Month: February 2024

On Tuesday House Republicans’ already narrow hold on the chamber was shrunk by one. A special election to replace the seat that once belonged to booted serial fabulist George Santos didn’t go to Republican candidate Mazi Pilips. It went to Democrat Tom Suozzi, who’d already held the same gig from 2017 through 2023. Whoops! Should the blame fall on Santos, who ran a creatively dishonest campaign that ultimately led to his ouster? Santos didn’t think so. He blamed his former colleagues for booting him in the first place.

Per Semafor, after the seat was flipped blue, Santos sent out a profanity-laden message to his old New York delegation group chat.

“I hope you guys are happy with this dismal performance and your 10 million for futile Bull S*it cost the party,” Santos steamed. “I look very forward to most of you losing due to your absolute hate filled campaign to remove me from Congress arbitrarily. Now go tell the Republicans Base what you f*cking idiots did and good luck raising money next quarter.”

According to screengrabs of the group chat provided by Santos, it appears only one member replied: Andrew Garbino, who wrote, “Sorry, new phone, who dis?”

After Suozzi trounced Pilips, Santos took a succinct victory lap on Twitter/X, writing simply “-1.”

During his relatively brief stint in the House, Santos seemed to spend most of his time dodging reporters, who kept digging up the whopped he told about himself, including that his mother died in the September 11 attacks, that he played on a college volleyball team, and that he helped produce one of the most notorious flops in Broadway history. None of these things are true, but that he joined Cameo after being kicked out of Congress is.

(Via Semafor)

It’s officially fish sandwich season in the fast food universe. While the fish sandwich rollout is largely due to Lent (starting on February 14th this year), you don’t have to be catholic to enjoy a good fried fish sando from your favorite fast-food chain. They’re for everyone to enjoy!

As someone who loves a good fish sandwich (growing up in the Pacific Northwest almost demands as much), I thought it was the perfect time to make the rounds at my local fast-food joints to find the best one you should enjoy this season. That led me to six fast-food restaurants:

• Culver’s
• Arby’s
• McDonald’s
• Burger King
• Dairy Queen
• Long John Silvers

I tasted all of the sandwiches hot and fresh from the shop as these are all a short drive from each other in my small Kentucky town — most of them are within minutes of each other. I did keep them in a food warmer — just to make sure they were all as fresh as possible when I got home. Once there, I lined them up, cut them in half (for a cross-section pic), and then sampled one bite from each while noting my thoughts.

After tasting them, I ranked each sandwich on a list of variables. These were:

• Bun
• Fish (coating and flake)
• Tartar sauce
• Add-ons (pickles, lettuce, American cheese, etc.)
• Cohesiveness

The overall idea here is to find a real-deal fish sandwich to enjoy right now. It should be noted though that fast-food chain restaurants can vary wildly in quality from store to store. My hometown DQ is really good but my Wendy’s is subpar, for instance. The McDonald’s is pretty solid but the Burger King might be the worst Burger King I’ve ever been to worldwide.

Because of all of that variation, looking at each element became pretty important. I was looking for the best overall experience. And … wow, it was a mixed bag (not sorry). Let’s dive in!

• The 15 Best Big Pizza Chains, Power Ranked
• Here Are The Five Best Foods To Order At KFC For A Guaranteed Great Meal
• The Best Fast Food Dishes Under 300 Calories
• How Much Does Your Favorite Fast Food Combo Cost In Cities Across The US?
• Here Are The Five Best Foods To Order At Jack in The Box For A Guaranteed Great Meal

6. Arby’s King’s Hawaiian Fish Deluxe Sandwich

Price: $5.49

Calories: 695

The Sandwich:

This is the big fish sandwich at Arby’s, which is a seasonal offering. The build is a crispy fish filet with a panko breadcrumb coating. That’s topped with cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, and tomato with tartar sauce all on a King’s Hawaiian Roll.

Tasting Notes:

This was a bit of a mess. The cheese was plasticky. The lettuce was wilted. The tomato had seen better days. It all felt very “under the heat lamp.”

The bun was sweet but super mashed (you’ll see this isn’t a problem with other sandwiches also wrapped in paper on this list). It ended up tasting more gummy than anything else.

Then there was the fish. It was straight-up mushy. It felt like such a trick too as this was the thickest filet. It also tasted “fishy” in that end-of-the-day at the grocery store fish counter off-putting sort of way.

The tartar sauce was fine, tangy, and but barely there.

Bottom Line:

I spit this bite out. It was terrible.

Find your nearest Arby’s here.

5. McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish

Price: $6.29

Calories: 390

The Sandwich:

The Filet-O-Fish is a classic example of a fast-food fish sandwich. The sandwich combines a steamed bun, tangy tartar, fried fish filet (Alaskan pollock), and a slice of American cheese.

Tasting Notes:

This was the most cohesive sandwich of the list, mostly due to being bare bones.

First and foremost, the tartar sauce is excellent. It’s creamy, tangy, full of relish, and adds to the sandwich.

Then there’s the rest of the sandwich. The fish filet has a nice texture but nothing else. It tastes of nothing. It’s almost like a magic trick. How can it taste of nothing? Even worse, the bun tastes of cardboard. It’s a beautiful fluffy full-formed bun that holds its shape. But then tastes of freakin’ cardboard.

The slice of American cheese gives you a touch of savory creaminess but only barely. It’s pretty much washed out by that cardboard bun.

Bottom Line:

I used to be ride-or-die for a Filet-O-Fish. But I’ve tried them in about four or five states over the last two or so years and that blandness and cardboard vibe is universal across the board. It’s a shame. This was once the gold standard. Now… it’s a blank vehicle for tartar sauce.

I think I might have to give up defending these.

Find your nearest McDonald’s here.

4. Long John Silver’s Wild Alaskan Pollack Sandwich

Price: $4.69

Calories: 400

The Sandwich:

This big sandwich comes with a large piece of beer-battered Alaskan pollack. It’s served on a small sub roll (or hoagie) lightly coated with tartar sauce and stacked with pickles.

Tasting Notes:

The bun is nice and soft with a nice moment of sweetness. It could be toasted but that’s nitpicking. The pickle was actually nice a crunchy with a good bite/tang to it.

The fish is flaky, tastes clean and fresh, and has a wonderful beer-battered crunch (even when bringing it home). It’s well-seasoned and feels like a real piece of fish.

Then there’s the tartar sauce. How a fried fish restaurant like Long John Silvers can survive with the worst tartar sauce in all of fast food is mind-boggling. I mean, they’re barely surviving but… still. The sauce is like watered-down Miracle Whip that’s been left out all day. Yet, there’s no tang, no seasoning, no relish, no … anything. It’s infuriating.

Bottom Line:

If you put McDonald’s tartar sauce on this, it might have won. With the LJS tartar sauce, it’s just a sad skeleton of a fish sandwich. If you do order this, tell them to hold the tartar, and then add your own at home.

Find your nearest Long John Silvers here.

3. Culver’s Northwoods Walleye Sandwich

Price: $8.19

Calories: 620

The Sandwich:

This is Culver’s seasonal fish sando — they also have a few year-round offerings. The sandwich is a beer-battered freshwater walleye filet. Each filet is fried to order. The fish then goes on a butter-toasted hoagie with Culver’s tartar sauce, and shredded lettuce.

Tasting Notes:

The bun is the star of the show. It’s toasted perfectly, soft, and sweet with a nice hint of savoriness from the brown butter edges. The lettuce could be fresher but wasn’t wilted to death.

The fish was damn good. It was a “clean” tasting big flake white fish. The coating was crispy on the edges but got a little mushy toward the middle of the sandwich (likely due to steaming in the bun while wrapped up). It wasn’t seasoned very well though. It needs a pinch of salt or MSG to help it pop.

The tartar sauce left a lot to be desired. It wasn’t creamy or tangy. It was more like a mayo with a spoonful of relish added and that’s it.

Bottom Line:

This was okay. Overall, this is probably the one sandwich that you’ll want to eat in the restaurant. Even with a very short drive home, the coating lost some of its luster.

The main reason this gets ahead of LJS is the bun. It’s an excellent delivery vehicle for the fish sando. Mediocre tartar sauce aside, this is a pretty good middle-of-the-road option.

Find your nearest Culver’s here.

2. Burger King Big Fish

Price: $4.79

Calories: 572

The Sandwich:

Burger King’s Big Fish is a panko-breaded pollack filet. It’s served in a warm toasted bun with iceberg lettuce, pickle, and mayo.

Tasting Notes:

Look. At. That. Bun! That was wrapped in paper and it still traveled home looking that good. Moreover, the bun was perfectly toasted, buttery, and had just the right hint of sweetness.

The lettuce was crunchy and fresh (!) without a wilted morsel in sight. The pickle was nice, tangy, and crunchy too.

The fish was clean and flaky with a nice sense of white fish. The coating was nicely crunchy the whole way through. The biggest drawback was that the fish filet didn’t taste seasoned at all. This needed a pinch of salt, which almost sounds crazy.

The tangy mayo was excellent and abundant (some of it was even leaking out of the wrapping). It really sang with the tangy pickles. No, mayo + pickles does not a tartar sauce make, but still — it works here.

Bottom Line:

I was shocked my Burger King pulled this off. This was almost a jackpot. Had the fish been better seasoned and the tartar sauce been more than good mayo, it would have won. Everything else was just right.

Find your nearest Burger King here.

1. DQ Wild Alaskan Fish Sandwich

Price: $5.19

Calories: 420

The Sandwich:

This sandwich is made with wild Alaskan pollock as well. It’s panko-crusted and fried to order. The bun is toasted and served with lettuce and a tangy tartar sauce.

Tasting Notes:

The bun on this one is really good — buttery toasted, sweet edge, springy. The lettuce was not shredded and held its own and felt fresh.

The fish filet was perfect. It was well-seasoned, flaky, clean, had a great crunch, and the perfect thickness.

The tartar sauce was very close to McDonald’s. It was tangy, creamy, and full of relish with that little extra pop.

Bottom Line:

This is the one. Every element was spot on and tasted delicious. Moreover, it all added up to something more than the individual elements.

This is also a year-round offering, which means that you don’t have to race to get one before Easter gets here.

Find your nearest Dairy Queen here.

While the English-style pale ale has been brewed in some capacity since the 1700s, the American pale ale (while wildly popular) is a fairly contemporary creation. Still an outstanding beer today, we can thank Sierra Nevada’s Ken Grossman for the creation of the style when he first brewed Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in 1980. For those who don’t know, American pale ales differ from their British counterparts because of the ingredients used — the hops in the English version are known to be more floral, herbal, and earthy while the American version (thanks to the use of American hop varieties like Cascade) is known for its citrus and dank, resinous pine flavor notes.

We found eight of the best bitter, pine-forward American pale ales to drink any time of year. As a bonus, many of the pale ales on this list are available at most beer or grocery stores. Keep scrolling to see them all and see where your favorite piney pale ale landed.

8.) Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale

ABV: 6.5%

Average Price: $11 for a six-pack

The Beer:

This classic American pale ale is half traditional European and half contemporary American. That’s because it’s brewed with a combination of European malts as well as three specific American hops: Comet, Cascade, and Centennial.

