Chris Rock has hosted the Oscars twice, in 2005 and 2016, but neither stint, no matter how funny, was as memorable as his appearance as a presenter at this year’s ceremony. The comic has only recently started joking about getting slapped by Will Smith at this year’s ceremony. At a show in Phoenix on Sunday night, he even revealed the ceremony’s top brass wanted him back for more — while making a pretty strange joke about a murdered woman.
As per AZ Central, the comic claimed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences asked him to host the 2023 ceremony, perhaps as a way to make things right — or, more likely, because it would be a huge ratings boon. Rock said he declined. He then joked that he wouldn’t want to go back to the place where he was hit, saying it would be like Nicole Brown Simpson deciding “to go back to the restaurant” where she left her eyeglasses right before she was murdered.
It’s a strange reference, even for an “edgy” comic like Rock, and it turned a lot of heads on social media. At the show, he also joked about how he and Smith are not exactly on the same footing, fight-wise, and not only because Smith once played Muhammad Ali.
“He’s bigger than me,” Rock told the crowd. “The state of Nevada would not sanction a fight between me and Will Smith.” He admitted that the slap hurt.
Since the incident about six months ago — which happened less than a half hour before he was handed an Academy Award for the film King Richard — Smith has laid low, even going to India for meditation and self-reflection. Recently he’s baby-stepped back into making social media jokes again, however hesitantly.
Every year when the new Madden releases there are usually two things that happen. A lot of people talk about how they’re never going to buy Madden again and then everyone else who does buy it posts videos of some really spectacular glitches. Now, it’s important to note that Madden 23 is actually an improvement over previous iterations. It’s far from perfect, but it’s the first positive step the franchise has taken in a long time and we’re glad to see that.
Unfortunately, when we say it’s not perfect we do mean the glitches are still there. This latest one is a new one, though — at least for me. One person posted a video of their match on Ultimate Team where, no matter what they did, the locker room remained on the screen blocking their vision. As far as this player is concerned, they’re playing in the first-ever stadium/locker room on-field combo the world has ever seen.
Anyone know how to fix locker room glitch in mut h2h. Every game I play the locker room is on the field pic.twitter.com/gazt437ow5
So, the first observation is obviously that this is incredibly funny because as far as I can tell the locker room has no physical impact on any part of the field so we have guys just phasing in and out of walls like they’re nothing. The next is I’m extremely impressed that this person was able to actually make a field goal with all of this stuff in front of them. They deserve extra points for making one basically blindfolded.
As always, it’s important to remember that making video games is very difficult, but that doesn’t mean we can’t laugh at how funny some of these glitches are. Let’s just hope this was a one-time bug and something that is going to be patched out relatively fast.
“Gilmore Girls” is one of those TV shows that’s easy to judge negatively until you actually watch it. The fast-paced dialogue, quick-witted humor, colorful characters and surprisingly smart cultural references can take you by surprise if you’re not expecting them.
The show was moderately popular when it aired on the CW, but it got a huge second life thanks to DVD and streaming services. However, like every show, not every element has stood the test of time. Since its creation, we’ve been through some major cultural shifts that have shone a spotlight on problematic tropes and forced us to reexamine what we find funny.
The “Me Too” movement brought into focus the ubiquity of sexual harassment and sexual assault against women. That conversation included the problems with objectifying women’s bodies. But objectification can happen to—and hurt—both women and men, as “Gilmore Girls” actor Scott Patterson shared on a recent episode of his podcast.
Patterson played Luke Danes, one of the primary love interests of the show’s main character Lorelai (played by Lauren Graham). Patterson’s adorably grumpy, flannel-shirted character was a fan favorite, and for the first time, the actor is rewatching the whole series and giving scene-by-scene commentary in his podcast “I Am All In” (named for one of his most swoon-worthy lines).
Most of what he shares in the podcast is positive, but while watching an episode from Season 3 (“Keg! Max!”), he shared an experience that bothered him. One of Patterson’s podcast cohosts pointed out what she called “the butt scene” in the episode. In that scene, Lorelai and her best friend Sookie (played by Melissa McCarthy) spend an inordinate amount of time discussing Luke’s butt after Sookie accidentally touches it. The cohost said she didn’t know if that scene would fly today and that acknowledgment prompted Patterson to share how he felt about it.
“You want to ask me how that feels?” he said. “Yeah, that was disturbing. I realized it wasn’t OK, and it didn’t make me feel comfortable at all. It made me feel really embarrassed, actually.”
“It’s infuriating to be treated that way,” he continued. “It is infuriating because you’re being treated like an object. And it’s disturbing, and it’s disgusting. And I had to endure that through that entire scene and many takes. It was all about the butt, the butt, the butt, the butt. When we weren’t filming, we were sitting down and people were still talking about the butt, the butt, the butt. It was the most disturbing time I have ever spent on that set, and I couldn’t wait for that day to be over.”
