The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.
Midway through her second full-length album, Asha’s Awakening, Raveena ponders the evils of the internet. In a spoken word interlude, “The Internet Is Like Eating Plastic,” her thoughts will likely resonate with fellow twenty-something earthlings who have been equally impacted by all the vile and beautiful things that spring from the world wide web. As this 27-year-old puts it: “The internet has me stupid and smart at the same time.” While the bulk of Asha’s Awakening is set out in the nebulous cosmos, Raveena’s personal penchant for jazz, funk, soul, and inklings of Bollywood, from her native Indian culture, all make their way into the inner lining of this galactic record. And like any good concept album, the record’s protagonist journeys from this insecurity about the internet toward something brighter and stronger by the project’s end.
Though her first album, 2019’s independently-released Lucid, followed up a well-received initial EP, Shanti (which translates to “peace” in Sanskrit), this new album represents a massive breakthrough for Raveena. Technically her fourth release — it comes after she shared another EP, Moonstone, in 2020 — Asha’s Awakening marks her first release signed to a major label. For some artists, the transition from indie darling to mainstream pop can be a buzzkill, but for Raveena, the extra support only helped her expand. Her sophomore album is richer, warmer, and even more inviting than her debut, the work of an artist who understands how to weave disparate sounds into her own mesmerizing whole. And as one of the few Indian-American artists in the mainstream, despite pop’s increased representation in other areas, her visibility represents more big shifts in 2022.
“I kind of just wanted to really tap into my confidence, and tap into my bravery as an artist, to take risks,” she told NPR of the record. “That was kind of the awakening for me – I think this character was a beautiful vehicle for that because she is so bold, and so fearless. She goes through so many transformations, I found a lot of myself in her, and found a lot of courage in her.” Asha, the record’s titular protagonist, lives in ancient Punjab, but finds herself “transported” to another planet, where aliens educate her on their spiritual teachings and magic. After spending a thousand years on their planet, she misses humanity and love, and returns to earth to find the only thing that tops being a cosmic princess — connection.
And connection is the driving force linking the fifteen songs on this soft and sensual album, which kicks off with a stellar pairing — the frenetic, joyful opener “Rush” and beat-heavy “Secret,” featuring none other than cult favorite West Coast rapper Vince Staples. Vince’s inclusion here signals Raveena’s quick ascent into the big leagues, as a guest verse from Staples isn’t necessarily common for emerging pop stars. Actually, Asha’s Awakening includes not only that verse from Vince, but appearances from visual artists and musician TWEAKS, on the dreamy “New Drugs,” as well as legendary Indian singer-songwriter Asha Puthli on “Asha’s Kiss.” Considering Lucid had a sole feature, and both EPs were Raveena alone, working with other artists is another way she’s expanding her sound.
As a first-generation immigrant who was born in Massachusetts and raised between Queens and Connecticut, Raveena’s experiences could easily fit into what has been dubbed “third culture kids,” a split upbringing between the culture of her parents, in India, and physically growing up living in America. Though for every TCK, the pull between conflicting culture comes with different overtones. In Raveena’s case, her family are survivors of the 1984 Sikh genocide, so the collective trauma of that violence is also part of her lineage. Given the chaotic, sometimes painful nature of those relational forces, it’s not surprising that she gravitates toward the calming practice of meditation, and the healing forces of practices like reiki. Or, the escapist fantasy of an alien planet, where there’s plenty of time to learn coping mechanisms and return to earth ready to move forward.
All those influences naturally spill into her album, as the funky “Kathy Left 4 Kathmandu” splits the difference between Hindu practices and American experimentalism, and “Kismet” incorporates sections of Hindi lyrics into the intro and chorus. At the closing point on the album, Raveena leads her listeners through a guided meditation called “Let Your Breath Become A Flower,” and just like her lament about the internet, nothing could feel more natural to close out this emotional, eclectic project. “I wanted to just offer people a very practical tool for their life, and be able to actually use it if they needed it — to go to sleep, or just to calm down,” she told NPR of the concluding track. Within the song’s natural birdsong and crickets, gongs and bells, it’s still her voice that is the most soothing of all, instructing the listener to breathe in starlight and use it as a protective force against suffering. “In this space you are unconditionally loved,” she claims, manifesting her own journey from the malaise and insecurity of the internet’s chaos and landing in the zen of enlightenment.
