The Memphis Grizzlies came into Monday night’s trip to Dallas tied with the Sacramento Kings for second in the Western Conference with 16 games remaining in the season. It has been yet another impressive season for the young Grizzlies, but while typically there’d be excitement and buzz about Memphis being a contender as the playoffs near, the conversation instead is one of uncertainty due to the absence of Ja Morant.
Morant is away from the Grizzlies following a string of alleged incidents involving he and those around him, culminating in a video posted from a strip club in Denver in which he flashed a gun to the camera. That led to an ongoing NBA investigation and his continued absence from the Grizzlies, which is, at this point, indefinite. While Morant won’t be facing any legal trouble for the video, the league still has plenty of questions and the optics of it all, particularly coming shortly after a number of off-court incidents came to light, are not good for Morant or the Grizzlies.
While Memphis played the Mavericks on Monday, word emerged from Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon that Morant was in Florida and had entered a counseling program, as he looks to get his life back on track as one of the NBA’s rising stars.
Reporting with @ESPN_MacMahon: Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant has entered a counseling program in Florida and there remains no timetable for his return to active play.
Morant has been seeking assistance for what he described in a statement as a need “to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being,” and that’s taken him out of Memphis on a leave from the team, sources said.
Prior to the game, Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins was asked about Morant’s possible return later this week, as the last firm update from Memphis said he would miss four more games following their trip to Los Angeles. Jenkins did not offer much beyond continuing to say there’s internal dialogue between the team, Morant, and the NBA, and that Ja has been “engaged with the process.”
Taylor Jenkins on if Ja Morant returns Fri: “There are a lot of internal dialogues going on and obviously there’s still things going on at the league level that we’re in communication with. Ja’s fully engaged in this process and ready for whatever comes next after these 2 games.”
Jenkins and the Grizzlies have not laid out publicly what the expectations are of Morant before he can return to the team, and as such we don’t know if the program he’s entered is part of a the team’s plan for him or something he’s seeking out on his own. Whatever the case, the hope of everyone around the league is that one of the budding faces of the NBA can get back to playing basketball at an elite level without some of the off-court distractions and incidents that have seemingly mounted around him.
Even after being at the center of a formal Senate hearing and updating their ticket policy to diffuse tension with eager concertgoers, the company is still atop most music fans’ hate list. Nonetheless, according to Billboard, parent company Live Nation has been working behind the scenes to mandate more transparent ticket pricing for concerts after being called about by President Joe Biden.
Live Nation’s President and CEO, Michael Rapino, is reportedly aiming to “relieve a lot of the stress [and] the consumer’s perception that there’s this magical extra fee added on.” During an alleged conference call with investors, Rapino said, “We’ve got to now go out and do a much better job, so policymakers and consumers understand how the business operates.”
The company plans on starting with showing what “the true cost to see the show when we start shopping” which will be mandated very soon “across the board.”
As spring festival season warms up, event attendees could surely benefit from that.
Like a flame that never seems to get completely snuffed out, antisemitism is again on the rise in the United States. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says that the number of documented reports of harassment, vandalism and violence directed against Jewish people has risen to the highest level since it began recording these incidents in 1979.
The ADL says that antisemitic incidents have steadily increased since 2016.
The pain is felt among the Jewish community, of which 41% say that the status of Jews in the U.S. is less secure than it was the year before. Thirty-one percent agreed with the same statement in 2021.
This disturbing trend inspired actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to speak out. Interestingly, he didn’t direct his words at those who stand against hate but at those who may have “stumbled… into the wrong path.”
In his speech, he tried to explain how being a bigot is a sign of weakness and failure to take responsibility for one’s life.
Schwarzenegger has first-hand knowledge of the pain of being an antisemite because his father, Gustav Schwarzenegger, was a Nazi who fought in World War II. The elder Schwarzenegger was a member of the Sturmabteilung (SA), also known as the Storm Troopers or Brownshirts, and fought in some of the war’s most brutal conflicts.
“I don’t know the road that has brought you here, but I’ve seen enough people throw away their futures for hateful beliefs,” he said in the video. “So I want to speak with you before you find your regrets at the end of that path.”
The actor noted that when his father and many men like him returned from war, they were “broken men” who were “riddled with guilt.”
