Conspiracy monger Alex Jones is in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings after getting slapped with over a billion dollar in lawsuit damages for spreading lies about the Sandy Hook school shooting. However, Jones isn’t ducking the massive court bill that easily. There are justifiable concerns about how he can be bankrupt when he reportedly spends at least $100,000 a month and has $10 million in assets.
While investigating his spending, the Department of Justice reportedly noted that Jones spent $2,000 on a cat named Mushu, and the fiery Infowars host did not take the government’s interest in the cat well. Jones fired off a video to his legion of followers accusing the DOJ of trying to take the cat and equated the whole thing to child sacrifice.
“They spent probably five minutes of the meeting that was over 3 hours long, on my cat. They wanted to know if assets were hidden in the cat,” Jones ranted in the video below:
Alex Jones tonight says that DOJ appeared at his bankruptcy hearing today and told the court that they believed Alex bought this cat to hide some of his cash, and says they want to seize his cat for the Sandy Hook families. pic.twitter.com/vG9q5BponZ
Jones admitted the cat cost $2,000 but “we really do love it” and the DOJ was “very serious about the cat and its value and they may want the cat for Sandy Hook families.” Jones described the DOJ’s questioning over the cat as “harassment” and said “the deal’s broke, you aren’t getting the cat. This is next level.” Jones questioned: “What? You want my children next? You want to sacrifice my children or something?” Jones alleged the DOJ were questioning him over the value of the cat “to stir me up. It makes me really upset for this country.”
A defiant Jones ended his rant with a warning to the DOJ. “The line in the sand is, you cannot have my cat,” he said in what could become the spark for the next January 6. Or not, but definitely something to keep an eye on.
Lana Del Rey’s dad Rob Grant made a bit of a splash yesterday when word got out about his upcoming debut album, Lost At Sea (which features his daughter and production from Jack Antonoff). That’s set to drop in June, but now, we have Grant’s debut single, “Setting Sail On A Distant Horizon.”
The song is a tranquil, instrumental piano composition and Grant said of it in a statement:
“‘Setting Sail’ is a piano piece that I composed about the happiness and freedom I felt as I would set sail out of Newport, RI in my 25 foot sloop ‘Erewhon,’ heading out to the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. The piano begins slowly and then builds as the sails fill with wind, and the boat begins to heal, leaning into the heavy Atlantic swells. The piano carries you forward as the sloop gains speed, catching more wind, bound for the distant horizon.”
As press materials note, Grant has done a lot of different things in his life before music: “He’s been a Mad Man on Madison Avenue, writing copy for ad campaigns. A Restaurateur in Newport, RI. Establisher of a rustic furniture business in upstate New York. A boat builder. A real estate broker. A web domain collector. And a keen shark fisherman (he always puts them back).”
Listen to “Setting Sail On A Distant Horizon” above.
Lost At Sea is out 6/9 via Decca Records. Pre-order it here.
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.
Karol G is cruising toward a brighter tomorrow with her new album Mañana Será Bonito. After having conquered the reggaeton music scene, the Colombian singer is flexing her Latin pop star appeal with collaborators like Shakira, Sean Paul, and Romeo Santos.
With Karol G’s last album, 2020’s KG0516, she created her empowering “Bichota” persona to make her mark in the male-dominated reggaeton genre. Thanks to that “woman boss” spirit, Karol G had her breakthrough moment. Last year, she embarked on the Strip Love Tour, where she sold out arenas across the US. Karol G also scored the global hits “Provenza” and “Mamiii” with Becky G that led to her being named the most-streamed female Latin artist on Spotify in 2022.
Despite always trying to upkeep her tough “Bichota” exterior, in new album, Karol G reveals that she went through a “dark moment” at the height of her success. Mañana Será Bonito, which translates to “Tomorrow Will Be Beautiful” in English, allowed her to channel her emotions into a cathartic LP. She has come out on the other side smiling and wanting to transmit that feel-good vibe to her fans.
“There are songs for everyone,” Karol G said about her album. “There’s a song for people in love, if you have a broken heart, if you’re feeling crazy, or if you want to party with perreo. With everything that’s happening, I want to enjoy the present with my music and remember that tomorrow everything will be great. Tomorrow will be beautiful.”
Over Zoom, Karol G talked with Uproxx about her most personal LP, fulfilling her dream of working with Shakira, and what’s coming next in our latest Q&A.
Your first album, 2018’s Unstoppable, was stamped with the message #GirlPower. How do you feel to have proudly represented that in the reggaeton music scene?
That #GirlPower was the sign that I put for myself to be like, “Hey, you’re going to need this to be somebody in this industry because it’s going to be hard.” But now is when I really realize what girl power is, and it became the “Bichota” power. It’s been a process. That strength has been something I’ve been earning with experience, with my music, and with my work. It’s not something that I was born with. It was born in the moment when I told myself, “This is what I want to do and I don’t care.” But I’ve withstood a lot of blows and things like that, and that’s what really made me the woman with girl power that I am today.
In addition to empowering women with your music, you also have a big LGBTQ+ fan base. How do you feel to see your music connecting with queer people as well?
