Christopher Landis, a choir director at Hingham Middle School in Massachusetts, didn’t tell his students he was engaged to Joe Michienzie three years ago. According to Inside Edition, whenever they asked who Michienzie was, Christopher would say, “That’s Joe. He’s my friend.”
Landis kept his relationship a secret in front of his students because he wasn’t sure how their parents would react. Sadly, even today, LGBTQ people still have to be discreet about their personal lives in some professions.
This is sad for the teachers who have to stay closeted and also for the LGBTQ students who miss out on having a positive role model.
However, somehow the secret got out and two mothers of Landis’ students, Margit Foley and Joy Foraste, approached Michienzie to see how they could get the students involved in their wedding.
“At the end of the summer, Margit and I heard he was getting married. He’s the best teacher, and he’s got this great energy, and he makes every school function fun. We thought, wouldn’t it be awesome to do something for his wedding?” Foraste said according to The New York Times.
The women emailed the other choir parents to see if their children could perform at their teacher’s wedding rehearsal dinner.
“We hoped we’d get at least 15 kids to do it,” Foraste said. But 50 of the 70 kids in the chorus said they’d be there to support their teacher’s wedding. They secretly rehearsed for four Sundays in a row at a local library so Landis wouldn’t catch a whiff of the plan they hatched.
The kids and their parents kept the secret for four months before the big day and had to get off school and travel 30 miles to the event. Landis had no idea what was about to happen but he felt something was up when people at the dinner started picking up their phones.
Out of nowhere, 50 kids filed into the room, songbooks in hand. After Dona Maher, a colleague of Landis’, banged out the first few notes of the French National Anthem on her keyboard, the kids began to sing the word, “Love.” It was the perfect song for the occasion, “All You Need Is Love” by the Beatles.
Video taken by the bartender at the event shows Landis unable to hold back the tears as his kids sang their hearts out. It was a beautiful moment of acceptance for a teacher who wasn’t sure if his kids and their parents would understand his love for his husband-to-be.
After the performance, Landis turned to the crowd with a huge smile and said, “These are my kids.”
“It was so wonderful for the kids to see him with his family and his close friends, and they saw him as a person, not just their teacher,” Foraste told The Patriot Ledger. “They saw how much it meant to him. He immediately started crying and the kids started crying. It’s something they’ll never forget.”
A quick-thinking 10-year-old boy escaped a woman trying to lure him by pretending that a local store clerk was his mother. ABC 6 reports that Sammy Green was walking home from school in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, on Friday, November 11, when a strange woman started following him.
The woman “started walking with him and asking him where his family was, asking where his dad was,” Sam Green, the boy’s father, told ABC6. The boy didn’t know the woman but she insisted that she knew his family.
She tried to lure him into going with her by promising she’d buy him “anything he wanted” at Wawa, a local convenience store that sells shakes, sandwiches and other treats.
“She was like, ‘I’m going to Wawa, are you going there? What are you getting from Wawa? Where’s your family at?'” Sammy told CBS.
“She said she probably knew me and was going to Wawa and that he was supposed to go with her and he could get anything he wanted,” Sam Green said.
In an attempt to flee the suspicious woman, Sammy walked into Dani Bee Funky, an unconventional gift shop, where he went straight to 17-year-old Hannah who was working the register. “He was like, ‘Pretend like you’re my mom,'” Hannah told CBS, “and I was just like, ‘all right go to the back.’ He didn’t want to leave my side.”
Security footage shows that Hannah then calmly walked up to the store’s front door and locked it, preventing the woman from coming inside. After she was locked out, the woman walked away. “I was still shaking when I was in here,” Sammy said.
The security camera footage is hard for Sammy’s dad to watch. “When we were watching that video, I cried every time I saw it,” said Green.
u201cthat are so scary i glad he was able to get help nnA 10-year-old boy in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, escaped a woman who was following him.nnThe boy asked a cashier to pretend to be his mother nhttps://t.co/2WYLX9nQvNu201d
The shop’s owner has nothing but praise for Hannah’s calm way of handling the dangerous situation. “I am very proud of her. Hannah is a 17-year-old young lady. She did everything correctly,” Small said.
This story is a great reminder for parents to talk to their kids about what to do if they are approached by a suspicious person. The first thing they should know is that it’s OK to say “No!” as loudly as possible to a suspicious person. They should then scream, “Help! This is not my mom or my dad!” to alert the adults around them and then run. If they are grabbed by the person they should bite, punch and kick as hard as they can until they can get free.
Sammy’s dad is proud that his son remembered what he told him to do when confronted by a suspicious stranger. “Think of every scenario and make sure that children know and also practice it,” he reminded parents. “Practice your situations and scenarios just like fire drills.”
For the time being, Sammy is going to have a family friend walk him to and from school. The Pottstown Police have spoken with the woman and she is now getting help for mental health issues.
All people have a need to communicate, but the way we do that varies greatly from place to place. Every culture has its own communication peculiarities that make our human family delightfully diverse.
Not only do humans speak thousands of languages around the world, but we also engage in culturally specific speaking styles, speech patterns and body language, some of which are immediately identifiable.
Case in point: the Italian “finger purse.”
Italian people are known for using their hands a lot when speaking. Italian hand gestures can vary a bit between northern and southern Italy, but one of the most universally recognizable is the pinched fingers or “finger purse.” That’s the gesture in which the tips of the fingers and the thumb are pressed together (forming a purse shape) and pointed upward, often in a repeated back-and-forth or up-and-down motion, sometimes with one hand and sometimes with both. Along with the rhythm of punctuated emphasis on certain words, especially when speaking passionately, the finger purse is often used to convey a question with a sense of annoyance, exasperation or confusion.