“They felt like losers, not only because they lost the war, but also because they fell for horrible, loser ideology. They were lied to and misled into a path that ended in misery,” Schwarzenegger continued. “…In the end, it didn’t really matter why they joined [the Nazis]. They were all broken in the same way. That’s the bottom line here.”
Schwarzenegger was also moved to speak out because he had recently taken a trip to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, where the Nazis killed 1.1 to 1.5 million people, mainly Jews. He was especially moved by seeing the possessions of those who died at the camp.
“The suitcases never claimed by the prisoners who were told to remember exactly where they’d left their belongings so they could retrieve them after they were finished with their showers…the gas chambers with scratches in the walls from the fingernails of people who tried to hold onto life…the crematorium, where the Nazis tried to erase all of their atrocities,” Schwarzenegger recalled seeing.
At the end of his speech, Schwarzenegger reiterated his belief that people succumb to hatred due to personal weaknesses that can be overcome. “When you spend your life looking for scapegoats, you take away your own responsibility. You remove your own power. You steal your own strength,” he said. “…You have to give up your war against everyone you hate…The war you really have to fight is the war against yourself.”
But, he believes there’s still hope for people to overcome their bigotry.
“There’s still time for you,” he said. “Choose strength. Choose life. Conquer your mind.”
Fraser also experienced a lot of personal setbacks during his time away from Hollywood, including losing his mother, getting divorced and living with depression. But since the release of his recent hit, “The Whale,” in which he plays a morbidly obese, gay father attempting to reconnect with his teenage daughter, it seems the awards keep coming and people can’t get enough. Fraser’s most recent win is the coveted Oscar for Best Actor, his first nomination with the Academy, and his speech was full of emotion and gratitude.
After thanking the Academy for the award, Fraser hopped right into pulling out all of the nautical stops.
“I’m grateful to Darren for throwing me a creative lifeline and hauling me aboard the good ship ‘The Whale,'”Fraser said. “It was written by Samuel D. Hunter, who is our lighthouse.”
The Oscar winner has been acting for 30 years, and while this role is more serious with a lot of depth, Fraser may be better known for his corky roles. Most people instantly recognize his big blue eyes from “George of the Jungle,” “Encino Man” or “The Mummy.” By all accounts, he was the shirtless poster child of the 90s, though he did start taking on more serious roles like “Crash” and “Gods and Monsters.” But the film that won him an Oscar and seemed to solidify not only his comeback but his range as an actor is “The Whale.”
While he kept the speech focused on the theme, his emotional reaction was echoed on the faces of others in the audience. It’s clear he has a lot of cheerleaders, both in Hollywood and out.
Envision Festival is a celebration, a message, and a movement. With a mission to create an eye-opening experience that turns attendees onto a new form of living and a new way to be inspired, Envision Festival provides the tools that can be integrated into the life we’re living to blossom into our higher selves. Also… it’s a pretty damn wild party, as our travel editor knows all too well:
Returning to the lush jungle canopies of Uvita, Costa Rica February 27th-March 6th — for the first time since the pandemic! — over 10,000 people from around the world gathered for seven days of integrated and mindful event curation. Centered around the pillars of sustainability, health, movement, education, art, music, and spirituality, Envision Festival brought folks together to play, move, learn, dance, and love among the tropical jungles. It was an epic adventure, reconnecting thousands of souls together to the raw forces of nature while awakening the inner wild that lives within us all. Also… drugs, music, sex… etc…. (Festivals are increasingly high minded and that is real but let’s be honest about what they’re selling.)
From the famous sunset drum circles to dancefloor euphoria, dive into these photos of Envision Festival 2023 to relive the experience of this world-renowned event.
The Scream franchise has always been among the funnier ones in the horror canon, with oft-doomed characters addressing the gene clichés that even they fall prey to. Still, it’s not funny in a sketch comedy way. And yet if you were paying close attention to an early scene in the Neve-less Scream VI and thought you heard to voice of Tim Robinson, creator and frequently shouty star of I Think You Should Leave, then guess what? You weren’t wrong.