I feel like it’s something that came very naturally. My best friend, his name is Daiky [Gamboa], and he’s gay. He’s taught me a lot. Let’s say that he’s put me into a lot of different worlds that I feel a part of now. From him I learned about RuPaul and his show Drag Race, which I love and I’ve watched all of it thanks to him. I feel like having [Daiky] by my side has been very important for me to maintain that inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community. Above all, to be able to support them and inspire them, it makes me so happy. It makes me happy that they feel happy with my music and that they feel represented in a way with what I do. They have a love that’s very loyal and devoted. As an artist, it’s a connection that’s become very personal for me, so I’m very grateful to count on having the LGBTQ+ community by my side.
Why did you decide to name your new album Mañana Será Bonito?
It’s a very personal album. It was made at a moment in my life where there were incredible things happening, but I was experiencing internal turmoil and destruction that was very strong and very strange for me. I had a very dark moment in my life where the only thing I could do was turn to my family and my friends. I understood after that life wanted to show me that what I should value the most is having my family and my friends by my side. That was a very hard and difficult process to go through. I was disappointed by what was happening to me. It was a blow in many ways to my personal life. I always have a phrase that I repeat to myself when things are going wrong: “It doesn’t matter. We’re going to get through this. Tomorrow will be another day. Tomorrow will be beautiful. Tomorrow is going to be great.”
I started this album writing very dark songs. Very sad songs. Talking literally about all of the sadness that I had while trying to be strong in front of the world because I didn’t want people to see that vulnerable side of myself. From one moment to the next, I wrote songs that were happier. I could write songs about love again finally. I was very hard on myself during that process, having that “Bichota” brand where I couldn’t feel bad or sad. I always had to be strong. I had to recognize that I can be very strong being “La Bichota,” but I’m also human and I get hurt too.
Shakira previously collaborated with Beyoncé and Rihanna and now she’s collaborating with you in “TQG (Te Quedó Grande).” What do you think about that?
That sounds super crazy! I realized that when I was with her filming the music video because I didn’t remember that the only two girls she recorded with were Beyoncé and Rihanna. And then years later with Karol G! I was like, “Oh my God! This is not just any other singer.” She’s a legend. She is someone who has made the name of our country [Colombia] global. I was very nervous to shoot this video because I really wanted to do my best to push myself to the limit and be someone that she could feel proud to collaborate with. To study the choreography with her, to learn it with her, and have that closeness with her because of this song. It’s not a normal collaboration because everything about this is above and beyond. From the meaning of the song’s lyrics, the meaning and feeling of the video, it’s extremely special. I believe this is going to be the next level in female collaborations.
What was Shakira like in person when you were shooting the video?
She was very sweet! All the photos we have together, we are literally laughing. There was a lot of pressure days before to shoot this video. I was super afraid of how the vibe and energy would be like, but when we were on set, it was incredible. We had a great time. We helped each other a lot. We had a lot of admiration for each other. When she was filming, I was there. When I was filming, she was there. We were cheering each other on. Everything has been special.
Another big artist you worked with on this album was Romeo Santos. What was the experience like working on “X Si Volvemos” with him?
If you’ve heard Romeo Santos’ first reggaeton songs, they were, as he says, “So nasty!” Those songs didn’t have any filters in saying things. They were very nonchalant talking about sexuality and intimacy. One day I was hearing “Noche De Sexo” by him, and I thought, “He’s the person that I need for my song!” I called him and I showed him the song. He loved the song. He recorded the song. I believe that’s going to be one of people’s favorite songs. I like having him on the song because I feel like putting Romeo on it is like bringing back that “nasty” old school reggaeton.
You also collaborated with Sean Paul in “Kármika.” How did that song come together?
I met Sean Paul like 4 or 5 years ago in Jamaica. I have the pleasure of saying that I got to know Sean Paul in Jamaica at his home. I got acquainted with his studio and we had always said that we were going to collaborate. I had that song “Kármika.” I don’t know why the song sounded good to me to think that he would be great on it. I invited him to the song.
I’m a big fan of urbano music by women. I really like the women in the genre. I’m always looking out for new artists who are coming up and that made me a big fan of Bad Gyal. I saw an interview where she said one of her biggest dreams was to record with Sean Paul. I had this song with Sean Paul and I thought she could fit well on it. It was a moment for me where I could complete a checklist of goals. Sean Paul. Check! A song with Bad Gyal that I also wanted to do. Check! Fulfill Bad Gyal’s dream of recording with Sean Paul. Check! It’s a song that means a lot to me. She went crazy when I said that we would record the song with Sean Paul, that it would be the three of us.
What was the experience like to explore the dembow genre with Angel Dior in “Ojos Ferrari”?
This song was born in a moment when I was super single. I was like, “I want to party! I want to drink!” When we made the song, it gave me a vibe of going to the Dominican Republic to dance to this song. I wanted to put an artist from there on this song and dance. I’m crazy about Angel Dior. I like the music of the Dominican Republic a lot. I really like the artists from there who I believe are making incredible music. Angel Dior, I don’t know why in that moment, I was connected with him. I sent him the song and he recorded it, and I think it came out spectacularly.
What do you want accomplish next?
This year, I want to take things more easy. The last two years I was touring and making music by the ton to make this album. I didn’t have an obligation to make this album. I wanted people to have new music from me. I want my music to accompany people in any moment that they’re going through. Making this album helped me get through a lot of things. This year, I want to dedicate myself to other things, obviously connected to what I do. I want to study more. I want to learn more. I want to evolve as a woman in other aspects of my life. Let’s see what happens. I’m going with the flow.