It’s a gesticulation most of us associate with a classic Italian grandma or grandpa, but when you see it coming from a tiny little Italian person, it’s utterly hilarious. A viral video, originally shared by @guiseppe_matilde on TikTok, shows a preschooler engaging in a passionate rant that is unmistakably Italian, both in the actual language she’s speaking and in her hand gestures.
u201ci absolutely need to have an italian baby who gesticulates with the passion of a 64 year old sicilian manu201d
According to Italian speakers in the comments, the little girl is conveying a story about how someone commented negatively about her wearing a miniskirt. u/shykawaii_shark on Reddit shared:
“Rough translation for English speakers. Not a literal translation, I made it easier to comprehend
Mother: What kind of sense does that make!
Daughter: They told me ‘What sense does going out with a miniskirt make?’ Like, think for yourself! I can wear my miniskirt, and you mind your own business!
Mother: Exactly!
Daughter: Think about your own miniskirt, not mine!”
Got a feisty little feminist here.
The full video on TikTok is even better (but it doesn’t have the Italian subtitles):
Secondo voi ha ragione matilde ? #foryoupage @Giò Canaletti seguitela tutti su istragram matilde_vaccar
As adorable as this video is, it’s also an example of how culture gets passed on from generation to generation. An Australian study found that young humans across different cultures imitate adults in ways that animals don’t. Animals will imitate adult behavior to the extent that it’s efficient and necessary to perform a task, whereas humans will mimic even silly or frivolous behaviors that have no purpose whatsoever.
“Animals focus on getting the job done,” Mark Nielsen, a psychologist at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, told Science. “Humans seem to almost forget about the outcome and copy everything we see.”
That mimicry of unnecessary actions may contribute to the complexity of human cultures. After all, it’s not really necessary to do the finger purse to make a point, but Italians do it anyway. Little Italians pick it up from adult Italians, and so the classic Italian communication style is passed on.
And thank goodness it is, because babies gesturing in Italian is absolutely adorable.
What started out as a lighthearted class presentation quickly turned into a fabulous humanities lesson for all.
A teacher under the pseudonym Larry Lexicon has 1.8 million followers on TikTok, where they tune in to catch the funny-yet-inspirational interactions Lexicon has with his students.
Recently, Lexicon had his class rolling with his meticulously crafted PowerPoint explaining what certain Gen Z words mean.
“All year long I’ve been listening to you and making a list, which I’ve compiled here for you — the Gen Z Term Dictionary,” he told the class, saying that they should speak up if anything was inaccurate.
Here’s what he came up with.
He took “bruh,” (aka the “staple of their generation”) to simply be the alternative for “bro,” except that “bruh!” can also be used as an exclamation. That was correct.
Although the word “Rizz,” was fairly new to him, he also correctly guessed that this was short for “charisma,” and thus refers to someone who has the ability to charm.
“You can use it in all kinds of ways. Like I’m the Rizzard of Oz!” he joked.
“Bussin” he took to mean that something was good, particularly food. Also correct. He even knew that “bussin’ bussin’” meant that something was really good. Clearly, Lexicon had done his homework.
However, a few people pointed out in the comments that many terms have roots in African-American Vernacular English (AAVE). So in his third TikTok, Lexicon chose to make some revisions, and explained to the class why those revisions were important.
“I know you think you came up with a lot of these words, but you didn’t, and they’ve been around for a long time,” Lexicon said, noting how parts of AAVE language are at first “looked down upon by society as uneducated or thuggish” yet nonetheless sneak into daily vocabulary through pop culture.
“What happens is it makes its way into like, white suburbia, and you get a middle-aged dorky white dude mislabeling it just for a whole generation as a term dictionary,” he said. “And it ends up erasing the importance of it.”
Lexicon then admitted that it was a mistake made by his own ignorance, which was okay, because he was able to take feedback, learn and act on it to grow.
“Being ignorant’s OK, but being willfully ignorant and not doing anything about it — not so OK.”
Viewers who have been following Lexicon’s series applauded him for taking the time to make even a silly little powerpoint into an important conversation for everyone involved.
“I love how you’re learning it and then teaching it! This is education!” one person wrote.
“The fact that you came back and showed HOW TO LEARN and that it’s OK NOT TO KNOW but not ok to be willfully ignorant,” added another.
“This is a hell of an example for your students,” read the top comment.
In case you’re curious, here are all the words gathered so far for the newly re-titled “AAVE-inspired Gen Z term dictionary.”
“Delulu”— delusional.
“Eepy”— really sleepy.
“Be so for real”— “Are you serious?”
“Witerawy”— “Literally,” but with emphasis.
“Baddie” — “A pretty girl, typically very curvy and independent.” But can also be a guy.
“Gyatt” — A substitute for “gosh darn!” typically used in response to seeing a baddie.
“Getting sturdy” — A dance usually used when winning, kind of like a touchdown dance.
“Bet” — Another way of saying “OK” or “alright.” Likely a shortened version of “you bet.”
“Slaps” — a verb for when a song is really good. Or food. Maybe? Debate’s still out on that one
“Cap” — A lie.
“No cap” — The truth.
“On god”— undeniable truth.
Lexicon plans to add new words each week throughout the remaining weeks of school. If you’d like to follow along, he can be found on TikTok.
