Normally, I’m good with the way my face looks. (One of the gifts of your late 40s is fully embracing your face in all its glory.) But I was surprised to find that the longer I used that filter, the more…well, homely my real face started to feel. There’s just no way for my real face to compare to the model-like one in that video, because this filter isn’t just a faux makeup job. It basically gave me plastic surgery, botox and a Photoshop airbrush to boot, and as overdone as it is, looking in the mirror after making that video really did trigger some insecurities about my real face that I didn’t think I had.
If a beauty filter can make me start to feel “meh” about my looks, I can only imagine what it’s doing to the psyches of young women who don’t have decades of life experience and confidence-building behind them.
Visual artist Memo Akten shared a thread on Twitter illustrating how scary these unreal-yet-too-real filters are, with examples from women illustrating how they do a number on our brains.
“I don’t wanna be known as the TikTok filter guy, but ICYMI after attacking GenX w teenage filter, TikTok just dropped a new filter to take out Millennials & GenZ,” he wrote. “‘Beauty filters’ are not new, but the precision on this is beyond uncanny. This is psychological warfare & pure evil.”
u201cI don’t wanna be known as the tiktok filter guy, but ICYMI after attacking GenX w teenage filter, tiktok just dropped a new filter to take out Millennials & GenZ. “Beauty filters” are not new, but the precision on this is beyond uncanny. This is psychological warfare & pure evil.u201d
Women are sharing how a hyper-real filter like this breeds and fuels insecurity, which is the last thing we need when we are already fighting body image and beauty standard battles on multiple fronts.
Video filters in general can be a lot of fun. My teens and I have a blast playing around with Snapchat filters that make everyone look like they’re crying or turn people into cartoon characters and all kinds of silly things. But this is not that. This is leaning fully into Kardashian-esque beauty culture and creating an illusion that impossible beauty standards might actually be possible. Seeing is believing, after all.
Consciously, we know it’s an illusion. It’s just a filter. It’s not real. But that doesn’t change how our minds process seeing our filtered faces, nor does it change the very real impact they have on our self-image.
“I definitely see a new theme to body dysmorphic concerns,” Dr. Josie Howard, a board-certified psychiatrist who specializes in psychodermatology told InStyle. “People begin to expect themselves to look like their filtered self and can become obsessed with achieving that in the real world, which leaves them depressed, anxious, lonely, and disappointed.”
Experts have been sounding the alarm about the link between augmented reality filters and body image issues. As Harvard Business Review reports, “Physical appearance is a key component of identity and as such it can have a substantial impact on psychological well-being. Studies have shown that virtually modifying appearance can provoke anxiety, body dysmorphia, and sometimes even motivate people to seek cosmetic surgery.”
But we don’t even have to tap professional researchers to tell us all this. Just ask any portrait photographer about the changes they’ve seen in their clientele since the advent of social media filters. Here’s one photographer describing how she sees beautiful women feeling “devasted” by how they look in photos because they want to look like what they see in their filtered social media posts.
This filter is INSANE! Its so real, and i can see how damaging this could be. #filters #women #aging #youth #beauty #reality #photography #womensempowerment #mentalhealth
Photo editing and filters have been around for a long time, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t gotten more ubiquitous and more damaging. A shift in lighting to get rid of unflattering shadows is a very different beast than a filter that changes your entire facial structure and texture to look like a magazine ad.
YESSS! I started noticing it when Snapchat filters hit years ago. The senior girls that I photographed went from LOVING their photos to hating them. I didn’t understand the shift for a while. I stopped doing portraits when it became impossible to please them with their real face.
I would argue that this too-real video filter, which allows you to see yourself in real-time with a model-perfect face, is far more problematic than already-problematic-enough photo filters. Having your face altered that way and having your own movements and your own voice attached to it…it messes with you, even when you know it’s not real. I experienced it myself in just a matter of minutes, and I consider myself fairly immune to such things.
For young women and girls who are just in the early stages of forming their self-image, it’s an extremely dangerous social experiment. Parents, please talk to your kids about the psychological impact beauty filters like these can have, and maybe encourage them to stick to ones that turn faces into horseheads or make flowers fly out of their mouths instead. Those who profit off of women’s insecurities aren’t going to altruistically change, so it’s up to all of us to make sure young people internalize that filters are phony and their faces are fine, just as they are.
The NFL Scouting Combine always produces some jaw-dropping feats of athleticism, as the best prospects come together in Indianapolis to run, jump, and work their way through various drills on the field in front of scouts, GMs, and coaches.
The early standout in Indy is Georgia EDGE rusher Nolan Smith, who measured in at 6’2, 238 pounds, and proceeded to run a 40 that would make him one of the fastest wide receivers, corners, or running backs in this year’s draft, much less a defensive lineman.
Back in Athens, the Georgia Bulldogs were extremely fired up to see Smith post the unofficial 4.44, going crazy in the team facility as they all watched their former teammate on TV.