Does that mean you’re taking a break from touring this year?
We’re doing three shows at the Coliseo in Puerto Rico [in March]. That’s like the opening to a tour of stadiums this year, starting with Puerto Rico. I feel like I need to take a pause. An intention of mine is take this opportunity to give my fans the best of me on my next tour. Something that they’ve never seen before. Different things. Next-level things. This year, I have like 10 shows all year. The tour will definitely be in 2024.
Mañana Será Bonito is out now via Universal Music Latino. Listen to it here.
People love to complain about how things were better Back In The Day, but that’s not always true. For instance, I’m glad no one says “TGIF” anymore. Instead, everyone celebrates the best day of the work week by singing “Friday Night” from Netflix‘s I Think You Should Leave. It’s a vast improvement.
OK, maybe not everyone, but definitely CBS 58 Morning News anchor Mike Curkov. He used the ode to riding shotgun in your car (with a “Honk If You’re Horny” bumper sticker, obviously) as part of today’s broadcast. “FRI. DAY. NIGHT: The @CBS58 Morning News has always been a place we can be who we are. We can be who we are. @ITYSL_memes Have a great weekend!” he tweeted, tagging a wonderful I Think You Should Leave fan account.
Imagine how confusing this must have been for the fine folks of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where CBS 58 broadcasts from, who don’t watch I Think You Should Leave. They’re having their morning coffee, or whatever, when suddenly, out of nowhere, Tim Robinson starts singing about driving through the city like explorers going sixty-five. I love it. They should do “The Bones Are Their Money” next.
He’s living the life, so much so that it appears he hasn’t had fast food in literal decades. At least it seems like that’s what admitted in his new interview on Zane Lowe’s Apple Music.
“When I was 19 I moved to Miami and my mom is a chef and she was very happy for the move because New Orleans is crazy. One thing she really wanted me to do was get a personal chef,” he said. “So from the age of 19 to now, I’ve always had a personal chef. I haven’t eaten any fast food forever. I don’t know what McDonald’s smell like. Only Gyms I know is Jim Jones. I can’t lift a weight. I don’t do no workout.”
Meanwhile NLE Choppa recently sang Lil Wayne’s praises and gave him flowers. “I feel like accolades never define the artist,” he said to the iconic rapper. “Personally, I feel like you supposed to have way more accolades coming your way. You should be to a point in time to where you just receiving accolades. I think it was a few days ago, you won an award. So, I just wanted to present my own accolade, physically giving you flowers and a note to let you know how much you inspired me and impacted my life. I have a skateboard too that I signed. I know you like to skateboard.”
Picking the best 20-year-old Scotch whisky off the shelf is a nervy task. You’re devoting serious money to one single bottle of whisky. And if you don’t dig it… well, you’re stuck with a bottle that set you back hundreds (maybe even thousands) of dollars. Ouch.
Point being, buying old and expensive Scotch whisky isn’t something to take lightly. You need to be informed about what you’re investing in. To help you navigate that thorny world, I’m going to blindly taste eight expensive expressions and rank each bottle. Hopefully, this info helps the next time you venture beyond the locked glass at the liquor store.
PART I — Methodology
I grabbed eight bottles of the good stuff off my shelf with one parameter: It had to be between 20 and 29 years old. No 19-year-old bottles sneaking it. No 30-year-old ringers. Just the 20s — the age where single malt Scotch whisky hits a serious sweet spot. That put the price range between $250 and (gulp) $1,000 per bottle — definitely a range where some expert opinion is necessary before you swipe that debit card at checkout.
Our lineup today is the following bottles:
Bowmore Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aston Martin Masters’ Selection Aged 22 Years
The Glenlivet Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 21 Years
Mortlach Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged for 20 Years
Ardbeg 25 Years Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
The GlenAllachie Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 21 Years
Glenfiddich Grand Cru Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 23 Years
The GlenDronach Grandeur Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 28 Years
Glengoyne Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 21 Years
When it comes to ranking these bottles, I’m going to split some minuscule hairs and rank these based on the best flavor alone, because these are all well-made whiskies with deep pedigrees. When I say “best,” I mean what has the most depth, what takes me on a journey, and what is the most pleasant whisky experience. All of our palates are at different places, so read through those tasting notes and find something that feels right for you or that entices you to new heights. Then click those price links to see if you can get a bottle in your neighborhood.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Scotch Whisky Posts of The Last Six Months
Nose: Gently smoked cherries and smoked orange come through on the nose with a mild sense of smudging sage ash next to bourbon vanilla and apple fritters with a soft powdered sugar glaze.
Palate: That sweetness presents on the palate with a smoke chocolate powder vibe next to spiced malts, singed vanilla husks, and more of those smoked cherries but this time they have a twinge of tartness with a pinch of salt.
Finish: The finish combines the tart yet salty smoked cherries with the dark chocolate next to a deep sense of oak and spicy malts.
Initial Thoughts:
This is flashy and delicious. It’s almost daring you not to like it by pressing the peatiness toward burnt fruit but just pulling back and allowing the sweetness, tartness, and salinity to drive the nose and taste. In short, this is fun, engaging whisky.
Taste 2
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Leather and winter spices lead the way on the nose with a hint of saffron-stewed pears, ripe peaches, and lush eggnog next to boiled beans with a bay leaf.
Palate: The palate leans into the peaches and pears but puts them in a pie with plenty of cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg next to apricot jam and rum-raisin.