Rootin’ tootin’ Lauren Boebert frequently behaves like the MAGA defender of the Second Amendment. She recently held up a t-shirt that labeled guns as hole punchers of humans, and her firearm-happy ways are so infamous that SNL parodied her, and of course, Boebert acted triggered in response. So while it was sad to recently see Boebert nonchalantly trash a pin that meant to commemorate an Uvalde shooting victim, it wasn’t exactly a shocker, given that she frequently tweets about her opposition to gun control.
As originally shown in a video posted by Sarah Fishkind, Boebert swiftly disposed of a pin that depicted the Converse sneakers of 10-year-old Maite Rodriguez. Recently, Boebert posted a sort-of apology video via Patriot Takes, and as seen below, Boebert claimed that she had no idea what the man handed her, only that she recognized him for behaving “aggressively” during a previous “press conference.” She continued:
“If anyone thinks that I was disrespecting a child who tragically lost their lives at the hands of an evil, evil person, I want to apologize for the appearance of that. But that’s not at all what it was. I simply didn’t want to receive anything from this aggressive man who was harassing me and my office.”
Lauren Boebert apologized for “the appearance” of “disrespecting a child” killed in the Uvalde school shooting after a video of her throwing away her memorial pin went viral.
Boebert partially blamed throwing the pin away on wearing AirPods and claimed the man was “aggressive.” pic.twitter.com/otyk9XPaxa
Brett Cross, the uncle of Uzi Garcia (and who was raising the child in his home), isn’t buying that this video is any form of an apology. In the below response video, he declares that Boebert “don’t give a rat’s ass” and accused her of lying with her explanation. Cross maintains that the “aggressive man” was a very different person than the man who handed Boebert a pin. And he wasn’t done.
“Nah, see you’re apologizing because you got caught, and it’s on camera” Cross argued. “That’s why, not for the ‘appearance’ of anything. You got caught, and instead of just being adult enough to be like, ‘You know what? I really don’t care,’ because we know you don’t, you’re gonna try this bullsh*t.” Here, you can watch the video, which ends with Cross exclaiming, “F*ck her.”
Tequila is the ideal summer spirit. It’s bright, flavorful, ideal for shooting with some friends during a backyard bbq, perfect for mixing into bright cocktails (juicy strawberry margarita, anyone?), and is super sippable (if you spring for the good stuff). No matter what kind of drinker you are you can get a lot of mileage out of tequila, so why settle for your tried and true brands?
To help guide you to the best under-the-radar (or semi-under-the-radar) bottles for the rest of summer, we’re shouting out a range of expressions for shooting, mixing, and sipping. Every expression of tequila — your blancos, reposados, añejos, extra añejos, and even cristalinos — will get some shine here. The only parameter is that these are all bottles that we’ve sampled and loved this year and still have in rotation in our bar carts.
Astral is produced at NOM 1607, Grupo Solave, home to Kendall Jenner’s 818 and similar to that brand, Astral shares easy drinkability that makes for a smooth and bright tequila.
Astral’s Blue Weber agave is tahona extracted, utilizes agave fibers during fermentation and is copper pot still distilled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Nail polish remover at the onset with thyme and green pepper qualities.
Palate: Luckily that strong chemical smell doesn’t migrate to the palate, which is dominated by flavors of roasted agave, spearmint, and bright orange zest.
Finish: Smooth and sweet with prominent vanilla flavors.
The Bottom Line:
Smooth and inviting, Astral’s tequila Blanco is an ideal shooting and mixing tequila. For the price, it’s bright and spiky while still offering an ease of drinkability.
Produced at NOM 1438, Destiladora del Valle de Tequila, home to a jaw-dropping 176 brands, Nosotros cooks its mix of lowland and highland agave in stone brick ovens extracting the juices via a roller mill. The result is very zesty and bright.
The brand has taken home a Double Gold at San Francisco World Spirits and serves as one of the best tequilas in this price range. The brand also makes Tesla Tequila (which is just aged Nosotros Blanco) so if you’ve ever been curious about what that tastes like… start here!
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Bright green and grassy, this tequila has a very natural and vegetal smell.
Palate: The flavor begins with a refreshing cool mint infusion before moving into the celery and asparagus realm.
Finish: Floral jasmin with prominent zesty citrus qualities.
The Bottom Line:
The ideal party tequila. La Historia de Nosotros Tequila is perfect for shooting in celebration or mixing into a big vat to keep the party rolling.
Calling your tequila brand “Casa Azul” when there is a super popular “Clase Azul” brand that sells very iconic bottles is… setting yourself up for a challenge. But don’t hold that strikingly similar (and impossible to Google) name against the brand, Casa Azul delivers!
Produced at NOM 1480, Tequila Las Americas, Casa Azul utilizes organic single estate agave that is cooked in stone brick ovens, roller mill extracted, and distilled in copper coil stainless still pot before being aged in American oak bourbon casks for 12-13 months which helps give it a mellow whiskey like quality.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Brown sugar molasses and roasted agave with hints of warm oak.
Palate: Cracked black pepper dominates the palate with hints of minerality with some nutty roasted notes peaking in an out.
Finish: Toasted oak and roasted agave dominate the finish with a sort of wet leather taste that lingers.
The Bottom Line:
It’s a sweet slow sipper. I love it on a summer night with a cool breeze on the balcony. If you don’t have a balcony, hit the roof (or just go outside) — there’s something about watching the sky while sipping this one that enhances the experience.
La Caza claims its highland agave is cooked and fermented for over 90 hours to “the sounds of Mozart’s classical music.” Does that have any effect on the flavor? No, but we’re happy the workers at NOM 1414, Feliciano Vivanco y Asociados, have something nice to listen to.