Patterson’s female co-hosts debated the appropriateness of the scene within the context of the relationships of the characters. On the one hand, it felt like the type of flirting a couple might do, and Luke and Lorelai do eventually get married on the show. But at the time of that scene, Luke was dating someone else and the repeated nature of going back to his butt pushed it from a singular flirtation (which still may have been questionable) to something that made Patterson feel like the character was being humiliated and having his dignity taken away.
“It wasn’t OK with me. I hated that scene,” he said. “It’s as disgusting for women to objectify men as it for men to objectify women and it’s as harmful. It was just the most offensive day I’ve ever spent on a set. Just because it was 2003 didn’t mean it was OK. It’s never OK. And I didn’t feel comfortable doing it and it pissed me off.
“I never said anything, so I was angry at myself for never saying anything,” he added. “But, you know, I had this job and I didn’t want to make waves and all that.”
Patterson said he hadn’t planned on sharing those feelings on the podcast, but rewatching the episode brought back how uncomfortable he’d felt at the time.
As his cohosts pointed out, if you reversed the genders and switched out “butt” for “boobs,” it would be a glaringly inappropriate scene. Of course, there’s always been a different power dynamic between men and women that has made it extremely difficult for women to speak up when they are being objectified, so the experiences aren’t exactly comparable. But in this case, the showrunner was a woman with power over Patterson as an actor. Some women might say, “Well now he knows how it feels to be a woman,” with little sympathy, but that reaction feels less than healthy. Objectification is objectification, and Patterson has every right to feel disturbed by how he and his character were treated in that scene.
Here’s to the hard conversations that have led us to this point where people being objectified can speak out about how it feels and actually be heard, and here’s to Scott Patterson for moving those conversations forward.
You can listen to the podcast episode here. And watch Patterson share why he started the podcast with TODAY:
Street artists are a special breed. While “the art world” can sometimes be a snooty, elite place for those with means, street art is made for everyone. Sometimes that means large public murals, but street art can be small, too. In fact, some of the best street art is so small you might miss it if you’re not paying attention. But those who are can discover some delightful surprises.
Just imagine walking down a sidewalk and seeing this little fella at your feet:
That would make your day, wouldn’t it? Or at least bring a smile to your face for a while?
Public art is an act of love to strangers, a way of connecting to people without saying a word. It says, “Hey there, fellow human. Here’s a little something to make you smile, just because.”
That’s the beauty of David Zinn’s street art. It’s meant for the public—just average passers-by—to enjoy, individually and collectively.
Zinn has created an entire world of characters who pop up in unexpected places. For instance, meet Gerald the otter, who is waiting for a blind date in this tree stump.
Zinn uses chalk and charcoal to make his cast of characters come to life in cracks and crevasses, sidewalks and tree trunks. His creations aren’t meant to last forever; in fact, as Zinn points out, the temporary nature of them adds value to them.
“Famous works of art hanging in museums get seen by thousands of people every day. But this? You could be among the dozens of people who get to see this while it exists,” he told CBS Mornings. “That’s pretty special.”
Watch how he takes something he finds in the sidewalk and transforms it into a sweet little duo.
Sometimes he uses natural things he finds as inspiration for a piece.
Watch Zinn turn a simple pot into a character with personality in a matter of minutes:
His entire Instagram page, Facebook page and TikTok channel are filled with endless delight. It was nearly impossible to decide what to include in this article because I wanted to include everything.
This is all well and good, you might say to yourself, but how does Zinn make a living if he’s not selling this art?
He sells books and prints of photos of his artwork on his online store. He also gets invited to schools and events. He has created a career for himself by rejecting blank canvases, putting his imagination out on the street for everyone to see for a while, then selling versions that will actually last. Pretty brilliant, really.
Zinn gave a fascinating TEDx Talk explaining how he found his own artistic niche. You’ll never look at a parking meter or sidewalk the same way again.
We are thrilled to announce that a new mathematical formula has been discovered that blows the lid off of everything we think we know and contains the potential to revolutionize life on planet Earth forever:
Who knew that Kevin Bacon playing guitar and singing a Beyoncé song surrounded by goats on a farm was key to unlocking the mysteries of the universe? Nobody, that’s who.
And yet, here we are on this day in the year of our Lord 2022, witnessing the consummation of viral musical achievement over millennia in one minute and 16 seconds of pure Kevin Bey-conny delight.
Seriously, what did we do to deserve this gift?
Bacon shared the video, in which he casually strums his guitar and sings Beyonce’s “Heated” while being surrounded by goats on his farm, on Twitter. “Hot day, hot song. The goats and I are feeling Heated @Beyonce,” he wrote. “Loving this track.”
You just have to see it:
u201cHot day, hot song. The goats and I are feeling Heated, @Beyonce. Loving this track. #GoatSongs #Renaissanceu201d
It’s the delightfully unexpected acoustic cover none of us asked for but all of us needed.