Finish: The mid-palate hits a pine resin note before descending toward brandied cherries and dark chocolate with fresh ginger sharpens and a dash of cinnamon-vanilla candy.
Initial Thoughts:
This is smooooooth. It’s like drinking Christmas with a side of orchard fruit (in the best way). There are no rough edges, which almost makes it too smooth as it kind of disappears as soon as you finish the sip.
Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Freshly baked apple pie with cinnamon bark and nutmeg lead to black raisins, fatty walnuts, grilled pineapple, and sea-salt-infused dark cacao sauce with a hint of vanilla and pear on the nose.
Palate: The palate leans into the lard pie crust under that apple pie with a hint of powdered sugar icing next to mint chocolate chip, old vanilla pods, and banana’s foster with a smidge of clove and allspice thrown in.
Finish: There’s a light sense of caramel malts on the end that leads to a walnut cake full of raisins and cinnamon with a buttery vibe next to a savory note that’s part green herbs and part extra virgin olive oil.
Initial Thoughts:
This is mind-blowing. It’s so deep yet welcoming. It takes you on a journey. It almost feels like you’re looking at a masterpiece painting in liquid form that dances around your senses.
Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Heavy cream, smoked toffee, lemon pith, and ashes from last night’s campfire open this one up on the nose before veering toward soft sea-filled air, a touch of muddy bog, and old shovel handles from a well-worked farm.
Palate: On the palate, there’s this deep sense of potting soil that’s still in the plastic from the garden shop next to uncooked smoked bacon rashers with plenty of black pepper and a slightly sour edge leading back to that heavy cream and smoked toffee by the mid-palate.
Finish: Finally, hefty/spicy packed tobacco chewiness brings about a full-on head buzz — it’s a wild sensation.
Initial Thoughts:
This is so far on the other side of the spectrum from the last sip. This grabs you by the scruff of your neck and throws you into the deep end of an inky sea full of falling burnt forests. It’s wild. It’s grandiose. And I kind of love it. But this is clearly not for everyone. The palate is like a 6’9″ bouncer intimidating people at the door to the coolest club in the town.
Taste 5
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a note of tannic old oak and grapefruit pith when you nose this dram that leads towards honeyed chocolate truffles with a touch of cinnamon and orange.
Palate: The palate goes full Christmas cake with plenty of dried nuts, candied and dried fruits, rich wintry spice, and a touch of chocolate maltiness next to candied ginger, more orange, and a note of golden corn syrup.
Finish: That sweetness attaches to the fruit and spice to create a stewed plum vibe on the finish that luxuriates in mild spice, sweet and meaty stone fruit, and a touch more of that chocolate.
Initial Thoughts:
This feels old but not really all that much else. There’s a pretty nice (read: standard) flavor profile but it’s not leaping out at me.
Taste 6
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is straight-up classic malt on the nose with stewed apples and pears with a slight tartness and floral impression over a buttery brioche with a hint of maple woodiness.
Palate: The palate is lush and supple with a vanilla foundation and layers of pear candy, old toffees, creamed honey, and orchard wood with a sweet side.
Finish: The end has a pear and apple skin ambiance leading to barks, cores, and stems with soft floral honey and a bit of proofing water.
Initial Thoughts:
This is smooth in all the right ways. It’s almost simple but so bright in every single soft note it plays that you just want more. This proves that less is so much more — when executed perfectly.
Taste 7
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a sense of black-tea-soaked dates blended with Saigon cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg next to blackstrap molasses, walnut cake, old oak staves soaked in floral honey, moist marzipan laced with orange oils and dipped in salted dark chocolate, and a little twinge of bourbon vanilla cherries.
Palate: The palate pops with dark cherry cordial on the palate next to stewed plums with anise and clove, old leather tobacco pouches, and a touch of creamy espresso.
Finish: The end is a mix of dark chocolate and brandy-soaked cherries next to spent oolong tea leaves, walnut shells, and salted black licorice with a whisper of spiced caramel malts.
Initial Thoughts:
This is bold as a motherf*cker. It slaps you on the palate with dark, deep, and funky flavor notes that don’t let up. Then it goes soft and cuddly with a deepness that’s damn near unparalleled.
Taste 8
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose pops with butterscotch, red apples, and mild nuttiness next to spicy malts, sticky toffee pudding, and a hint of old oakiness.
Palate: Spiced raisin and nut cakes mingle with cinnamon bark and clove buds as a rich honey creaminess leads back to some creamy nuttiness and a hint of chocolate powder.
Finish: Rum-soaked raisins and spiced malts drive the finish toward more cinnamon bark and a fleeting sense of vanilla.
Initial Thoughts:
This was fine but felt a little middle of the road, especially compared to some of the big swings the blenders took with other expressions on this list.
Part 2: The Ranking
Zach Johnston
8. Glengoyne Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 21 Years — Taste 8
This whisky starts with air-dried unpeated barley. The mash then goes through the “slowest” still in Scotland. The hot juice from those stills is loaded into used sherry casks for a long rest before batching, proofing, and bottling.
Glenallachie’s Master Distiller Billy Walker hand-selected just five casks for this release. The barrels were ex-Pedro Ximenez and Oloroso sherry puncheons (a large barrel that’s around 100 gallons, give or take). Those whiskies were vatted and bottled as-is.