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, you’ll find a ton of caramel malts, honey, citrus peels, and a wallop of dank, resinous pine. The palate is a nice mix of caramel malt sweetness and cereal grains as well as lemon peel, orange zest, and a final flourish of pine needles. The finish is dry, and bitter, and leaves you wanting more.

Bottom Line:

This American pale ale is so piney, dank, and bitter, that you might be thinking that you’re drinking a West Coast IPA instead.

7.) Boulevard Pale Ale

ABV: 5.4%

Average Price: $8 for a six-pack

The Beer:

This 5.4% American pale ale is the first beer ever brewed by Kansas City’s Boulevard Brewing. This year-round beer gets its piney, sweet malt, balanced flavor from the use of caramel malts as well as Cascade hops.

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, you’ll find aromas of tropical fruits, orange peels, lemon, grass, caramel malts, and a field of pine trees. The palate is surprisingly balanced with candied nuts and sweet caramel malts up front followed by tangerine, lime, and a ton of bittern, resinous pine at the finish.

Bottom Line:

This American pale ale might not have the name recognition of some of the others on this list, but it absolutely should.

6.) Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

ABV: 5.6%

Average Price: $11 for a six-pack

The Beer:

When it comes to American pale ales, there are none more well-known than the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. The OG pale ale that started a revolution. This balanced, pine-forward banger of a beer gets its hop presence solely from the use of Cascade hops.

Tasting Notes:

A lot is going on with this beer’s nose. There are aromas of sweet malts, caramel, and honey as well as orange zest, grapefruit, and a ton of floral, grassy, piney hops. Drinking it reveals a nice mixture of orange zest, lemon peel, grapefruit, caramel malts, and grassy, resinous, piney hops. The finish is bitter and dank in the best way possible.

Bottom Line:

This beer started the American pale ale style and it’s just as flavorful and loaded with pleasing bitter pine today as it was when Caddyshack was in theaters.

5.) Half Acre Daisy Cutter

ABV: 5.2%

Average Price: $12 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

This year-round offering from the folks at Chicago’s Half Acre Brewing has been a favorite since its inception in 2009. Brewed with Simcoe, Amarillo, Centennial, CTZ, and Chinook hops, it’s known for its mix of tropical fruits, bready malts, and pine tar.

Tasting Notes:

Complex aromas of tangerine, stone fruits, biscuit malts, grass, honey, and resinous, dank pine needles greet you before your first sip. Drinking it brings forth a nice bready, biscuit-like malt base that moves into tropical fruit sweetness before hitting lemon zest and tangerine juice, and finally herbal, dank pine needles. The finish is a mix of malt sweetness and pine bitterness.

Bottom Line:

This is one for the pale ale drinkers who enjoy a nice hint of tropical fruit flavor on top of the pine resin notes.

4.) Creature Comforts Automatic

ABV: 6%

Average Price: $12 for a six-pack

The Beer:

This memorable American pale ale from the brewers at Athens, Georgia’s Creature Comforts is brewed with a mix of Mosaic and Crystal hops. The result is a refreshing pale ale with a nice mix of fruity sweetness, malts, citrus peels, and resinous pine.

Tasting Notes:

On the nose, you’ll find scents of cracked black pepper, caramel, biscuit malts, grapefruit, stone fruits, lemon, grass, and pine needles. The palate is loaded with freshly baked bread, toffee malts, stone fruits, honey, grapefruit juice, tangerine, and pine resin. The finish is crisp, dry, and filled with pine bitterness.

Bottom Line:

This is a pale ale for the citrus fans. Luckily, it still has the pine needle flavor and aroma we crave as well.

3.) Pipeworks Lizard King

ABV: 6%

Average Price: $12 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

This wildly popular American pale ale doesn’t get its hop presence from Cascade like many of the beers on this list. The folks at Pipeworks instead opted to use only Mosaic hops. The result is a pale ale with notable tropical fruit, citrus, and pine aroma and flavor.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is littered with aromas of grapefruit, ripe berries, peach, orange peel, freshly baked bread, and resinous, dank pine. The palate is a mix of guava, mango, peach, tangerine, lemongrass, bready malts, berries, honeydew melon, and a finish of bitter, pine tar.

Bottom Line:

As pale ales go, this is a complex beer. There are so many flavors and aromas, that it will take you multiple samplings to find them all.

2.) Toppling Goliath Pseudo Sue

ABV: 5.8%

Average Price: $14 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans

The Beer:

Psuedo Sue is adorned with a roaring T-Rex. This is an accurate depiction of this epic American pale ale. Because even though it only features Citra hops, it’s filled with a monstrous amount of tropical fruit, citrus, and dank, resinous pine flavor.

Tasting Notes:

A nose of mango, pineapple, grapefruit, tangerine, lime, bready malts, and bright, herbal pine greets you before you drink this outstanding beer. The palate is a symphony of candied orange peels, grapefruit zest, lemon, mango, guava, caramelized pineapple, sweet malts, and pine needles. The finish is loaded with tropical fruit sweetness and just a hint of hop bitterness.

Bottom Line:

There’s a reason this is one of the highest-rated American pale ales on the market. It’s ridiculously aromatic and flavorful.

1.) 3 Floyds Alpha King

ABV: 6.66%

Average Price: $12 for a six-pack

The Beer:

If you didn’t know it already, 3 Floyds Alpha King is the Indiana-based brewery’s flagship beer. First brewed back in 1996, this year-round staple is brewed with seven different malts and gets its notable hop aroma and flavor from the addition of Centennial hops.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a nice mix of caramel malt aroma that blends well with notes of grapefruit, tangerine, lemongrass, mango, guava, and eventually dank pine. The flavor is centered on grapefruit, orange peel, and other citrus flavors, but moves onto peach and mango before entering the world of sweet, caramel malt, and eventually pine tar. The finish is resinous, dank, and highly memorable.

Bottom Line:

As American pale ales go, this one is definitely on the sweeter, fruitier side. But it’s tempered well with the dank, resinous piney hops.

We’re only six weeks into 2024 and there have already been some amazing bourbon releases. The year has started super strong — with new batches of some of the best bourbons in the game hitting shelves… albeit, very quietly. Well, today let’s shout about some of these great bourbons and get them the attention they deserve.

To do that, I’m conducting a huge bourbon blind taste test with bourbons that were just released or released at the tail end of last year and are on shelves right now. The throughline is that you can get these bourbons now and in the next couple of weeks. Our lineup today includes the following bottles of new bourbons:

• Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Bourbon Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof Batch 23B
• Never Say Die Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon
• Penelope Straight Bourbon Whiskey Toasted Barrel Finish
• Pinhook Straight Bourbon Whiskey 2023 Vertical Series Bourbon “Bourbon War” Aged 8 Years
• Woodford Reserve Distillery Series: Double Double Oak Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Jack Daniel’s 10 Years Old Tennessee Whiskey Batch 3
• Chattanooga Whiskey Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Tawny Port Casks
• Garrison Brothers Guadalupe Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in a Port Cask
• Three Chord “Theory of a Deadman” A Blend of Six-Year-Old Straight Bourbon Whiskeys
• Heaven’s Door Cask Strength “Homesick Blues” Minnesota Wheated Bourbon Whiskey
• Wheel Horse Cigar Blend Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Sherry, Port, & Armagnac Casks
• Redwood Empire Devils Tower High Rye Bourbon Whiskey
• Backbone Bourbon Uncut Straight Bourbon Whiskey Single Barrel
• Larceny Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof A124
• Jack Daniel’s 12 Years Old Tennessee Whiskey Batch 2
• Devils River Barrel Strength Small Batch Texas Bourbon Whiskey
• Starlight Distillery Single Barrel Huber’s Rickhouse Select Indiana Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 1924 10-Year-Old
• Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Batch A124
• Frank August Case Study 2: XO PX Brandy Cask Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Murray Hill Club Bourbon Whiskey A Blend
• High N’ Wicked Kentucky Straight Bourbon Aged 5 Years
• New Riff High Note Series: Bohemian Wheat Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 8-Year-Old
• Three Chord “Goodbye June” A Blend of Straight & Cherry Bounce Barrel-Finished Bourbon Whiskeys

After my very patient wife set this one up for me, I blindly tasted through, wrote down my tasting notes, and then ranked these bourbons. There’s a lot of good stuff on this list. It’s not all “must haves” but there’s a lot to talk about so let’s dive right in!

• The 100 Best Bourbon Whiskeys Of 2023, Ranked
• The ‘Smoothest’ Bourbons Under $100, Blind Tasted And Ranked
• The 100 Best Kentucky Bourbons, Ranked
• The Absolute Best Tasting Bourbons Under $50, Ranked
• The Absolute Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States

Part 1 — The 2024 Bourbon Blind Tasting

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

Nose: This opens with a nose full of vanilla oils, salted caramel, and a hint of old oak with a clear sense of Cherry Cola, grassy notes, and maybe even a little barrelhouse must.

Palate: That barrel must pops early on the palate with a bitter and almost smoky feel before dark chocolate-covered almonds and cherry root beer sweeten things up on most of these.

Finish: The finish leans into a creamy mocha espresso vibe before dry cedar planks and cherry tobacco lead to a Red Hot sharp/sweet on most ends.

Initial Thoughts:

This is a bold Kentucky bourbon, likely Beam. It’s quintessential from top to bottom and pretty warm at the end. We’re definitely looking at a high-proof single barrel.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose blasts you with a deep sense of Kentucky bourbon — Pecan waffles! Maple syrup! Apple fritters! Spiced oak! Cherry Coke! — before settling on a soft sense of chocolate brownies cut with real vanilla and a fleeting sense of fall leaves in a fallow fruit orchard.

Palate: The palate starts off subtle with a sense of that Cherry Coke giving way to soft chewy toffee rolled in almond and chocolate before the build starts and the warmth turns from gentle winter spices to sharp ancho chili heat to spicy orange clove with a deep tobacco chewiness and dark spiced oakiness that’s hot, almost smoldering.

Finish: The end adds fresh hot red chili to dark hot chocolate that’s cut with nutmeg, allspice, anise, and cinnamon before a supple vanilla cream cuts in, creating a lush finish that’s surprisingly silky and gently warming with these distance sense of old barrel houses roasting under the summer sun.

Initial Thoughts:

This is another high-proof masterpiece from Kentucky. It’s a bit earthier than sweet, but it works with the ABV heat.

Taste 3

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose is a classic bourbon with hints of chocolate and malty beer next to a hint of dark blackberry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Palate: That blackberry gets sweet on the palate as gingerbread and winter spice cake leads to more chocolate, vanilla, and maybe some apple fritter.

Finish: The end is a vanilla bomb bourbon with a hint of orange for balance but is ultimately very light/watered down.

Initial Thoughts:

This has a great start that sort of peters out by the end. It’s quality standard stuff. Whatever it is, I bet their cask-strength version rocks.

Taste 4

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Crafty grain notes with a sweet and buttery edge draw you in on the nose with a sense of salted caramel, burnt vanilla pods, and old firewood.

Palate: Sweet grits with a good dose of vanilla work well with toasted marshmallows just kissed with campfire licks from a flame as prunes and figs add a dark and fruity depth.

Finish: Salted caramel and salted cherries drive the finish toward deep vanilla creaminess with a hint of cedar kindling and tobacco leaf on the very end.

