For most of human history, pretty much everyone formed families with people who lived within walking distance of where they lived. But over the millennia, advances in transportation, communication and technology have shrunk our world into a global neighborhood. Today it’s not at all unusual for people from countries thousands of miles away from each other to marry, blending not only families but diverse cultures and traditions as well.
How those cultures and traditions come together can be interesting, though. Cultural clashes occasionally do happen and figuring out how to honor everyone’s background when bringing together two families from vastly different places can be a challenge.
One couple came up with an utterly delightful way to do just that at their Scottish-Indian wedding, and it has everyone bopping along.
In some ways, Scotland and India are worlds apart. One is known for its cool, moist weather while the other contains 10 of the 15 hottest places on Earth. One is joked about for having bland food while the other’s cuisine has been studied to figure out what makes it so flavorful. One is part of an island with a smaller population than New York City, while the other takes up a vast stretch of a continent and holds around one-seventh of the world’s people. From clothing to food to religious traditions to melanin levels, Scotland and India are two very different countries.
That doesn’t mean they don’t make a fabulous combo, though. Wait till you hear the musical mashup that brought this Indian groom and Scottish-Indian bride into their reception:
If anything can bring people together instantaneously, it’s music. Who knew that a bagpipe (traditional Scottish wind instrument) song and dhol (traditional Indian drum) would blend so well together?
The video was shared by Arun Bhopal, brother of the bride, on TikTok. People in the comments have shared how much they love how the musical traditions complemented each other.
“Absolutely LOVE this, two cultures coming together and appreciating each other,” wrote one person.
“This combo, wow…didn’t realize how much it works together,” wrote another.
Several people said they wished they could get the song on Spotify, and Bhopal shared that it sounded even better in person. We can only imagine.
What a joyful celebration of two cultures coming together in love. More of these kinds of traditional musical mashups, please.
In the midst of Kanye West’s ongoing battles with Gap and Adidas, it looks like there are still some brands willing to roll the dice with the mercurial producer. To be fair, his popularity has seemingly continued despite his becoming better known for controversy, so of course, brands hope to enjoy the halo effect of that.
While launching a deluge of Instagram posts criticizing Adidas on Monday, Kanye also enigmatically posted the “SAS” logo of San Antonio Shoemakers with a happy face emoticon — yes, that’s emoticon, not emoji. Apparently, Kanye is posting from 2009. SAS is a Texas-based comfort shoe brand that primarily competes with Clarks, ECCO, and New Balance for a market demographic that mostly consists of senior citizens, who are decidedly not Kanye’s core audience.
So, what are Kanye West’s plans with SAS?
On Monday, Kanye also posted, “What shoe company will give me control? I need to be the head of the board and the chief decision maker.” It’s likely that Kanye believes that the company would be amenable to these terms — terms he says his current footwear partner Adidas, which handles the manufacture of his Yeezy brand, are not. Kanye has argued that when he partnered with Adidas — likely more of a licensing situation — he was promised Yeezy brick-and-mortar stores and a spot on the board. Obviously, with Kanye acting so erratically lately, that’s a gamble few companies are willing to take.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, in response, the company said, “We sincerely appreciate the interest Ye (Kanye West) has expressed towards our company and look forward to continuing the conversation around a potential collaboration.” For what it’s worth, SAS has been shifting its focus, hoping to expand to a younger demographic. We’ll see if they believe working with Kanye is worth the headaches. to get it.
Zazie Beetz has been quietly dominating screens over the past few years, and she’s just beginning to take over Hollywood. Not only has she scored an Emmy nomination for starring in Atlanta, but she also has a reputation for starring alongside A-list celebs and outdoing them.
Beetz famously starred alongside Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool 2, before she stole the screen in Joker alongside Joaquin Phoenix. Most recently, Beetz was opposite Brad Pitt in the transportation-based action movie Bullet Train. Now, she’s teaming up with some more legends for a new HBO series from Stephen Soderbergh.
As per the official plot description, Full Circle will follow an investigation into a botched kidnapping that uncovers long-held secrets connecting multiple characters and cultures in present-day New York City. It will not be a reboot of the 2013 series Full Circle starring David Boreanaz, Keke Palmer, and Tom Felton (!?) though that was a solid show. It’s unclear what role Beetz will play in the HBO Max show.