This redesigned The Glenlivet is still a classic whisky. The hot juice is aged in a triple combination of first-fill Oloroso sherry, Troncais oak Cognac casks, and vintage Colheita Port casks. After 21 long years (at least), the barrels are vatted and proofed down before bottling.
Bottom Line:
This is a great whisky if you don’t want to be challenged at all. It’s perfectly balanced and so soft that it damn near disappears once you sip it.
5. Ardbeg 25 Years Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky — Taste 4
This expression from Ardbeg is also their oldest expression (as of their current lineup). The whisky is the epitome of peat on Islay. What makes this expression so special and extremely rare is that it was distilled and casked when Ardbeg was on its knees as a company, in the early 1990s. They simply weren’t making that much whisky back then and there’s hardly any of it left. That makes this a one-and-gone whisky with only 278 bottles, 90 of which were sent to the U.S.
Bottom Line:
This is the opposite side of that spectrum. This is the bottle that you buy when you want to be challenged on every level of your senses and palate. But the reward is so deep and grand that I think it’s worth it. Maybe try a dram at your local whisky bar before you commit to a whole bottle.
4. Glenfiddich Grand Cru Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 23 Years — Taste 6
It’s all in the name of this yearly special release from Glenfiddich. The whisky in the bottle matures for over 23 years in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks before it’s vatted and then filled into French Cuvée casks that held Champagne. That whisky is then cut down to proof and bottled just in time for the holiday season.
Bottom Line:
This is quintessential great Scotch whisky. It’s deep, engaging, and delicious through and through. There are zero faults. It’s just classic though and that’s why it’s a little lower on this list. I didn’t feel any excitement drinking this one, just satisfaction.
3. The GlenDronach Grandeur Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 28 Years — Taste 7
The GlenDronach Grandeur Batch 11 was created by Dr. Rachel Barrie (who also created the BenRiach above). Dr. Barrie hand-selected a tiny number of rare Pedro Ximénez and oloroso Sherry casks that were filled with The GlenDronach malt almost 30 years ago. Those barrels were vatted and bottled with a touch of water into just over 3,000 bottles.
Bottom Line:
This was exciting. It felt new and fresh with a hardcore depth that was fascinating and alluring. This is the bottle you buy and sip when you want to push your palate to new heights.
2. Bowmore Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aston Martin Masters’ Selection Aged 22 Years — Taste 1
This is the next step in the much-lauded high-end Aston Martin series from Bowmore. The whisky is batched from special barrels of Bowmore’s famed barely-peated whisky into a final product that’s refined and just kissed with that iconic Islay spring water.
Bottom Line:
This is a delicious whisky. It has a slight gimmick with the Aston Martin tie-in. But that’s washed away when you actually taste how good this stuff is. It’s a perfectly balanced low-peat malt that delivers on every level, making it a great whisky for any fan of Islay who doesn’t need a peat monster on their cart.
1. Mortlach Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged for 20 Years — Taste 3
Dufftown’s Mortlach is one of those distilleries that may just make you fall in love with scotch. The mash is distilled 2.81 times, according to Mortlach’s unique distilling methods. That juice is then loaded in sherry casks and left to do its thing for 20 long years. The results are vatted, brought down to proof with that soft Speyside water, and bottled.
Bottom Line:
This whisky is next level in every way. It’s balanced yet nuanced; deep yet welcoming. This is the whisky you buy and enjoy to go from whisky fan to whisky expert.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
This was a hell of a lineup. The only two whiskies I’d skip on this list are the last two on the ranking. There are simply better whiskies at lower prices.
Glengoyne and The GlenAllachie fans right now…
ABC
The top six are all worth your time and money. If you want to up your peat game without overblowing your palate, then the Bowmore 22 is the play. If you simply want an amazing whisky that works on every level and will take you somewhere new, then you have to go with the Mortlach. It’s a perfect whisky (and not that expensive).
The Rundown is a weekly column that highlights some of the biggest, weirdest, and most notable events of the week in entertainment. The number of items could vary, as could the subject matter. It will not always make a ton of sense. Some items might not even be about entertainment, to be honest, or from this week. The important thing is that it’s Friday, and we are here to have some fun.
ITEM NUMBER ONE – LOOK AT THIS
I’ll tell you who is doing great right now: Margo Martindale. She’s doing so great. She’s been doing great for a while, to be fair, and you can go ahead and rewatch The Americans and her season of Justified and her appearances as herself (Character Actress Margo Martindale) on BoJack Horseman if you need that refreshed or just, like, want to watch her do battle with Timothy Olyphant in a Kentucky holler. You don’t even need an excuse to do that. You can stay up all night tonight and binge it if you want. You have that option.
But she’s just suuuuper killing it now. Start with the most pressing: she’s in Cocaine Bear, the movie about a bear that goes on a murderous rampage after eating a bunch of cocaine. That’s cool. She seems legitimately excited about it, too, which is also cool. Here’s what she said about it to EW:
“I never thought at age 70 I would be doing an action movie, but I guess I did!” Martindale tells EW, with great glee.
In director Elizabeth Banks’ movie, the actress plays a forest ranger named Liz whose day takes a very unexpected turn when she crosses paths with a bear who has ingested a large quantity of cocaine.
I guess I only needed the first paragraph of the blockquote. That second paragraph is pretty fun, though. Go up to a stranger this weekend and say it to their face. Feel free to replace “the actress” with her name if you want. Or don’t. Get as weird as you want out there. You deserve to have a little fun.
