For many, if not most of us, the purpose of retirement is to sit back and enjoy life. A chance to see the world, take up new hobbies, explore what it means to simply exist without having to clock in.
So it’s almost no wonder that more and more retirees are finding themselves on cruiseships, where relaxation, adventure (and having someone else do your chores) are the name of the game.
Retired Australian couple Marty and Jess Ansen can certainly attest to this—having spent close to 500 days sailing around the world on their 51 back-to-back cruises.
That’s right. 51 cruises. Back. To. Back.
The great-grandparents told A Current Affair that they were cruise fanatics long before calling one home, and were eager to catch on the cruising they missed during Australia’s strict COVID-19 lockdowns.
Plus, their plan to spend two years onboard became a no-brainer after realizing it would be cheaper than a nursing home. Marty told their travel agent “whatever comes, just book it,” and they’ve been living it up ever since.
In addition to enjoying the perks of their morning ping-pong matches and sipping beer while basking in breathtaking views, the Ansens particularly enjoy ballroom and hula dancing.
“Where else can you go where you go for dinner, you go to a show, you go dancing?” Jess gushed. “Through the day, you have all these activities.”
At this point, Jess and Marty are pretty much beloved fixtures of the cruise itself, dubbed by the hotel managers as the “celebrities onboard.” And the duo takes their status seriously—making sure to welcome every new captain aboard.
One might wonder if there are ever bittersweet feelings about being so far away from home and family, but the couple attests that no such feelings arise.
“They’re all busy,” Jess shared, regarding their other family members. “And we’re in a place in our lives where we just want to enjoy it.”
So, aside from the occasional reunion when they touch down in a nearby port, the cruising couple are focused on having fun with each other. It’s a journey with no end in sight, for as soon as they finish touring with their current vessel, a Princess Cruises’ 2,000-passenger Coral Princess, they plan to hop onto an even bigger ship, the Crown Princess, for another year. Then..who knows…
And according to Jess and Marty, “it’s a wonderful life.”
Curious about how to make permanent cruising a reality in your own life? You might find some helpful tips here
Elon Musk sure loves conspiracy theories. The owner of the largest social media platform has fallen time and again for nonsense. Indeed, soon after buying Twitter, he shared some bunk about the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul. He’s even been sued for proliferating bull that has harmed people. Now it’s happening again.
As per The Daily Beast, Ben Brody, a recent college graduate, is suing Musk for defamation after Musk amplified a baseless conspiracy theory that he was one of the members of the extremist group Rose City Nationalists who was unmasked while protesting an Oregon City Pride event. Brody wasn’t anywhere near there. He even had receipts, showing that he was buying drinks in California at the time of the protest.
But even proof didn’t stop Musk — who had repeated a claim from a far right Twitter account that Brody was simply posing as a RCN member, that he might be antifa, and that the whole affair might have been a “false flag situation” — from continuing to post about the incident. At one point he replied to a tweet about it, writing, “always remove their masks.”
Now Musk is getting sued for defamation, again. In the lawsuit, Brody’s attorney’s write that this is “yet another example of Elon Musk’s serial pattern of slander.” It also argued that Musk “has been personally using the platform to spread false statements on a consistent basis while propping up and amplifying the most reprehensible elements of conspiracy-addled Twitter.”
The lawsuit also states that when Brody was hit with the erroneous accusations, he “felt like his life was over.” He also worries the stink of a false allegation will stick with him. “Ben worries that future employers may decide that it’s simply not worth it to hire an employee in a public-facing position who is connected to a bizarre controversy involving a neo-Nazi group.”
The previous time Musk was sued for defamation was in 2018, when Musk baselessly accused a diver who helped rescue 12 boys trapped in a Thai cave — an actual hero whose exploits were turned into a Ron Howard movie — a “pedo guy.” When called out on it, Musk wrote, “Bet ya a signed dollar it’s true.” The lawsuit, which found the defendant represented by, of all people, future 2020 election conspiracy theorist Lin Wood, ended with Musk triumphant. Perhaps this time will be different.
For the second straight year, Jimmy Butler caused a stir with his hairstyle when the Miami Heat gathered for Media Day festivities on Monday. Butler went with an emo look in 2023, which came on the heels of getting extensions a year prior. As far as more consequential on-court topics are concerned, though, Butler and the Heat have been in the news for what the team has not done this summer.
Miami lost both Gabe Vincent and Max Strus in free agency and, with Damian Lillard in Milwaukee and Jrue Holiday in Boston, the Heat are left with a potentially weakened roster. That did not stop Butler from making a pretty bold proclamation on Monday, however, as he told Taylor Rooks of NBA TV that he and the Heat are “gonna go beat Dame, Giannis, and Adrian Griffin on our way to a title.”
“I am happy for Dame … but I’m still gonna be me. I’m gonna go beat Dame, Giannis, and Adrian Griffin on our way to a title.”@JimmyButler sits down with @TaylorRooks to discuss the Damian Lillard trade and expectations for this upcoming season pic.twitter.com/VkJSDRBGhm
The Heat infamously went from the Play-In Tournament to the NBA Finals last season, winning only 44 regular season games and even falling to the Atlanta Hawks in a postseason scenario. Still, Miami’s playoff bonafides are established at this point, and Butler is perhaps the clearest example of a current player that raises his game under the brightest lights. In addition, players on upper-tier teams are almost expected to view the upcoming season with championship urgency, so there is an argument that this is nothing out of the ordinary.
At the same time, Butler is particularly aggressive with his stance here, and he even named Milwaukee’s new head coach in Adrian Griffin. There is a bit of extra sodium coming from the city of Miami after the Lillard trade, but Butler is at least saying the right things and, of course, the Heat could still make a splash to add another top-tier talent between now and February.
Grammy Award-winning musician Thundercat is one of the most sought-after collaborators. His résumé includes tracks with Kendrick Lamar, Gorillaz, Tame Impala, Vic Mensa, and Steve Lacy. But as part of his In Yo Girl’s City Tour, fans worldwide have been experiencing his creative star power live.
With such an extensive discography from his solo releases, collaborative projects, and contributions to television or film works, concertgoers are curious about what is included in his tour’s setlist.
Continue below for Thundercat’s In Yo Girl’s City Tour setlist, according to Setlist.fm, as well as the remaining tour stops.
1. “Lost in Space / Great Scott / 22-26”
2. “Innerstellar Love”
3. “Captain Stupido”
4. “How Sway/ Uh Uh”
5. “Overseas”
6. “Dragonball Durag”
7. “Rabbot Ho”
8. “Without You”
9. “King of the Hill”
10. “Candlelight” (Unreleased song)
11. “A Message for Austin”
12. “Existential Dread”
13. “Black Qualls”
14. “Tron Song”
15. “Satellite Space Age Edition”
16. “Lotus and the Jondy”
17. “Funny Thing”
18. “Tina” (Tyler The Creator cover)
19. “Them Changes”
Encore:
20. “Black Gold” (Flying Lotus cover)
21. “No More Lies”
In Yo Girl’s City Tour dates
10/05 – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre
10/07 – San Diego, CA @ Cal Coast Credit Union Amphitheater
10/08 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Financial Theatre
10/10 – Denver, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
10/12 – Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed
10/13 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple
10/14 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
10/15 – Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall at Fenway
10/17 – New York, NY @ The Brooklyn Mirage
10/19 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem
10/22 – Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
10/24 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater
10/27 – Dallas, TX @ South Side Ballroom
10/28 – San Antonio, TX @ The Aztec Theatre
10/29 – El Paso, TX @ The Lowbrow Palace
10/31 – Albuquerque, NM @ Revel ABQ
11/08 – São Paulo, Brazil @ Audio
11/10 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil @ Circo Voador
11/11 – Porto Alegre, Brazil @ Opinião
11/12 – Curitiba, Brazil @ Ópera de Arame
11/14 – Santiago, Chile @ Teatro Coliseo
Mattel is sitting pretty at the movies these days. After all, they’re responsible for the year’s biggest cinematic money-gobbler. Barbie is still, after 11 weeks, hovering in the Top 10 on the North American box office charts, and the toy company already has a bunch of other movies on the pike. One is about Barney, which is being produced by Daniel Kaluuya and which has been described as a heady “A24-type” picture that, like Barbie, will take some unexpected risks. Or will it?
In an interview with Semafor (in a bit caught by Variety), Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz seemed to pour some cold water on the attention it’s received around it sounding, well, weird.
“It’s too early to be specific, but I can tell you we are taking a fresh approach that will be fun, entertaining and culturally oriented,” Kreiz said, adding, “It will not be an odd movie.”
Even before Barbie stormed into theaters and Hoovered up all the money not taken by release date buddy Oppenheimer, Mattel exec Kevin McKeon was out there talking up what he promised would be a “surrealistic” take on the ‘90s PBS children’s show in which a purple dinosaur taught kids about spelling and whatnot.
“We’re leaning into the millennial angst of the property rather than fine-tuning this for kids,” McKeon said in early July. “It’s really a play for adults. Not that it’s R-rated, but it’ll focus on some of the trials and tribulations of being thirtysomething, growing up with Barney — just the level of disenchantment within the generation.”
Barbie was more for adults than kids, too, what with its proud feminist bona fides and doozy of a punchline about a matter very much above the heads of children. It’s not what one would call “odd,” though, so maybe Kreiz isn’t so much promising a more vanilla Barney movie as slightly reigning in potential weirdness. Still, hopefully they keep all that “millennial angst” McKeon promised, and maybe even a joke about ’90s indie rock gods Pavement.
It’s October and we’re officially neck deep in the fall release season in the whiskey world. There’s so much new whiskey dropping right now that I had to both extend our monthly roundup to 50 bottles and cut a ton and save them for next month.
Below, I’ve split this monthly list into two sections. In the first part, I’m calling out 25 bottles of whiskeys from various genres. The second half is 25 new bourbons. Yes, 25 new bourbons. There are that many worth paying attention to right now. And yes, I had to cut bottles from both sides of this list. Don’t worry, I’ll get to the extra good stuff before the end of the year.
This new release from 15 STARS is a blend of six, seven, and eight-year-old ryes from Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee. That blend informs the name “First West” as those states were considered the “West” during the early days of the United States in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a deep winter spice — clove, anise, cinnamon, nutmeg — next to Earl Grey tea, dried cranberry, dried cherry, and a dash of sour plum next to faint notes of dry grassy fall leaves and orchard barks with a whisper of roasting herbs.
Palate: Apricot jam over buttermilk scones dusted with cinnamon leads to dry oolong tea leaves, sweet smudging sage, creamed honey, and a touch of ginger tobacco just kissed with dark chocolate sauce cut with cardamon and clove.
Finish: That sharp gingery tobacco drives the finish with a bitter chocolate underbelly toward lush cherrywood and sour plum sauce with a hint more of those opening winter spices, dry fall leaves, and old cellar floors.
Bottom Line:
This whiskey was just named “Best in Show” whiskey at the New York World Spirits Competition. It beat out stiff competition to ascend to that high accolade. The point is, get some while still can. This is the really good stuff, folks.
Shenk’s Homestead Kentucky Sour Mash Whiskey Small Batch 2023 Release
This whiskey is made with a fair amount of rye whiskey over a bit of bourbon in a traditional sour mash style. 2023’s release varied with the use of malted rye in the mash bill, adding an extra layer of malty depth. The whiskey was then aged in specially made toasted French oak that spent 24 months seasoning in France before they were made with barrels that spent 18 months air-drying in Kentucky before they were coppered. The barrels were all batched and bottled with just a touch of Kentucky limestone water.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Soft boot leather, dried and candied orange, spiced Christmas cake, fresh vanilla beans, sultanas, and a hint of fresh firewood round out the nose with a hint of almost sweet oak char and simmering molasses cut with almond kissed with dark citrus oils.
Palate: The palate has a nice sweet spiciness like a box of Red Hots next to allspice, clove, and orange with rummy raisins, nutmeg-heavy eggnog, and a whisper of oily espresso bean sneaking in late before a bold yet measured winter spice bark sharpness arrives.
Finish: The end marries the orange oils to soft cedar notes with a woody spiciness next to soft notes of sweet cinnamon, stewed plums, minced meat pies, and brandied cherries layered with chewy tobacco leaves over a lush and creamy finish.