The six-episode mini-series will be directed by Soderbergh himself and written by Ed Solomon, also known as the guy who wrote Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and all of the subsequent sequels. Solomon and Soderbergh will be reuniting after working together on last year’s crime thriller No Sudden Move, starring Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, David Harbour, Jon Hamm, Brendan Fraser, and Kieran Culkin. HBO sure has been good to Soderbergh! And not so good to literally everyone else.
Alex Jones had the kind of on-air meltdown even a two-year-old would be impressed by this week when he visited the Youtube web show, Channel 5.
Jones had an extremely humiliating time of it during his very public trial weeks earlier where he was ordered to pay $49.3 million in damages to the parents of a child killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. During his Youtube show appearance, Jones was quizzed on how he felt about the verdict. A normal person might show remorse for spending years making money off of conspiracy theories that claimed the massacre that left dozens of young children dead was a hoax, but Jones decided to, errrr, take a different approach.
“Yes. I killed the children,” an exasperated Jones replied when asked if he felt responsible for the trolling the Sandy Hook families experienced after the tragedy. “No, I mean, I went in that school. I pulled a gun out. I shot every one of them myself. I mean, I’m guilty.”
When the show’s host, Andrew Callaghan — (previously known as the All Gas, No Brakes guy) — tried to rephrase the question, Jones grew even more irate.
“Do I feel responsible that someone played shit about video games on a bunch of drugs, went and killed a bunch of kids and then the internet questioned it? And I covered that. No, I don’t feel responsible and I don’t apologize anymore. I’m done. I don’t apologize. I killed the kids!” he said.
Callaghan again tried to intervene, saying “You didn’t kill them.” But Jones, clearly in his feels about being found guilty in his defamation suit, just doubled down.
No, I did,” Jones ranted. “Everybody said no — no. I killed them. I killed them. I already admitted it. I did it. I killed them. I’m the bad guy. I’m the devil — get rid of the First Amendment. First Amendment killed them. Second. Get rid of the Second Amendment. Get rid of the First Amendment. They’re bad. They killed the kids too. George Washington killed them. Jesus killed them. The whole — we should rename the whole planet Sandy Hook!”
“It should be holidays. We should bow five times a day to New Haven, Connecticut for the kids that died,” Jones continued. “Every American is to blame — every gun owner’s to blame. I’m to blame. We are all guilty to Bloomberg and Soros. Turn our guns in, turn our guns in. I know I get it. I killed them. I killed them. I killed them. I know — I killed them. So I’m done talking about it. Okay. I killed them.”
Eventually, the InfoWars host stormed off set but his mic was still on, catching an interaction between himself and an employee from his own show.
“I don’t think you should keep doing that,” the employee told Jones. Jones responded by again affirming that he killed the children at Sandy Hook saying, “What? Dude, I murdered those children.”
The employee begged Jones to stop replying, “Still not a funny thing to say. I get the point, but it’s just like, fuck man,” to which Jones then answered, “Fuck it. I don’t give a fuck, dude. I’m far beyond giving a fuck right now” before his mic was turned off.
Justin Bieber’s Justice World Tour was set to be an incredible undertaking, to begin with. Considering what a spectacle his performances are and how much production heavy-lifting has to be done for each show, to be able to put on close to 100 concerts in less than a year is a huge task. Now Bieber, who has been public about his struggles with Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome — and had already postponed a set of tour dates as he tried to get better — is postponing the remaining 70 dates on the Justice World Tour to focus on his physical health and overall well-being.
Bieber just played at the Rock In Rio festival in Brazil and in a statement posted to his Instagram Story, he wrote, “After getting off stage, the exhaustion overtook me and I realized that I needed to make my health a priority right now. So I’m going to take a break from touring for the time being.”
Justin Bieber’s Justice World Tour has officially been suspended due to health concerns. Here is the official announcement: pic.twitter.com/fyb8qwjTM5
Variety confirmed the statement that Bieber is postponing the tour indefinitely with his reps. The dates would have stretched into March of 2023. Read Bieber’s full statement below.
“Earlier this year, I went public about my battle with Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome, where my face was partly paralyzed.