Speaking of things that are fun, guess what else Margo Martindale is going to be in this year? Did you say “a limited television series about the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist”? Because that would have been a really good guess. Because she’s going to be in that, too. It’s called The Sticky and I am already obsessed with it, in large part because I have been obsessed with the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist for many years now. But this does look good on paper.
“The Sticky revolves around Ruth Clarke (Martindale), a tough, supremely competent middle-aged Canadian maple syrup farmer who’s had it with being hemmed in by the polite, bureaucratic conventions native to her country’s identity. Especially now that that very bureaucracy is threatening to take away everything she loves: Her farm, her comatose husband, and her right to freedom. With the help of Remy Bouchard, a local blockhead and Mike Byrne (Chris Diamantopoulos), a low-level mobster, Ruth changes her fate—and transforms the future of her community with the theft of millions of dollars’ worth of maple syrup.”
So, we’ve got a movie about a murderous bear on a coke-fueled rampage and a television series about a multimillion-dollar theft of maple syrup. That’s a great start. And it gets even better. Because she’s also going to be in a show from Leftovers creator Damon Lindelof where Betty Gilpin plays a nun who does battle against computers.
Mrs. Davis is described as an exploration of faith versus technology — an epic battle of biblical and binary proportions. Gilpin will play a nun who goes to battle against an all-powerful Artificial Intelligence.
I don’t think I even know what that means but I kind of love it. It reads almost like “what if The Matrix starred a nun played by Betty Gilpin,” which, in hindsight, is something we should have gotten to long before 2023. I am both proud of and disappointed in all of us.
Well, not all of us. Again, Margo Martindale is doing pretty great. Bears on cocaine, large-scale thefts of breakfast condiments, nuns battling the algorithm, just an incredible run of projects. Any actor would be lucky to hit a fun trifecta like that at any point in their career, but it’s even more impressive because there just are not that many juicy roles out there for actresses over 70. The degree of difficulty here was off the charts. I am really happy for Margo Martindale.
I’m happy for me, too, because I get to watch all of these soon.
I am happy for me and Margo Martindale.
ITEM NUMBER TWO – Hey, let’s check in with the cast of Successi-… oh my
hbo
Background first, briefly: You remember that New Yorker profile of Succession star Jeremy Strong from a few years ago, right? The one where he talked about his devotion to Method acting and staying in character off-screen? The one that made a lot of people, including some of his co-stars, roll their eyes a little bit? Click on a bunch of those links if you don’t. It’s a ride.
Anyway, it’s all still going. Succession is back next month — for a… gulp… final season — and the stars are out talking to various publications about various things. Brian Cox, who plays Roy family patriarch Logan and has never once bitten his tongue about anything, was profiled by Town & Country magazine for some reason, and after describing the process of Method acting as “annoying,” there was… well, this paragraph.
In the confessional scene, played out on a dusty Italian cul-de-sac, Kendall is a mess. Cox says he thinks Strong played the moment extremely well, but he was, again, surprised that he wouldn’t break out of character once it wrapped. “He’s still that guy, because he feels if he went somewhere else he’d lose it. But he won’t! Strong is talented. He’s fucking gifted. When you’ve got the gift, celebrate the gift. Go back to your trailer and have a hit of marijuana, you know?
This is great for a lot of reasons. It’s great because you can hear him saying it exactly like that in exactly his voice with very little effort. It’s great because I think he really thinks it was a compliment. But mostly it’s great because I don’t think anyone but Brian Cox and narcs from Saturday morning television shows in the 1990s have ever used the phrase “have a hit of marijuana.” I read it a few days ago and I just have not been able to get over it. “Have a hit of marijuana.” What are we doing here? Say it out loud right now. It doesn’t even feel like the words are supposed to go together.
Strong, for his part, seems to be taking this all in stride, or at least as much as one can take “your older and more cantankerous co-star thinks you need to chill out and is telling anyone with a microphone or notepad about it” in stride. Here’s what he said about the whole thing in his own profile this week.
“I also think Brian Cox, for example, he’s earned the right to say whatever the f**k he wants. There was no need to address that or do damage control… I feel a lot of love for my siblings and my father on the show. And it is like a family in the sense that — and I’m sure they would say this, too — you don’t always like the people that you love. I do always respect them.”
So… that set sounds like fun! I guess. I don’t know. I just hope my sweet boy Cousin Greg is happy. Yes, I know he is played by a real person with a real name. Maybe I’m a little Method in my process, too. Leave me alone.
ITEM NUMBER THREE – Here’s a good tweet about soup
HBO
Henry Winkler is a sweet man. Everyone knows this. It’s been the case forever. He was a sweet man when I talked to him a while ago and rambled at him about how I think he should do a fishing show. He does not have to be like this. He was The Fonz. He could be pompous or cranky or any number of things. But he’s not. He’s a delight. He’s that way on Twitter, too. Look at this freaking guy.
I love him so much. I can’t wait for him to go on his fishing trip this year. There’s really nothing quite like scrolling through mountains of negative and cynical tweets about the news of the day and then…
It is legitimately one of my favorite things on the internet. I hope he starts posting pictures of himself with soup next. I promise I am not joking.