Bottom Line:
This is a unique and delicious whiskey. If you’re looking for something that’s very bourbon-adjacent but goes above and beyond (especially over a big rock), then this is the play.
Jack Daniel’s American Single Malt Oloroso Sherry Cask
Jack Daniel’s has been toying with American single malt for over a year and has finally pulled the trigger on a permanent expression for retail shelves (albeit just on travel retail shelves for now). The whiskey in the bottle is a 100% malted barley juice (that’s charcoal filtered) that was aged in new oak for over half a decade before being transferred into huge Oloroso sherry casks (from Tonelería Páez Lobato) for even more mellowing.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with a sense of plums, dates, and figs swimming in brandy next to toffee rolled in roasted almond and dipped into dark chocolate with a hint of spiced wine cut with molasses and fresh green chili pepper.
Palate: The dark chocolate attaches to the black-tea-soaked dates with plenty of nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice next to malted chocolate spiced holiday cakes and a nice flourish of marzipan just kissed with pear oils.
Finish: The end has an almost woody dark chocolate vibe with the green chili making a comeback with a deep leatheriness and nice maltiness.
Bottom Line:
You’ll have to travel to grab this brand-new Jack Daniel’s release. The next time you’re waiting for an international flight, hit that duty-free shop and snag this one. It’s a killer American single malt that’ll shine over a big ol’ ice cube.
Wolves The Malted Barley Series California Single Malt Whiskey Lot No. 2
Lot 2 of this California Single malt just dropped. The whiskey was made with imported Irish malts that were fermented with California ale yeasts. That juice was aged for 11 years before very small batching, which yielded only 2,010 bottles.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Nostalgia drips from the nose with oatmeal raisin cookies, old wicker porch furniture, lemon pepper, and dried red fruit leather next to spicy oak and soft apple cider.
Palate: Soft salted caramel and bruised apricot drive the palate with a sense of honeyed oats, old tobacco pouches, and rich malted vibes.
Finish: The end leans into the malted chocolate with a dried fruit feel with brandied pears and old oak staves leading to soft pipe tobacco and hints of floral honey.
Bottom Line:
This is another excellent new American single malt. It’s deeply hewn and a great place to start your ASM journey.
This new release from Still Austin uses 100% Texas rye in its mash bill. That whiskey is then proofed and filled into barrels and left to mellow with water getting added over the years (so that water evaporates before the whiskey does). Finally, a few barrels are selected and bottled 100% as-is at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with pure nostalgia — summertime back porch livin’ — with soft cherry pie, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, ginger rock candy, and a note of apricot jam over buttermilk biscuits.
Palate: A note of coffee cake opens the palate toward marzipan cut with pear brandy and a light sense of lemon cake drizzled with mint frosting.
Finish: The mint gets spice on the finish with a sense of candied ginger and brown winter spices before soft salted buttercream and cherries soaked in brandy round things out.
Bottom Line:
This is a tier rye whiskey with serious depth. Pour it over a rock and let it bloom in the glass a tad. Take your time and you will be rewarded with a deep and delicious flavor profile.
New Riff Sour Mash Single Malt Kentucky Single Malt Whiskey Cask Strength
This brand-new whiskey from New Riff is years in the making. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of single malt whiskeys made with 100% barley mash bills (Golden Promise, Maris Otter, Chevallier heirloom barley, and Scottish peated barley malt) that are aged for seven to eight years in a combination of new charred oak, de-charred toasted oak, red wine casks, Portuguese brandy casks, classic sherried oak casks, and a few others.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich malted winter spiced cakes lead the nose toward chili pepper spice, old dried fruits (dates, prunes, figs) all dipped in floral honey, and a light sense of citrus (both candied and dried) before old oak, orchard bark, and fall leaves arrive with a sense of fermented fruit laying on the ground of that orchard.
Palate: The funky fruit and fall leaves drive the taste back toward rich vanilla and spiced malted fruit cakes with a light sense of pipe tobacco and old leather boots before floral honey gives way to bright nasturtiums.
Finish: The floral spiced honey gets malty on the backend with a hint of salt and rock candy before hot tobacco and dried red chili build on the end.
Bottom Line:
This is a fresher American single malt that still packs a hefty and deep profile. Once you have a handle on the flavor notes, try this one in a whiskey-forward cocktail for something unique but lovingly familiar.
Tenmile Distillery Little Rest American Single Malt Whisky
This new American single malt from New York is a grain-to-glass experience that highlights slow cooking and aging. The malt is made with 100% New York-grown barley that’s slow-fermented for seven days (about twice as long as the norm). After distillation, the hot juice is left to rest in Francois Freres barrels from Williams Selyem. Those barrels are small batched and whiskey is just touched with local water before bottling in Wassaic, New York.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Floral honey brightens the nose with a sense of fresh vanilla pods with a light warmth that leads to cinnamon bark, apple orchards, malted grains, and a light moment of whole dried chamomile flowers.
Palate: The honey gets creamy and vanilla-laced on the palate with a medley of leathery apricots, more soft summer florals, and a touch of woody spice that’s both bright and just touched by dried fruits.
Finish: The end has a mix of rum raisin and creamed honey with apple blossoms and a touch of malted grains cut with winter spice and salted butter.
Bottom Line:
This has a very bright and fresh vibe. If you’re looking for classic unpeated malt with lush sweetness, this is going to be your vibe.
Bernheim Original Kentucky Straight Wheat Whiskey Barrel Proof Batch: B923
The second edition of Bernheim Wheat Whiskey Barrel Proof is here. This edition is made with a mash bill of 51% winter wheat, 37% corn, and 12% malted barley. That whiskey was then left to age for seven to nine years before prime barrels were chosen for batching. Once batched, the whiskey went into the bottle 100% as-is at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Fresh loaves of whole grain bread vibe with rich oaky winter pieces on the nose before soft vanilla cake, hints of dry grass, old leather tobacco pouches, and a touch of dried orange round things out.
Palate: Rich buttery toffee drives the palate toward clove-laced honey next to dry orange oils, salted caramel, rum raisin, and hints of cedar bark braided with smudging sage and dry tobacco.
Finish: Piney honey and salted caramel attach to the tobacco as dry straw and back porch wicker lead to a sense of dry winter spice and soft caramel candy corn.
Bottom Line:
This feels like a whiskey that’s not quite a bourbon and not quite a rye, but something in the middle that’s its own thing. Try this in a whiskey cocktail or on the rocks to really go deep with it.
Four Walls The Better Brown Made with a Blend of Irish Whiskeys and American Rye Whiskeys
The team from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, and Rob McElhenny) have released their first permanent mainstream whiskey. This new release is an Irish American whiskey made with American rye and Irish whiskey (a blend of malt and grain whiskeys). The whiskey is batched in the U.S. and proofed down to a very dive-bar-friendly 80-proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Hints of dried chilis, old leather, vanilla-laced honey, apple tarts, and caramel candy mingle on the nose.
Palate: The Irishness arrives in spades on the palate with bright apple orchard vibes next to flora honey, a hint of yellow straw, light nutshells, and a moment of sultanas just kissed with caramel.
Finish: The apple swings back around on the finish with a sense of fresh apple cider just kissed with cinnamon and caramel before fading toward leathery malt.
Bottom Line:
This is a great house pour. It’s not overly done, it’s not washed out by the low proof, and it’s truly nuanced. If you’re a fan of Sunny or simply a fan of good inexpensive whiskey, then this is a no-brainer buy. It’ll make a good basic cocktail, work in any highball, and totally rock as a shot with a beer back.
Keeper’s Heart Whiskey Irish + American Single Barrel Finished in Maple Syrup Barrels
This new release from Keeper’s Heart up in Minnesota blends Irish whiskey with American Rye. Once batched, that whiskey was re-barreled into a maple syrup barrel for another rest. Once that barrel hit the right notes, it was bottled as-is with a hint of proofing water.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich vanilla custard with a hint of cotton candy drives the nose toward pecan waffles with salted butter and real maple syrup next to hints of apple fritters, nutty fruit cake, and a touch of leathery tobacco.
Palate: The taste opens with creme brûlée swimming in more maple syrup as deep and rich vanilla tobacco leads to softer notes of almond, malted chocolate, and a hint of winter spice mixes.
Finish: The vanilla creaminess and spices meld on the finish with a touch of spiced warm apple cider, soft almond, and mincemeat pies all grounded by rich and real maple syrup sweetness that nearly takes on a rock candy vibe.
Bottom Line:
This is the bottle for the sweet tooth in the house. That sweetness also lends to making great cocktails and drawing back the sugar component when mixing. Hell, I’d even use this for making pancakes and pies.
Beam just released a new permanent addition to the iconic Basil Hayden lineup. This newbie is a 100% malted rye whiskey that was left to age until just right. The best barrels were batched and proofed down to Basil Hayden’s necessary 80-proof for bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: You’re immediately greeted with spiced dill and soft caramel on the nose next to old oak, soft saddle leather, and a mild sense of rye toast with salted butter and a hint of floral honey.
Palate: Sweet and creamy vanilla arrives on the palate with a nice spice — clove, cinnamon, allspice — before soft sourdough rye bread with a whisper of caraway arrives.
Finish: Chili-spiced chocolate pops late on the palate with a sense of cinnamon toast and vanilla bean before a lush creaminess leads to spiced tobacco with a leatheriness on the end.
Bottom Line:
This is soft and supple with a dynamic profile. It is a little light on the end — that proof is low after all. Overall, I can see sipping this over ice any day of the week.
The Beverly Reserve Barrel Strength American Whiskey Batch 001
This new release from The Beverly is a limited edition small batch at barrel strength. The blend in the bottle is 60% straight bourbon from Iowa and 40% Indiana rye. Those barrels were batched and bottled at Cedar Ridge in Iown for The Beverly, yielding only 550 bottles.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Pecan waffles with plenty of butter, vanilla, and caramel open the nose toward maple syrup, cinnamon sticks, red chili pepper, and toasted marshmallows.
Palate: The pecans take on a cookie vibe on the palate as brown butter and rum raisin mingle with cinnamon syrup cut with orange and a whisper of chocolate.
Finish: That cinnamon and orange get buttery and lush with a sense of nut cake covered in caramel drizzle with a flake of salt and tobacco before a warming sense of chili arrives on the very end.
Bottom Line:
This is a warm pour of whiskey that has a nicely nuanced profile. Overall, there’s a sense of dessert and spice that just works. Though I’d pour this over a big rock to really enjoy it.
WhistlePig PiggyBack Single Barrel Rye Whiskey with Lychee and Tea Barrel Finish “Alfa Romeo F1 Team G-Force Finished”
This new release from WhistlePig uses the g-forces that F1 drivers endure to finish the whiskey (amping up the interaction between the wood and whiskey in the barrel). The whiskey in the bottles is made. from six-year-old 100% rye whiskey. Those barrels were then batched and then re-barreled in lychee and oolong tea barrels for a finishing touch.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a clear sense of citrus pith next to vanilla, tropical spices, chinotto bark, and soft oakiness with a hint of bright florals.
Palate: Bright tropical fruit and leaves drive the palate toward sweet herbs, green tea leaves, and a hint of tiki cocktail spice with a ton of fruitiness tied to the citruses.
Finish: The end leans into the citrus pith and dry green tea leaves with a light sense of winter spice barks, vanilla pods, and soft almost perfumed oak.
Bottom Line:
This is wildly different. It’s so bright and almost airy. It feels like a tropical holiday in a glass. I’d definitely use this in tiki drinks or as an on-the-beach sipper over plenty of ice.
Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2013 Aged 10 Years Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
This year’s Bere Barley 2013 is a 10-year-old malt made from very specific Scottish grains. The ancient varietal of barley is grown specifically for this whisky and is long fermented to highlight fruity and floral notes in the end whisky, which is aged in ex-bourbon barrels right on the sea in Islay.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Candied oranges and peach pie drive the nose toward a sense of malted pound cake with plenty of vanilla, poppies, and streusel next to creamed lemon curd, old fudge, and a whisper of marzipan with some pear brandy.
Palate: Malty barley biscuits greet you on the plate with plenty of wet brown sugar, Cream of Wheat cut with butter and pancake syrup, and apricot jam next to soft honeydew, more candied orange, and a sense of toasted coconut next to brandy-soaked marzipan with a hint of rose water.