The unofficial clock from the NFL Network was apparently running a tad slow, as Smith’s official time ended up being a ludicrous 4.39, making him the second fastest defensive lineman at the Combine since 2003.
.@GeorgiaFootball‘s Nolan Smith ran an official 4.39 40-yard dash at the 2023 NFL Combine…
That is the 2nd-fastest by a defensive lineman since 2003.
That, of course, requires the caveat that Smith is an EDGE and some other EDGE’s run as linebackers depending on what group they choose to join. Even so, it’s an outrageous time from Smith, who blew the rest of the measurements out of the water as well jumping 41.5 inches in the vertical leap and 10’8 in the broad jump.
Smith wasn’t the only defensive linemen to wow the scouts and team personnel in Indianapolis, as Northwester defensive lineman Adetomiwa Adebawore ran an official 4.49 at 282 pounds (again dropping 0.05 from the unofficial clock), which is arguably the most impressive time of the evening.
.@NUFBFamily DL Adetomiwa Adebawore is 280 pounds running a 4.54u.
That is a large man scootin‘ down the sideline in Lucas Oil Stadium and his burst will have scouts certainly taking an extra look into his film in the coming weeks.
Two years ago, ESPN signed a large rights deal with the NHL to once again take over as one of the two primary national broadcasters, alongside TNT, after being an NBC property for nearly two decades. While moving back to ESPN meant more SportsCenter coverage, written features on the dot com side, and of course games being shown on the four-letter, it did not change the hierarchy of the network’s flagship morning show.
First Take does not dive into the hockey world, as that is simply not a sport Stephen A. Smith even bothers to pretend to follow. Normally, it’s an unspoken rule, but on Thursday, Michael Kay joined the show and was asked which New York team was closest to a championship. Kay said the Rangers, and promptly got yelled at by Molly Qerim and Stephen A. Smith for daring to talk hockey on First Take, as they explained what they meant was “baseball, basketball, or football.”
It would’ve been very funny if Kay had followed that up by saying the New York Liberty — which would be the objectively correct choice after their summer adding Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Courtney Vandersloot — but he instead went with either the Yankees or the Mets.
As for the reaction from Smith and Qerim, it’s pretty wild considering ESPN is an NHL partner, but at the same time, it’s probably better for them to take this approach than for Smith to fake his way through hockey talk as that’d look even worse. We’ve seen times where Smith wades into waters he’s not entirely familiar with, and it always ends poorly. Those are usually sports he tangentially watches (like college football) but isn’t as dialed on. Hockey isn’t even on that level and as such, they just ignore the NHL. While the league would probably love to get some attention on the biggest sports morning show out there, the alternative would probably be worse.
I was lucky enough to attend all four days where I tasted tons of bourbons and rye whiskeys, ate a lot of small plates of food, sampled too many cocktails, and toured distilleries all over the state. And while all of that was a grand ol’ time, I’m going to focus on the best whiskeys I sampled over those days. Below, I’ve compiled a list of the 15 best whiskeys I tasted at this year’s Bourbon Classic. I’ve skipped over talking about barrel tastings since those are not something you can chase down as a consumer. Instead, all of the bottles I have listed are actual releases that you can find in the wild (one way or another).
If these types of pours sound like something you’d like to try, you can 100% attend next year’s Bourbon Classic. Unlike big industry shows like BCB or Tales of the Cocktail, Bourbon Classic is completely consumer-facing. That means you can simply buy a ticket for the events and go. Depending on the event, you’ll pay between $150 and $310 to do things like taste the whole Pappy Van Winkle line, learn how to make cocktails from Michter’s Brooklyn bartending team, dine with legendary whiskey distillers, or taste the core lines and special releases from well over 20 whiskey makers. It’s a one-stop shop for all those whiskeys that you can’t always find (or afford) otherwise. The amount of access a ticket to the Bourbon Classic gives you is truly unparalleled.
Okay, let’s dive in!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
Buzzard’s Roost is a female-led Kentucky bottler. The whiskey in this bottle is double-casked rye from Indiana (MGP’s famed 95/5 rye). After four years of resting, the rye whiskey is re-barreled into new American oak that was toasted and then smoked instead of charred for a final maturation rest before blending and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is rich and full of nutty banana bread brimming with cinnamon and cardamom next to salted caramel and moist vanilla cake kissed with tart cherry and a pinch of dark chocolate.
Palate: The palate leads off with a hint of burnt orange that sweetens towards marmalade with more of that vanilla and caramel accented by a campfire-singed marshmallow.
Finish: The end has a light smudged sage vibe that circles back to that nutty and spicy banana bread with a buttery softness.
Bottom Line:
This is a great rye from a brand that’s really shaking things up right now. The whiskey leans toward the sweetness of bourbon with the faintest hint of smoked caramelized sugars. It’s a nice nuance that helps it stand out. This is something you snag when you want a soft and unique rye that takes you to new places flavor-wise.