The classic music-infused agave is cooked in stone brick ovens, roller mill extracted, and aged in American white oak barrels for four months. We’d love to see Mozart take a shot of this stuff.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: A mix of maple, hazelnut, and floral jasmine greets your senses, activating the salivary glands before you even take your first taste.
Palate: Fruit and caramel dance on the tongue with a steadily growing spice that increases in intensity the more you drink it.
Finish: Sweet, smooth and a bit oily.
The Bottom Line:
A well-balanced and full-bodied versatile reposado that you can shoot, mix, and even sip, preferably to the sounds of Mozart.
I try not to judge any bottle of tequila before I drink it, but I couldn’t help myself with Hijole! The Tequila is the official partner of the Mets, the Denver Broncos, the San Antonio Spurs, the Henderson Silver Knights, and the New Jersey Devils — meaning that this is stadium sports tequila. My expectations were low, as I’d never had a great cocktail at a sporting event, but I was wrong!
Produed at NOM 1614, Tequilera Tap, Hijole! Scored Double Gold at this year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition and uses agave harvest at six years maturity and cooked for 24 hours, roller mill extracted and fermented in stainless steel tanks.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Warm roasted agave and smooth vanilla worth savoring. You can taste hints of honey before it actually hits your palate.
Palate: Caramel and coconut, this tequila has a warm slightly tropical vibe that matches the summer season.
Finish: Coconut and vanilla with some toasted almond and a hint of tobacco leaf.
The Bottom Line:
I don’t generally sip blanco tequilas, but some Hijole! Over a big cube of ice on a hot day is a nice way to experience this bright and vegetal tequila. Aside from that, it’s ideal for shooting and mixing, but we lean toward the latter for this particular bottle.
El Tequileño is a fantastic brand with a variety of expressions that come out of Nom 1108, Jorge Salles Cuervo y Sucesores, where it is the only brand in production. Given its popularity and quality, I was extremely curious to see how the beloved brand would tackle a polarizing expression like Cristalino, and I’m happy to say the brand knocks it out of the park.
This additive-free tequila is rested for four months in American Oak barrels before being filtered to a cristalino state, offering a balance of mellow notes and bright agave flavors.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich vanilla begins your journey before notes of brown sugar take over, like fresh cookies baking in the oven.
Palate: Charred wood greets the palate before those vanilla notes peak out and morph into a delicate oak flavor mixed with coconut flesh.
Finish: Surprisingly not smoothed out to oblivion. A common criticism of Cristalino is that the filter negates the aging process, but what we have here is something that is mellow yet still bright and zesty. It’s got layered flavors and never get boring.
The Bottom Line:
If you have friends who still haven’t given in to the Cristalino trend — or if that’s you — give Tequileño’s Cristalino a try, the depth of flavor is striking and may make a believer out of you.
In many ways Cierto feels like the tequila brand of the year — this label has been incredibly hyped lately winning a total of 97 awards including Tequila of the Year 2019 at Intl. Spirits Competition NYC, Best Reposado at Craft Distillers Spirits Competition in 2022, and Double Gold at both the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and the SIP awards this year.
I’m sorry to say that this premium tequila lives up to the hype, sorry because the price tag is steep, and — given its accolades — it’ll likely stay that way. The tequila is produced at NOM 1146, Tequileña. The repo is aged for 11 months in French Limousin Oak barrels.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Warm roasted agave notes dominate the nose but there is the slightest hint of chili pepper lingering. It’s inviting and sweet.
Palate: Bright mango notes mixed with chili powder with a balance of vegetal qualities and the more mellow notes of oak.
Finish: Chocolate and oak, this tequila finishes with that barrel-aged flavor but doesn’t come across as too woody, there is a lot of sweetness here that owns the finish.
The Bottom Line:
It’ll be an expensive, premium cocktail, but the shifting flavors of this outstanding reposado tequila make it one of the best-tasting bases to build a cocktail atop. If you can’t stomach diluting a $100+ reposado, we feel that, but at least treat yourself to one cocktail with this bottle.
I really like LALO for its obsessive commitment to a single expression, I’d love to see more tequila brands laser-focused on a specific style of tequila rather than trying to cover all the bases.
LALO cooks its Blue Weber agave in stone steam ovens for 20-32 hours, letting it rest for an additional 18 hours, and ferments the product in a proprietary champagne yeast. The flavor is bright, direct, and pure.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Lots of zesty citrus, it almost tickles the nose in a sneeze-inducing way.
Palate: Bright and buttery with some light caramel undertones and a grassy green quality.
Finish: Supremely vegetal and pure, this is a spiky and bright tequila but smooth and pleasant enough that you don’t need a chaser or any lime.
The Bottom Line:
LALO is great for all occasions, shoot it, mix it or sip it, it doesn’t disappoint no matter how you drink it, but we suggest savoring the nectar here — this is one of the best blanco tequilas out right now for the price.
We couldn’t close out this list without talking about, in our opinion, Cierto’s crown jewel expression, the additive-free Extra Añejo. Aged for 48 months in French Limousin Oak, this is the sort of tequila you reserve for special occasions and deserves to be savored with the slowest sip imaginable.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: A very pleasant bouquet of maple, honey, vanilla, and nutmeg tantalizes the senses. It comes across like dessert in a glass.
Palate: Strong warm roasted agave notes with some savory butter notes with some cinnamon.
Finish: A pleasant burning oak finish that slowly morphs into chocolate as whatever is left stains your tongue.
The Bottom Line:
It’s a slow sipper, drink it completely neat and savor the combination of sensations you get from the nose, palate, and finish.