Asha’s Awakening is out now via Warner Records. Get it here.
Raveena is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Since the devs over at CD Projekt Red had to spend so much time fixing the game, they also had to delay next-gen versions of the game for PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S. Also, any improvements to the game were about helping it reach a baseline of quality instead of making active improvements to the overall experience. They were developing from behind and it made new progress on the game feel slow, but progress was indeed happening behind the scenes. On Tuesday, CD Projekt Red was finally ready to show how far they’d come, as the that the next-gen versions of Cyberpunk finally launched and with it came some huge updates.
If there’s one thing I can tell you about this city – you either love it or wanna burn it.
Let’s get the big stuff out of the way first. While Cyberpunk has always been playable on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, the versions that everyone was playing were the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions that newer consoles can play through backwards compatibility. Now, anyone with a PS5 or Series X/S can play a version that is exclusive to their console that can’t be played on previous generation hardware. This means the games are better optimized for those consoles and can make better use of that hardware.
Multiple fixes and improvements to NPC melee and ranged combat AI and reactions, including taking cover, positioning, reloading, equipping weapons, dodging, blocking and many others.
Multiple improvements to dismemberment triggers, hit reactions and death animations, adding greater impact to ranged and melee combat.
Enemies are now much better at blocking and evading (Kerenzikov) attacks. The heavier the weapon, the easier it is to hit. The opposite is true for evading.
Further diversification of melee and ranged combat behaviors for different factions: reckless, aggressive, balanced, defensive and cautious.
Followers now contribute more in combat but can be defeated and temporarily disabled if they receive enough punishment.
Numerous fixes and balance changes to netrunner combat.
That blog has a full list of all the Patch Notes for anyone who wants to read them and get into all the technical improvements that have been made in this latest patch.
While this is all great news for anyone who has been waiting for the ideal experience to play Cyberpunk, it might not be enough to bring back everyone who saw the disaster state it released in. As a result, there is a way for players to experience the game and see if they like it before buying it as long as they have an Xbox Series S/X.
If there was ever a time to finally see what Cyberpunk is about this is probably the time to do it. It’s been over a year since the game has released, but it looks like Cyberpunk finally has the chance to meet the hype it came into the world with.
Josh Hawley is taking a page from Donald Trump’s book and getting into the merchandising business. The Missouri senator, who was famously photographed pumping his fist in a show of solidarity with the insurrectionists and protestors outside of the Capitol on January 6th, is now immortalizing the moment on a $20 coffee mug, The Hill reports.
The mug, which Hawley is selling via his campaign, features the widely seen (and mocked) image of the senator making his way into the Capitol on the morning of January 6, 2021 with the phrase “Show-Me Strong.” According to his team, the mug is “the perfect way to enjoy Coffee, Tea, or Liberal Tears.”
The mug is also described as being “Made in America,” which… does not seem to be the case. (Unless there’s some town in America named China that’s churning out Hawley’s drinking vessels.)
Josh Hawley…a fraud in 3 acts.
He’s so busy trying to own the libs he forgot he’s supposed to be the anti-China tough guy.
After being widely criticized for showing allegiance with a violent mob that infiltrated the Capitol, Hawley attempted to explain himself to The Washington Post in April 2021. “That was as I was entering the House chamber the morning of the 6th,” he said. “Those were demonstrators who were out there on the plaza, on the far end of the plaza … standing behind barricades, waving American flags.”
As The Hill noted, Hawley was also “the first Republican senator to publicly announce that he would formally challenge the [2020 presidential] election results in Congress.”