This new release from Barrell Craft Spirits really leans into unique and rare finishings. The blend is a mix of Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky bourbons finished in three different oaks separately before blending. In this case, that’s Japanese Mizunara casks, French, and American oak. Different toast and char levels were used for the barrels to achieve a unique palate that builds on the heritage of Barrell’s other triple cask-finished whiskeys (Dovetail, Seagrass, and Armida).
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a sense of chili pepper-infused dark chocolate pudding next to a hint of toasted coconut, dry ginger next to root beer, and an echo of pineapple stems.
Palate: The palate is full of orchard wood and espresso cream next to a hint of lush eggnog with plenty of nutmeg and a dash of some green, herbal, and savory — kind of like tarragon.
Finish: The end lets the spice amp up toward red peppercorns as plum cake counters with a soft and sweet finish.
Bottom Line:
This is one of my favorite releases of 2022. It just rules. It’s so deep, fresh, and fun. It’s more widely available on shelves right now, so you should be able to find this one. If you do find it, use it as a slow sipper to really plumb the depths of this insanely deep flavor profile.
Castle & Key Distillery is the renovated Old Taylor Distillery outside of Frankfort, Kentucky. This distillery has spent years contract distilling for other brands, until this year when they released their first batch of this expression in April. The juice is a mash of 73% white corn, 17% malted barley, and a scant 10% rye. After four years, 80 or so barrels are chosen for this small-batch expression and proofed down with local water.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with a sense of unbaked sourdough cinnamon rolls next to Graham Crackers dipped in vanilla-creamed honey served with a warm can of peach soda.
Palate: The palate leans into the fruitiness with a pink taffy vibe that’s countered by slight pepperiness, a touch of “woody,” and more of that creamy honey laced with vanilla.
Finish: The fruity take on a savory essence — think cantaloupe — on the mid-palate before circling back to the pepperiness with a bit of woody spice on the short end.
Bottom Line:
This keeps getting better and better with each batch release. And since this started off from a pretty solid footing with Batch no. 1 last year, it’s only become more of a star. It’s also a pretty fairly priced craft bourbon thanks to that great flavor profile. And while this is an easy everyday sipper, it also makes a mean bourbon cocktail.
Green River Distillery has been pumping out contract distilled juice for a while. In the spring of 2022, they finally released their much anticipated Green River Bourbon to much hoopla. The bourbon is a blend of five years and older barrels of bourbon made from a mash bill of 70% corn, 21% winter rye, and 9% malted two-row and six-row barley.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a hint of dry cornmeal on the nose with clear and rich butterscotch (which feels a little young) alongside vanilla pudding cups, wet brown sugar, and a hint of an old leather jacket.
Palate: The taste holds onto that leather note as a foundation and builds layers of sticky toffee pudding with vanilla buttercream, a handful of roasted almonds, and a thick buttery toffee sauce tying it all together.
Finish: The finish is green with a big note of fresh mint that leads back to the leather with a whisper of dark fruit leather and Red Hots.
Bottom Line:
This is another brand that has really grown on me over the last few months. It really is positioned as an everyday sipper and mixer that’s competitive with the biggest names in the game. It also delivers a stone-cold classic profile that goes that extra step to be something a little more special.
This whiskey is all about aging/finishing. The whiskey in the bottle is a sourced wheated bourbon that’s aged on a first-of-its-kind floating barrelhouse on the Mississippi River in Ballard County, Kentucky. Those barrels spend years with the river gently rocking them before batching and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is like walking through an orchard full of fresh apples and cherries next to a flutter of wildflowers, old oak spices, and soft creamed honey.
Palate: That spicy oakiness drives the palate toward orange-infused marzipan with a hint of spiced apple cider, tart cherry, and soft vanilla oils.
Finish: That vanilla creates a lush finish full of salted toffee syrup, more marzipan, and a hint of cinnamon candy.
Bottom Line:
This is just nice. The nose leans a tad toward Scottish single malt with all that apple and honey before diving into a more traditional yet nutty bourbon vibe. It’s a nice balance and a good option for the Scotch drinker who’s bourbon curious.
Four Roses Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Four Rose’s standard single-barrel expression is an interesting one. This is their “number one” recipe, meaning it’s the high-rye mash bill that’s fermented with a yeast that highlights “delicate fruit.” The whiskey is then bottled at 100 proof, meaning you’re getting a good sense of that single barrel in every bottle.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Woody maple syrup and cinnamon sticks lead to a hint of pear candy, rich vanilla, and a leathery dark fruit with this faint whisper of floral herbs on the nose.
Palate: The palate lets the pear shine as the spices lean into woody barks and tart berries next to leathery dates and plums with a butteriness tying everything together.
Finish: A spicy tobacco chewiness leads the mid-palate toward a soft fruitiness and a hint of plum pudding at the end with a slight nuttiness and green herbal vibe.
Bottom Line:
This is another amazing deal in the bourbon whiskey market. These single-barrel expressions from Four Roses are the bottle to buy from the brand every time.