Finish: A hint of milk chocolate arrives late with vanilla custard over fresh mago, more toasted coconut, rose water, and candied orange marzipan dipped in creamed honey with a whisper of lavender.
Bottom Line:
This is a great slow-sipping whisky. It’s deep and just kind of keeps delivering more and more beautiful nuance the longer you take with it. Start neat, add some water or ice, and then go back in for more. You’ll be rewarded for your patience with this one.
Glenglassaugh Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky “Sandend”
This whiskey is a seaside-matured Highland whisky. The unpeated malt rests on the beach on Sandend Bay in a mix of ex-bourbon, sherry, and Manzanilla casks until just right. Those barrels are vatted and then just kissed with water before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Malted vanilla full-fat ice cream opens the nose toward hints of mango, pineapple, and star fruit with a sense of salted dark chocolate-covered cherries soaked in brandy with a touch of sea breeze.
Palate: Rich salted caramel drizzles over grilled pineapple and those chocolate-covered cherries on the palate as bright grapefruit oils and malted cracked, heavy with sea salt, round out the taste.
Finish: Dark cherries and mango skins dance with driftwood and rum-forward citrus cocktails with plenty of brown spices on the malted vanilla finish with a hint of leatheriness.
Bottom Line:
This is a unique whisky with a good dose of salinity built in. Overall, I’d reach for this when I wanted something unique anything else that bridges bright fruit and deep saltiness in a wonderful fashion.
The Dalmore Cask Curation Series The Sherry Edition Aged 26 Years Finished in Tare González Byass 2002 Vintage — Cask no. 4
This new release is the youngest of three elite whiskies that The Dalmore is dropping this month. This very limited edition bottle is hewn from The Dalmore’s iconic malt that spent years aging in ex-bourbon casks. The whisky was batched and then re-barreled into a Tio Pepe 2002 Vintage Sherry Cask (Cask #4) for years more of aging until just right. The final product was bottled 100% as-is to highlight the beauty of that finishing barrel on classic The Dalmore.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with a bright sense of caramelized oranges, fresh floral honey, and ripe off-the-vine apricots with a deep sense of rich vanilla pods, dry cacao, and fresh almonds with a hint of cherry syrup.
Palate: Raisin-heavy spiced cakes are cut with bright orange zest on the palate as cherry syrup leads to almond cookies cut with vanilla oils and a sense of sultanas baking in the hot sun.
Finish: There’s a buttery sense of a fresh croissant on the finish next to creamy espresso for sipping, ginger rock candy, and lush vanilla cake cut with more orange oil, almond, and poppy seed.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the lightest and airiest The Dalmore expressions I’ve ever tasted. The bright citrus oils take it in a whole new direction while holding onto some of the darker The Dalmore flavor notes on the mid-palate. That makes this an excellent sipper for anyone looking for a lighter and brighter version of The Dalmore.
This is one of three bottles that’ll be released this month in a set alongside 28- and 43-year-old bottles, hence the outrageously high price tag. I’ll be reviewing the whole set at a later date so just consider this a sneak peek of what’s to come.
Lost Lantern Single Cask Series Corbin Cash California Straight Rye Whiskey 7 Years Old
This new Lost Lantern Corbin Cash is a seven-year-old rye whiskey. The whiskey was made with 100% Merced rye grown by the Souza family specifically for this whiskey. After seven years of rest in a heavily charred barrel, the barrel was tapped by the Lost Lantern team and bottled 100% as-is, yielding only 146 bottles.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a sense of walnut cake that edges toward zucchini bread with plenty of butter, brown spice, salt, and brown sugar on the nose with a light note of marzipan dipper in melon.
Palate: There’s this sense of sweet roots on the palate that leads back to the melon-laced marzipan, more of that nutcake, and a sense of spice barks dipped in syrupy mulled wine.
Finish: The end has a light grassiness that gives way to creamy floral honey, smudging sage, and a deep nuttiness tied to what almost feels like a moist carrot cake with vanilla frosting.
Bottom Line:
This was a bit of a wild ride with a fascinating savoriness tied to the more classic notes layered into the mix. Buy this if you’re looking for something completely fresh and unique.
Filmland Spirits Presents Ryes of the Robots Small Batch Straight Rye Whiskey The Extended Cut 2023 Batch
This brand-new whiskey release blends Hollywood B-movies with sourced whiskey. The actual juice is a 95/5 rye/malted barley sourced whiskey from Kentucky. Beyond that, not much is known. Though there’s been an incredible amount of work about writing a script and drawing up storyboards around the beautifully designed release.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a nice mix of dark berries and old leather next to cinnamon bark and clove berries with a hint of caramel before veering toward sheet cake and singed marshmallows.
Palate: The palate hits a mint chocolate chip vibe with a dash of black peppercorn before bright red berries floating in vanilla-laced cream lead the taste back toward smoldering marshmallows and a lot of woody winter spice.
Finish: Oak staves and cinnamon bark really peak on the finish next to very mild menthol tobacco just kissed with red berries and more of that creamy vanilla with a whisper of green grass lurking under it all.
Bottom Line:
This is a nice and very classic rye that runs deep. Pour this over a rock and enjoy reading all about the mythology around the bottle. It’s kind of like getting a 50s pulp novel with your rye pour.
Pursuit United Blended Straight Rye Whiskeys Finished in Sherry French Revere Oak
This new rye from the team over at Bourbon Pursuit is a masterful blend. The whiskey is hewn from Bardstown Bourbon Company’s 95/5 Kentucky rye batched with two Sagamore Spirit ryes — one a 95/5 and one 52/43/5 rye/corn/malted barley. Those whiskeys are batched and re-barreled into a French sherry revere cask for a final rest before batching, proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a sense of dark fruits — black cherry, dates, rum raisin — on the nose that leads to soft and sweet oak next to worn leather, mulled wine, and brandy-soaked fig cut with nutmeg and clove.
Palate: The taste is more on the woody side of the spice with a clear sense of old-school mulled wine with sweet vanilla and star anise over orange rinds and raisins with a slight chili warmth underneath.
Finish: The chili warmth drives the finish toward a soft red-wine-soaked oak that’s spiced with orchard barks and fruits next to vanilla/cherry tobacco just kissed with dark chocolate.
Bottom Line:
This is just excellent rye whiskey. Pour it neat, over a rock, or in your favorite whiskey-forward cocktail. It won’t fail you.
This rye from craft distiller Starlight Distillery — part of the Huber Farm and Winery in Southern Indiana — is all about that final blend. The small batch is made from a group of five-year-old barrels and just proofed to highlight the whiskey in those barrels.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The whiskey opens with a nose full of white pepper countered by stewed apples with a twinge of sour cherry tossed in smoked sea salt before a hint of creamy espresso and summer herb gardens arrive.
Palate: The palate has a creaminess that leans toward mocha lattes with a tobacco spiciness, cedar bark, and more of that stewed orchard fruit with an underlying white pepper spiciness.
Finish: The end leans into that white pepper with plenty of warm apple cider spiked with clove and cinnamon over vanilla cake cut with salted toffee and creamy espresso just kissed with chocolate tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This new batch of Starlight Rye is a killer. I’ve been using it for fall cocktails already and it slaps. It also works wonders over a single big ice cube on a slow sipping afternoon.
Boulder Spirits American Single Malt Whiskey 2023 Limited Edition The 10 Essentials
This new limited release from Colorado’s Boulder is a blend of five single malt casks. Former armagnac, tawny port, PX sherry, and new American oak were batched for this release after five to 6.5 years of aging. The whiskey was then cut with El Dorado spring water for bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a medley of pear and apricot (both dried and candied) with spicy forest honey, old leather, and malty Graham Crackers dipped in dark chocolate and just flaked with sea salt.
Palate: The palate is lush with a sense of eggnog spices and creaminess that gives way to pear brandy-laced marzipan and more of that forest honey next to warm maltiness.
Finish: The warmth leans into fresh green chili, nuttiness, and dark chocolate on the end (almost getting into mole territory) before leaning back toward spiced malts with a woody tobacco finish.
Bottom Line:
This is just a good malt whiskey, American or not. It does have a fall/winter vibe to the overall profile, so maybe crack this one open closer to the end of the month.
Ardbeg Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky Traigh Bhan Batch 5 19 Years Old
This year’s Ardbeg Traigh Bhan was bottled during the most humid time on Islay. The barrels were picked specifically to highlight tropical notes from 19-year-old barrels from the seaside distillery. A little water was added after vatting for this bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Grilled and smoked tropical fruit — smoked mango, grilled pineapple, stewed papaya — open the nose toward saddle soap, fresh green chili pepper, and vibrant spearmint next to floral honey with a whisper of sea breeze.
Palate: The taste is luscious with a sense of fatty roasting herbs next to winter spice barks, fatty smoked bacon, powdery white pepper, and clove-studded oranges next to a sweet sense of oyster shells.
Finish: Floral honey and smoky buttercream meld on the finish with a sense of those smoked and grilled tropical fruits returning with a savory note of guava and lychee.
Bottom Line:
This is a lovingly made peated malt that leans more into tropical fruits than ashen peatiness. It’s a nice balance. And don’t get me wrong, this is still very much a heavily peated malt whisky. That all said, if you pour this over a big rock and take it slow, it might hook you into the peated Islay malts once and for all.
Lost Lantern Single Cask Series Andalusia Whiskey Co. Triple Distilled Texas Single Malt
This single cask from Lost Lantern’s Fall 2023 series is a three-year-old single malt from a very new Texas distillery. The whiskey in this case is made with 100% 2-row malted barley and triple distilled a la Irish whiskey. A single honey barrel was picked by the Lost Lantern team and bottled 100% as-is, yielding only 177 bottles.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Notes of fresh chili pepper and leathery spiced fruit drive the nose with hints of stroopwafel (those honey waffle cookies from The Netherlands) and candy cane.
Palate: That candy cane turns to pure peppermint on the palate as subtle notes of clove and allspice mingle with creamy eggnog ice cream and malted honey crackers.
Finish: The finish is nice with a sweet spiciness akin to moist dark Christmas cookies with a touch of malted vanilla.
Bottom Line:
This is a straightforward but nicely nuanced and deep-running whiskey. There’s a lot of enjoy here so take it slow, add water as needed, and enjoy the ride through classic Texas malt whiskey flavors.
Virginia Distillery Co. American Single Malt Whisky Courage & Conviction Double Cask Reserve
This new fall release from Virginia Distillery Co. features double asking. That means that the whiskey was aged a minimum of five years in first-fill bourbon casks and European red wine Cuvée casks before slow batching with a touch of water.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with deep honey and candied orange next to apricot jam over scones with a hint of malted spice and brandy-soaked oak staves.
Palate: Black Forest cake by way of honey-pear-floral malted crackers drives the palate toward winter spice barks, soft milk chocolate sauce, and a dash of lemon malt meringue.
Finish: Fresh gingerbread and soft oak round out the finish with a nice dose of spice, chocolate, and malt.
Bottom Line:
This is a killer malt. The overall vibe feels more like a classic unpeated Speyside or Highland malt that’s 15 to 18 years old. Pour it over a big piece of ice and enjoy a slow sipping experience that keeps on giving.
The Duncan Taylor Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 1983 Aged 40 Years Distilled At Port Ellen Distillery
This special one-off bottling from The Duncan Taylor is from a 40-year-old barrel of whisky from one of the last batches produced at the Port Ellen Distillery on Islay (which has reopened yet again). The whisky was produced and barreled back in March of 1983 and was left alone for all those 40 years. Finally, in 2023, The Duncan Taylor team bottled the barrel 100% as-is at cask strength, yielding 209 bottles.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a clear sense of deeply plummy yet lightly tart sherry on the nose with buttery toffee, old leather boots, and malted treacle biscuits next to blackberries soaked in brandy and floating in vanilla-laced cream with a hint of marzipan and pear.
Palate: Molasses-cut toffee opens the luxurious palate with a sense of stewed blackberry, cherry, and plum with a thick crumble laced with cinnamon and plenty of buttery brown sugar before roasted and candied nuts arrive with a sticky toffee pudding married to mince meat pie vibe.