Initial Thoughts:

This is succinct, distinct, and well-rounded. It’s also very savory and creamy, making it a big outlier on the panel. I like it.

Taste 5

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose opens with toasted raisin bread, cinnamon butter, dates, prunes, and figs with a nice layer of leathery dark berries cut with bright orange zest.

Palate: Soft caramel opens the palate before sharp winter spice barks stewing dark plums, sticky toffee pudding, and vanilla buttercream lead to fresh gingerbread.

Finish: The end leans into the rich buttercream and woody spices with a soft sense of pipe tobacco and Christmas cakes.

Initial Thoughts:

This is a dark and fruity whiskey with a very nice classic bourbon foundation. The finish is excellent as well. This is good whiskey.

Taste 6

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Streams of fresh maple syrup drive the nose toward peanut brittle, dark and bitter chocolate, and toasted marshmallow with a whisper of campfire next to a touch of dark red berry.

Palate: Dried cherry and blackberry pie drive the palate with a hint of apple fritter next to clove-studded oranges, woody winter spice, and a hint of spiced creamy tea.

Finish: The woody spice and orange clove move the finish toward dry tobacco leaves in an old cedar humidor with a touch of anise, allspice, and old firewood with this faint whisper of dried mushroom on the very end.

Initial Thoughts:

There’s a great balance of dark and bright fruit against woody spice that just works. This goes way beyond the ordinary for something special and nails it.

Taste 7

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose opens with a dark chili-infused tobacco vibe that leads to creamy AF vanilla, soft cherry hand pies, Granny Smith apple peels, salted toffee rolled in dark chocolate, and a touch of vanilla nougat wafers.

Palate: Those wafers lead to a creamy sense of soft dry grits with a dark sweetness that’s part molasses and part maple syrup next to old cedar planks, dried blackberry, dried pear chips (salted), and fresh chewing tobacco dipped in chili-cherry syrup.

Finish: This fleeting sense of a leafy forest in the spring blooms on the mid-palate and finish before that cherry spice kicks back in with a sense of smoldering braids of cedar, tobacco, and smudging sage counter the lush vanilla and dark fruit.

Initial Thoughts:

Holy shit, this is good whiskey. There’s so much going on and it all works toward building a great whole.

Taste 8

Tasting Notes:

Nose: This smells like an old-world cask on the nose — prunes, dates, spiced yet sweet mulled wine, rum-soaked raisins, panettone, and old oak.

Palate: Dried blackberries soaked in brandy and dipped in chocolate drive the palate toward sweet and fruity dessert wine cut with woody winter spices, soft vanilla, and a touch of fresh figs off the vine.

Finish: That fig drives the finish toward soft brandy-soaked tobacco layered with mulled wine spices and ancient oak staves next to a fleeting sense of thick and spicy dessert wine cut with bourbon.

Initial Thoughts:

This is another really good whiskey that leans into its finishing barrel pretty hard. It’s good but it’s a one-off for sure.

Taste 9

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose on this bursts with raspberry, blackberry, redcurrant, and blueberry all stewed with plenty of holiday spices and folded into a cobbler topped with dense buttery buttermilk biscuits.

Palate: The palate leans into the spice with a focus on clove, nutmeg, and a very small whisper of anise as the berry turns more towards a fresh strawberry with dark chocolate-covered espresso beans chiming in on the mid-palate.

Finish: That chocolate-bitter vibe drives towards a finish full of cinnamon-spiked dark chocolate tobacco leaves, stewed plums, and a dollop of floral honey.

Initial Thoughts:

This is a big and bold whiskey that’s perfectly balanced between the dark bourbon and dark finish. It’s also delicious.

Taste 10

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Classic bourbon notes of dark cherry, woody winter spices, soft vanilla, and salted caramel drive the nose toward a hint of apple orchard and marmalade with a hint of buttermilk biscuit and whipped butter.

Palate: The palate leans into dry grains with a hint of sweetness next to creamy vanilla and dark fruit compote.

Finish: The end sort of goes watery while the crafty grains, vanilla, and caramel fade out pretty quickly.

Initial Thoughts:

This opens very strong and sort of fades away quickly. It’s good but… not lasting.

Taste 11

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Creamed honey and salted caramel draw you in on the nose with a sense of prunes and dates mixed with rum raisin and brandy-soaked pears kissed with rich vanilla and freshly ground nutmeg.

Palate: That creamy vibe remains on the palate as creamy vanilla buttercream cut with equally creamy honey dances with soft sweetgrass and smudging sage next to a hint of old oak staves soaked in brandy and just touched with old cellars.

Finish: The musty old cellar vibe accents the sweetgrass and sage with rich pipe tobacco laced with marmalade and brandied pears before the lush vanilla takes back over on the very end.

Initial Thoughts:

This is a well-rounded and full-bodied bourbon. This is the good stuff, folks.

Taste 12

Tasting Notes:

Nose: This has a nice nose full of dark red fruits, soft winter spices, and plenty of oak and tobacco with a nice sense of “Classic” bourbon.

Palate: Dark sugars, vanilla, and chocolate drive the palate toward a touch of espresso cream and leathery tobacco pouches with a touch more of that old oak sneaking in on the mid-palate.

Finish: A hint of almond and vanilla peek in on the finish with a sense of stewed plums and cherries tied to tobacco and oak.

Initial Thoughts:

This is good standard bourbon. Sometimes that’s good enough, right?

Taste 13

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose opens with a delicate blend of stewed red fruits with a deep and woody spice mix completed by soft leather, cedar bark, and soft pipe tobacco with a hint of cherry syrup.

Palate: The taste leans into the cherry with a deep clove, allspice, and cinnamon vibe before hitting a touch of grassy rye and buttery grits all rolled into an old leather tobacco pouch and placed in an old humidor that’s scented with brandied cherries.

Finish: The end has a subtle and well-rounded sense of classic bourbon with a warming touch of woody spice, dark and stewed red fruit, and deep vanilla creaminess with a hint of nutshell and tobacco.

Initial Thoughts:

This is good stuff too. There’s something that feels like it’s holding back though and I can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe I’m being over-analytical because this is a solid pour.

Taste 14

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose pops with nostalgic vibes of summer days in the backyard — wicker, fir trees, Old Spice, sweet iced tea, and rich caramel — next to a hint of fat-soaked roasting herbs, orchard fruit, and tobacco.

Palate: The palate leans into mild crafty grain notes that lean more sweet than dry with a sense of choco-caramel lattes, vanilla cake, and a soft sense of apple and pear cider.

Finish: The end has a nice woody cherry cut with spiced tobacco and is countered by lush vanilla straight from the pod.

Initial Thoughts:

Again, this is just good bourbon, folks. It’s succinct and tasty.

Taste 15

Tasting Notes:

Nose: This feels warm on the nose with a sense of cinnamon toast, pecan waffles covered in maple syrup, and buttery vanilla paste with a hint of prune and maybe some dates swimming in mulled wine with a whisper of dark fruity brandy.

Palate: Rummy syrup with a deep sense of Nutella spread over a toasted brioche drives the palate toward fig jam, sticky toffee pudding, and a dark caramel cut with burnt orange and salt flakes on the mid-palate.

Finish: That caramel gets so dark that it turns into cinnamon-laced dark chocolate with a touch of allspice and clove before a dry sense of old oak staves wrapped in tobacco round out the hot and dry end.

Initial Thoughts:

Goddamnit, this is excellent whiskey.

Taste 16

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose bursts forth with soft and bright fruits — kind of like a package of Starbursts — before leaning into a luscious sense of stewed prunes and figs next to mulled wine spices and brandy-soaked vanilla cookies dipped in salted caramel chewing tobacco.

Palate: That Starburst vibe explodes on the palate with all the colors of the fruity sweet rainbow before a thick and creamy vanilla creaminess drives the palate toward burnt orange and vanilla wafers just kissed with Nutella and tobacco stems.

Finish: That tobacco takes on the creamy vanilla with nice layers of dark chocolate, an old barrel house, and soft and smoldering fall leaves wrapped in apple-smoked tobacco leaves bunched into an old cedar box.

Initial Thoughts:

This is f*cking delicious whiskey. This is going to stand the test of time and rule 2024 up to the bitter end in December. I’m calling it now.

Taste 17

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose on this one is big with classic bourbon notes of caramel, oak, vanilla, baking spices, and orchard fruit with a hint of honey and Graham Cracker.

Palate: That honeyed Graham Cracker drives the palate toward more caramel and vanilla with a slight sense of cherry and winter spice barks

Finish: The end stays strong with a nice warmth that balances the standard bourbon flavor notes on a long finish.

Initial Thoughts:

This is perfectly solid standard bourbon. No notes!

Taste 18

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose opens with a sense of grainy craft bourbon countered by fresh green apple, honeycomb, and sugary vanilla cookies next to a hint of baking spice and oak.

Palate: That graininess drives the palate toward chili-spiced honey, soft toffee, and lemon meringue pie with a fleeting hint of blackberries dusted with cinnamon and brown sugar on the back end.

Finish: Old leather gloves and potting soil mingle on the finish as the grains sweeten with the honey and the lemon, berries, and caramel ground out the sip.

Initial Thoughts:

This is a one-of-a-kind whiskey. I’m not exactly sure where it fits but it’s interesting and I kind of need to spend more time with it.

Taste 19

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Freshly fried cinnamon doughnuts, soft chocolate shavings, and buttery salted caramel drive the nose toward dry nutshells, a hint of apple fritter, and dark brandy cherries dipped in creamy dark chocolate.

Palate: That chocolate is just kissed with Graham Cracker and marshmallow on the palate with a good dose of cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice leading toward a dark brandy cherry tobacco on the mid-palate.

Finish: The dark cherry tobacco and S’mores drive the finish with a sense of dark stewed red fruit, stone fruit, and pear/apple before the oak arrives with a sense of an old cellar on a warm day.

Initial Thoughts:

This is a clear winner. It’s delicious, very Kentucky, and super well-rounded.

Taste 20

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Rich salted caramel, apple fritters, cherry pie, winter spice, old leather tobacco pouches, and deep oakiness drive the nose with a touch of rye bread crust and nutty … I want to say granola covered in dark chocolate.

Palate: The sweetness really gets buttery on the palate with rich toffee and salted caramel ice cream next to creamy cinnamon chews, vanilla malt, dark and smooth chocolate sauce, and a counterpoint of sharp oak spices with a touch of old spicy tobacco.

Finish: That tobacco and oaky spice sharpen on the finish before the creamy caramel, vanilla, and chocolate base returns for a soft and lush end.

Initial Thoughts:

Sonofabitch, this is another winner. This is so deep and interesting while delivering a gem of a Kentucky bourbon.

Taste 21

Tasting Notes:

Nose: This starts with a deep sense of old-world oak before diving into dark prunes and dates with stewed apricots, soft dark chocolate, spicy mulled wine, and brandy-soaked pears rolled with rose-water-soaked marzipan with a hint of soft buttery toffee underneath it all.

Palate: Those dark fruits and murky spices drive the palate toward brown sugar, rum raisin, more of that brandied pear, old oak staves from an older cellar, soft reminiscent notes of cognac and Norman cider, and this fleeting sense of stewed prunes with a whisper of birch smoke.