I’ve been singing the praises of Mijenta for a while now and if you have given this brand a try yet, start with the Añejo if you’d like to be blown away by a premium sipping tequila.
Produced at NOM 1412, Destiladora de Los Altos, Magenta’s agave is cooked in low-pressure autoclaves before being roller mill extracted and fermented in stainless steel tanks, double distilled in a stainless still pot and aged for a minimum of 18 months in French Oak, American White Oak, and Cherry barrels and Acacia casks.
The tequila is certified additive free.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There is a lot going on with the smell alone, I’m getting prominent chocolate notes over shifting caramel, roasted agave, cinnamon, and anise qualities.
Palate: The flavor begins in juicy sweet cherry territory before morphing into slightly bitter roasted black tea and caramel and a gentle dusting of nutmeg.
Finish: A mix of oak and coffee with a warm melted chocolate flavor that rests on the tongue and grows in intensity between sips.
The Bottom Line:
An ideal sipping tequila that is deliciously aged offering a deeply complex flavor that is a true joy to savor.
Last month, it was reported that Spotify would be raising its prices soon. It turns out the reports were true, as today (July 24), Spotify announced that prices will indeed be going up.
“Since launching in 2008, Spotify has innovated and invested to build the best audio experience for you and your favorite artists and creators. We have continually revealed new opportunities for fans and creators to connect through the power of our platform, from discovery tools like our new AI DJ, to fan-favorite shared experiences like Blend and the introduction of podcasts and audiobook content.
With 200+ million Premium subscribers, we’re also proud to be the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service, giving Premium users access to on-demand and ad-free music listening, offline music downloads, and quality music streaming. The market landscape has continued to evolve since we launched. So that we can keep innovating, we are changing our Premium prices across a number of markets around the world. These updates will help us continue to deliver value to fans and artists on our platform.”
It then outlines the new prices for its various plans in the US: $10.99 for Premium Individual, $14.99 for Premium Duo, $16.99 for Premium Family, and $5.99 for Premium Student. The post also links to an FAQ page with more information, which notes in regards to when the new pricing will go into effect, “Existing Spotify Premium plan subscribers will be notified via email and given a one-month grace period before the new price becomes effective, unless they cancel before the grace period ends.”
As The Hollywood Reporter notes, the new prices for all plans are now $1 greater than before, except for Premium Duo, which jumped by $2. The increased prices put Spotify on par with Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music, all of which are also currently $10.99 per month.
Remember the whole kerfuffle over entertainment industry nepo babies a few months ago? It feels like you could write a whole article about them for the children of rappers. However, unlike in Hollywood, where name recognition can keep earning you roles you might otherwise miss out on, in rap, fans actively hold your parentage against you (plus, either fans like and stream the music or they don’t).
That makes Coi Leray‘s breakout all the more impressive, even if her dad, former Source magazine owner Benzino, didn’t help her out much along the way. In fact, he’s never even been to one of her shows, according to a backstage interview the father-daughter pair gave at Rolling Loud in Miami over the weekend. After Coi called her dad over and revealed it was his first time ever seeing her perform, he gave his assessment.
“You can say I’m biased,” he admitted, “But honestly, I don’t see nobody else doing that. She’s amazing.”
This is a far cry from some of the comments they’ve previously made. Coi has admitted to downplaying their relationship in the pursuit of her own rap career, even going as far as tweeting, “I NEVER WANTED ANYBODY TO KNOW!!! I’M EMBARRASSED TO BE YOUR DAUGHTER.” Meanwhile, Benzino himself had critiqued her career and even nearly accidentally sabotaged her by revealing her collaboration with Nicki Minaj before it was ready, prompting Nicki to consider pulling the plug.
American rye whiskey is the sharper cousin of bourbon whiskey. The use of rye grains (a wheat varietal) as the main ingredient instead of corn leads to a whiskey that has more herbal, funky, and fruity characteristics. They’re two different beasts at the end of the day, but that doesn’t mean that rye whiskey can’t be soft, creamy, or sweet too. American rye whiskeys can be smooth AF and I’m going to underscore that fact today, via a big blind taste test.
Before I dive in — what does “smooth” even mean? Well, “smoothness” is the lack of roughness. It’s creamy, silky, velvety, soft, and polished. But it’s more than that when we’re talking about whiskey. It’s about the mouthfeel or texture. Smoothness really comes down to the way the whiskey feels on your palate and senses more than the flavors it imparts.
Yes, the depth of the flavor profile is still paramount — you want to taste good whiskey after all (not just “smooth like water,” in which case lowest proof would always win). But the feeling that the pour of whiskey imparts is what leads us to use the word “smooth” after we taste it. Let’s be honest, no one is describing a high-ABV whiskey that burns all the way down as “smooth,” are they? Nor would anyone pin a chewy wood bomb as smooth. This is about those aforementioned adjectives: not rough, soft, silky, velvety, polished, and creamy.
For this blind tasting, I grabbed 12 American rye whiskeys that I know are regarded as “smooth” to find the absolute best one. I also added a bottle that people love but I wouldn’t exactly call smooth — Bulleit Rye — to see if it comes close on the smoothness metric or not.