Finish: Those candied nuts take on a salted dark chocolate aura as the spiced sherry sticky toffee pudding adds a hint of dry orange zest, plenty of nutmeg, and a dash of sweet smoldering oak tobacco on the silken finish.
Bottom Line:
This is a masterpiece.
Part 2 — THE BOURBON
Bomberger’s Declaration Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 2023 Release
This whiskey heralds back to Michter’s historical roots in the 19th century before the brand was even called “Michter’s.” The old Bomberger’s Distillery in Pennsylvania is where the brand started way back in the day (1753). The whiskey in the bottle is rendered from a very small batch of bourbons that were aged in Chinquapin oak. The staves for that barrel were air-dried for three years before coppering, charring, and filling. The Kentucky bourbon is then bottled in an extremely small batch that yields around 2,000 bottles per year.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Sweet mashed grains — think a bowl of Cream of Wheat cut with butter and molasses — mix with sticky toffee pudding, old saddle leather, old cellar beams, and sweet cinnamon with a hint of candied orange and dark chocolate next to luscious eggnog with a flake of salt.
Palate: The palate is super creamy with a crème brûlée feel that leads to soft winter spices, dry cedar, and orange chocolates with a hint of pear-brandy-soaked marzipan in the background.
Finish: The end has a creamed honey vibe next to brandy-soaked figs and rum-soaked prunes with fresh chewing tobacco and salted dark chocolate leading back to dark chocolate and old cellar floors with a touch of smoldering orchard bark.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the best bottles of bourbon on the shelf right now. Get it while you still can.
Blackened X Rabbit Hole A Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys Distilled in Tennessee & Kentucky Finished in Calvados Casks Cask Strength
This brand-new collaboration between Metallica’s Blackened and Rabbit Hole is masterful whiskey. The blend is a 13-year-old Tennessee high-rye bourbon batched with Rabbit Hole Heigold High-Rye Double Malt Bourbon (with malted rye and malted barley). Once batched, the whiskey was re-barreled into Calvados casks (an apple brandy) for a final rest before 100% as-is bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a nice sense of chili pepper warmth on the nose with a hint of macadamia cookie nuttiness, honey Graham Crackers, light summer florals, and a whisper of darkly stewed apple.
Palate: Cinnamon-infused pear brandy sparks on the palate with a sense of clover honey, walnut loaf, and this thin line of smoked applewood with a good sense of barrel warmth.
Finish: The honey and walnut drive the finish toward a soft warmth that leaves the gentlest of numbness on the senses.
Bottom Line:
This might be my favorite Blackened release to date. It’s so deeply nuanced and just tasty. Pour it neat or over a rock, you can’t go wrong.
Very Olde St. Nick Antique Cask Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 9 Years “Straight Outta Bardstown”
This new release from Preservations Distillery is all about the old and forgotten barrels sitting in Bardstown warehouses. The whiskey is a nine-year-old blend of Kentucky bourbons that highlights the beauty of Bardstown whiskey from top to bottom.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a sense of dates and prunes dipped in floral yet creamy honey and then rolled in roasted and crushed almonds before old libraries full of leather-bound books and deeply rich tobacco arrive.
Palate: That musty leather gives way to old barrel houses full of 1800s wood pillars and used barrels before winter spices add a little warmth that’s countered by deep vanilla creamy eggnog, soft date cake cut with black tea, and a fleeting sense of dried cherries soaked in brandy and dipped in dark chocolate cut with espresso.
Finish: The end builds a warmth based around sharp winter spice barks and berries with a nice counterpoint of vanilla buttercream and lush eggnog over pound cake with a hint of poppy seed and soft pipe tobacco that’s just smoldering.
Bottom Line:
This new release from Preservation is one of the most accessible expressions yet from that crew. It’s also a delightfully deep and delicious whiskey that keeps giving the more time you spend with it.
Mary Dowling Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Tequila Barrels
This brand-new whiskey celebrates Mary Dowling, who helped create and then save the whiskey industry in Kentucky back in the early 20th century. The whiskey in the bottle is a three-year-old bourbon from Rabbit Hole. Those barrels are batched and the whiskey is rested again, this time in reposado tequila barrels, until just right.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Floral honey and soft black licorice lean toward fresh and real root beer on the nose with a light moment of white pepper and roasted agave that’s accented by bold winter spice barks and berries with a whisper of orange rind.
Palate: That orange drives the bright palate toward a moment of smoked winter spices (smoldering barks if you will) before creamy eggnog and vanilla buttercream drive the palate back toward warming winter spice and a fleeting note of pepper.
Finish: That pepper builds towards sharp black peppercorns on the finish with sharp winter spice, a hint of buttermilk, and softly spoken notes of roasted agave attached to candied orange and vanilla paste.
Bottom Line:
This is a great example of what tequila finishing can do to really amp up the flavors of a good bourbon. Pour this over some ice or add it to your favorite whiskey-forward cocktail. You won’t be disappointed.
Milam & Greene UNABRIDGED Volume 2 A Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskies
Milam & Greene’s Unabridged Volume 2 just hit shelves. This edition utilizes both copper pot still bourbon made in Texas and classic column still bourbon made in Kentucky (both from Milam & Greene’s own recipes). Tennessee whiskey (two to 16 years old) was added to the final batch to add extra depth before bottling 100% as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Light notes of cherry cola, fig pudding, and marzipan lead to a sense of old boot leather and mint tobacco with a whisper of toffee.
Palate: There’s a hint of earthiness on the palate that supports more dark Cherry Dr. Pepper, dry black tea leaves, moist marzipan just kissed with pear brandy, and a sweet oakiness tied to fresh pipe tobacco.
Finish: There’s a moment of absinthe on the finish that leads to dark orange oils and maybe some lemon pepper tobacco with a touch of cedar.
Bottom Line:
This is a nice slow sipper that has depth but also a nice lightness, which makes it very approachable. It also feels like a great whiskey to make a good cocktail with.
This new bourbon from Woodinville up in Seattle, Washington, is a crafty dream with a very unique finish. After about five years of aging, the bourbon is re-barreled into Ginjinha barrels (a Portuguese liqueur) with sour cherries for another maturation run. Finally, those barrels are batched, proofed, and bottled for this limited run.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a clear sense of sweet grits cut with molasses, honey, and salted butter that gives way to blackberries soaked in rum on the nose with a light sense of spiced cookies.
Palate: The sweet porridge continues on the palate as dark cherry jam mingles with spiced winter cakes, fallow orchards, fall leaves, and a light moment of soft woody cherry bark that’s just smoldering.
Finish: A touch of cinnamon bark drives the finish toward more of that smoldering cherry wood, mulled wine, and soft notes of blackberry pie covered in malted vanilla cream sauce.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the most complex whiskeys to date from Woodinville — it slaps. Take your time with this one and really dive in deep with water and ice before trying it in some fun cocktails.
This new expression from Kentucky Owl is a celebration of one master blender saying goodbye to the brand while another says hello. The blend was made by Kentucky Owl Master Blender John Rhea and new Master Blender Maureen Robinson (who recently retired from Diageo’s Master Blender of single malts). The duo created a whiskey from four-, five-, eight-, and nine-year-old wheated bourbons with a hint of Scotch whisky as the driving force of the blend.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich vanilla buttercream and salted caramel lead on the nose with layers of spiced apple cider, rich plum jam, and a touch of old cellar beams with fall orchard barks.
Palate: Mincemeat pies and holiday spice cookies lead on the palate with a sense of creamy vanilla eggnog, old leather tobacco pouches, and a nutty chocolate vibe.
Finish: The spice attaches to the tobacco and nutty chocolate on the finish with a sense of vanilla cream cut with orange oils and honey … and this fleeting whisper of fresh white flowers (and maybe some Earl Grey?).
Bottom Line:
This is a great Kentucky Owl special release that’s really suited to fall and winter sipping. It runs deep while feeling like a stroll through a fall farmers market with a hot cup of cider in your hand (that’s got a glug of this whiskey in it).
Lost Lantern Single Cask Series New Riff Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This single cask bottling from Lost Lantern is a one-of-a-kind Kentucky barrel from New Riff Distilling (across the river from Cincinnati). The whiskey in the barrel was a low-corn bourbon (65% corn, 30% rye, and 5% malted barley) aged for four years. The barrel was bottled at cask strength and yielded around 120 bottles.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with a deep burnt caramel sweetness that gives way to five-spice powder over fatty smoked pork next to dark cherry cola and rich and clear tobacco.
Palate: That tobacco is fresh and vibrant on the palate as the fatty smoked pork drives the taste toward rich dark chocolate sauce, winter spice medleys, and campfire toasted marshmallows.
Finish: Mulled wine and apple cider spices drive the finish to some wet brown sugar, more dark cherry cola, and a hint of buttermilk biscuit with marmalade just kissed with that five-spice powder.
Bottom Line:
This rare release is another one that feels like a great fall sipper for a cold day or backyard campfire pit, especially if you’re smoking some fatty meat.
Jefferson’s Finished in Singapore Tropics “Aged in Humidity” Fully Matured Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This brand-new release from Jefferson’s is a very unique blend. 720 barrels were sent from Kentucky to Singapore via ocean liner back in 2019. The barrels then spent about 18 months aging in the heat and humidity of Singapore’s climate before returning to Kentucky for batching, proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this one is brimming with winter spice cakes, eggnog spices, cinnamon toast, clove-studded oranges, and nutcakes full of dried and candied fruit…and plenty of winter spice.
Palate: That spice remains on the palate but is supported by fresh and ripe cherries, rich and butter toffee, and just the right balance of sea salt with a fleeting whisper of almost umami-baked wood (driftwood maybe?).
Finish: The end leans into the spice barks as the orange and cherry dry out and take on a touch of caramelization with hints of rock candy tobacco rolled into a fresh cedar humidor.
Bottom Line:
This is a very unique Jefferson’s bourbon that really leans into the fruitiness of the whiskey. And it works. Swap out dark rums for this in your tropical cocktail or on the rocks sipping on the beach this winter and you’ll be all set.
Bardstown Bourbon Company Discovery Series Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Series #11
The latest release from Bardstown Bourbon Company is a full-on Kentucky bourbon blend. The whiskey is made with 73% 13-year-old Kentucky bourbon, 21% 10-year-old Kentucky bourbon, and 6% of Bardstown’s own six-year-old Kentucky bourbon. Once batched, the whiskey mellows before bottling 100% as-is at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Tart cherries and rich toffee rolled in roasted almond and dipped in salted dark chocolate drive the nose toward cinnamon spice cakes with a hint of dried cranberry, plummy sauce, and rich tobacco.
Palate: The taste leans into caramel-covered peanuts with a hint of red fruit leather, old spice barks, and a whisper of orange rinds next to a touch of Cherry Coke, old leather tobacco pouches, and the old beams from a whiskey barrel house.
Finish: The end leans into a lush vanilla buttercream with notes of old back porch wicker, almost sweet cedar kindling, smudging sage, and cinnamon bark soaked in cherry brandy with a touch of chili-cut dark chocolate.
Bottom Line:
This is an excellent bourbon. Drink it however you like to drink your whiskey.
FEW Spirits Alice in Chains “All Secrets Known” Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Tequila Barrels
FEW Spirits just dropped their second Alice in Chains collab and it’s a doozy. The whiskey in the bottle is made with FEW’s award-winning bourbon that’s been re-barreled into ex-tequila casks for another six months of maturation. Those barrels were batched and then the whiskey was just kissed with local water before bottling. Finally, a special label was created by creative artist Justin Helton, who worked with the band on the artwork.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The whiskey draws you in with a classic sense of spiced cherries over vanilla pound cake with plenty of deep and rich oak, caramel, and winter spices with a hint of apple orchards full of falling leaves.
Palate: Those falling leaves and hints of smoldering smudging sage lead back to the dark cherries soaked in brandy and dipped in dark chocolate with a flake of salt before a rich and creamy caramel arrives.
Finish: That caramel binds with lush vanilla on the finish next to moments of apple orchards, cherry pie, and dry bales of straw next to piles of cedar-laced tobacco in leather pouches.
Bottom Line:
This is a very quintessential bourbon sipper. It’ll also make a mean cocktail. Of course, if you’re a fan of Alice in Chains, this is an easy buy.