ITEM NUMBER FOUR – This is journalism to me
HBO
Here’s the short version: Ed Harris, the actor you know from about 100 different things but mostly for playing gruff military-types, appears to have had a quote misattributed to him by the New Jersey Hall of Fame. That’s already fun but it gets better when you see the quote, as discovered and investigated in thorough and delightful detail by Dan McQuade at Defector.
According to a quote that the New Jersey Hall of Fame attributed to Harris, which is printed on a pillar at the rest stop now named after Jon Bon Jovi, Harris says that acting is just like scoring a touchdown. I am not paraphrasing. The quote reads: “Acting is like scoring a touchdown.” The Parkway rest stop, formerly known as the Cheesequake Rest Area, is now one giant ad for the New Jersey Hall of Fame, and its members are celebrated on its walls. All of them have some sort of quote attributed to them. Harris’s is as simple as it is confounding.
Acting is like scoring a touchdown.
Read that again.
One more time.
Anyway, Dan figured out what happened. I really recommend you go read the whole thing. It turns out there are other misattributed and mangled quotes in there, too. You need to see the banners these quotes are printed on. It’s very, very funny. But yes, resolution.
I will spoil it: Ed Harris did not actually say, “Acting is like scoring a touchdown.” His publicist was incredibly helpful with my silly inquiry, and while Harris had been out of town, she got in touch with him. He confirmed that the quote was a mangling of his words.
“I said at one point, when I was deciding what to do with my life, having realized my athletic career was over with,” Harris told Defector via email, “and having seen a wonderful actor at the [Oklahoma University] summer theater and the people applauding and cheering for his performance, I thought to myself: ‘Maybe I could do that… acting—and have people applaud like when I scored touchdowns.’”
In a way, when something like this happens, for me at least, blogging is like scoring a touchdown, too. I just spiked my mouse.
ITEM NUMBER FIVE – Congrats to the collection of maniacs who paraded through Mardi Gras dressed like Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus
HBO
This is Mardi Gras week in New Orleans. Other places, too, I guess, but who cares? We focus on the important things here. Sometimes. Whatever. I just wanted to tell you about the collection of maniacs who dressed up as Jennifer Coolidge’s character from The White Lotus and then paraded around the French Quarter. My colleague Mike Redmond wrote up a blog about the local news story and I really must insist you keep clicking through until you see the video. But Mike explained it pretty well, too.
“We love Jennifer Coolidge and we know she’s like a local celebrity and we wanted to pay homage to our great success over the past few years,” a member of the Krewe told Robin. “This is just our way of saying, ‘We love you, Jennifer, and we wish you were out here with us.’ Happy Mardi Gras!”
“We just walk down to Bourbon Street and everyone loves the costumes and we just have a good time,” another Krewe member explained. “It’s Coolidge all the way.” From there, the interview was mostly lots of hooting, hollering, and uh, jiggling. These folks were having a good time, okay.
Okay, fine, I will post a TikTok of these maniacs.
This is just really very good. No notes from me. Moving along.
READER MAIL
If you have questions about television, movies, food, local news, weather, or whatever you want, shoot them to me on Twitter or at [email protected] (put “RUNDOWN” in the subject line). I am the first writer to ever answer reader mail in a column. Do not look up this last part.
From Kevin:
I saw your tweet about the Oscars “crisis team” and I need your opinion on two things right away.
One: Do you think Dominic Toretto and the Family could have stopped Will Smith from slapping Chris Rock?
Two: Oscar Crisis… good fake name?
Okay, a little context. The Oscars announced this week that they’ve put a “crisis team” in place for this year’s ceremony, which is really just like a public relations unit they put in place to put out fires even if it sounds like they’re training mercenaries in a warehouse with lots of ropes and weapons. And I, because I am an idiot, quote-tweeted the announcement with a picture of Vin Diesel, Jason Statham, and Tyrese from F9. We have fun.
Anyway, to answer these…
ONE: I do not think they would have been able to stop him but I do know — based on the history of the franchise and the fact that the picture I posted contains both Statham’s character and Vin Diesel’s character at a barbecue two movies after Statham tried to shoot Vin’s flying car out of the air with a bazooka — that this year’s ceremony would have opened with Chris Rock and Will Smith drinking Coronas with everyone in a backyard somewhere.
For decades, wild pigs have been antagonizing flora and fauna in the US: gobbling up crops, spreading disease and even killing deer and elk.
Excited to see where this one is going.
Now, as fears over the potential of the pig impact in the US grow, North America is also facing a new swine-related threat, as a Canadian “super pig”, a giant, “incredibly intelligent, highly elusive” beast capable of surviving cold climates by tunneling under snow, is poised to infiltrate the north of the country.
INCREDIBLY INTELLIGENT
HIGHLY ELUSIVE
CANADIAN
SUPER PIG
“Wild pigs are easily the worst invasive large mammal on the planet,” said Ryan Brook.
I know this is serious and farmers in the northern states are going to have their hands full with it all. I get that it’s a real problem. But you can’t just give me a phrase like “Canadian super pig” and expect me to move right along. I’m going to need some time. To make jokes. And type with caps lock on. I’m only so strong.
“They’re incredibly intelligent. They’re highly elusive, and also when there’s any pressure on them, especially if people start hunting them, they become almost completely nocturnal, and they become very elusive – hiding in heavy forest cover, and they disappear into wetlands and they can be very hard to locate.”
Hold on.
Wait.
If they’re nocturnal…
Does that mean…
VAMPIRE CANADIAN SUPER PIG?????