Insane Clown Posse’s Violent J is living up to his name by threatening to send disgraced comedian Bill Cosby to hell, which some are perceiving as a thinly veiled threat to murder Bill Cosby. On Valentine’s Day, no less, the ICP frontman tweeted about Cosby after watching W. Kamau Bell’s explosive new docuseries on the disgraced former TV dad: “After @Showtime’s #WeNeedToTalkAboutBillCosby I feel psychotic. America’s favorite dad spent 50 years druggin’ & raping’ woman & joked about it all along. Then treated ‘em like they did him foul…Now I feel psychotic too, knowing my urge to end his freedom by sendin’ him to hell quicker.”
Bell’s We Need To Talk About Cosby explores the complicated life of the once-beloved celebrity, and his eventual downfall after being found guilty of multiple counts of sexual assault, and accused of assault and misconduct by over 60 others over his long-standing career. This, rightfully, does not sit well with Mr. Violent J.
Now I feel psychotic too, knowing my urge to end his freedom by sendin’ him to hell quicker… VJ (2/2)
The tweet is still up, but just might violate Twitter’s terms of service that generally prohibits invoking violence against an individual, but we can see it for now.
This comes after Violent J announced last summer that he a had heart condition and that they would still try to continue to tour in order to see their beloved Juggalos. Despite their, uh, unique reputation, the duo has been known for calling out Trump and doing genuinely kind-hearted things. They are just normal guys! With a lot of clown makeup.
Kendrick Lamar had a huge weekend at the Super Bowl, crushing it an all-timer halftime show performance with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, and Eminem. And while Kendrick didn’t debut the mythical new single on Sunday that we’ve all been waiting for, he did just announce a new podcast today about To Pimp A Butterfly, debuting tomorrow on Spotify.
In the second season of Spotify’s The Big Hit Show, Kendrick will be the focus of the five-part series that takes a look at the creation of the groundbreaking collision of hip-hop and jazz. “Going back into the album it was me explaining my experiences and what emotions it brought up from that experience,” he said in a trailer for the new show. “And tell them like, ‘Yo, it’s something bigger than Compton and where we from.’”
From Compton to the big stage Join Kendrick Lamar, @rapsody, @george_clinton, and many more as they reflect on his classic studio album “To Pimp a Butterfly.”
The show is hosted by music journalist Alex Pappademas and the first season was all about the Twilight saga. If that sounds a bit off the hip-hop spectrum, it’s because the podcast is an all-encompassing look at pop culture that dubs itself “an epic journey that spans genres, mediums, and generations to explore what happens when a wildly successful piece of pop culture gets so big that it changes the world. This show is about how big hits get dreamed up, how they get made, and what happens when we make them our own.”
It’s rare to have Lamar actually be a part of interviews and media about himself. Even arguably the definitive look at Lamar, journalist Marcus J. Moore’s excellent book, The Butterfly Effect, was an unofficial biography that didn’t feature an interview with the star. The Big Hit Show on TPAB will have Lamar front and center, as well as guests like George Clinton, Rapsody, and more.
The show debuts on Wednesday, 02/16 for free on Spotify, and you can stream it here.
At the beginning of the month, New Zealand-based indie-pop star Benee announced a new EP Lychee and released the irresistibly catchy lead single “Beach Boy,” the video for which has just been unveiled. It starts off with a montage of youthful ennui that’s quickly solved by the blossoming of a funny, charming vampire love story. The goth visual aesthetic shows a stark contrast against the upbeat, chill nature of the track, but it makes for an interesting experience and it captures Benee’s versatility.
“I’d just shot a dreamy beachy vid for ‘Doesn’t Matter‘ so I wanted a complete juxtaposition,” Benee said. “Rory directed my ‘Supalonely’ video and I was super keen to work with him again … albeit remotely (we shot in New Zealand, he directed from Australia). I’m really happy with how it turned out. Hope you luv.”
This forthcoming EP will follow her idiosyncratic but successful debut album Hey U X, which allowed her to transcend TikTok fame and take things to the next level, such as performing on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in late 2020. Lychee will surely only push her further to the top.