That makes our lineup today the following smooth rye whiskeys:
Stellum Rye The Lone Cypress
Michter’s Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey 10 Years Old
E.H. Taylor, Jr. Straight Kentucky Rye Whiskey Bottled In Bond
Hemingway Rye, 1st Edition A Blend Of Straight Rye Whiskeys Finished In Rum Seasoned Olorosso Sherry Casks
Scarlet Shade Straight Rye Whiskey Aged 14 Years
Bardstown Bourbon Company Origin Series Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey Finished in Toasted Cherry Wood and Oak Barrels
Rare Character Single Barrel Series Selected by ReserveBar Topflight Series Straight Rye Whiskey Finished in Jaqueira Casks
Bulleit 95 Rye Frontier Whiskey Straight American Rye Whiskey
Jefferson’s Single Barrel Straight Rye Whiskey Finished in Cognac Casks
Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey Aged 7 Years
Russell’s Reserve Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey Single Barrel
291 All Rye 100% Rye Malt Colorado Whiskey Finished with Aspen Wood Staves
To round this blind tasting out, I ranked these rye whiskeys according to how smooth they were while also considering the depth and detectability of the flavor profile. Smooth is great and all, but there also has to be something delicious there to add to that smoothness. Savvy? Let’s dive in!
Also Read: The Top Five Rye Whiskey Posts from the Last Six Months on UPROXX
Nose: There’s a light pine resin meets dried chili pepper vibe on the nose with a bushel of dried savory green herbs — think sage, thyme, rosemary, tarragon — next to old leather and dried sour cherries tossed in kosher salt.
Palate: The palate has a note of that pine with a soft orange rind next to a spiced winter cake with dried fruit, walnuts, and wintry spices.
Finish: The end is slightly warm thanks to high ABVs with a sense of those salted cherries that give way to marzipan and vanilla cream with a hint of dried winter spices and chili peppers.
Initial Thoughts:
This started off heavy and woody and ended up very smooth before drying out. It’s good stuff but maybe not the smoothest whiskey in the world.
Taste 2
Zach Johnston
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 gets very creamy with the almond and creamy vanilla tobacco, soft and sweet cedar, and a dark chocolate orange vibe all balanced to damn near perfection.
Initial Thoughts:
This is a smooth motherf*cker right here.
Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This nose is vibrant with hints of freshly plucked pears next to black peppercorns, soft cedar, winter spice barks and berries, and a hint of fresh mint chopped up with fresh dill that leads to a minor key of spearmint and maybe some fresh chili pepper on the vine.
Palate: The palate holds onto the fresh green chili pepper as the pear gets stewed with those winter spices and drizzled with a salted toffee syrup cut with sharp burnt orange and bitter chinotto leaves.
Finish: That sweet and citrus bitter vibe leads back to dark and woody clove and anise with a dash of sasparilla and salted black licorice before some fresh mint and dill return to calm everything down.
Initial Thoughts:
This is delicious and very smooth while delivering incredible deep flavor notes.
Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich and old oak mingles with salted caramel, dark maple syrup, and sheets of dark fruit leather next to a soft sense of caraway rye toast with a soft creamed vanilla butter and a light touch of cherry compote.
Palate: That cherry takes on a slightly tart and salted aura on the taste as the salted caramel leads to huge sticks of cinnamon bark, clove-studded oranges, and a smudging bundle full of wild sage, sweetgrass, and cedar bark.
Finish: Those smoldering botanicals linger on the finish as a soft cinnamon cake with salted toffee drizzle and a whisper of dark chocolate-covered espresso beans counter the rye dank.
Initial Thoughts:
This has a nice smoothness over all but it’s more smooth in the way jam can be rather than the way cream is. I guess that’s me saying this is more jammy than smooth.
Taste 5
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is a vanilla bomb with a sense of buttercream and salted caramel ice cream next to fresh dark berries, a hint of zucchini bread with walnuts and clove, and a mild sense of cedar cigar humidors.
Palate: The bark-heavy winter spices amp up on the palate as plums, peaches, and pears get stewed and lead to a sharp marmalade with a hint of salted dark chocolate-covered espresso beans next to coffee-laced tobacco with a whisper of black cherry.
Finish: The end leans into the spice and tobacco as the orchard fruit really amps up with a deep vanilla cake base cut with real vanilla pods and a light sense of old oak staves in a dusty cellar with a dirt floor.
Initial Thoughts:
This has some serious smoothness that’s countered by some serious aged depth (earthiness). It’s a great balance and just works.
Taste 6
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is classic with fresh cherry layered with nasturtiums, cinnamon sticks, and soft cedar planks just kissed with clove, nutmeg, and anise before light red peppercorns and brandy-soaked cherries dipped in salted dark chocolate kick in.
Palate: The palate follows the nose’s lead with a lush mouthfeel that’s full of spicy stewed fruits and ciders mixing with creamy vanilla and nutty bases over subtle chili pepper spiciness far in the rear of the taste.
Finish: The end pushed the woody spices toward an apple cider/choco-cherry tobacco mix with a cedar box and old leather vibe tying the whole taste together.
Initial Thoughts:
This is a very nice and very classic rye. I don’t know if I’d call it smooth though. There’s no creaminess but it is very softly hewn.
Taste 7
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is deeply nutty with a dark and worn leatheriness next to a soft sense of mild mushrooms, green banana, macadamia, and anise with a soft Kentucky cherry/vanilla/winter spice undertone.
Palate: The palate is lush and silky with a sense of vanilla oils, star fruit, clove, cinnamon bark, and nutmeg next to creamy nuttiness with a dash of toffee and alder planks.
Finish: The finish just lingers and lingers while slowly fading through vanilla buttercream, sour cherries tossed in maple sea salt, and moist marzipan cut with orange and pomelo oils.
Initial Thoughts:
This is like cream from top to bottom — even the nose is smooth and creamy. It’s also just pure silk with an incredible depth.