Filmland Spirits Town at the End of Tomorrow Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey Aged 9 Years Very Small Batch
“Town at the End of Tomorrow” is a new bourbon from Filmland. The whiskey in the bottles is made with a classic bourbon hewn from 78% corn, 13% rye, and 9% malted barley. After nine long years in the barrel, a few prime barrels were batched for this new release.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose has a nice balance of dark cherry, rich caramel, and lush vanilla with a nostalgic sense of old fruit orchards in the winter with plenty of dry leaves and old fruit tree barks with a hint of barrel spice.
Palate: The palate is very old-school and grassy with a light sense of blackberry hand pies, spiced apple cider, caramel apples, and a buttery cornbread that just kissed with dried red chili next to leatheriness.
Finish: Sweet cinnamon arrives on the finish with more leatheriness next to hints of dark cherry, caramel sauce, and dry kindling with a hint of soft honey tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This is a very nice and very easy sipper. Overall, I’d drink this over a big rock or make a really solid cocktail with it.
Old Dominick Fall 2018 Batch No. 2 Cask Strength Straight Bourbon Whiskey
These new batches from Old Dominick are all made from the same mash bill of 52% corn, 44% rye, and 4% malted barley. After several years in West Tennessee white oak barrels, the whiskey is small batched, proofed, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich vanilla buttercream, sweet cinnamon cakes, and plenty of brown sugar drive the nose toward brown spices and soft oakiness.
Palate: Red dried berries and floral honey attach to the vanilla buttercream on the palate as leathery cherry and woody spice barks lead to marzipan cut with cherry brandy and some dark chocolate.
Finish: Almost leathery honey rounds out the finish with dark cherry cola, dark chocolate-covered espresso beans, malted vanilla shakes, and a deep sense of smudging sage smoldering next to toasted marshmallows.
Bottom Line:
This is another really solid bourbon that doesn’t bring the heat but still has a good depth. Try it over some ice and then mix it into your favorite cocktail.
Russell’s Reserve Single Rickhouse “Camp Nelson F” Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
The second release from Wild Turkey’s Russell’s Reserve Single Rickhouse Collection moves to the Camp Nelson campus in Kentucky to highlight the terroir and aging happening in Rickhouse F. The whiskey barrels were pulled from the center cut of the warehouse — floors four and five (out of seven). Once batched, the whiskey was bottled 100% as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Wild Turkey’s iconic spiced cherry vibe is present in spades on the nose with a deep and dark cherry cut with anise, clove, allspice, and cinnamon next to rum-soaked raisins, black tea-soaked dates, and a rich and lush vanilla foundation.
Palate: The clove attaches to dried orange rinds as salted rich caramel drives the taste toward more dates, plum sauce, and leathery prunes with a deep winter spice bark vibe next to a dash of powdery white pepper.
Finish: Honeyed tobacco mingles with sticky toffee pudding, mincemeat pies, and sweet oak mixed with richly spiced tobacco rolled with cedar bark, sage, and old wicker porch furniture.
Bottom Line:
While the last entry was very dessert forward, this edition is quintessential Turkey through and through. It’s spicy, darkly fruity, and full of lushness. This feels like a whiskey made for Wild Turkey fans.
The new Distillery Series from Woodford Reserve just dropped. This year’s release is a blend of Woodford’s rye, bourbon, wheat, and malt whiskeys. Once batched, that blend was re-barreled in brand-new toasted oak barrels for another rest.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich butterscotch is countered by moist marzipan on the nose with a sense of cedar kindling, fresh tobacco, and rich honeycomb with. a sense of almost earthy brown sugar.
Palate: Cinnamon bark and clove buds drive the palate toward toffee and maple syrup with a sense of crisp apples and dark cherries next to light touches of orange, espresso, and grassy orchards.
Finish: The end leans into fresh firewood with a nice sense of sweet caramel sauce, fresh marzipan, and cinnamon holiday cakes with a hint of eggnog on the back end.
Bottom Line:
This is both interesting and nostalgic. You won’t be shocked but you will enjoy this one. Take it slow, add some ice, and find all the flavors hiding around corners on this one.
Saint Cloud Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Single Barrel “Candy Corn”
This luxury bourbon is a single-barrel one-off. The whiskey in the bottle is sourced from undisclosed Kentucky distilleries. The barrel was specifically chosen for its “Candy Corn” vibe.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich and creamy vanilla leads on the nose with a soft caramel candied vibe next to sharp winter spices, dried fruits, and fresh apple fritters with a cinnamon glaze next to some notes of leathery apricot and a touch of marzipan dipped in dark chocolate.
Palate: The nose leaps from that dark and nutty chocolate towards braids of cedar bark intertwined with fresh tobacco and smudging sage before molasses and more of that dried apricot make another appearance.
Finish: Grilled buttermilk biscuits arrive on the finish with a sense of salted chocolate sauce binds with apricot jam, loads of winter spice barks, and a sense of smoldering tobacco, cedar, and sage.
Bottom Line:
This is just good sipping whiskey. You know what to do.
2023’s Remus Repeal Reserve is here! The Seventh edition is made from a lot of Indiana bourbons from Ross & Squibb — 6% is a 2007 21% rye bourbon, 26% is a 2013 21% rye bourbon, another 26% is a 2013 36% rye bourbon, 21% is a 2014 21% rye bourbon, and the final 21% is a 2014 36% rye bourbon. Once batched, the whiskey was just kissed with water before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Pecan waffles covered in salted butter and fresh maple syrup pop on the nose next to candied cherry, rum raisin, and cinnamon-heavy apple cider with a kick of fresh pipe tobacco and silky vanilla cream.
Palate: That silkiness creates a lush palate full of more rum raisin, brandy-soaked cherries, old cinnamon sticks soaked in mulled wine, walnut-laden Christmas cakes, and soft oakiness with a sweet tobacco edge.
Finish: The cinnamon amps up on the warm finish with more of that creamy vanilla veering toward eggnog with a dusting of nutmeg and drizzled with salted caramel before a whisper of peppermint candy cane arrives with an underlying sense of old oak cellars.
Bottom Line:
This is another solid entry in the Remus Repeal line. Try it neat and then experiment with water, ice, and cocktails. You’ll find a nice sweet spot with this one.
Seelbach’s Private Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Toasted French Oak And Maple Syrup Barrels
This special release from online retailer Seelbach’s is a Kentucky bourbon that’s bottled down in Jacksonville, FLA. The four-and-a-half-year-old bourbon is sent down to Florida where it spends a humid and hot summer in toasted French oak and ex-bourbon maple syrup barrels before batching and bottling as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Pecan waffles dripping in salted butter and fresh maple syrup drive the nose toward cinnamon rolls, cedar kindling, and apple butter-infused tobacco.
Palate: The palate is full of peach and orange with a hint of clove leading to sharp winter spices and dark chocolate with a touch of smudging sage and rich pipe tobacco.
Finish: Banana’s Foster and cigar boxes drive the finish toward apple cider spiked with allspice and cinnamon and a soft sense of nutty cinnamon doughnuts wrapped in old leather.
Bottom Line:
This is just a fun sipping whiskey, especially if you’re looking for a great brunch sipper.
Copper & Kings Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in American Apple Brandy Barrels
Copper & Kings have spent years perfecting their Kentucky brandy in Louisville. Now, they’re perfecting brandy-finished Kentucky bourbon. The whiskey in the bottle is a sourced blend of five-, 10-, and 15-year-old bourbons that once batched were re-barreled into Copper & Kings’ own apple brandy barrels. After a year of resting in those brandy barrels, the whiskey was barely touched with water and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Cranberry sauce and caramel candies drive the nose toward old tobacco rolled up with cedar and sage and packed into an old cedar box next to hints of fall leaves and fallow apple orchards.
Palate: The palate opens with a lush and leathery dried apricot next to a moment of grapefruit pith, more cranberry sauce, and plenty of winter spice before honey and chocolate arrive with a dark cherry fruit leatheriness.
Finish: Toffee-dipped tart apples lead to warm and spiced apple cider on the finish with a nice sense of dark chocolate-covered caramels and soft vanilla cream.
Bottom Line:
This is another excellent choice if you’re looking for a deep but easy-going sipper. Try it neat and on the rocks to find your balance with this pour.
This new release is a masterful blend of whiskeys from the core of America’s distillery region. The blend in the bottle is a batch of Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee whiskeys that are balanced to highlight classic bourbon notes at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Peach cobbler with a big scoop of malted vanilla ice cream pops on the nose with a light sense of rye bread crusts, caramel pie, and mild orange zest cut with oaky tobacco.
Palate: Apricot jam over buttermilk biscuits leads the taste toward white pepper spiciness, winter spice barks, and a bright burst of grapefruit pith before this mild sense of white grape juice and almost savory melon arrives.
Finish: That melon goes full honeydew on the finish with a bit more of that orange before black peppercorns and smoldering smudging sage drive the end toward woody tobacco boxes wrapped in old leather.
Bottom Line:
This is another that’s so unique. It feels fresh and fun from top to bottom. It is fruit-forward, so take that in stride and have fun with it.
Three Chord Cask-Finished Bourbon & Corn Whiskey Finished in Honey & Toasted Barrels
This is from a wide-ranging whiskey brand created by Neil Giraldo (Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame guitarist and producer behind Pat Bantar and Rick Springfield’s biggest hits). The whiskey in this expression is hewn from a high-rye five-year-old MGP bourbon, a standard six-year-old MGP bourbon, and an eight-year-old Kentucky corn whiskey. Those barrels are batched and the whiskey is re-barrelled into toasted barrels from ISC and Speyside cooperages for three months. Then those barrels are batched and that whiskey is then re-barreled once more into Fern Valley Farms honey casks for one final month of mellowing.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This has a nice spiciness to the nose that leans into cedar and smudging sage with a hint of nasturtiums, creamy honey, and gingerbread cookies.
Palate: The mouthfeel is lush with a nice layering of corncake with honey, vanilla malt with a cherry on top, and bold winter spice barks and botanicals with a hint of burnt orange and red chili pepper.
Finish: The spice ramps up on the end with a good Kentucky hug (more a buzz than a burn) next to light white grits cut with butter, honey, and caramel with a hint of orchard fruit lurking behind it all.
Bottom Line:
This is the team at Three Chord showing how good they are at their jobs. Sip this one slow and enjoy some tunes while you do.
Barrell Bourbon Cask Finish Series: Tale of Two Islands
This new release from Barrell Craft Spirits is a unique one. The whiskey in the bottle is batched from Indiana bourbon (five, six, and nine-year-old barrels) with Maryland bourbon (five and six-year-old barrels). Once batched, the whiskey is re-barreled into rum casks and Islay whisky casks. Then those barrels are batched and the whiskey is bottled 100% as-is at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with big notes of bananas foster, peach cobbler, and blackberry crumble next to roasting herbs, smoldering smudging sage, old cedar kindling, and rich vanilla-chocolate malted tobacco with a dash of Cherry Coke and Almond Joy.
Palate: Lushness dominates the palate with dark chocolate-covered espresso beans, candied orange peels, candied almonds, black cherry soda, cream soda, plum pudding, and mincemeat pies dusted with powdered sugar before dark and lightly smoked oak arrives.
Finish: That smoky oak leads to pepper brisket fat and salted butter cut with cedar tobacco before veering toward blackberry pie and red currants swimming in dark chocolate with a faint whisper of fresh vanilla pods.
Bottom Line:
This is an excellent example of blending and finishing at the highest level. This is a sipper that just keeps on giving. Take your time and allow yourself to go deep on this one. You’ll be rewarded.
Hardin’s Creek “Boston” Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Part three of the Hardin’s Creek 2023 releases is finally here. This whiskey is a 17-year-old bourbon made with Beam’s classic mash bill. The whiskey spent all 17 of those years in rickhouses on the Boston, Kentucky campus (a little further south of the Bardstown area). Those warehouses are in a flatter area (instead of tucked away in hollers or perched atop hills). So the actual buildings had more access to bathing warm sunlight, wind, and rain — all of which slightly shifts the aging process of the barrels in those warehouses.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a classic medley of wet brown sugar cut with rich vanilla buttercream, cinnamon bark, and dark cherry cola just kissed with dark chocolate and salt.