Bardstown Bourbon Fusion Series #8 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This whiskey is a masterful blend from the team out at Bardstown Bourbon Company. The whiskey in the bottle is a mix of two four-year-old bourbons (both high rye) from BBC with a sourced 12-year-old Kentucky bourbon with a lower-rye content. Once those barrels are married, the whiskey is proofed and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Honey really stands out on the nose next to tart apples leaning toward apple cores or seeds, supported by classic notes of vanilla pods, caramel, and light oak.
Palate: That apple becomes slightly stewed and spicy with the caramel lending sweetness as a hint of walnuts arrives with a buttery crust vibe that’s very apple pie.
Finish: The end is slightly oaky but sweet in the way that cherry-flavored pipe tobacco is.
Bottom Line:
These releases from Bardstown Bourbon Company always wow. They’re the bottles you want to grab to show off that your trip to Kentucky was a learning experience where you started appreciating the true whiskey nerd whiskeys for the first time.
PART II — The Elite Whiskey Pours
Hardin’s Creek Jacob’s Well Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This new expression from Jim Beam is about highlighting the beautiful high-end barrels from Beam’s vast rickhouses. The whiskey in the bottle is a classic low-rye Beam that rested for 16 years and a 15-year-old high-rye bourbon. Once batched, that whiskey goes into the bottle as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with a rich spice mix of woody cinnamon, soft nutmeg, almost bitter cloves, and dusty allspice with a hint of black licorice leading to a buttery caramel sauce with a flake of salt, twinge of vanilla oil, and whisper of cherry tobacco in an old cedar humidor.
Palate: The palate builds on that classic foundation with layers of old boot leather, hard sultanas, meaty dates, stewed plums, and rum-soaked Christmas cake with candied orange rinds and cherries.
Finish: The end soaks the raisins and candied fruit in maple syrup with a hint of sour cherry laced with ancho chili peppers and woody spices.
Bottom Line:
This is spectacular bourbon from the Beam team. If you’re a lifelong Beam acolyte, then this is a must-have. If you simply want great and very classic bourbon on your bar cart, then this is also a must-buy.
Michter’s Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey 10 Years Old
2022’s only Michter’s 10-Year release was an instant classic. The whiskey is made from a corn-rich rye whiskey mash bill with a good dose of barley in there. The absolute best barrels are chosen — with some up to 15 years old — for this release. Then each of those barrels is individually bottled as-is with a hint of proofing water.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich and lush toffee combines with soft marzipan on the nose as a dash of freshly cracked black pepper lead to cinnamon-laced apple cider and cherry-soaked cedar bark.
Palate: The palate is part Red Hot and part zesty orange marmalade with creamy vanilla pudding, sweet and spicy dried chili peppers with a hint of smoke and woodiness, and this fleeting whisper of celery salt.
Finish: The end dries out the almond with a vanilla cream tobacco, soft and sweet cedar, and dark chocolate orange vibe all balanced to damn near perfection.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those pours that never disappoints and somehow kind of wows no matter how many times you drink it. It’s an amazing vibe. Overall, this is one of the best rye whiskey from Kentucky that money can buy. It’ll also make the best Manhattan you’ll ever have.
Old Carter Straight Bourbon Whiskey Very Small Batch 3-KY
Old Carter is a hidden-away bottler right off Whiskey Row in Louisville. It’s still very insider. Their process is all about finding great barrels of whiskey, blending them, and bottling them for whiskey lovers in the know. In this case, that was a very small batch blend that yielded only 1,116 bottles.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: A thickness comes through on the nose with creamy vanilla and maple syrup vibe with a buttery underbelly accented by old corn husks, woody cinnamon, allspice, and lush nutmeg with a hint of hazelnut.
Palate: Thick salted caramel sauce vibes with a black-tea-soaked date feel as cinnamon syrup and smoldering orchard wood leads to a big mid-palate Kentucky hug.
Finish: That warmth fades quickly as hints of dried cranberry tobacco and cedar braids filled with wicker and sweetgrass end the sip on a dry note with a touch of floral honey lurking underneath it all.
Bottom Line:
Old Carter is the whiskey nerd’s whiskey bottler right now. They’re still so small that you’ll need to email them and make an appointment to see their bottle shop in Louisville. All of that aside, they’re sourcing and bottling some of the best barrels in the whiskey game right now, making this (and every other release that they do) and must-have for the true whiskey nerds out there.
This new expression from awards-darling Kentucky Peerless takes its success with Double Oak Bourbon and applies it to its phenomenal rye whiskey. The rye is a local sweet mash whiskey (made with 100% new batches of ingredients every time) and ages for around four years in new oak. Then the whiskey is re-barrelled into a new American oak barrel for a finish run. Once those barrels hit the right moment, they’re batched and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There are roasted chestnuts on the nose that leads to a deep sense of pitchy fresh firewood, sweet cinnamon bark, and dark burnt orange rinds with a light moment of vanilla-laced marzipan.