In a new interview with The Wrap, the film’s directors, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, discuss the plethora of Easter Eggs littered about the series’ sixth installment. Perhaps the most random is the presence of Robinson, at least as a voice:
There’s a moment early in the film when Sam (Melissa Barrera) comes back to the apartment she shares with her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega) and new roomie Quinn (Liana Liberato). Tara isn’t there and she catches Quinn in the middle of a romantic liason. As Quinn and Tara talk outside Quinn’s door, you can hear her lates paramour inside Quinn’s room. That is where Tim Robinson makes his appearance. “He is Quinn’s off-camera boyfriend,” Bettinelli-Olpin confirmed.
Since last year’s fifth installment, confusingly called simply Scream, the series has been rife in voice cameos. That film featured vocal appearances from such legacy cast members as Drew Barrymore, Matthew Lillard, Henry Winkler, and Jamie Kennedy, all of whose characters ate it in the first two films.
In other Robinson news, Season 3 of I Think You Should Leave now has a release date of May 30. Consider his easy-to-miss Scream VI cameo as a mere advertisement for that.
Yung Miami, or Caresha, as everyone on the internet refers to her, is living her best life. The rapper is taking advantage of every professional opportunity that comes her way, especially considering her aspirations to be the next Oprah Winfrey. Whether she’s in the studio working on new music as part of the rap duo City Girls, hosting her podcast Caresha Please, or starring on the small screen, despite what she raps in her songs, Miami keeps a steady job.
However, the recording artist’s latest appearance on 50 Cent’s Starz original series, BMF, was not received so well. In fact, her brief onscreen cameo led to a flurry of memes. Playing a wife who just received news of her husband’s tragic murder, the entertainer tried her best to step into the emotional moment, but it wasn’t quite an Emmy-winning portrayal.
Despite being the butt of every joke on Twitter from the viewing audience, Yung Miami handled it well. Joined in on the online conversation to post her line, “Meech, where’s my husband?”
Later, Yung Miami tried to be serious, writing, “If I’m crying, why y’all laughing??? Y’all play too much,” but it didn’t last for long, as she followed that tweet up with, “Funniest part,” in response to a fan’s message.
If I’m crying why y’all laughing??? Y’all play to much
Paying $150 for a single bottle of bourbon in the United States at any liquor store is a huge ask. A regular bottle of Jim Beam or Evan Williams is around $15 — $10 on a good day — and delivers the ultimate goal of getting a buzz on with tasty bourbon. But at this price point, we’re talking about something more than even the single barrel or barrel-proof expressions of Jim Beam or Evan Williams can deliver. This is about going beyond mash bills and specially charred oak barrels. We’re deep into the bottles of whiskey that have something more to them. They run deeper. They hit harder. And more often than not, they’re just better in ways that feel… ugh, don’t hate me… almost celestial.
But that’s not a universal truth. There are misses at this price point too. However, those misses are not on this list. Below, I’ve called out 15 bottles of bourbon that all freaking slap. These are the bottles that I think are actually worth dropping some serious coin on.
I’ve also ranked these bottles. The bottom half is made up of quality bourbons but might speak more to niche palates. The top half is universally amazing and iconic bourbon whiskeys (no matter where your palate is). So find the flavor profile that interests you, and then click on those price links to see if you can find that bottle in your region (local prices will vary). Let’s get into it!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
For this release, former Four Roses Master Distiller John Rhea teamed up with J.J. Cory Irish Whiskey’s Master Bonder Louise McGuane to create a new whiskey that marries Kentucky bourbon and Irish whiskey. The whiskey in this bottle is a blend of four to 11-year-old bourbons, all of which were sourced from an undisclosed distillery in Kentucky. Those barrels were blended by Rhea and McGuane to create a flavor profile that represented both Kentucky and Ireland.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a clear sense of fresh honey next to cinnamon toast, apple fritters, toffee sauce, crunchy peanut butter cookies, a smidge of new leather, and pine kindling.
Palate: The palate bursts forth with butterscotch that leads to sticky and warm cinnamon rolls drizzled with caramel sauce and stuffed with raisins and walnuts while dark chocolate oranges and lightly singed marshmallows create a sweet mid-palate.
Finish: The finish veers away from all of that toward huckleberry bushes and tart, almost woody berries while a vanilla tobacco leaf and more of that pine linger on the end of the taste.