Finish: The end goes full cognac with bright orchard fruits and berries with a hint of floral honey, soft vanilla oils, and sharp marmalade next to soft scones bespeckled with rum raisin and smeared with softly whipped salted butter over a plate made from dessert-wine-soaked oak staves.

Initial Thoughts:

This goes hard on the finishing barrels too. A lot is going on here and it all makes sense by the end. This is a one-of-a-kind bourbon.

Taste 22

Tasting Notes:

Nose: There’s a rich sense of buttery toffee on the nose with plenty of cinnamon/nutmeg/allspice next to a hint of savory fig and some vanilla cream.

Palate: The palate merges the spices into a lush eggnog vibe as hints of old cedar planks mix with a black peppercorn sharpness.

Finish: The end mixes the spices into a buttery cookie with hints of singed cinnamon bark, old pine, and soft vanilla tobacco leaves.

Initial Thoughts:

This is really good bourbon, but it doesn’t go beyond that. It’s really tasty but is missing something I can’t quite pinpoint. Again, I could just be overthinking this.

Taste 23

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose is super classic with notes of stewed orchard fruits, caramel, orange peel, vanilla, cinnamon bark, and plenty of cherries with a hint of butterscotch.

Palate: Oaky spice and vanilla creaminess drive the palate toward more berries, stonefruits, and apples with a pie vibe before sharp baking spices and dry oak come into play.

Finish: Those spices and wood round out the finish with a sense of cherry tobacco, vanilla cream, and salted caramel chews.

Initial Thoughts:

This is good standard bourbon. There’s nothing wrong with it but… it’s not exciting either.

Taste 24

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose feels like walking into an old bread bakery in Central Europe early in the morning before hitting this note of freshly fried apple fritters and old-fashioned doughnuts, a touch of prune, plum, and date, and a good dose of soft winter spice.

Palate: The palate is dry but full of sourdough bread crusts, Graham Crackers, and Fig Newtons with a touch of huckleberry jam, dry sweetgrass braided with smudging sage, and a touch of straw bale before the woody spice kicks in with a cinnamon bark focus.

Finish: The end leans into the woody spices with a touch of clove, allspice, and nutmeg before sweetgrass and bread crusts take over with a hint of buttery cream.

Initial Thoughts:

This is exciting! The flavor notes are so distinct and enticing and create this whole world of sensory notes, memories, and tastiness. This is a big whiskey that’ll stick with you.

Taste 25

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose opens with a clear sense of Cherry Dr. Pepper with plenty of spice, vanilla, and sasparilla that leads to soft cedar with old leather and tobacco.

Palate: The cherry really pops on the palate with a rich Black Forest cake vibe giving way to cherry cola and a sharp sense of winter spices.

Finish: The end is all cherry all day with spiced cherry syrup leading to cherry cobbler with a tart yet buttery edge, plenty of wet brown sugar, and tons of winter spice to make things nice.

Initial Thoughts:

This is a bit of a cherry bomb (it’s not “one note” but edges toward it) but still tastes pretty damn good overall.

Part 2 — The 2024 Bourbon Ranking

25. Never Say Die Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon — Taste 3

ABV: 49.5%

Average Price: $69

The Whiskey:

This is a very unique Kentucky bourbon. The whiskey is made with a mash bill of 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley that’s left to age for five years in Kentucky. Then that whiskey is sent to Northern England(!) where it’s aged for one more year before batching, proofing, and bottling.

Bottom Line:

This is a very interesting whiskey thanks to a totally bonkers finishing in Northern England. As I mentioned in my tasting notes, I need to try this at cask strength to get the full picture. Proofed down, it’s hard to justify the expense of that trans-Atlantic trip.

24. Devils River Barrel Strength Small Batch Texas Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 17

ABV: 58.5%

Average Price: $39

The Whiskey:

This high-rye bourbon from Texas is all about the water. The brand really leans into using the limestone-filtered water of the Devils River region of Texas as the heart of their whiskey. Beyond that, they keep their cards pretty close to the chest about how this whiskey is made.

Bottom Line:

If you’re in Texas and see this on the shelf at the bar, buy a pour or have them make you an old fashioned. Beyond that, I wouldn’t go out of my way to track this down.

23. High N’ Wicked Kentucky Straight Bourbon Aged 5 Years — Taste 23

ABV: 52%

Average Price: $89

The Whiskey:

This bottler is using some classic Kentucky bourbon for their expressions. In this case, the whiskey in the bottle is made from a sweet mash of 51% corn, 39% rye, and 10% malted barley. After a few years of aging, the barrels are batched, proofed, and bottled.

Bottom Line:

This is a good bourbon. But that price is a lot to swallow for a pretty standard overall pour.

22. Three Chord “Theory of a Deadman” A Blend of Six-Year-Old Straight Bourbon Whiskeys — Taste 10

ABV: 46.7%

Average Price: $59

The Whiskey:

This brand-new release from Three Chord’s Backstage series is a blend of six-year-old whiskeys from Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee. Once batched, those whiskeys were proofed and bottled otherwise as-is.

Bottom Line:

This was fine. It’s solid standard bourbon. That’s about it.

21. Wheel Horse Cigar Blend Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Sherry, Port, & Armagnac Casks — Taste 12

ABV: 50.5%

Average Price: $42

The Whiskey:

This special release from Wheel Horse was only 3,000 bottles at the tail end of last year. The whiskey in those bottles is a blend of four- to five-year-old Kentucky bourbons finished in Armagnac, Sherry, and Port casks. The whiskey spends around six to eight months mellowing in those finishing casks before batching and bottling.

Bottom Line:

Again, this is a very solid bourbon but doesn’t quite break out of “standard” for me. That 100% means that this is good and drinkable but more like a table whiskey than something special.

Then again… it’s only $40.

20. Redwood Empire Devils Tower High Rye Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 13

ABV: 49.5%

Average Price: $89

The Whiskey:

This new release from Redwood Empire out in California is a very small batch — only 25 barrels — of good straight bourbon. The mash is super unique with only 51% corn supported by 45% rye, 2% malted barley, and 2% wheat. Those barrels rested until just right for batching, proofing, and bottling.

Bottom Line:

This is slotted neatly into the “good but standard” column of the ledger on this panel of whiskeys. That’s worth it if you’re in California. Check it out. You will enjoy it.

19. Three Chord “Goodbye June” A Blend of Straight & Cherry Bounce Barrel-Finished Bourbon Whiskeys — Taste 25

ABV: 61%

Average Price: $69

The Whiskey:

This new limited edition “Backstage” expression from Three Chors is a blend of four bourbons. One Tennessee bourbon is blended with two Indiana bourbons and one Kentucky bourbon — all five years old. One of the Indiana bourbons was finished in cherry bounce barrels to add a little extra depth to the final product for the band, Goodbye Jane.

Bottom Line:

This is another very good classic bourbon. If you’re into the band, then definitely give this a try — you’ll be in for a pleasant treat. If not, keep scrolling.

18. Starlight Distillery Single Barrel Huber’s Rickhouse Select Indiana Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 18

ABV: 56.2%

Average Price: $59

The Whiskey:

This Indiana craft whiskey from an old family farm is made by blending two mash bills — their three-grain and four-grain mash bills with a 100% sweet mash fermentation. That juice is then distilled on old copper pot stills before going into fresh oak for a four-year sleep. Then single barrels are chosen for their excellence and bottled as-is.

Bottom Line:

This is a good example of how to do craft whiskey right. You feel the grains but they are part of a larger whole that makes this a good sipping bourbon for anyone looking to try something different.

17. Penelope Straight Bourbon Whiskey Toasted Barrel Finish — Taste 4

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $66

The Whiskey:

This whiskey starts with fully matured four-year-old MGP of Indiana bourbon (74% corn, 21% rye, and 5% malted barley). Then the whiskey is re-barreled into freshly toasted new oak barrels for a final rest. Finally, this whiskey is batched, proofed, and bottled to highlight that finish.

Bottom Line:

This is another outside-the-box whiskey. You reach for this when you want to expand your palate (or are bored of the standard stuff).

16. Murray Hill Club Bourbon Whiskey A Blend — Taste 22

ABV: 51.5%

Average Price: $129

The Whiskey:

This is a masterfully sourced whiskey. The whiskey is a mix of 18 and 11-year-old bourbon with a nine-year-old light whiskey (a high-proof whiskey aged in lightly toasted uncharred barrels). That blend is then just touched with water before bottling without any fuss.

Bottom Line:

This is really good sipping whiskey. My only complaint (and why it’s so low on this ranking) is that it was missing that “wow” factor. This is the whiskey that you reach for when you want a pour of the good stuff that you don’t have to think about.

But that price, again, is a lot to get past.

15. Chattanooga Whiskey Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Tawny Port Casks — Taste 8

ABV: 47.5%

Average Price: $45

The Whiskey:

This whiskey starts off very special before getting even more so with the finishing barrel. The base whiskey is a blend of six high-malt mash bill Tennessee bourbons that were chosen and batched for their fruity and wine-like flavors. That whiskey was then filled into seven Tawny Port casks for a final rest before batching, proofing, and bottling.

Bottom Line:

This is a great example of the power of the finishing barrel. If you’re looking for an old-school bourbon, look elsewhere. This is all about that deep and old oak from the old world. That makes this one work sipping to expand your palate or when making an awesome Manhattan cocktail.

14. Backbone Bourbon Uncut Straight Bourbon Whiskey Single Barrel — Taste 14

ABV: 58.95%

Average Price: $59

The Whiskey:

This is another unique Indiana bourbon. The whiskey is a single-barrel example of the power of Backbons Bourbon right now. Single barrels are hand-picked from Backhone’s reserves and bottled 100% as-is.

Bottom Line:

This is a strong candidate for an everyday sipper. The price is right, it delivers a great profile, and goes beyond being just “classic.” You can’t beat that, folks.

It’s not going to blow any minds, but it doesn’t have to.

13. Heaven’s Door Cask Strength “Homesick Blues” Minnesota Wheated Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 11

ABV: 61.35%

Average Price: $79

The Whiskey:

This whiskey from Bob Dylan’s brand celebrates the singer’s home, Minnesota. The whiskey is a Minnesota bourbon made with Minnesota grains and distilled in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. The massive temperature swings — up to 116F in the summer and -80F in the winter — make for a very unique aging experience. Still, this whiskey was ready after seven years of rest and bottled in a small batch as cask strength.

Bottom Line:

This is where we get into the “wow, that’s good” section of the ranking. This is great sipping whiskey that’ll reveal new nuances every time you return to it. It’s also going to make you a killer whiskey-forward cocktail. That’s a win-win!

12. Pinhook Straight Bourbon Whiskey 2023 Vertical Series Bourbon “Bourbon War” Aged 8 Years — Taste 5

ABV: 57.3%

Average Price: $92

The Whiskey:

This is an instant classic from Kentucky’s Pinhook. The whiskey is hewn from a mash bill of 75% corn, 20.5% rye, and 4.5% malted barley distilled at MGP of Indiana and aged at Castle & Key (in Kentucky). The whiskey was left alone for eight years before batching and bottling as-is.