Let it fight the cocaine bear, Godzilla vs. Kong-style. I’ll pay $50 for a ticket.
Gorillaz’s eighth studio album Cracker Island is officially out today (February 24). As fans bask in the glory of its release and rerun previously dropped singles, “Silent Running,” “Baby Queen,” and “Skinny Ape,” the legendary group’s leader Damon Albarn is already looking towards the future (and not their derailed movie deal with Netflix).
During an interview with The Sun’s Simon Cosyns, Albarn shared that the untimely passing of past collaborators Terry Hall (of The Specials) and Dave “Trugoy” Jolicoeur (of De La Soul) has forced him to think about the future of the group.
“I’ve lost two good friends who have really inspired me,” said Albarn. Although he didn’t explicitly state that their passing was the root of his thinking, he did detail how both deaths impacted him.
“I had no idea Terry was so ill. Otherwise, I’d have gone to see him,” then adding, “What he and Dave had in common was building bridges between cultures in a very meaningful way. For my development, both were hugely important. I’m just carrying their flames.”
Albarn then shared that he is open to the idea of Gorillaz continuing without him, saying, “I’d like to pass it on to another guy who’s a cartoonist and a musician. That would be amazing.”
The musician has been such a fixture in the band that it would be hard to imagine someone else at the helm.
Gorillaz is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
By the very nature of the American political system, there are at least two sides to any one argument. And while the current Republican party has been known to seemingly support all sorts of wild shenanigans (see: January 6), you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone to stand behind David Eastman. As the Associated Press reports, the Alaska congressman was censured by his state’s House following his comments that kids who die as a result of child abuse are “actually a benefit to society.”
On Monday, Trevor Storrs — president and CEO of the Alaska Children’s Trust, an NGO that works to “ensure all Alaskan children and youth have the tools and resources necessary to grow up safe and healthy” — was testifying during a committee hearing about adverse childhood experiences when Eastman made his now-infamous statement. The congressman wanted to know Storrs thoughts on “the argument that I have heard on occasion where, in the case where child abuse is fatal, obviously it’s not good for the child, but it’s actually a benefit to society.” Because — gulp — that child would no longer require the government services they might need if they had actually survived at the hand of their abuser(s).
It took Storrs, who was visibly taken aback (as you can see in the video above), a moment to actually process the comment. So much so that he asked him to repeat the question: “Did you say, ‘a benefit for society?’”
“Talking dollars… for victims of fatal child abuse, it gets argued periodically that it’s actually a cost savings because that child is not going to need any of those government services that they might otherwise be entitled to receive and need based on growing up in this type of environment.”
On Wednesday, two days after the hearing, Alaska’s House of Representatives voted to censure Eastman in a 35-1 vote. The one member who voted against censuring the congressman? Eastman himself.
The AP reports that it’s not Eastman’s first censure rodeo. In 2017, the controversial congressman was censured following his insistence that women in Alaska were doing their darndest to get pregnant in order to take advantage of a government-funded “free to the city” for an abortion.
Sounds like Sarah Palin may have soon some competition for being Alaska’s most notorious lawmaker.
Spring is nearly here. Yes, part of the country is covered in ice, but we’re all closer to spring break than we are to last Christmas. With that in mind, let’s shake up a great spring-has-sprung cocktail — the Bee’s Knees.
This cocktail is a throwback to the days of Prohibition. It’s also a medicinal throwback with honey and lemon in the mix as a reparative elixir with botanical gin. It feels like a sunbeam in a glass. You might actually see some leaves and flowers spring forth when drinking this delicious concoction.
The best part? It’s super easy to make. This is a basic sour shaker that has three core ingredients and takes about zero skills. If you can shake and measure, you can make this. That makes this a great cocktail to shake until the sun sets on Labor Day next September. Sound good? Let’s get shaking!
Also Read: The Top Five Cocktail Recipes of the Last Six Months
Use good gin. That’s the key to this drink. I like the mild botanical vibes of Monkey 47. It’s a molasses-based gin with a mild array of botanicals that really play well with citrus and honey. Beyond that, you can find honey syrup at any decent liquor store and lemons at the grocery store.
Zach Johnston
What You’ll Need:
Coupe, cocktail glass, or Nick and Nora (prechilled)
Cocktail shaker
Cocktail strainer
Fine sieve strainer
Paring knife
Hand juicer
Jigger
Zach Johnston
Method:
Add the gin, honey syrup, and lemon juice to a cocktail shaker. Add a large handful of ice and then shake until very well-chilled (until the shaker is ice-cold to touch).
Fetch the glass from the freezer and strain the cocktail into the glass with the cocktail strainer and through a fine sieve strainer (to aerate).
Express the oils of the lemon peel over the cocktail and then rub the peel’s oils around the rim of the glass and stem. Discard the peel and serve.
Bottom Line:
Zach Johnston
This is like ginny lemon candy in a glass. The sweetness of the honey attaches to the sweeter edge of the gin to create that aforementioned ray of sunshine. The honey adds a creamy yet bright edge as well.
The botanical-ness of the gin is dialed back with a hint of red berries, mild bitter citrus, and a faint touch of pine coming through. All of that really works with the fresh lemon and honey — which leave you feeling lighter and brighter as you sip. This is so refreshing that you’ll be shaking up another before you know it.
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(@RonFilipkowski) February 24, 2023