Watch the video for “Beach Boy” above.
Lychee is out 3/4 via Republic Records. Pre-order it here.
Fred VanVleet probably should not be an All-Star. This is in no way, shape, or form a piece of commentary on what he has done as a basketball player this season — in terms of numbers and impact on a good team, VanVleet is absolutely worthy of this distinction — but more a general remark on how rare it is for a guy to follow VanVleet’s path en route to becoming one of the best basketball players in the world.
Aesop wrote fables that have not been told as many times as VanVleet’s story to get to this point. A solid high school recruit who didn’t get high major offers and went to Wichita State. A productive college player who won a lot and didn’t get selected in the NBA Draft. A G League success story who slowly but surely worked his way into Toronto’s rotation. A crucial piece of a team that won an NBA championship who is now on path to become one of the greatest players in franchise history. The word “storybook” is used to describe this sort of thing because real life is normally too cruel for something like this to happen.
VanVleet’s guiding principle throughout his NBA tenure has been “bet on yourself.” After going undrafted in 2016, VanVleet sent a tweet with those three words, and so far, the bet has paid off in a big way.
This year, VanVleet achieved a new milestone by becoming an All-Star for the first time in his career. Beyond the journey, it’s rather incredible that VanVleet has become the leader of this Toronto team. VanVleet is a short, stocky guard on a Raptors team that has gone all-in on having 6’5-6’9 guys with gigantic wingspans who switch like crazy and make life hell for opponents, and is the only dude on the roster who is headed to Cleveland for Sunday’s game. (It is worth mentioning that Pascal Siakam is very much worthy of All-Star consideration, too, he just would need to get there as an injury replacement.)
VanVleet, however, has made so many bets on himself that Toronto eventually realized it’s smart to bet on him. Losing Kyle Lowry, both on and off the court, could have been a gigantic step back for the franchise. A calming presence on the floor and a leader in the locker room, Lowry is the kind of player who will get a statue outside of Scotiabank Arena some day, and unlike many other soon-to-be 36-year-old point guards, he’s still the kind of guy who can be a crucial piece on a championship contender, as we’ve seen during his stint with the Eastern Conference-leading Miami Heat.
Toronto’s bet was that VanVleet would be able to handle taking the reins from Lowry, and that has paid off in a big, big way. The team, as of this writing, is 31-25, which is seventh in the brutally difficult East and an impressive bounce-back after last year’s 27-45 campaign. His 21.6 points, seven assists, and 4.6 rebounds per game are all career-best marks, while Cleaning the Glass’ on-off stats show that Toronto is just way better when he plays.
He’s shooting (17.3 field goal attempts and 10 three-point field goal attempts per game) and playing (38.4 minutes per game) more than ever. That MPG number is particularly impressive, as it’s the most minutes a night that any player in the NBA this year, and he’s eight minutes away from logging the most minutes he’s ever played in a season in his career. That incredible shooting volume has come as he’s posting the best effective field goal percentage mark of his career at 53.5 percent, and no one on the team save for lightly-used rookie two-way wing Justin Champagnie has done better. On defense, he hounds guys at the point of attack in a way and uses his basketball IQ and quick hands to disrupt opposing offensive action on the perimeter. Listed at 6’1 and 197 pounds — the same listed weight as Andrew Wiggins, who is decidedly not 6’1 — VanVleet is not a guy who will ever get bullied easily by bigger players, something that makes it easy to keep him on the floor despite often being the shortest guy out there.
All of this is to say that the Raptors would not be nearly as good if VanVleet did not consistently get better and better, embracing whatever role the team would ask him to fill and then doing it so well that they just had to give him a bigger one. This year, they’ve asked him to step into the role of being a star. Even if he wasn’t spending the All-Star break in Cleveland, that bet has paid off.