Bottom Line:

This is another one that deserves your time. It reveals more and more details as you add water, pour over ice, and mix into your favorite cocktails.

11. Woodford Reserve Distillery Series: Double Double Oak Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 6

ABV: 45.2%

Average Price: $59 (half bottle)

The Whiskey:

Woodford Reserve’s much-beloved Double Double Oak is back. The whiskey in the bottle is a classic Double Oak bourbon that’s then re-barreled into heavily toasted new oak barrels for one final rest before batching, proofing, and bottling.

Bottom Line:

This is a rarity that lives up to the hype. It’s unique and tasty while feeling comforting — it’s a magical matrix for your senses. Pour it neat and take your time digging into the complexity.

10. Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof Batch 23B — Taste 2

ABV: 63.9%

Average Price: $299

The Whiskey:

Stagg is made with Buffalo Trace’s renowned Mash Bill #1. That’s the same bourbon as Eagle Rare, E.H. Taylor, Benchmark, and their signature Buffalo Trace Bourbon. The ripple here is that Stagg is the barrel-strength product of that mash. It’s meant to be big, brash, and a flavor bomb.

Batch 23B is a big one. The ABV is 63.9%. That’s not Hazmat (70% and above), but it’s up there. For the uninitiated, it’ll probably taste like burning on the first sip. But there is so much more at play to this subtle yet bold whiskey, so let’s look at the flavor profile.

Bottom Line:

This also lives up to the hype, especially this release. This is tasty AF bourbon with a bold warmth that never overpowers the subtler notes of the profile. From the first nose, you can kind of understand why people wait in long lines to buy this one.

Also, you can make a fantastic whiskey-forward cocktail with this one.

9. Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Bourbon Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 1

ABV: 60%

Average Price: $71

The Whiskey:

This single-barrel bourbon is from Beam’s private barrel pick program for retailers. That means your local retailer goes out to Clermont, Kentucky, and picks a single barrel for their store — or you’ll see these at the distillery for sale. Beam then cuts the bourbon to 120 proof (if needed), bottles it, and delivers it to the store. That also means these will vary from store to store ever so slightly.

Bottom Line:

This is the quintessential Kentucky bourbon with the perfect Kentucky hug on the finish. This is the bottle you stock when you want that distinction on your shelf. Also, don’t sleep on mixing up some dope cocktails with this one. It’ll always shine brightly.

8. Frank August Case Study 2: XO PX Brandy Cask Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 21

ABV: 50.5%

Average Price: $199

The Whiskey:

This Kentucky bourbon is all about time … and old-world oak. The whiskey was batched and then re-barreled into a 1992 cask that held Pedro Ximenez sherry for 17 years. Another portion of the whiskey went into an XO Pedro Ximenez sherry cask from 1948 that held sherry for 13 years spells. The barrels were still wet when they arrived in Kentucky and re-filled with this bourbon, adding to the depth of that final aging of the final batch.

Bottom Line:

This is one of the best representations of PX sherry casks finishing in the whole goddamn game. If you can find this, you’ll be for a masterclass in how amazing a sherry cask finish can be.

7. Larceny Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof A124 — Taste 15

ABV: 62.1%

Average Price: $69

The Whiskey:

The first Larceny Barrel Proof release of 2024 is an instant classic. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of six- to eight-year-old bourbons from the wheated bourbon barrels at Heaven Hill. Those barrels were batched and then went into the bottle 100% as-is.

Bottom Line:

This is another excellent Kentucky bourbon with a warming hug on the finish. If you’re looking for a hidden gem that’ll deliver everything you want from a KY bourbon, look no further.

6. Jack Daniel’s 10 Years Old Tennessee Whiskey Batch 3 — Taste 7

ABV: 48.5%

Average Price: $73

The Whiskey:

The third batch of Jack Daniel’s 10-Year has arrived. The whiskey is aged for at least 10 years in prime spots in Jack’s best warehouses. During that time, the barrels spend time in the “Buzzard’s Roost” at the top of the rickhouse. Once they hit the right flavor profile, those barrels are moved to the bottom floors of other warehouses to slow the aging down. Finally, the whiskey is batched, proofed, and bottled.

Bottom Line:

This is a massive departure from the last batch, which was very wood forward. This is classic Jack amped up to MAX volume with one of the most approachable and deep fruity palates on the list. Buy a case of this.

5. Garrison Brothers Guadalupe Texas Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in a Port Cask — Taste 9

ABV: 53.5%

Average Price: $149

The Whiskey:

This Texas whiskey is hewn from 90 30-gallon barrels of four-year-old bourbon that were transferred into 26 59-gallon Tawny Port casks for a final maturation of over one year. That whiskey is then bottled as-is after a touch of water is added.

Bottom Line:

This is another example of how amazing a finishing barrel can be when done right. This whiskey is bold, delicious, and so deep. Pour it neat and then take your time really digging into the depths of this one — it’ll reward you almost endlessly.

4. Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 1924 10-Year-Old — Taste 19

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $115

The Whiskey:

This brand-new release from Old Forester is new in more ways than one. The whiskey is their first age-statement whiskey at 10 years old. It’s also a new mash bill for the heritage brand with a recipe of 79% corn, 11$ rye, and 10% malted barley. The whiskey aged in the Brown-Forman warehouse until just right for batching, proofing, and bottling.

Bottom Line:

This was a huge swing for Old Forester to open 2024. This whiskey grows on you and gets better with each return. Seriously, take your time nosing and tasting this one and you’ll be rewarded with an instant-iconic bourbon.

3. Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Batch A124 — Taste 20

ABV: 59.5%

Average Price: $74

The Whiskey:

2024’s first Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is a unique one. The batch is made from barrels that averaged out to 10 years and nine months old, which is on the young side for these releases. Moreover, the ABVs are much lower than usual as well, coming in under 60%.

Bottom Line:

This is just everything you want from a Kentucky bourbon that delivers a beautifully classic profile and then goes so much deeper. Delicious.

2. New Riff High Note Series: Bohemian Wheat Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 8-Year-Old — Taste 24

ABV: 58.95%

Average Price: $69

The Whiskey:

This late 2023 release from New Riff is all about the wheat. The whiskey is made with 65% non-GMO corn, 18% Bohemian floor-malted wheat, 10% unmalted wheat, and 7% dark wheat. The whiskey was then small batched and bottled 100% as-is to highlight the work that the wood and wheated bourbon underwent over years of resting on the Ohio River.

Bottom Line:

This whiskey makes you feel the feels. It’s so much more than your standard pour without demanding your time or feeling like homework. It delivers its nuances subtly and succinctly while shining from top to bottom.

1. Jack Daniel’s 12 Years Old Tennessee Whiskey Batch 2 — Taste 16

ABV: 53.5%

Average Price: $537

The Whiskey:

Jack Daniel’s 12-year Batch 2 is here! The mash at the base of this whiskey is a mix of 80% corn, 12% barley, and 8% rye. Those grains are milled in-house and mixed with cave water pulled from an on-site spring and Jack Daniel’s own yeast and lactobacillus that they also make/cultivate on-site. Once fermented, the mash is distilled twice in huge column stills. The hot spirit is then filtered through 10 feet of sugar maple charcoal that’s also made at the distillery. Finally, the filtered whiskey is loaded into charred new American oak barrels and left alone in the warehouse. After 12 years, a handful of barrels were ready; so they were batched, barely proofed, and bottled.

Bottom Line:

This is the best whiskey of 2024 so far. I’ll die on that hill until … March (when a million more bourbons are released). Seriously though, this is a contender for bourbon of the year already.

Last year ushered in some exceptional travel and music experiences for party lovers. From the iconic celebration of Ultra to the scorching beats at Sunset Music Festival and world-class house and techno producers at Defected Croatia to the eco-conscious gatherings at Deep Tropics and Sacred Acre, our crew (and a whole lot of our friends) scorched dancefloors around the world.

Think summer is the only time to head out on a music-fueled travel experience? Think again. Winter and spring play host some of the world’s best and biggest parties — allowing you to escape the winter lull and hit the dancefloor. As Uproxx’s Gabrielle Nicole Pharms predicted we asked her for this year’s travel trends, “People are 100% willing to traverse the globe – not just for a music festival – but for a single artist they love.”

Whether you’re dying to see Tale Of Us at CRSSD Festival, live it up in the jungles of Costa Rica with Daily Bread, or finally check Ultra Music Festival off your list to see Eric Prydz, let’s dive into our list of this season’s hottest parties around the globe.

Spring Festival – Avant Gardner, Brooklyn, NY

Sunday, February 18th – Monday, February 19th

Following its successful debut event in 2023, Spring Festival will return for a full venue takeover at Avant Gardner in Brooklyn, celebrating both the Chinese New Year and the beginning of spring on the Lunar calendar. Hosted by Pulse Events, the event will feature headliners GRAMMY-nominated duo SLANDER and Norwegian platinum-certified artist Alan Walker, as well as Trivecta, 4B, Henry Fong, What So Not, and more.

In addition to the weekend’s music performances, Spring Festival will feature a vibrant night market where attendees can indulge in traditional Lunar New Year food offerings and immersive experiences. Activities include a curated glam station adorned with gems and decorations, an interactive photo booth, Kandi Bracelet stations offering Chinese/Lunar New Year-themed beads, and a “Spin The Wheel” ritual to write wishes on paper for the Fortune Wall.

Tickets and additional information can be found here.

M3F Fest – Steele Indian School Park, Phoenix, AZ

Friday, March 1st – Saturday, March 2nd

North America’s most celebrated non-profit music festival — M3F Fest — will make its 20th annual return to Phoenix, AZ for two days the first weekend of March. The festival donates 100% of proceeds to charity within the four pillars of the M3F ethos of community, education, arts, and environment, with over $5 million total donated since its inception in 2004.

M3F continues to build on its reputation of bringing global hit makers and rising acts across the worlds of indie, pop, R&B, electronic, and more to Phoenix. Highlights from the bill include Dominic Fike, Lane 8, Gorgon City, Duke Dumont, SG Lewis, Arlo Parks, Coco & Breezy, Edapollo, Elderbrook, Hippo Campus, Poolside, and more.

With its new venue at Steele Indian School Park, attendees can expect the same M3F experience as past years with an even larger footprint than before, along with brand new immersive art activations and indulge in the ultimate party offerings.

Single-day, weekend passes, and hotel packages can be found here.

WinterWonderGrass – Steamboat Ski Resort, Steamboat, CO

Friday, March 1st – Sunday, 3rd

Billed as a celebration of music, brews, and mountains, the 11th annual WinterWonderGrass is an intimate gathering in the Rocky Mountains at Steamboat Ski Resort’s Upper Knoll Lot. With the intent to provide a joyous and mindful experience while unifying attendees, the bluegrass, Americana, and roots-music festival will feature a bevy of favorites, including The Dead South, Sierra Ferrell, The Infamous Stringdusters, Paul Cauthen, The Kitchen Dwellers, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, Andy Frasco and the U. N., Lindsay Lou, and more.

It’s the ultimate snow-fueled party in the middle of the mountains, where hootin’ and hollerin’ are not only welcomed, but expected.

Single-day and weekend passes can be found here. A three-day weekend pass includes complimentary beer, spirits, wine, and spiked-seltzer tastings, a commemorative WWG mug, and additional shows at Thunderhead Lodge and Steamboat gondola base.