Palate: Crème brûlée leads to fresh oak staves, more cinnamon bark, and a rush of dry wild sagebrush next to orange pekoe tea leaves, a hint of raw brown sugar cubes, and a chewy tobacco spiciness layered into an old leather pouch.
Finish: That chewy tobacco drives the finish with a heady buzz from the ABVs (no burn though) as the sharp cinnamon, soft marzipan, and dark orange oils ebb and flow until the very end.
Bottom Line:
I’ve had this a few times now and it just keeps getting better and better with every tasting experience. This is Kentucky Peerless flexing hard with a rye whiskey that cannot be denied. It’s an instant classic. Get some before it goes away for the rest of the year.
Old Charter Oak Spanish Oak Barrel Aged Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Buffalo Trace’s Old Charter Oak series is expanding with a Spanish Oak edition this month. The whiskey in the bottle is from the famed Mash Bill No. 1, which forms the base spirit for Old Charter, Eagle Rare, Stagg, Benchmark, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, and Taylor expressions. In this case, the whiskey in the bottle is completely aged in new Spanish oak barrels (bourbon laws only require “new oak” aging and do not specify an oak species) for around nine years before batching, proofing, and bottling completely as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a deep sense of dates, plums, and mild winter spice barks and berries next to rich bourbon vanilla buttercream, soft chewy tobacco, and a hint of tart cherry.
Palate: That tart cherry darkens on the palate toward a honeyed sweet biscuit with marmalade and leathery dried prunes next to a murky dark chocolate with salt and some dried lavender underneath it all.
Finish: The end softly lands on dark yet tart cherry chewing tobacco next to gentle woody spices, floral black tea leaves, and a moist sticky toffee pudding with a touch more of that honey sweetness.
Bottom Line:
This is just f*cking delicious. Bourbon completely aged in new Spanish oak might be my new favorite thing. Keep your eye out for this one, it’s going to disappear quickly once it drops this spring.
Colonel E.H. Taylor 18 Year Marriage Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
This is one of the most fleeting E.H. Taylor whiskeys ever bottled. The whiskey in the bottle is a three-whiskey blend of two different rye bourbon mash bills and one wheated bourbon mash. After those barrels hit at least 18 years old, they were blended, kissed with soft limestone water, and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Soft and moist vanilla white cake frosted with buttercream and drizzled with salted caramel draws you in on the nose with a twist of cinnamon bark, clove buds, and this fleeting echo of fresh spearmint.
Palate: The taste is pure velvet with subtle nuances of that soft white cake and caramel that leads toward cinnamon chewing tobacco, dark cherry cordial, dry Earl Grey leaves, and stewed prunes with a whisper of salted dark chocolate.
Finish: That cinnamon bark comes roaring back with a hint of cedar bark braided with wild sage next to more salted caramel Kentucky bourbon sweetness and a sharp spearmint finish.
Bottom Line:
This is the perfect example of a bottle of whiskey becoming almost untouchable price-wise because it is that good. This whiskey is seriously one of the best whiskeys released in the last decade. That makes it almost impossible to get but a testament to the types of pours that you can get at the Bourbon Classic. In fact, I’d argue that this being poured made the price of the event worth it.
Sazerac Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey 18 Years Old (2022 BTAC)
This whiskey started its journey back in 2003 and 2004 when the original juice was distilled with Minnesota rye, Kentucky corn, and North Dakota barley. The hot juice was loaded into new white oak from Independent Stave from Missouri with a #4 char level (55 seconds) and left to rest in warehouses K, M, and P on the second, third, and fourth floors. Over nearly two decades, 74% of the whiskey was lost to the angels before proofing and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This one opens with a pile of candied and burnt orange peels next to a rich lemon bread with plenty of rich vanilla and poppy next to sweet layers of molasses, old leather tobacco pouches, and an old set of lawn furniture that’s spent too much time under and an old oak tree.
Palate: The palate swells with a deep molasses sweetness next to a dash of freshly cracked black pepper countered by musty cumin, dried red chili pepper flakes, and a whisper of fresh bay leaf that leads to singed wild sage, rye bread crusts covered in coriander seeds, and a touch of maple syrup cut butter with a hint of cinnamon.
Finish: The end slowly descends into a creamy mint chocolate chip tobacco vibe next to flaked cherry bark ready for a smoker and old oak leaves resting in dead sweetgrass.
Bottom Line:
Goddamn, this whiskey gets better with every tasting. If this went up against Michter’s 10-year Rye, I honestly don’t know which would win. It’d be a 15-round slugfest with a judge’s decision at the end, they’re both that close to perfection. This is plainly one of the best rye whiskeys money can buy.
Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 15 Years Old (2022 Release)
This is where the “Pappy Van Winkle” line really gets kicking. The whiskey in this expression is pulled from barrels that are at least 15 years old. Once batched, the whiskey is just touched with water to bring it down to a sturdy 107-proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with freshly fried sourdough fritters dusted with ground almonds, sharp cinnamon, cloves, orange zest, burnt sugars, and maple frosting with a hint of old vanilla pods next to soft figs.