As the result of this illness, I was not able to complete the North America leg of the Justice Tour.After resting end consulting with doctors, family and team, I went to Europe in an effort to continue with the tour.
I performed six live shows, but it took a real toll on me. This past weekend I performed at Rock in Rio and I gave everything I have to the people in Brazil. After getting off stage, the exhaustion overtook me and I realized that I needed to make my health a priority right now. So I’m going to take a break from touring for the time being.
I’m going to be OK, but I need time to rest and get better period I’ve been so proud to bring this show and our message of justice to the world.Thank you for your prayers and support throughout all of this exclamation point i love you all passionately!”
While Rudy Giuliani would go on to play a more disastrous role in the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency, the former New York City mayor and once-respected attorney reportedly had his eyes on a more prestigious title: Secretary of State. According to writer Andrew Kirtzman’s new book, Giuliani: The Rise and Tragic Fall of America’s Mayor, Trump passed on giving Giuilani the coveted cabinet position because of the attorney’s drinking problem.
Thanks to letting Giuliani roam the secret tunnels beneath Mar-a-Lago after his failed presidential run in 2008, Trump was well aware of Rudy’s drinking. While the two had a friendly relationship where they reportedly fought for one and other’s respect, Giuliani made an ill-advised move by going to the press to convince Trump to make him Secretary of State, which he felt he deserved. Instead, the campaign ended up angering Trump. Via The Daily Beast:
“He started just hearing all of these negative stories about him, about his drinking; Giuliani waged this campaign in the press to get the job which turned Trump off. They launched an investigation internally in the campaign into Giuliani’s clients, and he had so many clients with potential conflicts that had filled a report, dozens of pages, and eventually, Trump moved on,” says Kirtzman, who shares a lot of other Giuliani anecdotes on this episode, including his ex-wife’s speculation that he had a drinking problem.
Before anyone gives Trump too much credit, Kirtzman said that the former president offered Giuliani a chance to be Attorney General or head of Homeland Security, which are both frightening prospects. Fortunately, Giuliani’s ego led him to turn down those offers in pursuit of being Secretary of State even though he had practically zero foreign policy experience. Later, he’d take over Trump’s legal battle to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which so far, has resulted in multi-billion dollar lawsuits and an ongoing investigation in Georgia that’s not looking great for Trump and Rudy.
All I could think throughout one of the best playoff basketball games any of us have seen is that Chelsea Gray is breaking the game. A’ja Wilson, Gray’s teammate on the Las Vegas Aces, has dominated the last two games of the team’s semifinal matchup with the Seattle Storm. Chicago Sky forward Candace Parker has been on her own postseason heater.
But despite that, Gray stands above the rest in a fashion that cannot be overstated. This is Gray’s shot chart in the playoffs, per InStat Scouting.
It’s one thing to be on a heater and catch fire from all areas of the court in the flow of the offense. Instead, Gray is doing this on a diet of shots almost entirely self-created. Considering her 78.5 percent true-shooting percentage (league average was 54.1 percent this season), that’s staggering.
Slightly under a third of her attempts from deep are categorized as catch-and-shoot looks. She’s shooting 55 percent out of isolation. A 63 percent clip on shots taken as a pick-and-roll ball-handler, including 62 percent on her pull-up threes from behind the arc, is actually insane. When factoring in her otherworldly playmaking ability, it’s indeed fair to say Gray is breaking the game.
And it’s not like Gray is getting a steady diet of easy shots. Watch what she’s able to do here against one of the best defensive players in the league.
Gabby Williams literally has Chelsea Gray in a straightjacket here and it just doesn’t matter pic.twitter.com/od7ktb5Dhe
Gabby Williams, who rightfully made All-Defense, gave her everything at the point of attack. Time and time again during Game 3 specifically, Gray found ways to beat that.
Here’s another example. What can you even do here? Williams has length, she has lateral quickness, she has good functional strength and reaction speed, and again, Gray figures out what she has to do to get the better of this matchup.
Gray is remarkably strong. She can bully smaller players. Anyone with a higher center of gravity is at the mercy of her shoulders. Her off-arm play to create separation is second to none in the league. There’s no hesitation in her play, every move has intention and causes shifts in both her defender and the defense as a whole. The violence she has in some of her crosses and steps is awe-inspiring, just ask Jewell Loyd.