CRSSD Festival – Waterfront Park, San Diego, CA

Saturday, March 2nd – Sunday, March 3rd

Since its inception in 2015, CRSSD Festival has created a unique enclave for the global electronic music community in San Diego. Fostered to connect the best and brightest of clubland in a setting that personifies the sun-soaked aesthetic of Southern California, CRSSD will return for its Spring 2024 edition to its home of Waterfront Park in downtown San Diego the first weekend of March.

Spanning three stages, this year’s edition will be nothing short of stellar, featuring performances by Tale Of Us, Black Coffee, WhoMadeWho, Little Dragon, Armand Van Helden, Green Velvet b2b The Martinez Brothers, Disco Lines, Le Youth, Jan Blomqvist, Astra Club, Dixon, Nic Fanciulli, Jeff Mills, Richie Hawtin, and more.

The experience extends beyond the music, treating attendees to handpicked food vendors, immersive decor and stage designs, and interactive programming through its CRSSD Lab music-tech lounge and vinyl market. Additionally, its after-party series “CRSSD After Dark” encompasses clubs, venues, and converted spaces throughout the city.

Single-day and weekend passes can be found here.

Envision Festival – Uvita, Costa Rica

Monday, March 4th – Monday, March 11th

Envision Festival is a celebration, a message, and a movement. With a mission to create an eye-opening experience that turns attendees onto a new form of living and a new way to be inspired, Envision Festival provides the tools that can be integrated into the life we’re living to blossom into our higher selves. It’s also a pretty damn wild party.

Returning to the lush jungle canopies of Uvita, Costa Rica March 4th-11th, over 10,000 people from around the world will gather for seven days of integrated and mindful event curation. Centered around the pillars of sustainability, health, movement, education, art, music, and spirituality, the Envision Festival brings folks together to play, move, learn, dance, and love among the tropical jungles.

Musical performances for the week include Daily Bread, Dubfire, Elderbrook, Gordo, Of The Trees, Groundation, Queen Omega, STS9, The Polish Ambassador, Troyboi, LSDream, and more. Attendees will also spend their week through immersive yoga classes, dance sessions, personal and mindfulness workshops, intentional sustainability initiatives, explore a global artisan market, and more.

Various ticket and accommodation packages can be found here.

South By Southwest (SXSW) – Austin, TX

Friday, March 8th – Saturday, March 16th

Downtown Austin will light up for nine days in March for the annual SXSW. The SXSW Music Festival brings together artists, industry professionals, and music lovers from around the world to make connections, elevate their careers, and celebrate the magic of live music – from legendary performers to the most exciting new talent. It’s essentially the ultimate party destination for cool, working professionals. You might want to get your name on the list.

New, developing, and established Showcasing Artists enhance their careers by reaching new audiences and attendees. Showcases are curated by South By Southwest® in collaboration with record labels, booking agencies, management and PR firms, export offices, publishers, media outlets, lifestyle brands, festivals, and more.

Notable performances include The Black Keys, STRFKR, Kneecap, waterbaby, Rawayana, Bootsy Collins, Hinds, Giovannie & The Hired Guns, TAUK, and more.

Tickets and packages can be found here.

Ultra Music Festival – Bayfront Park, Miami, FL

Friday, March 22nd – Sunday, March 24th

One of the world’s most iconic and renowned music festivals will make its grand return to Miami’s Bayfront Park for three days in May. Taking place during the famed party-fueled Miami Music Week, Ultra Music Festival stands as a beacon within the electronic music community for its longstanding history and event programming.

This year, Ultra will welcome an impressive roster of talent, including Adam Beyer, Adriatique, Afrojack, Armin Van Burren, Black Tiger Sex Machine, Calvin Harris, Camelphat, David Guetta, Elderbrook, Eric Prydz, Excision, Under Construction (FISHER x Chris Lake), Hardwell, Martin Garrix, Nora En Pure, Oliver Heldens, Peggy Gou, Seven Lions, Slander, Steve Aoki, Tiësto, Zeds Dead, and many more.

Looking past the music, the festival just received the prestigious Sustainability Team Award at the most recent World Sustainability Awards ceremony, cementing it as a global leader in environmental responsibility. Last year, the festival’s sustainability program Mission: Home achieved 100% recycling acceptance for the third year in a row and featured over 35 impactful initiatives spanning pollution prevention, nature preservation, waste reduction, climate action, and community engagement.

Single-day and weekend general admission tickets as well as hotel packages can be found here. VIP tickets are sold out.

Lollapalooza Brasil – São Paulo, Brazil

Friday, March 22nd – Sunday, March 24th

Not content to spend the winter in Chicago? Lollapalooza travels to South America every spring to bring mega parties to Chile, Brazil, and Argentina. Huge international artists mixed with local and national talent for a mega-festival experience across four stages. This year’s Brazil lineup includes Blink-182, SZA, Paramore, Hozier, The Offspring, Diplo, Above & Beyond, Kings Of Leon, Arcade Fire, Limp Bizkit, Titãs Encontro, Dom Dolla, Timmy Trumpet, ZHU, Jungle, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, and more.

In addition to music, attendees will be able to explore the weekend full of art, gastronomy, fashion, and more. The festival will feature a Ferris Wheel, photo spots, giveaways, hammock lounge areas, and more.

Ticket and accommodation packages can be found here.

Caprices Festival – Crans-Montana Resort, Switzerland

Friday, March 29th – Sunday, March 31st
Friday, April 5th – Sunday, April 7th

Partying in the Swiss Alps? Count us in. Caprices is set to head into its third (!) decade with another picturesque mountain-top festival across two weekends with all-new stages, official afterparties, and fresh production. Located right in the heart of Switzerland’s stunning Crans-Montana resort, attendees will blissfully celebrate their days soundtracked by global DJs for one of the world’s most coveted destination travel parties.

Weekend one artists include ARTBAT, Carlita, Damian Lazarus, Honey Dijon, Jan Blomqvist, WhoMadeWho, and more. Weekend two artists include 999999999, Camelphat, Colyn, DJ Tennis, Folamour, Francis Mercier, and more.

Caprices Festival offers hotel packages as well as additional services and activities of the region for those looking to discover Crans-Montana. Single-day, weekend, and hotel packages can be found here.

Resonate Suwannee – Spirit Of The Suwannee Music Park, Live Oak, FL

Thursday, April 4th – Saturday, April 6th

Resonate Suwannee Music Festival returns to Spirit of Suwannee Music Park (SOSMP) in Live Oak, Florida this April. The three-day music and arts festival is located at one of the most beloved campground destinations in the country, an 800-acre campground located on the historic banks of the Suwannee River.

Throughout three stages, attendees will dance the weekend away to performances by STS9, Tycho, Papadosio, Chromeo, Cimafunk, Dimond Siants, Dumpstaphunk, Ghost-Note, K+ Lab, Koan Sound, KR3TURE, Late Night Radio, lespecial, Maddy O’Neal, Mark Farina, and more. Beyond the music, the festival will also host mindful and wellness workshops, yoga classes, and visual artists.

General admission, VIP, and elevated camping tickets can be found here.

WinterWonderGrass Tahoe – Palisades Tahoe Ski Resort, Lake Tahoe, CA

Friday, April 5th – Sunday, April 7th

The 8th annual WinterWonderGrass Tahoe will return to Palisades Tahoe ski resort the first weekend of April. Like its sister festival – WinterWonderGrass Steamboat – the Palisades Tahoe gathering celebrates music, brews, and mountains among the Washoe tribe ancestral lands.

Featured headliners and performances of the weekend include Sierra Ferrell, Sierra Hull, The Devil Makes Three, The Infamous Stringdusters, Paul Cauthen, Kitchen Dwellers, Andy Frasco & The U.N., Lindsay Lou, and more.

Single-day and weekend passes can be found here. A three-day weekend pass includes complimentary beer, spirits, wine, and spiked-seltzer tastings, commemorative WWG mug, and additional shows at the Palisades Tahoe Village Plaza.

Texas Eclipse – Reveille Peak Ranch, Burnet, TX

Friday, April 5th – Tuesday, April 9th

The ultimate global destination event to witness the celestial phenomenon. Texas Eclipse is an unparalleled celebration of music, creativity, and cultural exchange at the sprawling 1300+ acres at Reveille Peak Ranch in Burnet, TX this April. Situated within the picturesque Texas Hill Country, the venue features wooded forests ideal for camping, 60 miles of trails to explore, and elevated hilltops for optimal viewing and engagement with the event’s offerings.

Much more than just music, Texas Eclipse serves as a global community hub where the over 300+ performances and participants will create an unparalleled convergence of captivating experiential art installations, mesmerizing music performances, space exploration, cutting-edge technology, futurism with pioneers in web3 and AI. These participants will offer a diverse range of experiences, including holistic and movement workshops, psychedelic sessions, and the wonders of nature, transforming the raw land into a thriving Global Eclipse Village of creativity, insight, and inspiration.

Slated to perform at the once-in-a-lifetime experience include artists Big Gigantic, Bob Moses (club set), CloZee, Lee Burbridge, LSDream, STS9, Subtronics, The Disco Biscuits, Tipper (twilight set), Tycho, Vulfpeck, Zeds Dead, Desert Hearts, LP Giobbi, Tiga, David Starfire, Desert Dwellers, Mark Farina, Spoonbill, Vincent Antone, All:Lo Collective (Park Breezy, Pheel, Tf Marz, Thought Process), Park Breezy, Dirtwire, Oteil & Friends, The String Cheese Incident, and many more.

Various ticket and camping packages can be found here.

Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival – Empire Polo Club, Indio, CA

Friday, April 12th – Sunday, April 14th
Friday, April 19th – Sunday, April 21st

The legendary Indio music and arts festival will see its largest lineup to date. The 23rd edition will feature two weekends of state-of-the-art programming, cementing the festival as a global leader in genre-spanning musical gatherings.

Both weekends will feature a plethora of artists, including Lana Del Rey, Tyler, The Creator, Doja Cat, J Balvin, Peso Pluma, Lil Uzi Vert, Deftones, Khruangbin, Anyma, John Summit, Peggy Gou, Blur, Ice Spice, Gesaffelstein, Sublime, Jungle, Dom Dolla, Bleachers, Grimes, Jon Batiste, Charlotte de Witte, Lil Yachty, DJ Snake, No Doubt, and more.

Coachella is also secretly one of the best food festivals in the country. And while there are plenty of reasons to be psyched over this year’s musical lineup, the food lineup is equally hype-worthy with Michelin-starred and award-winning restaurants and innovative chefs making an appearance across the festival grounds. Once tummies are full, attendees will be able to explore large-scale art installations and sculptures, mingle among celebrities and influencers in the crowds, sport fashion trends, and indulge fully in the Palm Springs party lifestyle in true Coachella fashion.

A selection of weekend passes, VIP tickets, camping, and hotel packages can be found here.

SKULL & ROSES – Ventura County Fairgrounds, Ventura, CA

Friday, April 19th – Sunday, April 21st

Exploring unique interpretations of Grateful Dead music, the 6th annual SKULL & ROSES will be a three-day psychedelic explosion. Deadheads new and old from across the world will flock, rejoice, and “flashback” as they join beachside at the Ventura County Fairgrounds where 11 iconic Grateful Dead concerts transpired from 1982-1987.