Palate: The taste leans nutty (more almond shell than marzipan) with a deep sense of salted dark chocolate-covered espresso beans next to sticky toffee pudding, salted caramel sauce cut with orange zest, and a hint of coffee cake dipped in black tea with a fleeting sense of old rickhouses floors and dry tobacco.
Finish: That dry tobacco and earthiness amp up the finish as the spice barks sharpen toward a warming finish full of Kentucky hugs, vanilla beans, and soft spiced brandied cherries dipped in dark chocolate.
Bottom Line:
Nearly 20-year-old Beam? Sign me up! This is excellent bourbon that’s made for slow sipping on a lazy day. Plan accordingly.
Bardstown Bourbon Company Collaborative Series Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished In Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout Barrels
This brand-new release from Bardstown Bourbon Company is a collaboration with Chicago’s Goose Island’s iconic Bourbon County Stout. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of six- and seven-year-old Kentucky bourbons that are batched and then re-barreled into Bourbon County stout barrels. 12 months later, the whiskey is blended with another 9-year-old Kentucky bourbon, barely proofed, and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: A moment of honey draws you in on the nose before veering toward rich and very dark chocolate with a deeply stewed cherry cut with oily vanilla, mulled wine spices, and pear brandy-soaked marzipan with a hint of candied orange zest, dry espresso beans, and moist tobacco leaves.
Palate: There’s a moment of malted chocolate shakes on the taste that leads to a rich spiced Christmas cake brimming with walnuts, sultanas, candied cherry, candied lemon rinds, and leathery dates that lead to moments of creamy and very boozy eggnog poured over a Black Forest Cake.
Finish: The Christmas spices, fruit cake, dried fruit, and eggnog all combine on the finish to create a rich and sumptuous finish full of luscious textures and just the right amount of spiced whiskey warmth.
Bottom Line:
This is chocolate-forward with wonderfully nuanced holiday vibes, making it the perfect accompaniment as fall turns to winter this year.
15 STARS Fine Aged Spirits Sherry Cask Finish A Select Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys Finished in Sherry Casks
This brand-new release from 15 STARS (arriving on shelves on September 26th, 2023) is made from a blend of 10 and 13-year-old Kentucky and Indiana bourbons. Those barrels were batched by the 15 STARS crew and then the whiskey was re-barreled in sherry casks for a final touch of maturation. That whiskey was then bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Plums, dates, and figs come through on the nose with deep marzipan cut with pear brandy and dipped in salted dark chocolate next to eggnog spices and creaminess with a good dose of Christmas nut cakes.
Palate: The eggnog lusciousness leads the palate toward soft vanilla cookies, salted caramel chews, and a hint of spiced plum jam next to buttermilk waffles studded with pecans before old cellar oak adds an earthen layer.
Finish: The sweetness of the leathery dried fruits drives the finish toward winter spice barks and berries with a sense of old pipe tobacco braided with smudging sage and a whisper of dried mint next to cedar and fall leaves.
Bottom Line:
This was just named the best bourbon in the world at the New York World Spirits Competition. It’s fire. Get some now while you still can.
One thing that’s not a matter of debate in 2023 is the ubiquity of Pringles. They’re everywhere. If there are no Pringles on display, wherever you’re shopping probably doesn’t count as a convenience store. It certainly doesn’t pass muster as a bodega. Pringles — their shape, their can, and the mysterious mustachioed logo guy — are globally iconic.
At some point over the decades, Pringles expanded from three flavors (the OGs being plain, sour cream, and barbecue). Then at some later point, the saddle-shaped, uniformly packed stacks of potato crisps went global — with countries around the world imparting the style with local flavor combinations. Today, every country with packaged goods carries one or two of the standard American Pringles flavors as well its own regionalized staple flavors and even some limited flavors one can only purchase within that particular territory (unless you have wifi and a healthy balance in your account). The saddle shape remains globally, but in some countries (specifically Japan and China), the crisps are about two-thirds the size of the American full-sized crisps.
Since a plethora of flavors exist globally that many brick-and-mortar shoppers may never experience or witness IRL, we decided to scour the darkest crannies of international snack-based e-commerce sites to find the most interesting flavors not found in the United States. The shipping alone almost obliterated what I get paid for this and prices for single tall cans went up to around $20 a pop due to scarcity and demand.
Naturally, it was our duty to review and rank each flavor sampled, so you’re not going in completely cold if you decide to make your own purchases. Special shoutout to Napa Japan, a favorite online destination for all things Japanese candy and snacks, who kindly expedited their shipment to help meet the deadline for this sampling. Also… I’m bad at pics, my apologies [he’s not lying. — ed].
Prawn Cocktail is not “shrimp cocktail.” American buyer beware, it is a UK specialty — a sauce combining ketchup, mayonnaise, Worcestershire, lemon juice and sometimes horseradish. Sounds like traditional cocktail sauce but with a few extra ingredients, right?
Maybe. But it doesn’t work as a chip.
You do get the ketchup and horseradish flavors. And you get the vinegary tang of the Worcestershire right away along with some shrimpy seafood umami. It’s a complex flavor for sure but also the worst I sampled — combining multiple disagreeable flavors in one amalgamation of grossness. Due to my overwhelming aversion to flavor profiles involved and mashed up, Prawn Cocktail falls all the way to the bottom of the Pringles seafood tower of international flavors.
Bottom Line:
There’s simply no relief or balance to these tangy-sweet flavors coming together into a gag-inducing crescendo. If you do try Prawn Cocktail Pringles, bring a mint or something to switch gears afterward — the aftertaste pervades your tastebuds.
It’s too bad there’s no onion to balance out the sour cream in Pringles Sour Cream & Chilli flavor from the UK, because the combination tastes like flavored cream cheese or some sort of cheap salad dressing, two of the worst food items that exist on this earth. The best aspect of this Pringles variety is the chili flavor, which creeps through the wave of sour cream washing over your mouth with a red heat that subsides all too quickly, leaving the multigrain sour note and the desire for a piece of gum.
Bottom Line:
UK Pringles went too far with the Sour Cream & Chilli Multigrain flavor. The Pringles themselves are passable as a multigrain chip, but the general Sour Cream & Chilli flavor here is an acquired one that this writer will probably never pick up — hence their low placement on this international Pringles snack scoreboard.
Hokkaido Scallop Butter Soy Sauce is a unique Japanese Pringles flavor that in theory could be transcendent but falters severely from the off-putting tuna-esque aftertaste that proceeds the somewhat pleasant introduction. The taste starts off scallopy, then gets a little umami-buttery before fading out into a tuna fish-riddled sunset.
It’s hard to interpret exactly how or why the taste veers off into overly fishy territory but I have to assume that many Japanese palates are better calibrated for this one than my American palate.
Bottom Line:
Let’s hope fishy snacks are not the next wave in this keto-obsessed society we reside in. Hokkaido Scallop Butter Soy Sauce is an interesting recreation of a seafood dish popular in Japanese cuisine and a love letter-like tribute to the Hokkaido region, where scallops thrive due to the plankton and nutrient-rich water.
Unfortunately, this Japan-exclusive flavor did not rate highly in our extensive Pringles sampling sessions due to the fishiness.
If it’s not slathered in XO sauce or some soy-based marinade, do we want it?
The Pringles BBQ Steak starts with a tangy steak sauce-like taste and finishes with the meaty steak-like peppery oniony savory seasoning. Despite nothing controversial to report, the overall taste is a bit mild, which in some ways makes BBQ Steak Pringles more pleasurable to eat and mildly addictive and in other ways makes it an easy to dismiss in favor.
Bottom Line:
Not one of the best flavors but also not terrible, BBQ Steak Pringles from China can satisfy the urge for a meat-flavored chip if that’s what you dabble in.
That’s the first kiss of flavor you get with Pringles Roast Chicken & Rosemary Multgrain chip from the good ole U of K. It really only gets better from there (can you start worse than Progresso chicken soup flavor?), with the chicken soup note followed by some light herbaceous that finishes with an almost soft-wheaty multigrain note, which helps fade some of the stronger umami punches from the chicken flavoring.
Roast Chicken & Rosemary Multigrain Pringles is analogous to if they made roast chicken-flavored Sun Chips in Pringle’s saddle mold, the rosemary being a present but thankfully not overpowering herbal element. The salt is hardly there but you barely notice its absence because of the inherent flavor in multigrain and the scratchier texture.
Bottom Line:
Though inoffensive, Roast Chicken & Rosemary Pringles could use some retooling — mainly the scrapping of the chicken seasoning all together. The rest of the elements actually meld quite well, creating a light and flavorful melange.
According to this Pringles flavor, only a wee bit. Texas BBQ is known to be beef forward, mesquite smoked, either wet or dry and flavored with a vinegar or tomato-based sauce. Here there’s only a morsel of some of the traditional Texas BBQ flavor notes — with too much smokiness and not enough sweetness to carry the flavor into crave status, bruv.
Bottom Line:
Sadly blokes, there just isn’t proper flavor to even qualify these as BBQ Pringles — maybe Texas Light Rub Pringles As Interpreted By A Limey or British Under-Seasoned BBQ Pringles, but nothing you should fancy to waste a few quid on.
The thing about Meat Lover’s Pizza Pringles from Australia is that they actually taste like pizza. You taste pizza seasoning immediately, sweet tomato-ish, onion, green pepper and a mild cheese aftertaste. The first pizza chip memory is Keebler’s Pizzeria chips and these Meat Lover’s Pringles harken back to those flavors of yore — clearly pizza-flavored (the best pizza-flavored snack of all-time is no doubt Goldfish, not Combo’s, for the record).
Sadly, these Pringles do not reveal any hint of carnivorous mixed meat madness. Though somewhat tasty, they should really just be called Pizza Pringles.
Bottom Line:
Meat Lover’s Pizza Pringles may satisfy the craving for Pizza Pringles, whether domestically or abroad, but if the craving involves any meat toppings traditionally found on a pizza pie, please take heed before you proceed.
Hypothetically Buffalo Ranch Pringles are a banger, straddling the line between tangy spice and creamy tang, combining the signature flavors that frequently appear on lettuce-adorned plates at sports bars and anywhere else serving bar food or wings across our fair land.
The only issue present is the proportions — since Buffalo is about 75%, while Ranch is about 7.5%, with the other 17.5% being the actual Pringles potato flavor.
Bottom Line:
Reducing ranch to a minor element is the miss here. There has to be a better-balanced Pringles riff on this flavor.
Dill Pickle chips can be crave worthy but sometimes tough to find when it comes to the right brand or flavor that mimics the real-life dill pickle experience. Brands like Zapp’s, Deep River, and others of the kettle chip variety provide the perfect platform for the pickle flavors to shine. But can a basic Pringles crisp do the trick as well?
Some parts of Canada may call these Dill Pickle Pringles, others Saveur de Cornichon a L’aneth – either tongue, these Pringles fall flat into the ice pond when it comes to delivering on the complete dill pickle profile. The acidity of the vinegary seasoning hits you right away from the powder sprinkled on, covering the tongue in tanginess as the dill note provides some balance to round out the taste. Unlike many American dills, or maybe it’s the Kosher dill variety we’re accustomed to, there’s no garlic present and very little salt – leaving some longing for an actual literal dill pickle to satisfy the craving that now exists because the expected flavor profile was not fulfilled.
Bottom Line:
People who like the really green pickles that are quasi-cucumbers and hipsters who make their own pickles in mason jars in their basements will probably enjoy these Dill Pickle Pringles, possibly Canadians as well.
Bacon-flavored snacks are not a dime a dozen in the United States, they mostly come as a chip flavor or special edition, but it’s rare to venture to any gathering and encounter bacon-flavored munchies. Bacon itself is another situation, America’s favorite meat condiment (where can’t you add bacon to your sandwich, salad, baked potato, dessert, etc) is so common and crave-able, there are even other animals bacon’d beyond pigs and also non-animal bacon. The existence of Smokey Bacon Pringles is not one that properly shocked anyone, but the UK flavor tastes more Baco than bacon.
The bite is bacon-forward at first, then fades to the smokey-ness that bears a strong reminiscence to the BBQ Pringles aftertaste we’ve known for decades. Though not offensive in any regard, there is also not a strong depth to the Smokey Bacon flavor, it’s purely salty bacon succeeded by smokiness.