Batman’s voice has come a long way since Adam West was the Dark Knight. Where it was once campy and comically paced, it’s now low and growling (and inspired by Christian Bale feeling like an “idiot” while wearing Val Kilmer’s Batsuit). Based on the trailers for The Batman, Robert Pattinson’s Batman voice isn’t too different from Bale or Ben Affleck’s, but he still spent months working on it.
“It was a lot of trial and error,” the actor said a recent screening of The Batman (via Insider). “I had a lot of time to think about it… I was cast about seven or eight months before we started shooting and so I was experimenting with a lot of different things.”
Pattinson added that for the first few weeks, “we were kind of doing a variety of different voices, because there’s only a couple of lines in the first few scenes we shot. Me and [director Matt Reeves] just sort of settled on something. It started to sit in a very particular place and it kind of felt like a progression from other kind of Bat voices and felt kind of somewhat comfortable to do as well.”
What if the trailers are a lie and Pattinson’s Batman sounds like Stewie from Family Guy? That’s the kind of chaos I want from the guy who blew up his microwave while making pasta. We’ll find out on March 4, when The Batman comes out.
Spending around $50 on a bottle of bourbon doesn’t feel like a huge ask. Bourbon whiskey at this price point tends to lean into single barrels, special blends, and a little older bottles — it’s nothing crazy, but often quite good. That’s a nice sandbox to play in.
Is this the sweet spot for bourbon whiskey when it comes to price? Maybe? It’s certainly a good place to be with a lot of great bottles to choose from. Trust me, winnowing it down to 10 selections wasn’t easy.
While picking these bottles, I considered by my own tasting notes and ranked them according to which ones truly are the best out there (obviously, I mean for this price point). I’m also pulling these prices from Total Wine’s shelves in Louisville, Kentucky — be warned, prices may vary slightly depending on which state you’re in.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
Bib & Tucker pulls barrels of Tennessee whiskey from an old and quiet valley in the state. They then blend those barrels to meet their brand’s flavor notes. While they are laying down their own whiskey now, this is still all about the blending of those hand-selected barrels in small batches.
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this is all wet, almost earthy, cedar bark and crispy wafers filled with rich vanilla cream. The taste has a ginger snap quality in spiciness, graininess, and sweetness next to cinnamon-infused apple cider. The mid-palate to finish is very light and sort of just touches back on the spice but really leans into sweet apple tobacco.
Bottom Line:
While those wafers sort of give this away as Dickel, there’s a unique flavor profile at play thanks to the masterful blending of this whiskey. That all being said, I primarily use this for highballs (with just a little fizzy water) or cocktails. It makes a pretty damn solid old fashioned or sour.
This release from Redemption is their take on MGP’s 45 percent winter wheat bourbon. Redemption’s team brings four-year-old barrels in-house and then masterfully blends them in small batches until they get just the right notes.
Tasting Notes:
That crafty wheat floral note greets you and then leans into brisket with hints of bitter coffee and a touch of nougat, cedar, and vanilla bean. The palate holds onto those notes while swerving towards a peppery spice blend with almost a lime leaf savoriness. The end is long and has a slightly warm biscuit edge that circles back towards the nougat and vanilla.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those wheated bourbons that works wonders as an on the rocks pour or in a great cocktail. I tend to lean more towards using this in cocktails but have been known to pour this as an everyday pour from time to time.
This expression “celebrates” the Volstead Act of 1920, which pretty much banned alcohol in the U.S. What this is really celebrating is that Old Forester was one of only six distilleries that were able to keep making and selling whisky (for medicinal purposes) during Prohibition. And that era’s production is what this blend mimics.
Tasting Note:
That classic choco-cherry note that a lot of Old Forester has comes through on the top of this nose with maple syrup-soaked cedar next to a faint touch of caramel apple. The palate is slightly nutty, bordering on Pecan Sandies, with a continuation of that maple syrup leading towards light pepperiness that’s almost like cumin as the cedar comes back into play. The mid-palate sweetens pretty dramatically with a Caro Syrup feel to it as the spice hits on a wintery vibe and the taste ends with a finish of (almost smoked) dark chocolate powder on the very back end.