Attendees can expect a multi-stage setup consisting of headlining performances by Dark Star Orchestra, Sage & Spirits, Melvin Seals & JGB, Stu Allen & Mars Hotel, and more. Beachside camping, an “old school, lot style” Shakedown Street, and additional on-site activities will be in store for the weekend.

Various tickets, camping and hotel packages can be found here.

National Cannabis Festival – RFK Festival Grounds, Washington, D.C.

Friday, April 19th – Saturday, April 20th

In 2015 a small group of cannabis enthusiasts joined together around the idea to create the National Cannabis Festival, an event celebrating progress on marijuana legalization in DC and across the nation.

Celebrate legal weed with two days of live music, munchies, exhibitors and more. This year’s lineup includes Wu-Tang Clan with Redman, Thundercat, Devin The Dude, Backyard Band, Black Alley, Black Rave Culture, Noochie, RDGLDGRN, The Dirty Grass Players, and more.

In addition to the music, attendees will be able to experience a marijuana exhibitor fair full of demos, swag, grower’s gear, art, fashion, wellness products, and more from over 100 participating exhibitors, a “munchies zone,” and hear from activists and advocacy partners, cannabis experts, community leaders, lawmakers, and veterans’ groups.

Tickets and additional information can be found here.

High Water Festival – Riverfront Park, North Charleston, SC

Saturday, April 20th – Sunday, April 21st

South Carolina’s High Water Festival will return to North Charleston’s Riverfront Park for two days over 4/20 weekend as a celebration of music, food, and libations. Known as a haven for foodies, the festival will showcase curated flavors from specially-curated tastemakers and chefs. Attendees can stop by The Refuge for a bite to eat from local and regional eateries or grab a cold craft brew or cocktail. Festival-goers can also take a stroll through the local craft vendors in The Market selling everything from handmade jewelry and leather goods, and purchase festival and artist merch.

Noah Kahan, Hozier, Fleet Foxes, The Flaming Lips (performing Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots), Shovels & Rope, Grace Potter, Courtney Barnett, The Wallflowers, and more are slated to perform over the weekend.

Single-day and weekend passes can be found here.

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival – Fair Grounds Race Course, New Orleans, LA

Friday, April 26th – Sunday, May 5th

When you have a festival that stretches over two weekends, it’s going to have a massive lineup, and the New Orleans Jazz Festival is no exception. With 12 stages of music and an alumni list that stretches past 22,000 performers since 1970, Jazz Fest has hosted some of the greatest artists of the last half-century.

Jazz Fest showcases a diverse lineup of musical genres, including jazz, blues, gospel, R&B, rock, and Latin music, reflecting the rich cultural heritage of New Orleans. This year the festival is hosting some of the biggest names in the music world, including The Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters, Chris Stapleton, Neil Young, The Killers, Anderson .Paak & The Free Nationals, HOZIER, Jon Batiste, Queen Latifah, Vampire Weekend, Greta Van Fleet, Heart, Widespread Panic, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Earth, Wind & Fire, Fantasia, The Revivalists, The Beach Boys, and nearly 100 additional artists.

In addition to music, the festival features a wide array of food vendors offering traditional New Orleans cuisine, as well as arts and crafts vendors selling unique handmade items. It’s the ultimate NOLA cultural celebration, one that comes close to the city’s famed Mardi Gras parties.

A variety of ticket and accommodation packages can be found here.

Hangout Music Festival – Gulf Shores, AL

Friday, May 17th – Sunday, May 19th

Hangout Music Festival will return to the white sand beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama for its 13th edition this May. Throughout the years, Hangout has become a state of mind where life is a party, a happy place with good vibes only, and a beachside daydream where sun-drenched lifelong memories are made.

This year’s lineup will feature something for everyone, showcasing a slew of leading names in pop, country, electronic, rock, alternative, rap, and beyond. Featured performances include Zach Bryan, Lana Del Rey, ODESZA, The Chainsmokers, Cage The Elephant, Dominic Fike, Renée Rapp, Subtronics, Jessie Murph, A Day To Remember, Dom Dolla, Doechii, Alison Wonderland, Nelly, Koe Wetzel, Megan Moroney, Sexyy Red, All Time Low, and more.

Beyond the music, attendees will be able to literally “hang out” in hammocks, play volleyball, slide down a slip-and-slide, catch heartfelt vows at the Beach Wedding Chapel, or hit up the beach dance club with direct swimming access in the Gulf of Mexico.

Single-day and weekend passes along with various VIP tier tickets can be found here.

EDC Las Vegas – Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV

Friday, May 17th – Sunday, May 19th

The Electric Daisy Carnival brings all the glitter and glam of Las Vegas to this three-day celebration of electronic music. Now a worldwide phenomenon, there’s no place like home for the flagship version of EDC, which shows off hundreds of performers set to the backdrop of a full-sized carnival.

Under the Electric Sky, attendees will come together to celebrate life, love, art, and music. This year’s lineup includes Above & Beyond, Alison Wonderland, Anabel Englund, David Guetta, Eli Brown, FISHER, GRiZ, Wax Motif, Odd Mob, Marshmello, San Pacho, 12th Planet, Afrojack, Boris Brejcha, Chris Lake, CID, Dom Dolla, Excision, Kaskade, Kaytranada, Mau P, Ray Volpe, Subtronics, Sullivan King, Tiësto, Zeds Dead, A Hundred Drums, Acraze, Armin Van Burren, Ben Nicky, Black Tiger Sex Machine, Blanke, Deeper Purpose, Hannah Wants, and many more.

What’s a carnival without rides? EDC’s landscape is an oversized playground with endless thrills. Additionally, attendees will enter a world of three-dimensional superstructures, colorful, glow-in-the-dark environments, and all manner of LED-infused flora and fauna.

A variety of ticket and accommodation packages can be found here.

Lightning In A Bottle – Buena Vista Lake, CA

Wednesday, May 22nd – Monday, May 27th

North America’s original boutique festival, Lightning in a Bottle, is slated to make its return to Buena Vista Lake in Southern California during Memorial Day Weekend. The festival provides a living and breathing outpost for misfits, creatives, and experience hunters to experience an array of top-tier music curation, art installations, immersive environments, and educational programming.

Defined as both a transformational wonderland and a wild party, this year’s festival will continue to build on its legacy of booking a diverse roster of artists across the worlds of dance music and beyond. Featured artists include Skrillex, Labrinth, Lane 8, James Blake, M.I.A., ISOxo, Tipper, Fatboy Slim, CloZee, Nora En Pure, Bob Moses (club set), Cannons, Bomba Estéreo, Honey Dijon, Damian Lazarus, Mura Masa, Of The Trees, Floating Points, Overmono, Barclay Crenshaw, Nia Archives, Jyoty, ANNA b2b Sama’ Abdulhadi, Justin Martin, Aluna, it’s murph, Qveen Herby, Skream (dubstep set), Tycho (sunset set), and more.

Aside from the music, attendees can explore a diverse array of educational opportunities to engage the senses, expand the mind, and inspire community action with topics that include indigenous cultures, psychedelic medicine, climate change, love and relationships, healthy eating, and more.

New for this year, Lightning in a Bottle is introducing three day tickets and hotel package options. Various tickets and packages can be found here.

Beyond Wonderland – Nos Event Center, San Bernardino, CA

Friday, March 22nd – Saturday, March 23rd

It’s time to journey back down the rabbit hole for this Alice in Wonderland-themed party. Insomniac’s springtime EDM festival in southern California, the sister festival of Nocturnal Wonderland, features everything from house to trance to dubstep to drum and bass. We’ll see you at the Mad Hatter’s Castle.

This year’s lineup features Afrojack, Benny Benassi, The Chainsmokers, Chris Lorenzo, Diesel, Eli Brown b2b Lilly Palmer, J. Worra, Subtronics, 999999999, Biscits, Dillon Francis b2b Valentino Khan, Hamdi, Infected Mushroom, Kyle Watson, Max Styler, Odd Mob, Paul Oakenfold, Sidepiece, Slander, Walker & Royce b2b VNSSA, Zeds Dead, and more.

When day breaks in Wonderland, attendees will find themselves among a curious cast of characters and fantastical animals. Venturing beyond the music, attendees will also explore an otherworldly land of multidimensional environments, interactive feats of technology, and wonders of color and light.

A variety of ticket and accommodation packages can be found here.

CaveJam – The Caverns, Pelham, TN

Friday, May 24th – Sunday, May 26th

Live music in a cave? There’s a reason why this place earned a spot on The Fall Travel Hot List. The Caverns is a world-renowned subterranean venue. The inaugural CaveJam will host a three-day camping festival featuring headliner The String Cheese Incident and performances from an incredible lineup of artists and bands, both above and below ground, including Dopapod, Dumpstaphunk, Karina Rykman, Keller Williams, LP Giobbi, Pimps Of Joytime, Pink Talking Fish, Spafford, and more.

A variety of tickets as well as VIP packages for onsite accommodations, including a secluded VIP yurt village, luxurious VIP canvas bell tents, and pre-pitched VIP tents can be found here.

They say there are no second acts in America. And yet. On Wednesday, a story spread concerning a teacher in Tucson, Arizona had been let go from her job for having an OnlyFans account. Her name is Nkechi Diallo, but the person pictured in the article looked awfully familiar.

Sure enough, it was Rachel Dolezal, who made international headlines after it was revealed she had falsely passed herself as a Black woman despite being white. Per The Daily Beast, Dolezal, now Diallo, is now “no longer employed” by the Catalina Foothills School District. Beginning in August, she had taught at Sunrise Drive Elementary School, at least until brass caught wind that she was advertising her OnlyFans page on her Instagram account.

“Her posts are contrary to our district’s ‘Use of Social Media by District Employees’ policy… and our staff ethics policy,” a spokesperson told The Daily Beast. According to them, Diallo had been a “part-time after school extended day instructor” as well as a substitute teacher.

What did subscribers to Diallo’s OnlyFans page get in return?

As previously reported by The Daily Beast, Dolezal launched her $9.99-a-month channel on OnlyFans in September 2021, promising fitness videos, “hair-chair” tutorials, and “foot pics.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day fans…I dropped a package of love in your DMS,” Dolezal wrote on her OnlyFans account on Wednesday afternoon. “There are two options: 18 pic collection or a video.”

When she was still Dolezal, Diallo had been the Spokane, Washington chapter president of the NAACP. She held the post from 2014 to 2015, when she resigned amidst uproar after it was discovered she was indeed a white woman posing as a Black person. She defended herself by saying she was “biologically born white to white parents, but I identify as Black.” That didn’t mollify her detractors. Quite the opposite.

News of the return of Rachel Dolezal turned a lot of heads on social media, especially considering this is Black History Month.

(Via The Daily Beast)

Happy Valentine’s Day! You’re prepping for sex — so time is of the essence! Do you want the good news or the bad?

The bad news is that no particular weed strain is categorically superior for sex. The good? All weed strains can be great for sex! Whether a cultivar is suited for sex (or not) depends on the makeup of your endocannabinoid system, your body, brain, emotional landscape, mood, partner(s), and pretty much every other internal and external detail of the two or more people engaging in the sex at hand. It’s… complicated, is the point.

