight-by-eleven pages long. Their whiskey list goes so deep that they have a section for “undisclosed” whiskeys that cannot be categorized.
While bourbon and rye are the center of attention everywhere else, this is where you go for it all. All the whiskeys are here and ready to pour — meaning it’s a great chance to compare various styles.
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(@deesnider) July 31, 2022
You a Star! And I am truly GRATEFUL to you & your Team you all treated me with so much LOVE & KINDNESS
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