Bottom Line:
This is a really solid bourbon all around. It’s also a great step up if you’re already into Old Forester and are looking to expand your horizons. Overall, the fruity sweetness at play really works well in a Manhattan.
This is the first single barrel release from Baker’s, which has phased out its small-batch expressions. The juice comes from hand-selected barrels from specific spots in the Beam warehouses from whiskey that’s at least seven years old. In this case, we’re talking an eight-year-and-seven-month-old barrel.
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a sweet Christmas cake vibe on the nose with plenty of creamy vanilla next to old leather belts and musty cellar beams. The taste is almost shockingly sweet for just a moment before vanilla pound cake with poppy seeds veers the palate toward sticky cherry tobacco. That spicy/fruity/sweet mid-palate fades away and you’re left with this savory green herbal and a floral note on the finish that ebbs between fresh rosemary sprigs and dried eucalyptus with an echo of powdered coriander.
Bottom Line:
I’m always on the fence about this whiskey. It’s so unique but leaves my thoughts pretty quickly after drinking it. Then I’ll go back to it randomly and wonder why this isn’t in my regular rotation, especially for funky and fun cocktails.
This is a vatted from 40 total barrels from three different states. While the team at Pursuit United doesn’t release the Tennessee distillery name, we know the juices from Kentucky and New York are from Bardstown Bourbon Company and Finger Lakes Distilling, respectively.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a rush of cedar next to Christmas spices steeped in sweet red wine. That sweetness tends to lean into fresh honey with a touch of caramel and maybe a little dark chocolate on the end. The taste holds onto the honeyed sweetness with burnt sugars, light cedar, chocolate tobacco leaves, and a hint of orange oils. That orange is what builds and powers the finish to its silken end, concluding with an orange-choco vibe and a very soft landing.
Bottom Line:
While I’ve mentioned that a lot of these bourbons fit both sipping and mixing whiskeys, this one feels like it leans a little more towards a solid sipper that I don’t want to put in a cocktail.
These releases from New Riff will vary from location to location as they’re largely reserved for retailers. The juice in the bottle is New Riff’s standard bourbon mash of 65 percent corn, 30 percent rye, and five percent malted barley. The spirit is aged for four years before they’re bottled individually without cutting or filtration.
Tasting Notes:
The nose on these tends to be soft, kind of like freshly baked rye bread, with notes of eggnog spices, slick vanilla flan, thin caramel sauce, and hints of spicy orange zest. The palate amps everything up as the orange peel becomes candied and attaches to a moist holiday cake, dried cranberry and cherry, more dark spice, a touch of nuttiness, and plenty of that vanilla. The end takes its time as the whole thing comes together like a rich and boozy fruit cake as little notes of leather and tobacco spice keep things interesting on the slow fade.
Bottom Line:
Try this one neat, preferably in a Glencairn, and take your time. Add some water and let the whiskey bloom in the glass. Dig in and enjoy the nuance. Then make one of the best Manhattans ever with it.
Jimmy and Eddie Russell hand-select these barrels from their vast warehouses for just the right bourbon flavor. The juice is bottled with almost no water added to bring it down to proof, making this a really close-to-barrel proof single barrel.
Tasting Notes:
You’re met with creamy depths of vanilla next to pound cake, spicy tobacco, sweet oak, and a clear hit of orange oil. That vanilla really amps up as hints of rose water-forward marzipan lead towards cedar, more vanilla, and a dash of Christmas spices. When you add water, a really deep dark chocolate smoothness arrives with a more nutty almond that’s reminiscent of an Almond Joy straight from a special candy shop.
Bottom Line:
This is just classic from top to bottom. It’s incredibly easy to sip while offering deep flavor rewards. Add a rock or two and enjoy this one as-is.
This starts off as classic Maker’s 46 — that’s a wheated bourbon made in very small batches that’s then finished with French oak staves in the barrel for a final, short maturation. This version takes the honey barrels from that program and releases a limited edition Cask Strength version that doesn’t get cut down with Kentucky’s famous limestone water.