Palate: The palate leans into rich toffee with a sense of minced meat pies covered in powdered sugar frosting right next to sticky toffee pudding with salted caramel, orange zest, and tons of brown wintry spice countered by a moment of sour mulled red wine cut with dark maple syrup.
Finish: The end has a soft cedar vibe that leads to vanilla and dark cherry tobacco leaves and a hint of pine next to old white moss.
Bottom Line:
This was the best expression from the 2022 Pappy lineup, and it just keeps getting better. I’d argue that this might be the best Pappy in the last 5-ish years (though the 2020 Rye is a big contender for that title). All of that aside, this is the one Pappy to buy and drink right now. It’s amazingly delicious bourbon.
On the face of it,Creed III is an underdog sports movie, one of the most well-trod genres in cinema history and one that arguably requires the least foreknowledge of any other in order to enjoy. There’s going to be a good guy and a bad guy and they’re going to fight– there, you’re caught up.
Only in this case, Creed III isn’t only an underdog sports movie, it’s also the ninth movie in the Rocky franchise and the third Creed movie. The LORE, it turned out, was actually surprisingly important.
Even having seen the previous Creed movies, I was surprised at how much backstory there was — backstory that Creed III admirably doesn’t waste much time rehashing — and how much of it I’d forgotten (in my defense, it has been eight and five years since Creed I and Creed II, respectively). I realized that a brief refresher on Creed lore could’ve enhanced my enjoyment of Creed III. So I’m going to do my best to provide that for you, the idiot layman. I’ve tried to arrange this roughly in order of most important to know going in to least.
Who Is Adonis Creed?
mgm
Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan, who also directs Creed III, in his directorial debut) is Apollo Creed’s (Carl Weathers) son. Probably you know this part. Everyone calls him “Donnie” or “D.” I had vague memories of Donnie being sort of a privileged kid trying to prove himself in the first Creed, which is true, but also not the whole truth.
Which brings me to important fact #1:
-Donnie’s “mom,” Mary Anne (Phylicia Rashad), is not Donnie’s biological mom. Apollo had an affair (supposedly between the events of Rocky III and Rocky IV), producing Donnie. Donnie’s biological mother died, and Mary Anne, who knew about Donnie earlier but had shunned him, eventually adopted him from a youth detention center as a young teen.
-Donnie was mostly (but not entirely, which will become important in Creed III) raised at the Creed family’s lavish estate. He went to college and became a hotshot young finance guy, a cushy life he gave up in order to become a boxer like his dad. Mary Anne objected at first, and Donnie boxed under the last name “Johnson,” but she eventually relented, gifting him a pair of trunks like his dad’s with CREED on the front and JOHNSON on the back. Classic mom stuff, trying to write your name on your clothes even though you’re grown.
-Basically, Donnie was both a Dickensian orphan type AND a rich nepo baby at various points in his childhood, which affords the filmmakers a great deal of flexibility, but can be a little difficult the parse if you don’t remember the particulars.
-Donnie was an up-and-comer who won respect in Creed (a lá Rocky in the first Rocky). He was a champion facing a tough challenger in Creed II (a lá Rocky in Rocky IV), and now in Creed III… well, the movie will tell you that one.
Who Is Bianca? Why Does Donnie Know Sign Language?
MGM
When Donnie moves to Philadelphia to train with Rocky in Creed, he meets Bianca, played by Tessa Thompson. She’s an aspiring singer-songwriter in the beginning stages of progressive hearing loss.
In Creed II, Bianca and Donnie get engaged, Bianca scores a recording contract, and eventually gives birth to their daughter, Amara, who is deaf.
Mila Davis-Kent, a nine-year-old deaf actress, plays Amara Creed in Creed III, which you don’t really need to know going in, but Donnie’s mastery of sign language (ASL, to be specific) is a partial callback to Creed, when Bianca tells him she’s learning it for when she loses her hearing.
Who Is “Little Duke” Evers?
Tony “Little Duke” Evers is played by Wood Harris, Jr., aka Avon Barksdale from The Wire. You don’t especially need to know any of this, but Little Duke is the son of Tony “Duke” Evers (Tony Burton) who trained Apollo in Rocky I, and later becomes Rocky’s trainer in Rocky III.
Little Duke initially turned Donnie down when Donnie wanted to train at his Delphi Academy in LA, training Donnie’s opponent and spurring Donnie’s move to Philadelphia to train with Rocky.
In Creed II, Rocky and Donnie fall out after Rocky refuses to train Donnie to fight Viktor Drago (Ivan’s son), so Donnie goes to Little Duke, who becomes Donnie’s trainer.
Who Is Viktor Drago?
Viktor Drago is the son of Ivan Drago, who Rocky fought in Rocky IV. Viktor fights Donnie twice in Creed II, losing first by DQ after giving him an ass whooping, and later by knockout in the movie’s climactic fight.
Viktor is back in Creed III, though this backstory isn’t especially necessary to know. He’s played by Florian Munteanu, a German-born boxer/actor of Romanian descent whose boxing nickname was “Big Nasty,” which is fun.