Bottom Line:
This is a fresh and light bourbon that has a nice profile that runs deep spice and fruit with a mellow vibe. Since it is March and St. Patrick’s Day is near, this is a pretty easy buy for weekend sipping.
14. Laws Intention Straight Bourbon Whiskey Origins Series Release 2022
This whiskey starts off with Laws’ classic Four Grain Straight Bourbon made with 60% heritage corn, 20% heirloom wheat, 10% heirloom rye, and 10% heirloom malted barley. That hot juice then rests in barrels for three to 10 years before bottling at cask strength and no fussing, creating only 1,680 bottles.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a soft graininess that leads to sour cherries, old leather, a hint of honey, and a whisper of orange.
Palate: The palate has a sense of cinnamon rolls with a crafty sweet graininess and subtle spice next to buttery grits and a twinge of black tea bitterness.
Finish: The end leans into a little more of that honey with an oatmeal cookie vibe next to woody spice.
Bottom Line:
This is an excellent crafty bourbon that balances soft and young graininess with deep aging, combing the new and classic in one glass. If you’re looking for a great example of craft bourbon right now, this is it.
13. Cream of Kentucky 11.5-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This whiskey is part of the bespoke sourced from bourbon legend Jim Rutledge. Rutledge spent 21 years as the head distiller at Four Roses, building the worldwide renown that the brand is now known for today. Rutledge is currently sourcing the best barrels he can find to create this throwback brand of whiskey — its labels used to be painted by Norman Rockwell back in the day.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: You feel the deep bourbon heritage from the nose through the finish as classic notes of oily vanilla husks, soft cedar, and rich toffee draw you in.
Palate: The taste holds onto the toffee and vanilla but also veers into sweet cherry with a rush of spice, almost like a Cherry Dr. Pepper in the best possible way.
Finish: A note of bitterness comes in late via a dark chocolate vibe (especially with a drop or two of water) while the silken sip fades, leaving you with warm and woody spices.
Bottom Line:
This is classic bourbon from top to bottom. It’s the sort of bottle you bring home with you after a trip to Kentucky to show off to your local bourbon crew.
This release from Diageo’s Orphan Barrel program is from Cascade Hollow Distilling Co., better known as George Dickel. The whiskey is a marrying of two 16-year-old bourbon barrels that were hand-selected by Dickel Master Distiller Nicole Austin.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with a hint of buttery cornbread that immediately veers into cinnamon apple fritters, botanical spice barks, and old leather tobacco pouches filled with dry cherry tobacco cut with cedar bark.
Palate: There’s a mild sense of eggnog spices next to vanilla buttercream with a clear note of old, musty cellar beams leading back to that warm tobacco chew, apple chips kissed with salt, and a soft cherry cookie.
Finish: The end leans into the old cellar beams with a hint of dark moss and old fall leaves underfoot next to softly spiced cherry syrup.
Bottom Line:
The ABVs are very low for a “barrel-proof” bourbon on this, making it one of the more unique barrel-proof whiskeys you can buy and taste. This really is a one-of-a-kind whiskey that tastes wholly unique while still delivering a big dose of nostalgia.
11. Blanton’s The Original Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Buffalo Trace’s Blanton Single Barrel is made up of hand-selected single barrels that meet the sky-high standards of former Master Distiller Elmer T. Lee, who created the expression back in 1984.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a clear sense of Christmas spices right away, leaning towards honey spiked with vanilla and an old cedar cigar humidor.
Palate: The taste holds onto the spice, especially nutmeg, as caramel kettle corn, more fresh honey, fresh red berries, and vanilla husks dominate the palate.
Finish: The end doesn’t overstay its welcome as hints of eggnog spice, dry vanilla, and popped corn surface on the fade.
Bottom Line:
It’s Blanton’s. It’s iconic for a reason and everyone should have at least one bottle on their bar cart at all times.
10. The Left Cross Puncher’s Chance Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Jamaican Dark Rum Casks Aged 14 Years
This sourced bourbon from Bruce Buffer (of UFC fame) is an old whiskey. The bourbon in the bottle is a 14-year-old whiskey made with 84% corn, 8% rye, and 8% malted barley. After around 14 years, that whiskey is re-filled into freshly dumped Jamaican rum casks that held rum for 12 years. After two to six months of additional maturation, those barrels are batched before proofing and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose has a classic sense of old oak, dark vanilla, black cherry, and woody spices with a hint of spearmint-spiked molasses.