Tasting Notes:
Based on 2021’s release, expect a nose full of classic bourbon notes of cinnamon, Graham crackers, dark chocolate powder, vanilla beans, pine kindling, and a hint of marshmallow that’s just been touched by fire. The palate leans into the hotness of the cinnamon but is tempered by vanilla cream pie filling, honey-nut Cheerios, a light leather, and more of that dry pine. The end builds with that cinnamon heat towards a crescendo of honey-laced tobacco in a cedar box with a hint of dark chocolate-covered espresso beans.
Bottom Line:
While this is pretty hard to come by, it’s worth the effort. It’s like Maker’s Mark turned up to eleven, yet so nuanced. It is a little hot, so I tend to pour it over a rock.
This is the bigger and bolder sibling of Rowan’s Creek bourbon, which is also made at the famed Willett Distillery. Simply put, it’s the same small-batch juice that’s not proofed down as much.
Tasting Notes:
Maple syrup-covered walnuts greet you with a sense of dark dried cherries and a hint of rose water next to old leather books and holiday spices. The taste holds onto those notes while adding in a stewed plum depth with a whisper of caramel apple and orange oils. The vanilla and sweet oak kick in late with a rich depth and well-rounded lightness to the sip fades towards lush cherry tobacco, soft leather, and winter spice matrix tied to prunes and dates.
Bottom Line:
This might well become your new go-to. It’s classic but unique. It’s so well built that it tastes like sipping velvet. This really is one of the best sippers around, especially at this price point.
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.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a roundness to this sip that’s enticing. The nose is a classic mix of bold vanilla, baking spice, oak, and fruity sweetness. That fruit edges towards dark berries with notes of worn leather, aged oakiness, and a sweet and rose-water-forward marzipan nuttiness shining through. The end lasts a while on your palate and in your senses, leaving you warmed up and wanting more.
Bottom Line:
This is so easy to drink neat or on the rocks. It’s soft and engaging while feeling like everything you want from a classic bourbon pour. It’s also a single barrel, which helps it edge out Noah’s Mill above.
Alternate broadcasts have become increasingly popular in recent years as broadcast networks have come to realize that they can reach more fans by presenting various viewpoints of big games. ESPN has seen success with their College Football Megacast for the national championship game, and brought that to the NFL this past season to great fanfare with the Manningcast that was an undeniable success for Monday Night Football.
The Manningcast in particular has seemingly led many to consider what kinds of opportunities exist for that kind of casual broadcast experience in other sports — with ESPN tabbing the Mannings to help them find talent to run similar alt broadcasts on their other sports. For the NBA, Charles Barkley is undoubtedly the name that most point to as the person they would be most interested in a Manningcast type role, and it seems TNT is ready to give that a try at the NBA All-Star Game by having Barkley and their Inside the NBA crew doing an alternate broadcast of Sunday night’s game in Cleveland on TBS.
This year’s All-Star experience will also include “Inside the All-Star Game,” innovative all-access coverage on TBS, including the Sports Emmy Award-winning studio team of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, as they engage and entertain fans throughout the evening. They will be joined by current NBA All-Star Draymond Green and other All-Stars throughout the telecast.
TBS’ all-access NBA All-Star Game presentation will also include NBA All-Stars Stephen Curry, Donovan Mitchell, and Ja Morant among the players, both coaches and referee crew chief wearing mics throughout the entire game, allowing an opportunity to listen in live at any moment during the telecast. Coverage will also include locker room access and other behind-the-scenes capabilities, bringing fans closer to the game than ever before.
It’s going to be fascinating to see how this works out, but it’s hard to imagine it not being highly entertaining, particularly given the laid back nature of the game allows them to talk to guys from the bench who are actually participating in the event. Adding the mic’d up elements will also offer them other ways to bring a unique sound to the game, and it figures to be a fun time (and a nice trial run to see if this may be a format to consider for big playoff games on TNT in the future).
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