Where Is Rocky Now?
Short answer: ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Longer answer: Rocky was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in Creed, and refuses chemo, but seems to be improving by the end of the movie. In Creed II, Rocky eventually teams up with Little Duke to help train Donnie for his second fight against Viktor.
Rocky’s absence is more of a behind-the-scenes business thing than a story choice. While Stallone seems to have a pretty good relationship with Michael B. Jordan and Creed I director Ryan Coogler, and publicly “passed the torch” of the franchise to Jordan at the wrap of Creed II, he has long feuded with franchise co-producer Irwin Winkler, whom Stallone has long accused of screwing him out of ownership. Upon reading about a planned spinoff about the Dragos without Stallone’s involvement, Stallone lashed out in a since-deleted Instagram post railing against “IRWIN WINKLER , this PATHETIC 94 year old PRODUCER and HIS MORONIC VULTURE CHILDREN, Charles And David , are once again picking clean THE BONES of another wonderful character I created without even telling me.”
The Winkler feud seems to have something to do with why Stallone doesn’t even have a cameo this time around.
Phew, Are We All Caught Up Now?
…I think so. Honestly, I’m not a huge continuity guy, and I’m kind of anti-continuity for the most part. There were just a couple things about Creed III that a refresher on the lore could’ve helped with. Ironically, Creed III is probably the least homage-y of the three movies — with Creed being a structural callback to Rocky, and Creed II being an even more direct callback to Rocky IV. But for my money, I’ll take “lore” over “Easter eggs” any day.
‘Creed III’ opens in theaters nationwide March 3rd. Vince Mancini is on Twitter. You can read more of his reviews here.
We are just weeks away from reuniting with everybody’s favorite ’90s high school soccer team in season two of Yellowjackets, which is shaping up to be pretty freaking dark. What could we really expect from a show that not only has cannibalism but also stars Melanie Lynskey?
Season two will also bring in a slew of new guest stars, including Elijah Wood, along with Severance’s Lauren Ambrose and Obi-Wan Kenobi actress Simone Kessell as adult Lottie. While season one had 10 tension-filled episodes, season two will only have eight, with the first episode premiering on March 26, then weekly until May 14th.
Even though this season will be slightly shorter, Showtime has already ordered a third season, and co-creator Ashley Lyle seems to think they have the series mapped out until the end. “The original plan was about five seasons, and we feel like we’re still on track for that,” Lyle told Entertainment Weekly. “We don’t really see this as being more than a five-season show.” The best shows seem to understand that the five-seasons-and-under method is pretty tried and true. Anything past that is just way too risky.
Season two of Yellowjackets will premiere for Showtime subscribers on March 24th before airing two days later on March 26th. Check out the trailer here.
Steven Spielberg recently declared that Tom Cruise saved Hollywood, and that job is never done. Tom has been off-and-on filming Mission: Impossible 8, which seems to be going much more smoothly than the Mission: Impossible 7 process. And that’s a relief, so that we can see Tom returning to casually perching atop speeding trains like the rest of us lounge upon our couches.
Do you ever worry about Tom’s crazy stunts, and whether he’ll ever realize that he (as our own Brian Grubb pointed out) really doesn’t have to do this? He’s proven himself. We fully believe that he’s capable and willing and would leap off skyscrapers and hang onto the side of airborne planes again at the drop of a hat. Yet still, he won’t stop, and although that can be concerning, here’s a sign that you really don’t need to worry: a ladybug.
The good luck talisman was apparently hanging near the vantage point of director Christopher McQuarrie, who also posted another glimpse from inside an airplane that’s filming Tom’s airborne stunts for this sequel.
As Varietyalso reports, Tom headed into the Italian port city of Bari over the weekend, and he’s currently filming from a U.S. aircraft carrier, which is now sitting “somewhere between Italy and Croatia,” according to Apulia Film Commission Antonio Parente. The production is taking place in several locations around the globe, so expect Tom to be hanging off planes everywhere as usual. Maybe we’ll see him drop into view at The White Lotus, dang it. Now that would be a real stunt.
There are some couples out there that are so close they start to slowly morph into the same person. We all know these couples, they wear matching outfits, they say the same jokes, hell, sometimes they even slowly start to look like one another. Well it turns out, President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden just might be that type of couple. According to the Washington Post, the Bidens hit up popular Washington DC restaurant Red Hen and committed, what some consider, the ultimate culinary sin (aside from putting ketchup on overcooked steak, of course) — they ordered the same dish.
The meal in question consisted of a chicory salad, grilled bread, and butter, and two bowls of rigatoni. Not exactly a thrill ride and nothing seems amiss. And yet, it led to Washington Post’s congressional reporter Paul Kane citing his own dinner crew, linking to a piece about the meal (written by Emily Heil), and offering this very strong take:
This is a huge no-no with my dinner crew. At one restaurant there’s a rush to call dibs on prime rib, because then no one else is allowed to order it.