What’s made her run even more spectacular has been the brunt of the playmaking load she’s handled in comparison to her contemporaries. It’s not just about the assists per game — still, 7.2 a night is beyond impressive — but the actual impact of how she sees the court and manipulates it is otherworldly. Watching these games, and particularly Game 3, has made it clear that there is no winning formula for the defense.
It doesn’t matter what has or hasn’t been drawn up, Gray is one or multiple steps ahead of her defenders, dictating the terms of engagement like a general. That entire first half was Gray calling for different screening variations and sets to pull apart the Seattle defense. With how she’s shooting on top of that, what do you even do defensively? How do you counter this?
How do you counter a player who hits this despite a perfectly executed switch by the defense?
That is good defense! Gray just makes it so that Tina Charles mirroring her about as well as one can for half the shot clock doesn’t matter.
Trap Gray and she hits the roller exquisitely and in a timely fashion. Switch onto Gray and she’ll take advantage of a mismatch with her shot-making or by forcing a rotation with a drive-and-kick. Go under a pick-and-roll and she’s pulling the strap. Her all-time heater has put the Storm in a very clear bind.
That’s not at all to say that Seattle is doing a bad job — their defense against Gray has actually been quite good. Instead, there’s just no answer for her while she’s playing like this. She’s causing hesitation and indecision among a team that occupied the top defensive metrics in basketball for much of the year. When you hit shots at this absurd unreal level, there isn’t a “right way” to defend her, because every look is a good look for Gray right now.
As the series enters its final stretch — it could, potentially, end on Tuesday night, as Las Vegas holds a 2-1 lead in the best-of-5 — be sure to bask in the play of Gray, who is throwing down one of the single greatest shot-making stretches and displays of offense we’ve ever seen.
In the debate of which Modest Mouse album is the best album, there is only one correct answer: The Lonesome Crowded West. Sorry, this is a scientific fact. The 1997 album is the crown jewel of Isaac Brock’s indie songwriting with a diverse offering of songs that painted a picture of the stories off the highway stops of the modern American west.
Now Brock and Modest Mouse will be taking The Lonesome Crowded West in its entirety on the road to celebrate the 25th anniversary of it’s release. Just as they did in 1997, Modest Mouse will be playing as a four-piece including Jeremiah Green, as well as Russell Higbee and Simon O’Connor. From album opener “Teeth Like God’s Shoeshine,” to iconic songs like “Cowboy Dan,” “Trailer Trash,” and “Polar Opposites,” the band will play the entire 15-song album front to back at each of these shows beginning on November 18th in Montana. Rest assured, even the midwest and East coast are included on the tour.
Check out the full slate of Modest Mouses’s The Lonesome Crowded West Tour below. Tickets go on sale Friday, September 9th at 10am local time here.
11/18 – Missoula, MT @ Wilma Theater
11/19 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory Spokane
11/21 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
11/22 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
11/25 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
11/27 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
11/30 – Oakland, CA @ The Fox Theatre
12/01 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
12/02 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
12/03 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
12/05 – Austin, TX @ ACL Live at The Moody Theater
12/06 – New Orleans, LA @ Fillmore New Orleans
12/07 – Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom
12/09 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
12/10 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
12/11 – Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
12/13 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
12/15 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia
12/16 – Boston, MA @ Roadrunner
12/17 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
If you want to drink good bourbon whiskey, you’re going to have to shell out anywhere from $30 to $60. You might get lucky and find a hidden gem for around $20 but that’s the exception, not the rule. Then there’s the genuinely expensive stuff that starts off around $100 and reaches into the thousands of dollars, either by virtue of it being a very rare whiskey or the aftermarket dictating a hefty price inflation.
But is the expensive stuff really that much better than the (relatively) cheap bourbon these days? How much better can it honestly be? That’s where a blind taste test comes into play.
For this exercise, I’ve grabbed five bottles that fall into the $25 to $60 range (with one beloved budget bottle thrown in) and five bottles that start off above $100 and soar ever higher in price. The ranking is simple, what tastes best when sipped blind? Spoiler alert: It was a far more mixed bag than even I thought it would be.