Palate: The palate has a mild hogo funk with bananas foster cut with brandy, old raisin boxes, winter spices, and a soft vanilla cake frosted with rum-raisin and dark cacao.
Finish: Soft brown sugar gives way to a warming mulled wine vibe with plenty of star anise, clove, and cinnamon next to plummy rum sweetness and Cherry Coke spiced tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those whiskeys that’s just good. It has a great balance of rumminess that works with the older bourbon in the mix. It’s also a great dessert or digestif pour thanks to all the botanical spices and sweet fruits.
While Uncle Nearest is distilling their own whiskey these days, but 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.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: 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.
Palate: 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.
Finish: 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.
Bottom Line:
This is a tasty Tennessee whiskey that leans heavily into classic Kentucky bourbon vibes. Brass tacks, it’s a delicious whiskey from an awesome brand. Get some and enjoy it to the last drop.
8. Knob Creek Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 15 Years
This whiskey is made from Beam’s standard low-rye bourbon mash. Then it’s left alone for 15 years in the Beam warehouses on specific floors in specific locations. The best barrels are then small batched and proofed down to 100 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Old saddle leather mingles with musty oak cellar beams and dirt cellar floors with an undercurrent of sweet dark fruits and mild caramel.
Palate: The palate holds onto that caramel as the fruit becomes dried and a cedar note arrives with a rich and almost sweet tobacco.
Finish: The dry cedar woodiness carries on through the end as the tobacco leads towards an almost oatmeal-raisin-cookie-dipped-in-cream vibe with a good dose of cinnamon and nutmeg, which creates an eggnog-laced pipe tobacco chewiness with a hint of that cedar and leather balancing it all out.
Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for a stone-cold killer classic Kentucky bourbon, this is the bottle to get. It’s … wait for it … quintessential. It’s also deeply hewn and very accessible with a deep bench of classic flavor notes to keep you engaged from the beginning to the end.
The Bardstown Discovery Series has become one of the most beloved and sought-after blended whiskeys in the game. Their latest edition is a mix of 35% eight-year-old Georgia bourbon, 31% 12-year-old Kentucky bourbon, 19% 17-year-old Tennessee bourbon, and 15% 12-year-old corn whiskey from Ontario. Those barrels are shipped to Bardstown where they’re masterfully vatted and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this is dense yet inviting with hints of sour apple next to waxy cacao nibs, old boot leather, bruised plums, wet cedar bark braids, soft winter spice, and a hint of wet forest mushroom underneath it all.
Palate: The palate is ultra lush with creamy vanilla leading things off as layers of cinnamon cake, dry reeds, and a twinge of spicy orange tobacco leaf mingle.
Finish: The end is pure silk thanks to that vanilla with an accent of chanterelles and stewed plums in a ginger/cinnamon/clove brown sugar syrup base.
Bottom Line:
This is a blended bourbon with a touch of Canadian whisky in the mix to add a little extra somethin’, somethin’ to the mix. And that’s what this pour feels like, “bourbon plus.” It’s also delicious from top to bottom and truly takes you on a journey. If you’re looking for a great dinner pairing whiskey, this is the play.
It plays really well with spicy lamb, raw salmon, and dark desserts.
6. Nashtucky Special Release Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 8 Years
This whiskey is part of the new line from the famed Nashville Barrel Company. In this case, barrels were filled in Kentucky and then sent down to Nashville to age for eight years, colliding the worlds of Kentucky bourbon with the Tennessee climate. The results are bottled as-is one barrel at a time.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Old lawn furniture with a hint of dry grass mixes on the nose with salted caramels, figs, dates, and prunes, a mix of wintry spices, a dash of white pepper, and some light stone fruit (think fresh apricot and plum).
Palate: The palate leans into spiced fig jam with a sense of spiced Christmas cake, burnt sugar, and candied citrus countered by dry sweetgrass braided with cedar bark next to singed wild sage and a hint of strawberry tobacco.
Finish: The end has a mild sense of warmth next to pear fruit leather and apricot jam with a hint of dark chocolate and dried strawberry tobacco in an old leather pouch.