Bottom Line:
If the mere taste of bacon suits your taste, dig in, but personally “bacon flavored things that are not actually bacon” is not at the top of the cravings list on the regular.
This Thai flavor brings the complex combination of shrimp, garlic and red chili peppers that stays a bit beyond its welcome (not just the pepper, the shrimp lingers too – a flavorful beverage is required if you want to keep your friends and family around). An acquired taste for many American palates, these layered chips pique the tastebuds enough to want to keep sampling, deliberating whether or not there is concrete evidence of brilliance within.
These crisps are all shrimp on the front end, garlic throughout, with the heat and red pepper popping up to wallop you on the tail end.
Bottom Line:
The Spicy Garlic Prawn flavor is great for anyone who digs spicy sea snacks.
The Thai Golden Fried Chicken flavor strikingly nails a respectable and possibly delicious Pringles crisp with this limited edition offering. The front end of the Golden Fried Chicken taste is buoyed with the piquant seasoning that has a somewhat oniony flavor initially before segueing into a herbaceous Italian breadcrumb-esque (there’s an oregano note) middle note that ends with that chicken bouillon flavor that rounds out the Golden Fried chicken Pringles situation.
The aftertaste sort of short-circuits your brain into believing you just ate a poultry nibble when in reality you ate a Thai Pringle, and you have no choice but to keep eating more to process how exactly the geniuses figured this Rubik’s cube of a flavor out.
Bottom Line:
Golden Fried Chicken is an impressive addition to the Pringles international catalog, even if it’s a limited edition, and therefore a pretty deep cut in the Pringles annals and archives.
China’s Super Hot Spicy Strips Pringles are an umami bomb and register as a four pepper (out of five) on the heat scale when it comes to Pringles’ China spicy pepper barometer, a savory taste delight for the spice indulgent. Despite the caution taken with snacks on any country’s four pepper spice scale, these Super Strips are no spicier than Thailand’s Spicy Garlic Prawn Pringles (which also rank nearby on our countdown), which bear no pepper scale at all on their canister.
Despite the initial spice registering, the heat is the slow creeper variety and most of the flavor here derives from the sweet and peppery reddish seasoning sprinkled lightly on each crisp. Handicapped by an inability to read Chinese, along with a semi-pro palate, there are certainly other difficult-to-decipher spices and ingredients in the mix that I don’t know. Regardless, we’re now veering toward the “fully craveable” range of Pringles.
Bottom Line:
Bearing the depth of flavor of a long-simmering soup broth, Pringles Super Hot Spicy Strips are worth your time and won’t neutralize your tastebuds with their heat, even if you’re a grown baby when it comes to the spice department.
Japan’s Nagoya Chicken Wing Pringles are superior to Thailand’s Golden Fried Chicken Pringles (which also rank near the middle of our countdown) because the seasonings here are more palatable and meet the expectations of the stout can art, which depicts a whole chicken wing, covered in sweet soy-based barbecue sauce and doused with sesame seeds.
The Nagoya Chicken Wing Pringles start strong — sweet and chickeny, then transition to pronounced soy and sweet sesame on the backend, which is necessary to balance out the aggressiveness on the poultry-laden front end. The well-balanced flavoring enables the smaller size can to vanish quickly, even though the flavor intensity makes the Nagoya Chicken Wing Pringles a special mood-only snack play. Not that this flavor is so easy to acquire that the can would just be sitting around your snack stash, they’re an online-only purchase, requiring full intention, and the mood would have to be looking for a snack adventure.
Bottom Line:
Nagoya Chicken Wing as a flavor is an aggressive concept; create an intensely-flavored chip, based on intensely-flavored chicken wings. Unsurprisingly, the Nagoya Chicken Wing Pringles require a palate cleanser to relieve the savory intensity, but otherwise are pretty scrumptious and rate highly amongst other chicken-flavored snacks on the international poultry snack market.
The problem and best element of Paprika Pringles is obviously Paprika. Besides possibly some slight onion sprinkle, there is only Paprika and paprika alone to be judged here. You either like it, you love it, or you don’t want anything of it. Paprika itself is complex — spicy sweet and piquant, it’s a great seasoning on meats, potatoes and a staple in most pantries (Paprika roasted chicken was a formative dish Mom made growing up, goulash a transformative reliable favorite with infinite versions, in Eastern European travels).
As a Pringles flavor, Paprika starts spicy, gets a little sweet and finishes with a savory piquant pepperiness that matches the potatoey Pringles chip kindly. A beverage is not optional here, anything acidic or citrusy pairs properly. Get yours in the UK or online.
Bottom Line:
Paprika is not an everyday ingredient in most home kitchens, even though it can be delightfully savory in all the right ways at all the right times, and the Paprika Pringles, though tasty, are a mood-based selection that cannot be relied on at all times, when the craving comes into play.
Paprika popularizers will find these Pringles to be pleasantly pleasing.
Oh Australia, if you could only title your snacks properly mates. The issue with Cheeesy Garlic Pringles is not their taste, they’re fairly delicious, buttery and garlicky like your neighborhood local Italian spot’s garlic bread. And yes, often that crunchy robust garlic bread may have some cheese melted or sprinkled on top but the cheese flavor on these Pringles isn’t full-bodied enough to claim “Cheeesy” — it’s sort of just a sweet tang that you taste at first and then mellows out sneakily, like an Irish goodbye. Except these Pringles are from Australia, and though they’re easy to snack on, they lack the cheesiness one would hope for from a “Cheeesy” snack.
Bottom Line:
Pringles Australia nails the garlic butter note, making a rich and appealing Pringles flavor that could find its way out of the snack stash late at night, even if you were really hankering for something cheesier.
Seaweed Pringles, another Japanese convention, should really be called Seaweed feat. Wasabi — as the green, nasal clearing flavoring is as much the star of the story here as anything Seaweed-oriented. The wasabi spice hits like an uppercut straightaway, the briny seaweed anchors the middle then the wasabi hits again like a jab on the finish, coating the entire mouth and sending billowing fumes up the nasal passage.
But unlike the time your friend got you to eat a spoonful of wasabi before you knew its true power and it made you tear up, there is just enough wasabi punishment here to warrant repeated consumption and the seaweed element is present but completely innocuous. These smaller chip Seaweed Pringles are a surprisingly simple and tasty wrinkle in the wonderful world of Japanese Pringles flavors.
Bottom Line:
It’s no surprise that Japan is way ahead of the seaweed snack tsunami (as they’re probably the ones who lit the torch), adding the complementary and addictive wasabi seasoning to create a truly crave-able flavor (in relatively small doses) that ranks solidly in our Pringles panoply of pandemonium.
Japan’s Umashio Light Salt Pringles are a pleasantly plain addition to the international Pringles canon, tasting very similar to the original beloved non-flavored Pringles that are the people’s choice, globally. This version claims to be lightly salted but boasts a bit of a sea salt minerality to the crisps that remain after you devour the chips. Nevertheless, polishing off a stout can would take very little snack stamina, plus Japanese Pringles are a slightly smaller size than some of their Western crisp cousins, making the task even tidier.
There is nothing bad or negative to say about this flavor, the simple saltiness and potato flavor are the only notes you taste.
Bottom Line:
Light Salt Pringles may be a slight improvement over the traditional original Pringles, as the saltiness is lighter and presents a more distinct salinity.
Yuzu Sour Cream & Onion Pringles are one of the more interesting and unique flavors that exist around the globe and we were lucky enough to obtain a tall can for our sampling pleasure. The first note that hits the tongue upon tasting is a light citrus note, which carries on through to the finish; this is followed by an unexpectedly spicy peppery note and a sour cream and onion taste that blends with both the spice and citrusy yuzu to create a rounded flavor unlike any other.
Upon tasting several chips there is difficulty reconciling all of the levers being pulled in your mouth — the tanginess of the sour cream and citrus do a tango on the tip of your tongue, while the back of your mouth is enveloped in the heat of the unadvertised peppery spice, the entirety of the flavor experience is all rather strange but in a good way. The North American equivalent may be dipping lemon pepper wings in ranch dressing. The ingenuity here is enough to warrant many tastings to process what is happening on your tastebuds.
Bottom Line:
The fact that Yuzu Sour Cream & Onion Pringles exist is sufficient to warrant curiosity as to how they actually taste and whether Sour Cream & Onion should be permitted to be paired with any fruit at all. Whether or not there should be any spice involved, there is and you can’t fault the Japanese for taking things somewhere you never even contemplated, like they do with candy.
The most shockingly good Pringles flavor in this entire international Pringles flavor journey is based around the tomato — at least on a personal level. Tomato being a faux-allergenic like figure in the dietary history of this writer. Tomato Pringles are really good though and fully full-on tomato — starting off with an earthy-salty-sweet-ketchupy note. The sweetness prolongs and finishes with the earthy saltiness of the actual Pringle crisp. The combination of tomato and potato (there is a flavor portmanteau here somewhere… pomato?) is so simple.
Sure, there are other flavors hinted at on the can, but I didn’t taste them. Regardless, Pringles Tomato is a strangely addictive flavor that China can claim as its own and a unique addition to the international Pringles lore.
Bottom Line:
Who knew Tomato Pringles could be alluring and probably even better with the right dip and beverage? The Chinese, apparently.
3x Sour Cream is a tough claim to back up with paperwork, but the Japanese are bold with their snack offerings. They say triple, but the taste seems more like double — no doubt there is a stronger concentration of seasoning than the typical Sour Cream & Onion, but triple?
Marketing aside, there is surely an extra application of the flavoring one would expect and if that makes your tastebuds content, then you’ll be copping extra mints and drinks to deal with the 2-3x bad breath from what is typical after eating Sour Cream-flavored anything.
Bottom Line:
If you’re fortunate enough to get your sour-cream-loving beefy mitts on these, you’ll relish the extra flavor you simply can’t find on any other Sour Cream & Onion chip around regardless of the true seasoning multiplier.
There are 7 E’s in Japan’s Cheeeeeese Pringles flavor and just like with the 3x Sour Cream flavor, the Japanese are having way too much fun with their snacks again. 4 E’s not enough? Well according to NapaJapan, a personal favorite digital destination for Japanese snacks and candy, there are 4 cheeses involved here — cream cheese, cheddar, mozzarella, and parmesan — so maybe that explains the extra E’s?
The chips certainly taste more dynamically cheesy than just Italian parmesan — you can taste a bolder cheddar note, a creaminess that could be cream cheese and a funky more pizza-esque note too. If they don’t quench your craving for cheesy chips then just go back to your cheesy poofs. These Pringles have a lighter cheese taste, but still with sufficient cheesy richness for most of us fromage snack foragers.
Bottom Line:
It’s not unusual to find four cheese pizza or shredded cheese in the refrigerated aisle at markets. Here, Japan does one better with their Cheeeeese Pringles — a cheesy concoction only the cheeky Japanese Pringles contingency could execute with as many E’s as cheeses.
Though Takoyaki is not a beloved dish in this snack writer’s previous repertoire, bias must be ignored when it comes to giving new flavors a chance. Takoyaki is a popular street food in Japan, with a base of fried octopus balls that are drizzled and topped with other sauces and topping-like ingredients — essentially a Japanese version of hush puppies or mini croquettes or arancini.
The Takoyaki Japan-only Pringles are seasoned with a dash of green onion, seaweed, ginger and light soy; a craveable mix of savory, sea-forward flavors with the tentacle taste factoring into the well-balanced recipe.
Bottom Line:
It’s impressive when Pringles can translate the flavors of a complex or simple but multi-ingredient dish into the full-dish flavor of a chip. The Takoyaki Chips Pringles deliver all of the notes this novice Takoyaki eater can imagine existing in one bite, leaving a satisfying umami note on the palate and requiring further consumption and investigation.
Emmental — not 4 cheese Japanese Pringles with the extra e’s in the spelling — is the best international cheese-flavored Pringles variety out there, thanks Pringles Belgium! Rich creamy Swiss cheese seasoning is the flavor du jour with the Emmental Pringles mimicking the mellow Emmental cheese in its powdery coating on each Pringle. The bite starts off tart and tangy cheesy, then morphs to a bit of funkiness and finishes with the mild creamy richness of a fresh slice of cheese on a baguette or cracker or here, a Pringle. Again, there is a high brow/low brow dynamic here and the real winner is the consumer and Pringles for taking crisps to the fromagerie and putting them in a can for us to nosh on.