Now some good news — the cannabinoid THC is a vasodilator, meaning it expands capillaries (blood vessels), thus allowing for more blood flow, and enhanced sensation. Not only does our beloved plant physically make things feel better, but there’s also the mental relaxation aspect, which can help ease the anxieties and insecurities that sometimes accompany getting it on, especially with new partners. A few things I avoid when picking a sex strain are extremely zingy and energizing terpene profiles (heavy on terpinolene and limonene), and strains with astronomical THC percentages. Weed should never have a THC percentage much over 30%. When THC percentages are too high, there is no room left in the mass of the nug for other chemical compounds like CBD, which balance the anxiety and paranoia caused by overconsuming unchecked THC.

Then again, some people might view being blasted into outer space on a rocket made of THC molecules as foreplay! To each their own and all that.

Anyway, as a professional stoner with a super hot husband, I’ve done a ton of field research in this area. Here are some sexy strains to enhance the physical aspect of this ice-cold day of love, and enjoy it to absolute the fullest.

Candied Grapefruit by Sol Spirit Farm

This Candied Grapefruit by Sol Spirit, an award-winning regenerative farm and cannabis glamping outfit in the Emerald Triangle, has a sparkly, relaxing high that is great for social interaction and the subsequent physical action.

Bright green nugs are punctuated by hues of purple and blue with deep red hairs. The smell is sweet, tart, and in a word, yummy. As is the flavor, which mirrors the intense smell of grapefruit and flowers perfectly in its taste.

This flower is so resinous and terp-y that it leaves a grapefruit coating of flavor in your mouth after the exhale, like enjoying a grapefruit brulee. Initially exciting and uplifting, the high is a hyper-sensory experience with a heavily relaxing body high that releases inhibition.

Bottom line:

View your partner through the rose-tinted glasses of this sweet strain.

Buy it here:

$35 per 1/8th

Hedonia by The Bohemian Chemist

Hedonia is spicy, mysterious, and unique. Part of the Bohemian Chemist’s Spiritus Mundi box, a collection of strains and prerolls with rare combinations of minor cannabinoids, Hedonia features a 5:1:1 ratio of THC: THCV: CBG. This means her high is balanced, and provides a different array of pleasurable and healing properties than the THC-heavy flower you’re probably used to consuming.

This strain feels like a cosmic hug. It’s deeply relaxing, both mentally and physically, and because it doesn’t have much THC, it’s a great choice for newer users or those prone to freakouts. This balanced profile also makes it great for intimacy, as you feel confident and at ease, transported to a heightened state of mental and physical bliss.

Bottom line:

With no chance of freakouts and a sexy body high, this strain is perfect for the bedroom.

Buy it here:

$30 per 1/8th

Velvet La Flor by Sunroots Farm

Velvet La Flor is a sumptuous new cultivar by Sun Roots Farm, a forest of giant purple weed plants in Mendocino, and by far one of the most magical places I’ve ever been.

All of their flower is spiritual medicine. It brings you an easy sense of joy and calm that is hard to find in the current offerings at most dispensaries. While most flower these days sends new users into anxiety spirals, Velvet La Flor is here to do the opposite.

As you can see, these nugs are violet, dark purple, blue, and green. The deep purple hues signal this flower is high in anthocyanin, the same free-radical fighting, anti-inflammatory compounds that make Okinawa sweet potatoes so healthy. The smell is a complex, gorgeous blend of lavender, cedar, rose, and eucalyptus. The high is flirty and giggly, leaving you feeling soft and at ease.

Bottom line:

Velvet La Flor is romance in flower form.

Buy it here:

Price varies

Carmel Apple Romulan by Northern Emeralds

Carmel Apple Romulan by Northern Emeralds is gassy, sassy, and fucking gorgeous. The smell alone gives me the chills!

Everything about this flower is dazzling. Her bud structure is like a crystalline castle with light green buds and red hairs. The gassy, fruity, and floral smell and flavor hit hard behind the eyes. Smoking this flower is like cresting the top of a roller coaster. Once the high hits, you free-fall into bliss.

This particularly potent high is deeply relaxing, as well as upbeat and social, making it a great choice for casual to frequent users looking to enjoy each other in more ways than one.

Bottom Line:

Perfect for seasoned stoner sex.

Buy it here:

$55

FKAFL (formerly French Laundry) by Maven Genetics

Last but not least, we have one of the hottest and most notorious strains on the market, FKAFL, or Formerly Known As French Laundry, by LA’s hometown heroes Maven Genetics.

This cross between The Soap and La Rouge is so stunning it has caught the attention of world-class cannabis competitions and pissed off Michelin-starred restaurants alike.

This decadent, well-balanced flower is green, violet, and orange with an opalescent sheen due to its plethora of crystal trichomes. Notes of citrus, earth, cream, and cheese make this flower more delicious than the restaurant it shares a name with. After an incredible amount of buzz in the cannabis competition circuit, the strain earned Maven a cease-and-desist from the Napa Valley restaurant, prompting them to cheekily change it to FKAFL.

Despite the legal jumbo, this stellar flower is available under the new name and is perfect for the love interest in your life who values the best of the best when it comes to quality and the highest of the highest when it comes to potency. The cool thing about this flower is that despite its astronomical percentages, the experience is super chill, perfectly balanced, and downright sexy.

Bottom Line:

A high worth fighting–and fucking–for.

Buy it here:

$45

Did you watch Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin? If you did, you probably didn’t finish it. It was awfully long — longer than most movies. Those who made it to the finish line almost uniformly deemed it a “boring history lesson.” Despite getting one of the planet’s most notorious despots, Carlson, a favorite of Russia State TV, did not pry him with challenging questions, spending most of the chat staring at him with his patented dopey open-mouthed expression. As for Putin, he looked bored out of his mind, which, according to him, he was.

Per Max Seddon, The Financial Times’ Moscow Bureau Chief, Putin addressed his Tucker sit-down in a new interview, and, well, the former Fox News star left him profoundly unimpressed.

“I honestly thought he would be aggressive and ask tough questions,” Putin said. “I wanted that, because I would have given tough answers back.” He added that “to be frank, I didn’t get much pleasure from this interview.”

Strange that Putin didn’t have much fun sitting down for over two hours with a guy who didn’t even have any interesting questions. Carlson has sung the praises of Moscow, calling it “so much nicer any city in my country.” Perhaps he’d live to move there, even though there’s a chance they may have spent his trip messing with him for fun.

This time last year, Carlson was enjoying epic ratings each weeknight, feeding millions of Fox News viewers a bunch of nonsense. Since being fired last April, he’s struggled to find anything approaching that cultural footprint. Instead he’s been reduced to big gambits like boring the hell out of a guy who, given his druthers, could leave Europe once again destroyed.

Anyway, enjoy this: It’s the only time you’ll feel sorry for Vladimir Putin, a man whose punishment for invading Ukraine is having to to spend two hours talking to Tucker Carlson.

(Via The Financial Times‘ Max Seddon)

Last week, STARZ wrapped up the third season of Power Book III: Raising Kanan with an epic season finale that saw the death of two characters and the return of another. It was the chaotic and dramatic end that we’ve come to expect with shows from the Power Universe. The same can be expected with the upcoming third season of BMF. The series is next up on STARZ slate and its first episode will premiere in a couple of weeks. With that being said, let’s get you up to speed with everything you can expect to see happen in the third season of BMF.

Release Date

BMF season three will premiere on STARZ on March 1. It will mark almost a year since season two came to a close with a cliffhanger finale that premiered on March 17, 2023.

Cast

We don’t expect too many changes in the BMF main cast for season three. The names you can expect for the new season are:

• Demetrius Flenory Jr. as Demetrius “Meech” Flenory
• Da’Vinchi as Terry “Southwest T” Flenory
• Russell Hornsby as Charles Flenory (Meech and Terry’s father)
• Michole Briana White as Lucille Flenory (Meech and Terry’s mother)
• Eric Kofi-Abrefa as Lamar Silas
• Myles Truitt as B-Mickie
• Steve Harris as Detective Von Bryant
• La La Anthony as Markaisha Taylor
• Kelly Hu as Detective Veronica Jin
• Laila Pruitt as Nicole Flenory

However, there are some changes to the recurring cast as new names have been added to the show. They are:

• Snoop Dogg as Pastor Swift
• Serayah as Lori Walker
• Jerel Alston as Kevin Bryant
• Mo’Nique as Goldie
• 2 Chainz as Stacks (new)
• Ne-Yo as Rodney “Greeny” Green (new)
• Michael King as RIP (new)
• Lil Baby as Payne (one of Stacks’ foot soldiers) (new)
• Saweetie as Keeya (new)
• Cynthia Bailey as Gloria (new)

Plot

STARZ shared the official synopsis for season three — which will feature Meech and Terry in different cities — prior to the start of the season. You can read it below:

Season three of BMF resumes the storyline inspired by brothers Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory (Demetrius Flenory, Jr.) and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory (Da’Vinchi), who established one of the most infamous crime families in the country known as, Black Mafia Family. We kick off Season Three in the early ’90s when the Flenory Family has reinvented themselves. Meech has moved to Atlanta on a mission to build up the BMF empire in the south that he and Terry created in Detroit. The series continues to humanize the choices of the brothers’ business and their pursuits of the American Dream.

Trailer

Last month, STARZ released a trailer for BMF season three. You can watch it in the video below.

BMF Season 3 Schedule

BMF season three is expected to have ten episodes and this is the tentative release schedule for the episodes:

• March 1: Episode 1
• March 8: Episode 2
• March 15: Episode 3
• March 22: Episode 4
• March 29: Episode 5
• April 5: Episode 6
• April 12: Episode 7
• April 19: Episode 8
• April 26: Episode 9
• May 3: Episode 10

How To Watch BMF Season 3

New episodes in BMF season three are available to stream on the STARZ app every Friday at 12 am ET/PT. The new episodes will also air on the STARZ TV channel at 8 pm ET/PT.

‘BMF’ season three debuts on STARZ on March 1, 2024. Seasons one and two are available now to stream on the STARZ app.

2024 Summer Olympics special correspondent Snoop Dogg is willing to go to any lengths to raise the bar of his coverage in Paris. According to Entertainment Weekly, that even included a promise to reporters at the winter Television Critics Association press tour to “get underwater” to make sure he’s fully prepared and doesn’t miss a story.

“It’s gonna be me in the field, at events, hosting, getting with the athletes, moving through the city,” he said. “Just doing the things Snoop Dogg does.”

As he put it, “We’re planning on shaking it up and doing something different, and just having fun. It’s the Olympics. We only get it once every four years, so we’re going to make the most of it.” However, he made sure to offer some reassurance to sports fans worried he might not do his due dilligence: “I don’t ever come in cold,” he declared. “I always come in hot. So with that being said, don’t worry about the research. I know everything about everyone. We’re gonna be fine.”

Snoop’s laid-back sports commentary has become something of a running gag over the years, as fans look forward to his unique takes on everything from hockey to boxing and everything in between, as illustrated by Peacock’s 2021 broadcast featuring Snoop and Kevin Hart being wowed by a variety of sports they didn’t quite get. You can check that out above.