There’s a lovely sense of sourdough old-fashioned doughnuts dusted in cinnamon on the nose with a hint of brown sugar, nutmeg, pecan, and cedar/tobacco with a warm edge. The palate layers those pecans into a waffle with plenty of butter and maple syrup next to dried sour cherries with old leather, dried corn cobs, and spiced cherry tobacco next to dry black dirt with a hint of sweetness to it. The end lessens the cherry and leads to peppery tobacco with a warm finish full of dry firewood, more of that woody maple syrup, and a dash of vanilla cream underneath it.
Well, this is a great whiskey. I can’t fathom it being too cheap.
Taste 2
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Light wicker and a hint of dried mint lead the way on the nose with a touch of brown sugar and orchard fruit and bark. The palate lets that orchard wood sweeten as a hint of espresso bean cuts the woodiness and allows lush vanilla to arrive with a hint of pancake batter. The end rounds back to the wicker with a twinge of cherry cream soda next to a thin line of mineral water.
This was really solid up until the watery finish. I’d bet it’s affordable, generally speaking.
Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose is soft with a sense of sour cherry, porch wicker, dry cornmeal, caramel sauce, and a supple vanilla foundation. The palate holds onto those notes and builds toward salted caramel over tart apples with a winter spice mix stewing it all down into a buttery and spicy apple crumble with a hint of plum and date. The end gets a little mineral-y and eventually waters down the rich spices, vanilla, orchard fruit, and old wicker.
This was so close but just missed sticking the landing on that watered-down finish.
Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose draws you in with big notes of fresh leather, sweet cedar bark, tart cherries and currant, burnt orange, salted caramel, spiced Christmas cake, and a hint of blackberry jam on a stack of sourdough pancakes grilled off in butter (or maybe I’m just hungry for breakfast?!). The taste leans into a lush vanilla tobacco warm with dark chocolate-covered espresso beans next to marzipan, orange blossoms, and brandy-soaked cherries with a hint of black pepper spice. The finish is velvety and supple with a black cherry and cinnamon/nutmeg spiced tobacco leaf braided with old wicker canes and dry cedar bark next to orchard wood and burnt marshmallows.
Well, this is a winner. This is basically a perfect bourbon with incredible depth. It must be pricey.
Taste 5
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Hello, Tennessee! The nose opens with a sense of cherry Tums next to soft grains, dried sage and thyme, and a hint of smoked pork fat. The taste leans into that Tennessee whiskey vibe with soft grains next to vanilla Necco Wafers, old cellar floors, and a good dose of sharp winter spices. The finish lets the cherry chine with a hint of old glove leather, apple pie filling, and a sour sense of butter with a garden center earthiness.
I really like this. It’s not overly done but hits some seriously nice notes that vibe.
Taste 6
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Sticky toffee pudding with a hint of sour grapes, sweet red berries, old oak staves, vanilla husks, and salted toffee all mingle on the nose. The palate has almost bitter cinnamon and cherry bark vibe that smooths out toward creamy nutmeg-heavy eggnog with a hint of clove next to dried cedar bark and raisins. The end mixes wild berry jam with a sense of buttermilk biscuits, brown butter, sultanas, dates, and winter cake spices as old wine-soaked oak staves add a gentle woodiness to the finish.
This is delightful. It’s a tiny bit thin on the finish (I’m guessing around 90 proof?) but that’s barely a diss.
Taste 7
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose brings the vanilla pods, cinnamon/clove/anise/allspice winter spice matrix, a hint of fresh cedar kindling, and a menagerie of raisins, dates, prunes, dried cranberry with a whisper of worn leather tobacco pouches. The palate leans into the dark and tart berries with a dry edge that then leads to an old boot leather vibe next to lush marzipan touched with orange blossom and dark chocolate creaminess. The finish gently warms your sense with a nutty chocolate/spicy/dried fruit tobacco leaf rolled with old wicker, cedar bark, and sweetgrass.
I wrote, “perfect” in my notes. So you can guess where this is going to land. That doesn’t necessarily mean this is an expensive whiskey though. Time will tell.
Taste 8
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Peach and pear skins lead to pancake batter, marzipan, orange oils, old leather gloves, a hint of wool sweater on a cold day, and a whisper of old porch wicker. The palate balances cherry wood that’s just been lit next to tart dried cranberry, a touch of buttermilk biscuit, and salted toffee. The end amps up the woody Christmas spices and barks with more orange next to pound cake, hot apple cider, and a creamy line of dark chocolate over lush marzipan.