Taste 8
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This nose opens up with a mix of resinous cedar, sharp rye spiciness, creamy vanilla, and a hint of fresh mint.
Palate: The taste delivers on those notes while folding in hints of dark cacao, savory fruits (think melon), and a crumbly buttermilk biscuit with a hint of maple syrup.
Finish: The end is pretty short and thin but does circles back around to that cedar and maple syrup with a tobacco edge and a touch of winter spice.
Initial Thoughts:
This is nice but tastes cheap (thin).
Taste 9
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Soft old leather and meaty raisins with a good dose of creamy cinnamon cake cut with floral and fresh honey with a deep vanilla creaminess.
Palate: The palate is plummy and full of lush vanilla with a plum pudding vibe next to a hint of orange studded with cloves while soft nutmeg smoothes everything out.
Finish: The end brings the fresh honey back and laces it with rich and almost burnt orange oils next to a mix of old cedar bark and dry cinnamon wrapped in dry tobacco.
Initial Thoughts:
This is nice and silky but not quite as deep as some of the other lush ryes on the panel. It’s still very good though.
Taste 10
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Salted caramel sweetness with a vanilla underbelly drives the nose toward rye bread crusts, a hint of dried savory herbs, apple blossoms, and a whisper of soft leather gardening gloves.
Palate: The spiciness arrives after vanilla cream and salted caramel with a dose of freshly cracked red peppercorns, dried red chili, and sharp winter brown spices next to a spiced oak.
Finish: The sweetness and spiciness coalesce on the finish with a deep sense of fruit orchards full of fall leaves and apple bark.
Initial Thoughts:
This is — again — very good. It has a smoothness to it but it’s overpowered by the earthiness and spice.
Taste 11
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is full of dark orchard fruits, soft vanilla pods, old oak staves with a hint of old barrel house funk, and a mix of spicy orange rind next to freshly cracked black pepper and sharp cinnamon powder.
Palate: The palate leans into the cinnamon and layers it into chewy and buzzy tobacco with hints of vanilla sweetness, cherry bark woodiness, and sharp fancy root beer vibes.
Finish: The end pings on that old musty rickhouse one more time as a humidor full of vanilla, cherry, and cinnamon-spiced tobacco fades towards a rich and buttery toffee with a hint of rye fennel on the very backend.
Initial Thoughts:
This is a good whiskey that balances woody depth and lush creaminess pretty well. It didn’t quite jump out but it got the job done.
Taste 12
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with dark fruit leather, dark black tea leaves, cinnamon bark, and a fistful of dry dill and marjoram with a whisper of salted caramel sweetness.
Palate: The palate has a grainy cinnamon toast vibe next to more of that dark black tea with a hint of clove-spiced plum jam, freshly cracked black pepper, and more of that salted caramel.
Finish: The plumminess drives the finish with a hint of cracked almond shell and dark dill next to fresh flat-leaf parsley and a touch of sweet-sour cherry packed in sawdust.
Initial Thoughts:
This was warm, grainy, and spicy. It’s straight-up delicious. I wouldn’t call it smooth though. This is much more in the “puts hair on your chest” category.
Bulleit’s rye has a mash bill of 95% rye and 5% malted barley solely from MGP of Indiana. The rye is aged for four to seven years before blending, proofing, and bottling.
Bottom Line:
This was perfectly good whiskey. It just felt like the thinnest whiskey on this panel because it is. This really feels like a whiskey you build a cocktail with. Newbies conflate smoothness and thinness but our readers are past that level.
11. 291 All Rye 100% Rye Malt Colorado Whiskey Finished with Aspen Wood Staves — Taste 12
This Colorado whiskey is made with a 100% rye mash bill — 50% Colorado malted rye (from Root Shoot Malting) and 50% German rye malt — on a bespoke still. The hot juice is then aged in new oak with signature toasted aspen wood staves added to help refine the aging process. Finally, the barrels were batched and bottled 100% as-is, yielding only 1,000 bottles.
Bottom Line:
This was way too strong and hot to be called smooth. That said, this is a very tasty whiskey with a ton of depth. So if you’re looking for a bold AF whiskey with a kick, this is the play.
10. Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey Aged 7 Years — Taste 10
This new whiskey from Beam marks the age-statement return of their iconic Knob Creek Rye. The whiskey in this case was aged seven years before batching, slight proofing, and bottling.
Bottom Line:
This is another one that goes very deep but in a way that feels nostalgic and comforting. That said, it’s not smooth unless you add some ice or water to let the creaminess bloom in the glass (and this is a neat tasting panel — so that didn’t happen here).
That said, I would 100% use this to make a Manhattan tonight. It’ll be dope.
9. Bardstown Bourbon Company Origin Series Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey Finished in Toasted Cherry Wood and Oak Barrels — Taste 6
This whiskey — from Bardstown Bourbon Company’s own Origin Series — is their classic 95/5 rye that’s aged for almost five years. Then the whiskey is finished with alternating toasted American oak and toasted cherry wood staves in the barrel. Once the whiskey is just right, it’s batched, proofed, and bottled.
Bottom Line:
This has great depth and feels like a classic rye that delivers. Again though, I’d use this for cocktails more than as a sipper.
Named for one of the world’s most famous trees, this whiskey is all about finding the funky forest in the flavor profile of a brand-new rye whiskey. The awesome team at Barrell Craft Spirits created the blend to accentuate woodier notes before it was bottled at cask strength.