Bottom Line:
These are deep and fascinatingly delicious whiskeys. Each one will be a little different, but the throughline is that they’ll always be good. That makes this whiskey kind of exciting.
5. Weller The Original Wheated Bourbon Antique 107 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This is a non-age-statement bourbon that’s called “Old Weller Antique” (OWA) by those who love the old-school vibes of the expression’s previous iteration. The ripple with this expression is the higher proof. The barrels are vatted and barely proofed down to 107 proof before bottling (the entry proof is 114).
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a lovely sense of vanilla pods and orange blossom with a hint of old saddle leather and cedar bark next to wild sage, cinnamon, and caramel apple fritters and salted black licorice with a bundle of holiday spices and barks tied up with burnt orange and pine.
Palate: The palate is lush with a cream soda float with malted vanilla ice cream cut with cherries, dark chocolate chips, and espresso flakes next to cinnamon cherry bark tobacco on the mid-palate.
Finish: The end dives toward a thick braid of cedar bark, sage, and blackberry tobacco with a thin line of sweetgrass and vanilla pods woven in there.
Bottom Line:
This is one that you might be able to find for a lot cheaper (around $55) if you walk into the right liquor store on the right day in Kentucky. Outside of that, you’re going to pay around this price. The whiskey is on this list, so you know I think it’s worth it. Why? Well, it makes a fantastic Manhattan while also serving as a great pour with a single, large ice cube. It’s versatile and tastes great. That’s enough.
This 2022 Master’s Collection (that was just released in February 2023) experiments with entry proof. Master Distillers Chris Morris and Elizabeth McCall loaded this whiskey into barrels at a low 100-proof and let it do its thing (125 proof is the industry standard though that varies wildly these days). Once the whiskey in those barrels hit the best flavor profile, it was bottled completely as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with real vanilla pods layers into apple-cinnamon coffee cake, spice-rich eggnog, hazelnut cream, black cherry pie filling, and a flutter of fresh and sharp spearmint dipped in creamy dark chocolate and then hit with a flake of smoked salt.
Palate: The coffee cake leans toward banana bread with walnuts on the palate as huckleberry jam leans into an almost sour creamy espresso with a shot of mint chocolate syrup.
Finish: Burnt orange arrives late to cut through the sweetness and adds some more bitterness as old oak and dry tobacco round things out.
Bottom Line:
Woodford Master Collection releases are always worth adding to your home collection. This one rises above with a truly amazingly nuanced profile that starts on the deep nose and finishes so luxuriously that you’ll want to go back and buy a case of this stuff.
3. Nelson Bros. Whiskey Black Brier A Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys Finished in Imperial Stout Casks
This whiskey takes Nelson Brother’s bourbon and re-loads it into beer casks for a special finish. The bourbon is re-filled into freshly emptied imperial stout casks from Blackstone Brewing Company for a final maturation before batching and bottling as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a fascinating balance of mocha lattes made with cream counterpointed by orange creamsicles on the nose with a deep and most vanilla white cake frosted with a whisper of Almond Joy icing.
Palate: Almost waxy cacao comes through on the palate before the almond and toasted coconut drive the taste toward Nutella-smeared croissants and a flutter of cinnamon-heavy mulled wine with a nice sweetness to it a whisper of dried red berries.
Finish: Cinnamon bark and dark chocolate-covered espresso beans come through late with a creamy sense of that Nutella and mocha latte layering into a faint burnt orange tobacco vibe.
Bottom Line:
This is a once-a-year whiskey that you’ll wish was on the shelf everywhere every day after just one sip. It’s the perfect example of stout barrel aging with bourbon.
2. Colonel E.H. Taylor Small Batch Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
Buffalo Trace’s Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Small Batch is an entry point to the other 12 expressions released under the E.H. Taylor, Jr. label. The whiskey is a blend of barrels that meet the exact right flavor profiles Buffalo Trace’s blenders are looking for in a classic bottled-in-bond bourbon for Taylor.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a sense of soft corn mush with a hint of fresh green chili, Saigon cinnamon (a little sweet), orchard tree bark, and the black mildew that grows on all the whiskey warehouses in Kentucky.