This is another winner that just tastes great. The end is a little thin (I’m guessing this is another 90-proof) but, overall, this was excellent.
Taste 9
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this feels classic with a bold sense of rich vanilla pods, cinnamon sharpness, buttered and salted popcorn, and a good dose of cherry syrup with a hint of cotton candy. The palate mixes almond, orange, and vanilla into a cinnamon sticky bun with a hint of sour cherry soda that leads to a nice Kentucky hug on the mid-palate. That warm hug fades toward black cherry root beer, old leather boots, porch wicker, and a sense of dried cherry/cinnamon tobacco packed into an old pine box.
This was pretty freakin’ good. More importantly, it was nicely balanced between the (marginally) higher proof and flavor profile.
Taste 10
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Woah. There’s a lot going on with this nose from dark and moist Christmas cake with spices, nuts, candied fruits, and brandy butter to Black Forest Cake with plenty of dark chocolate and stewed cherry with a hint of smoked salt to old cellar beams and oak staves smoldering under some toasted marshmallows. The taste leans into the spices with a good warmth supported by sharp ginger, allspice, a hint of sassafras, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg that leads to a creamy nog countered by salted black licorice and Cherry Dr. Pepper. The end leaves the spices behind and gently lands on old cherry tobacco leaves, fresh nasturtiums, and a hint of sweet black potting soil mixed with dry straw.
This is Maker’s signature expression. It’s made from red winter wheat with corn and malted barley and then aged in seasoned Ozark oak for six to seven years. This expression’s juice is then built from only 150 barrels (making this a small batch, if you want to call it that). Those barrels are blended, proofed, bottled, and dipped in red wax.
Bottom Line:
If this had a little more proof to it (and less water), it would have been way higher. This is good whisky at a great price. But because of that watery end, you kind of need to build this into a cocktail to plaster over that thin finish.
9. Heaven Hill Old Style Bourbon 6 Years Old — Taste 2
Heaven Hill’s Old Style Bourbon is always affordable and very palatable. This expression adds an extra two years (or so) of aging to Heaven Hill’s other entry-level juice(s). Beyond that, we’re talking about a very standard bourbon that’s meant to be mixed, shot, and enjoyed without breaking the bank.
Bottom Line:
This was another super solid bourbon that just couldn’t land the finish thanks to those low ABVs. That said, this has way more depth to it than it should for this price point.
8. Puncher’s Chance The D12TANCE Aged 12 Years — Taste 5
This sourced whiskey is a 12-year-old Tennessee straight bourbon whiskey. Those barrels are emptied and the juice is refilled into old Cabernet Sauvignon casks for a final maturation before proofing and bottling.
Bottom Line:
This was very “Tennessee whiskey,” in a great way. There was depth and nuance. Again, it was a tad thin on the end (thanks to that proofing) but great otherwise.
This is Jim Beam’s small batch entry point into the wider world of Knob Creek. The juice is the low-rye mash aged for nine years in new oak in Beam’s vast warehouses. The right barrels are then mingled and cut down to 100 proof before being bottled in new, wavy bottles.
Bottom Line:
This was just classic from top to bottom. It didn’t blow me away or change the way I think about whiskey but it certainly got the job done.
Weller is made from the exact same mash bill as Pappy Van Winkle. This expression of Weller rests in the warehouse for 12 long years, in the same barrels and warehouses as Pappy. The difference between this and Pappy 12 is pretty simple actually. If the barrel doesn’t hit the exact flavor profile needed for a Pappy, it’s sent to the blending house to become a Weller (as long as it hits that flavor profile, of course).
Bottom Line:
This was so well-made. It was deep and engaging while still feeling drinkable and easygoing. That said, that lower proof pushed it down this ranking a bit.
While Uncle Nearest is distilling their own juice these days, this is still the work of Master Blender Victoria Eady Butler with carefully sourced Tennessee whiskey barrels. In this case, Eady Bulter hand-selected the best-of-the-best from their inventory to create the perfect whiskey to exemplify the brand and Tennessee whiskey traditions.