Bottom Line:
While this did have a nice woody vibe (plenty of that spice was in there), there was a nice counterpoint of silky smoothness. It wasn’t a “grab you by the collar” whiskey but they don’t all have to blow your socks off. This is just good. I’d use it as a sipper over a lot of ice (to calm down that woodiness) or in a great whiskey-forward cocktail.
7. Hemingway Rye, 1st Edition A Blend Of Straight Rye Whiskeys Finished In Rum Seasoned Olorosso Sherry Casks — Taste 4
This whiskey is a unique one. The blend is made up of two whiskeys — 94% is a nine-year-old 95/5 (rye/malted barley) Indiana rye and 6% is a four-year-old 95/5 Kentucky rye. Those whiskeys were batched and then re-filled into a rum-seasoned Oloroso sherry cask for a final rest before batching, proofing, and bottling.
Bottom Line:
This is where we get into the smooth whiskeys that deliver serious depth. I’d still contend that leans a little more toward the wood finishing (which is fine) than smooth overall though. Plus, it’s a touch warm at the end, which may turn some off from the lushness. But just add a rock and this will shine.
This hand-selected single-barrel expression hits on some pretty big classic rye notes with Kentucky bourbon vibes underneath it all. The whiskey is selected from the center cuts of the third through fifth floors of the Wild Turkey rickhouses. There’s no chill filtering and the expression is only slightly touched by water before bottling.
Bottom Line:
This was smooth, silky, and deep. It felt accessible. I can see this being a good end-of-the-day sipper as easily as making a killer Sazerac.
5. Jefferson’s Single Barrel Straight Rye Whiskey Finished in Cognac Casks — Taste 9
This release from Jefferson’s leans on masterfully selected barrel picks. The sourced whiskey is picked from single barrels of cognac-finished rye whiskey and bottled with a touch of proofing water.
Bottom Line:
This was not only smooth but it was complex. There was just more to the flavor profile and it all made sense. I wanted more of this. It also felt like it’d be a good pairing whiskey for a light and fresh meal.
The new Orphan Barrel from Diageo is a very rare release. The whiskey in the bottle is a 14-year-old rye that was distilled in Indiana and then left to age at the famed Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Louisville, Kentucky. Those barrels were batched and proofed before bottling.
Bottom Line:
This is smooth with a hint of earthiness to balance things out. It’s also so easy-going as a neat sipper.
3. E.H. Taylor, Jr. Straight Kentucky Rye Whiskey Bottled In Bond — Taste 3
This rye from Buffalo Trace is a beloved bottle. As with all Buffalo Trace whiskeys, the mash bill and exact aging are not known. It’s likely this is made from a mash of very high rye mixed with just malted barley, maybe. We do know that it is not the same mash bill as Buffalo Trace’s other rye, Sazerac.
Bottom Line:
This is where we blast off into outer space. This is freaking delicious, deep, and oh so silky.
2. Michter’s Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey 10 Years Old — Taste 2
2023’s Michter’s 10-Year release is another 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.
Bottom Line:
This was pure velvet in a glass with a beautifully deep flavor profile that just kind of keeps going without sacrificing the creaminess at all. This is fantastic whiskey, period.
1. Rare Character Single Barrel Series Selected by ReserveBar Topflight Series Straight Rye Whiskey Finished in Jaqueira Casks — Taste 7
Japqueira is a Brazilian wood that most notably grows jack fruit and is used to age cachaça. The whiskey in the bottle is 95/5 rye from Indiana that’s then refilled into a Jacqueira barrel that previously held cachaça and let it rest in Kentucky for a spell. After four years and six months, ReserveBar bottled a single barrel 100% as-is.
Bottom Line:
This was creamy, silky, and lush from the nose to the finish. It was like drinking polished silk while also carrying an insanely deep flavor profile. This is world-class whiskey (not just rye). If I was asked, “What’s the smoothest rye is right now?” I’d name this without hesitation. An incredible value.
Part 3 — Final Thoughts on the Smooth Rye Whiskeys
Zach Johnston
There weren’t any bad whiskeys in this blind tasting. There were whiskeys that weren’t all that smooth though. If you are looking for smooth, you can skip the bottom three all together. If you’re looking for a touch of smoothness with more sharp rye character, grab numbers 9 through 4.
If you’re looking for amazing whiskey that’s as smooth as it’s deep and f*cking delicious, then any of the top three are going to scratch that itch. They’re all phenomenal whiskeys.
While Elon Musk has been roundly mocked for his seemingly spur-of-the-moment decision to rebrand Twitter as X, at least one person thinks it’s “cool.” Unfortunately, that person is Piers Morgan, who is categorically the worst.
Taking an unusual break from his endless Meghan Markle obsession, Morgan stopped by Fox & Friends on Monday morning where his ham-shaped head couldn’t stop gushing about Musk’s latest move.
“I actually like it, I never liked that damn bird anyway, did you?” Morgan told Ashley Einhardt before singing the praises of X. Via Mediaite:
“I mean, it was a very annoying-looking bird, and now we’ve got a very cool-looking X. I also like the fact it is annoying the right people. You know the type — it’s the type who every time Elon Musk does anything on this platform, they immediately go nuts and then announce, ‘I am leaving the platform with immediate effect.’ And then you check about two days later and they’ve come back, or they never left at all. So, I think on every level, I like this.”
Thanks to Musk’s increased flirtation with the far-right, Einhardt was also on board with the X change and joined Morgan in touting the platform’s more “macho” persona that will reportedly abandon “tweeting.”
“Are we really reduced to a bunch of little birds running around trees tweeting?” Morgan said before swooning over Musk’s edgy new rebrand. “So, I quite like getting a cool new description.”
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