Palate: The palate leans into buttery toffee with a twinge of black licorice next to cinnamon-spiced dark chocolate tobacco and a hint of huckleberry pie with vanilla ice cream.
Finish: The end has a salted caramel sweetness that leads back to a hint of sweet cinnamon and dark tobacco with a light sense of the fermentation room with a hint of sweet gruel.
Bottom Line:
This whiskey (like the Weller above) is the perfect workhorse high-end bourbon that every bar cart needs. This makes stellar cocktails and works as a killer sipper. Add in that this is essential Kentucky bourbon from top to bottom, and you can’t beat it.
1. Garrison Brothers Guadalupe Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in a Port Cask
This Texas whiskey is hewn from 90 30-gallon barrels of four-year-old bourbon that were transferred into 26 59-gallon Tawny Port casks for a final maturation of over one year. That whiskey is then bottled as-is after a touch of water was added.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this bursts with raspberry, blackberry, redcurrant, and blueberry all stewed with plenty of holiday spices and folded into a cobbler topped with dense buttery buttermilk biscuits.
Palate: The palate leans into the spice with a focus on clove, nutmeg, and a very small whisper of anise as the berry turns more towards a fresh strawberry with dark chocolate-covered espresso beans chiming in on the mid-palate.
Finish: That chocolate-bitter vibe drives towards a finish full of cinnamon-spiked dark chocolate tobacco leaves, stewed plums, and a dollop of floral honey.
Bottom Line:
This is probably the best American craft whiskey on the market right now. The balance of soft craft bourbon notes next to the deep port is perfection. Plainly speaking, this is delicious whiskey. It being “port cask finished” or “craft bourbon” or “Texan bourbon” is just a sidenote to how well made this is at its core.
Even celebrities get starstruck. Though Halle Bailey is having a colossal year with her role as Ariel in The Little Mermaid — which led to her getting her own doll — she was fangirling at The Oscars last night (March 12) over a certain iconic actress.
In the midst of an interview with a reporter for Variety, the reporter began waving the one and only Jamie Lee Curtis over, saying, “Jamie, someone wants to meet you.” Meanwhile, Bailey, visibly anxious, said, “Oh, my god,” before introducing herself and shaking Curtis’s hand.
“I know who you are,” Curtis assured her.
“I’m such a big fan,” Bailey raved with a big smile on her face. “You look beautiful! You look so pretty!”
After a wholesome embrace, they had a picture taken together, looking spectacular in their sprawling dresses. After Curtis left, Bailey said to the reporter, “She’s so nice!”
Upon revealing her Little Mermaid doll, Bailey shared a heartwarming video in which she teared up while showing off the figurine. “This is the new Little Mermaid doll,” she said to the camera. “I am literally choking up because this means so much to me. To have one that looks like me — that’s my favorite Disney character — is very surreal.”
The last leg of Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign, as you may recall, was pure chaos. There was the Access Hollywood tape, in which he was caught bragging about sexual assault. Behind the scenes, there was drama, too, including him allegedly paying off porn star Stormy Daniels over an old affair. The latter is back in the news thanks to the Manhattan DA’s escalating criminal investigation, which has led to him accidentally letting slip their tryst was true. It also led to the revelation that Trump was terrified Melania, on whom he may have cheated, would leave him.
The former president’s lawyer has claimed that his client wasn’t so much worried that news of an affair would have ruined his political chances. Instead he was more worried that Melania would leave him. Then again, Trump’s biographer, Tim O’Brien, points out that had she left him right before the election, that may have hurt his chances.
“I think he was also worried about his marriage getting blown up,” O’Brien said on MSNBC Monday. “Donald Trump has a long history of cheating on his wives, and I think he probably was more afraid at that point of Melania Trump than he was of the electorate. So, he had the motivation to try to get this out of the way.”
O’Brien also pointed out that Michael Cohen, Trump’s attorney-turned-stool pigeon, says he has a recording of Trump talking about coordinating the payments through then-CFO Allen Weisselberg, who is currently serving five months in Rikers Island after taking the fall for his old boss.
“This isn’t only hearsay,” O’Brien said, “they have Trump on tape asking someone to commit a crime. And nothing of substance went on in the Trump Organization at all that involved money that Donald Trump didn’t sign off on if the sums were significant or the consequences were significant.”
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