Bottom Line:
This was really nice overall. There was no fault in any of it. The only reason it’s a little lower today is that I really wanted to pour this over a single rock to calm down those ABVs and let the deep flavors bloom in the glass.
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.
Bottom Line:
This was just freakin’ delicious. Again, the lower ABV is the only thing I can think to ding. Because of that, I immediately wanted to mix this into a killer Manhattan.
This whiskey was produced in the spring of 2003. Since then, it lost 73 percent of its volume to the angels as it rested in warehouses C, K, M, and Q on various floors. The barrels were then vatted, proofed down, and bottled.
Bottom Line:
I would have put money on this or the next entry to have won. They’re both perfect bourbon specimens that are hard to beat. The proof here was a little warm but didn’t take away from the depth of the flavor profile. I simply liked the balance on the next one a tad more.
2. Michter’s Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 10 Years Old — Taste 4
The juice in this bottle is a little under wrap. Michter’s is currently distilling and aging its own whiskey, but this is still sourced. The actual barrels sourced for these single barrel expressions tend to be at least ten years old with some rumored to be closer to 15 years old (depending on the barrel’s quality, naturally). Either way, the juice goes through Michter’s bespoke filtration process before a touch of Kentucky’s iconic soft limestone water is added, bringing the bourbon down to a very crushable 94.4 proof.
Bottom Line:
Again, this is a perfect whiskey. Plus, it has this great balance between the warmth and the palate that just works.
1. Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit Single Barrel — Taste 7
Jimmy Russell hand selects eight to nine-year-old barrels from his warehouses for their individual taste and quality. Those barrels are then cut down ever-so-slightly to 101 proof and bottled with their barrel number and warehouse location.
Bottom Line:
I was kind of surprised to see this win. I was also kind of… not surprised. I love this whiskey and actually drink it at home. It’s so good, nuanced, flavorful, and balanced that it’s almost too good to be true — especially at $60 a bottle.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
Well, there you have it. The expensive bottles were not inherently better tasting than the affordable (even cheap) ones. Hell, even the budget bottles (Maker’s and Heaven Hill) really only ranked last because of their thinner finishes, thanks to the proofing — not the taste of the whiskey.
Overall, all of these whiskeys are worth seeking out for one reason or another — mixing drinks, shots, perfecting a cocktail, neat pours on cold nights, etc. — but it’s the top four or five that really shine the brightest.
I’d recommend the Legent, Knob Creek, and Wild Turkey if you’re looking for a great everyday pour that also mixes a great cocktail. The Eagle Rare and Michter’s are also great but maybe only break those out for holidays and big occasions. Turns out you’re not missing that much between the bottles after all.
While J. Cole has always put his pro basketball ambitions at the forefront of his rap career, he’s come way further than perhaps even he could have foreseen. At the start of the month, he was announced as 2K Games’ first-ever non-athlete cover model for the latest iteration of NBA 2K. The rap star-turned-hooper features on the Gamestop-exclusive Dreamer Edition cover of NBA 2K23. He’ll also appear in the game as himself; the player will encounter him and Dreamville associates Bas and Elite in the MyCareer mode, helping the player character achieve their own hoop dreams.
As it happens, though, Cole planted the seeds for this idea even before he’d managed to make it onto a Basketball Africa League roster. In a new interview with Complex, 2K’s digital marketing director Ronnie “Ronnie2K” Singh explains how J. Cole actually approached Singh with the concept for his inclusion after giving the world one of his first public demonstrations of hoop talent at the NBA’s 2019 All-Star Weekend. There, J. Cole allowed himself to be used as a prop in fellow Fayetteville native Dennis Smith Jr.’s dunk attempt before attempting a dunk of his own. Although Cole got blocked by the rim — in his defense, he was wearing street clothes and hadn’t warmed up first — he was able to pitch Ronnie2K about being in a future version of NBA 2K.
According to Singh, “Three and a half years ago, when he dunked during one of the breaks of the All-Star Weekend Saturday Night, J. Cole said, ‘Ronnie, I’d love to be in MyCareer and help think about the ideation around that.’ I worked with our team on bringing this to life but it was very fitting to work with him. When we put out that tease, everybody thought it was going to be another basketball player…it allows us live in fashion, culture, music which 2K has a seat at the table now.”
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