We respect Kane for drawing a line in the sand, but as you might expect, the internet had all sorts of opinions on this level of caring-what-the-hell-others-do-with-their-time. Here are some of the best takes we found.
Paul, if we ever went to dinner, I would wait for you to order, and then order the exact same thing while never breaking eye contact with you. What are you gonna even do about it.
— Franklin Stove Expropriator (@agraybee) March 1, 2023
Perhaps FLOTUS ordered for the table and said “my husband will have the same.” Perfectly fine.
Life is too short for me to care about if someone else orders the same dish I do. I order what I want and let the chips fall where they may. I’m a real rebel.
Once, in 2007, my wife and I both ordered the Cobb Salad. The server’s visible shudder almost made me change my mind, but I thought, “There’s no going back now.” Years of individual and couples therapy ensued, and while we’re on solid footing now, no one orders the Cobb anymore.
Is this some endearing family tradition, or does your “dinner crew” just enjoy being arbitrarily limited in enjoying their meal choices?
What do you do if you are served a chef’s multi-course tasting menu with all the same dishes?
Weird.
— Keysfins #Vax’d & Masked By Choice (@Keysfins) March 1, 2023
My husband and I have been together for 35 years. We have often said ‘I’ll have the same’ when ordering dinner. You know, it’s food…that we both decided we wanted that night.
My wife and I do this quite a lot when we go out. If we’re at a place and there’s a dish there we’re both partial to, we often order the same thing. So, “who does that?” Humans. Because we have foods we like.
> “Getting the same thing as the person you’re eating dinner with is silly,” she says. “The whole point of going out to eat is getting to try as many things as possible.”
Well I don’t know about any of you, but for me, that is certainly NOT the whole point of going out to eat.
Asking “Who does that?” about something that literally all normal people do is a great way to reveal that you’ve never met a normal person. The only baffling thing here is the weird idea that people go to restaurants for any other reason than to eat whatever they like, period.
The Red Hen’s Mezzi Rigatoni, which features tomato, fennel sausage ragu, and pecorino romano is the restaurant’s signature dish and WaPo reports that about 50 to 70 orders a night are sold, so… maybe Joe and Jill both wanted to experience what the restaurant is most famous for. Or maybe Joe and Jill are one of those weird couples that are slowly morphing into the same person mentioned above. Only the Secret Service knows for sure, so we’ll all just have to theorize.
We’re kidding, don’t theorize about that. Focus on stuff (college loans!) that matters and leave people to order in peace.
Cheerleading is supposed to be a team activity. Most squads have anywhere from 10 to 20 cheerleaders and some have even more than that. But one squad in Nebraska had just four girls, and less than two weeks before the Nebraska State Cheer and Dance Championships, all but one cheerleader had quit.
Most kids would’ve followed suit so close to a big competition and without teammates, but Katrina Kohel, a senior at Morrill High School, decided she was still going to compete—even if it meant she would have to do it alone. Talk about being brave in the face of disappointment. This girl decided she was going to cheer in the competition and she did, without much care for what others thought.
The competition wasn’t just the next town over. It was five hours away, so Kohel and her coach, April Ott, really had to mull it over before committing to making that drive, according to Business Insider. In the end, the teen decided that she didn’t want to just sit in the crowd or stay home; she wanted to perform the routine she spent so much time learning. But the routine required the entire squad, so before they could make the trip, they had to figure out how to make it a one-person routine.
“I’ve put a lot of time into cheer. It’s just always been a part of who I am, so I didn’t want to end on that note. I wanted to go out on a high one. For that to come true, I didn’t want to end it just by going to watch state. I wanted to compete.” Kohel told Business Insider. So the lone cheerleader and her coach got to work redoing the routine so it made sense with just one person cheering.
The pair told the Omaha World-Herald that they had to rework the whole performance in a week and a half. It was really a battle of sheer will since Kohel was determined to do her best on the mat without her team. Kohel admitted to the outlet that she was nervous, but no one would have known it.
“She was completely confident the whole week that we practiced,” Ott told Business Insider. “It was just 100% confidence, and she just owned it.”
This cheerleader was absolutely unstoppable and she had her family’s full support. Even Ott’s daughter, who was previously a cheerleader at the same high school, tagged along to cheer her on. Kohel’s grandparents stood in for her parents because her brother had a state wrestling tournament and her parents are the coaches. But don’t worry, they were able to see her cheer through Facebook Live.
Support didn’t only come from her family and coach, as other cheerleaders piled into her section and cheered for the brave solo cheerleader. Darin Boysen, executive director of the Nebraska Coaches Association, told the Omaha World-Herald that this was the first time a cheerleader competed alone.
But she didn’t just compete—she placed 8th out of 12 squads, which is the highest Morrill High School has placed in the last three years.
“It’s almost overwhelming, the amount of support I got from all of them,” Kohel explained to Business Insider. “The whole arena was cheering me on. It wasn’t just one little section—it was the whole arena.”
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