Bottom Line:
It’s a real shame that tasty cheesy Emmental Pringles aren’t available commonly stateside, as they’re a flavor that would appeal to epicureans and less annoyingly picky consumers alike, and would fit well in any specialty food store alongside other artisanal snackery. Easily one of the best discoveries during this rigorous sample acquisition and eventual sampling, Emmental is one of Pringles best international forays and a flavor worthy of expansion into other territories, at least as a limited edition, if nothing more (wink).
Never thought the day would come when Black Truffle and Pringles would appear together in a search on a favorite snack website (everyone has a favorite snack website, right?). These Japan-only luxurious crisps do not taste like the unfortunately ubiquitous truffle oil you can find on too many menus in the US. Black Truffle Pringles kick off with the earthy, mushroomy umami note Black Truffles are known for and finish all buttery dreamy creamy (which Black Truffles are also known for).
Lightly salted, nothing diminishes the very natural tasting black truffle flavor, a simple yet decadent flavor for Pringles.
Bottom Line:
Black Truffle, Mentaiko, Nagoya Chicken Wing, Four Cheese, Triple Sour Cream, Takoyaki and the list goes on — the Japanese clearly have the most nuanced, inventive and interesting Pringles variations out.
If you’re not Japanese or fluent in the language, you may miss the inherent disclaimer with the Yamitsuki Garlic Butter Pringles — “Yamitsuki” translates to “addictive” and the flavor is essentially like eating a Scampi flavor of Pringles, but better. The strong garlic note smacks instantly, but it’s followed and anchored by the rich creamy buttery flavor, balancing out the garlic’s intensity and leaving the mouth and tongue enveloped in a delightful butter aftertaste with a slight hint of garlic.
Garlic butter is an ever reliable flavor combo, but it’s the richness here that takes this international bite from basic to transcendent. And it’s the butter flavor — reminiscent of that late Summer melted butter you let crab meat or lobster drown in, even though you know it’s no good for you — that really elevates this Pringles Japan offering to the pinnacle of Mount Yamitsuki.
Bottom Line:
This may be the best butter-flavored snack with exception to fresh movie theater popcorn, ever tasted. The garlic is a distinct note as well, but the butter is really the “Yamitsuki” part of this Pringle — the good folks at Pringles Japan aptly named this excellent flavor.
If you’re not familiar with Mentaiko, which is probably most readers, you may not be prepared for the deliciousness of Pringles flavored with the quasi delicacy from Japan. Mentaiko is pollock roe, which means eggs from a member of the Cod family. While that may not get the salivary glands going, Mentaiko is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine and can be found in pasta dishes as a creamy, briny, umami component that adds a rich flavor.
In that regard, Mentaiko-flavored Pringles are beyond revelatory — they smell of the sea, but the first notes you get upon crunching are rich, creamy, salty and fairly light on the palate. The finish is umami-laden, but there is nothing offensive or fishy at play. In fact, if this was a blind tasting, there may be only a subtle hint that any sea creature was involved here.
Bottom Line:
Out of all the international flavors of Pringles sampled, Mentaiko was the tastiest and most dynamic flavor. And, considering the top 15 were all “pretty solid” or above, that’s really saying something.
Mayim Bialik sure is busy. On top of hosting Jeopardy! — except when there’s a WGA strike on — she’s rebooting Blossom, the show that made her a star, although this time it won’t be a sitcom. She also has a podcast, Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown, where she uses her PhD in neuroscience to talk mental health with experts and fellow celebs alike. She’s gotten some big names, but there’s a white whale she’s desperate to coax onto her show.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Bialik revealed she’s been “trying” to get “Weird” Al Yankovic to come on and talk mental wellness. Alas, he’s proven a little reluctant.
“He says he doesn’t have anything to talk about, but my feeling is everyone has something,” Bialik said. “We’re very happy to talk to people just about their journey. To them, we say, we’re not looking to dredge up dirt or make anyone uncomfortable. But once we start talking, they are comfortable, so they trust us. When I’m vulnerable, when [cohost] Jonathan [Cohen]’s vulnerable, people seem to open up. I’m not a therapist, but I’ve sure sat in a lot of therapist’s rooms.”
Bialik and Cohen launched the podcast during the height of the pandemic, and initially, she said, the idea was to stick to experts and specialists. That broadened to the rich and famous as well, such as Ben Stiller and Matthew McConaughey. Some guests find it downright therapeutic.
“Leslie Jordan talked so openly about crystal meth and what it was like to come out as gay,” she explained. “One of the things we most hear people say is, ‘I’ve never told anyone this!’ Maybe there’s something about the way Jonathan and I talk to people that makes them want to talk to us. We’re not trying to get dirt or be gossipy, but I think more and more people are realizing the more we talk about this, the better we’ll all be.”
Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone’s bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.
Illustrator Ingebritt ter Veld and Corinne de Vries, who works for Hippe-Birth Cards, a webshop for birth announcements, had babies shortly after one another.
In the series “#ThingsOnlyMomsKnow” Ingebritt and Corinne depict the reality of motherhood — with all the painful, funny, and loving moments not always talked about.
1. Pee-regnant.
2. How (not) to sleep.
3. Cry baby.
4. The new things that scare you…
5. …and the new things that give you the creeps.
6. Being a new mom can get a little … disgusting.
7. And every mom has experienced these postpartum horror stories.
8. There are many, many memorable firsts.
9. Getting to know your post-baby body is an adventure.
10. Pumping ain’t for wimps.
11. You become very comfortable with spit-up. Very comfortable.
12. Your body, mind, and most importantly, heart, will expand in ways you didn’t know possible.
This story first appeared on Hippe Birth Cards and is reprinted here with permission.
Ask almost any woman about a time a man said or did something sexually inappropriate to them, and she’ll have a story or four to tell. According to a survey NPR published last year, 81% of women report having experienced sexual harassment, with verbal harassment being the most common. (By contrast, 43% of men report being sexually harassed. Naturally harassment toward anyone of any sex or gender is not okay, but women have been putting up with this ish unchecked for centuries.)
One form of verbal sexual harassment is the all too common sexist or sexual “joke.” Ha ha ha, I’m going to say something explicit or demeaning about you and then we can all laugh about how hilarious it is. And I’ll probably get away with it because you’ll be too embarrassed to say anything, and if you do you’ll be accused of being overly sensitive. Ha! Won’t that be a hoot?
Perhaps women’s familiarity with such episodes is why writer Heather Thompson Day’s tweet about asking her male boss to explain a sexual joke to her has had such an enormous response. Day told a story of working at a radio station when she was 19 when her boss, who was in his mid-40s, made an inappropriate comment:
“When I was 19 my boss said I should be a phone sex operator & laughed.
I said ‘I don’t get it’
He said ‘it’s a joke’
I said ‘explain it to me’
& that’s how I learned that once sexual harrassers have to explain why their inappropriate jokes are funny, they stop laughing.”
When I was 19 my boss said I should be a phone sex operator & laughed.
I said “I don’t get it”
He said “it’s a joke”
I said “explain it to me”
& that’s how I learned that once sexual harrassers have to explain why their inappropriate jokes are funny, they stop laughing.
— Heather Thompson Day (@HeatherTDay) November 8, 2019
Day’s tweet has been shared more than 130K times. Other women also chimed in with similar stories of stopping sexist men in their tracks with their responses to inappropriate jokes.
My first internship was in a very professional company. We learned direct questions quickly stop inappropriate workplace comments. Direct eye contact:
1) I don’t understand — explain it to me.
2) Help me to understand — repeat it.
3) Can you provide an example?
It works.
— LiteFanFun (@LiteFanFun) November 9, 2019
Out with family when I was 13 and getting ice cream a friend of my uncle says “You can tell a lot about a girl by how she eats ice cream.” I, genuinely not knowing what he was talking about, said “Like what?”
He didn’t expect to be questioned. I kept pressing. He never answered.
— Naomi Savolainen (@mimiomiomi) November 8, 2019
YES! At my first full time job, my new boss called me and then made the comment that I had the voice of a phone sex operator. I responded, “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never called one.” His stammering and backpedaling still bring me joy over 20 years later.
— Virginia Fairchild (@scribblesnbitsV) November 10, 2019
I did the same thing to a guy who harassed me on a train. He said some rather disgusting things and I looked him dead in the eyes and said “tell me how you think that’s an appropriate thing to say. Explain it to me” he was not happy and got real quiet so I could leave.
— Chess Pearson ♿️ (@Captain_Ogilvy) November 8, 2019
What’s baffling is that some men may think that women actually might respond positively to such jokes. One woman simply responds to random harassers with “Please tell me about the last time this worked on an actual woman for you.” Works every time.
My personal favorite to dudes who try to chat me up in parking lots, etc. is to ask, “Please tell me about the last time this worked on an actual woman for you.” They IMMEDIATELY run away.
— Karen (@HashtagKaren) November 9, 2019
Of course, sometimes it takes more than just a no nonsense response to get some dudes to back off.
Eventually got to the point where they were like “we’re joking, it’s just fun” and I whistled to be switched out by a male guard on shift and told them to tell the same jokes to him.
I was definitely 20 at most and these were all men over 40 easily except one.
— Leighann Strollo (@LeighannStrollo) November 8, 2019
Sometimes it simply takes repeatedly being called out, especially if a man holds a position of power.
My boss made a joke about recognizing my mom because he probably had sex with her in college. I asked him to explain the joke, in an open office, while making direct contact with the COO, his boss. It took four more months and many incidents for him to be fired.
— Ellen Kaulig (@ekaulig) November 9, 2019
As one woman pointed out, it might take the threat of being documented to put an end to it. (Or, you know, actually documenting it can do wonders as well.)
Several men jumped into the conversation with words of support—and even a wicked burn about mansplaining.
Finally found something men don’t want to explain to women.
— Emmett Witurkey-Eldred (@emmetteldred) November 9, 2019
Because of course plenty of men are bothered by sexist “jokes” as well and understand that genuine jokes can be explained without hesitation or embarrassment.
If a thing is genuinely a joke it would be easy to explain.
— dan sheppard (@ashenfaced) November 9, 2019
Men can also use a similar approach when confronting their friends, acquaintances, and colleagues when inappropriate comments or jokes come up.
This is a tactic more men (myself included) should use when one of the “bros” makes a comment that we find uncomfortable but aren’t sure how to call out. Maybe more guys will get the picture that it isn’t cool.
— Dante (@CartoonsByDante) November 8, 2019
In fact, Heather Thompson Day said it was her dad who originally instructed her on how to respond to men’s inappropriate comments. “Don’t laugh,” he told her. “Ask them to explain the joke. They will stop making them.” Well done, Dad.
I’m not as cool as it sounds. My dad told me when i got the job “if any men say inappropriate comments, don’t laugh. Ask them to explain the joke. They will stop making them.” So Dad’s for the win
— Heather Thompson Day (@HeatherTDay) November 8, 2019
It was also pointed out that this approach works with “jokes” that are racist, homophobic, or otherwise harmful as well. When people have to explain their prejudice and bigotry, they usually can’t.
Pro tip: this also works on race “jokes”
— Corey (@HowlFromtheCore) November 8, 2019
I’ve had several coworkers over the years say, “you know how THOSE people are…” expecting me to agree. So I always say, “no, how ARE they?” Please, explain your racism/bigotry/prejudice to all of us.
— Erin McCord (@erinmcfavorite) November 8, 2019
And then there’s always the next level “You remind me of someone heinous” response, which may be a bit brutal, but is sometimes necessary to drive home the point.
I had this happen with someone that thought it was cute to talk about ‘coons. Once my “confusion” about racoons annoyed him, he finally dropped the N word, I gave my standard reply: You remind me of my grandfather. He liked to use that word, and he also like to rape little girls.
— Kristy M (@llamalluv) November 8, 2019
People in marginalized groups have had to put up with hurtful jokes for far too long. Asking people to explain them and making them sit in the discomfort of their own filth is an excellent way to shut that garbage down.
This article originally appeared on 11.13.19
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