Kevin Bacon and Beyoncé fans alike responded with joy over the video, with several people welcoming him to Beyoncé’s collective fan base known as the Beyhive.
u201c@YeezyShowerBoot @kevinbacon @Beyonce Right. Not Kevin Bacon making us wait for part 2 where he says “Only a real man can tame me, only the radio could play me”.u201d
For those who haven’t heard the original, here’s the official lyric video of “Heated” from Beyoncé newest album, “Renaissance,” so you can see the inspiration for Bacon’s cover.
Beyoncé – HEATED (Official Lyric Video)
And if less than a minute and a half of Kevin Bacon singing with farm animals wasn’t enough for you, never fear. Here he is with his ukulele singing The Beatles’ “When I’m 64” on his 64th birthday last month, with what appears to be a llama or alpaca in the background. Because of course. What else would you do on your 64th birthday if you were Kevin Bacon?
u201cI couldnu2019t resistu2026This is 64. @thebeatlesu201d
(Side note: Please tell me I’m not the only Gen Xer having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that Kevin Bacon is 64. That seems impossible.)
Thanks to Kevin Bacon and Beyoncé and the goats for bringing us all together today for a desperately needed respite from the heaviness of the world. What a great way to start the week.
Pets are wonderful, loving, innocent creatures that add so much pure joy into our lives.
They also have an unruly penchant for eating things they shouldn’t be eating, find heinously bad places to go potty and are weapons of mass destruction when it comes to shoes, fragile knickknacks and furniture. If you’ve had a pet, then you have at least one story involving one of these sins, if not all three.
No matter how egregious the act, it’s pretty hard to stay mad. After all, much of the time animal misbehavior is merely a natural reaction to stress or boredom. Plus, one look at their sweet little faces is all it takes for anger to be subdued. Most of the time.
A Reddit user recently asked pet owners, “What’s the worst thing your pet has ever done?” and boy, some critters really know to act out. Whether its fur babies or feathered friends or scaly companions, pets are capable of some truly horrific-slash-hilarious antics. We love them anyway, of course.
Below are 22 of the best responses from traumatized pet owners. And though their stories don’t necessarily paint the best picture of their beastly bestie, it’s certainly an amusing read, if not an all-too-relatable one.
1.
“My dog dug up my neighbors cable line on Super Bowl Sunday when they had a big crowd coming over.” -@Living_Departure_265
2.
“My parrot has learnt to swear and will not stop. The weirdest thing is that I don’t even know how he learnt to swear. Maybe he overheard the neighbors or something.” -@Pizza-pen
3.
“As a kitten, she managed to get hold of, and tear to pieces, a dried flower my mother took from my grandmother’s funeral as a keepsake. Literally irreplaceable.” -@Catstrudle
4.
“My dog, then teething, chewed through and broke the beanbag chair he used to sleep on; which was filled with styrofoam pellets, each about 3mm dia. Tens of thousands of them. There is no effective way of picking them up due to their attraction to static and propensity to fly at the slightest change in the wind. The vacuum cleaner just pushed around more than it picked up. It took ~3 hours to clean up. We were finding pellets for years in random places.” -@Darthfloyd
5.
“I used to have this ball python. I wake up one morning and take him out of his cage because he’s looking restless. I throw him on my bed and lay back down. He’d often crawl on me and curl up for warmth. On this particular occasion he came sniffing around my face right as I yawned. When I did, a small tear came out of my eye, which he licked. A second later he latched onto my eyebrow like it was some furry little rodent. I sat right up, holding the four foot snake straight off my face. He let go after a few seconds and we didn’t talk for the rest of the day. Left two bloody holes right on my eyebrow. Jerk.” -@Stevel-Knievel
6.
“Baxter once pooped in the refrigerator and ate an entire wheel of cheese. I wasn’t even mad, it was amazing.” -@ryclarky
7.
“My boxer knocked over a statue of the Virgin Mary. Her head broke off, and my dog was running around with the head.” – @Motherinlawdouche
8.
“As I lay down for a much needed nap the other day, I heard a crash in the living room go out to check what fresh hell…my Calico had climbed a desk and knocked over a small shelf containing a case of small silver thumbtacks alllllllll over my living room. I made it about 5 steps in before I realized I was surrounded by tacks.” -@slumvillain
9.
“I filled a cup to the brim with fruit punch and walked away to put the bottle back into the fridge. When I turned back around I saw my blind cat standing on the dining room table feeling the cup with his paw…he winds up and swats it off the table. Got fruit punch everywhere.” -@colethefatcat
10.
“Back in 2014, my parents owned this vase that had been passed down 4 generations to the youngest in the family. It sat on top of the cabinets, like higher than the refrigerator. Our family went on a 4 day vacation to Disney World and had our neighbor feed our 2 cats. On the 2nd day of our vacation, my father gets a text saying that our vase shattered on the floor and both our cats were next to where it once sat. We believe our cats were able to jump up there with the help up [by] climbing on our air fryer we left on the counter.” -@mittiens
11.
“We bought our first house and the first time we left our dog alone he ate through the trim surrounding all the doors, the drywall behind it, and almost through the exterior. Needless to say I wasn’t pleased.” -@Fuzzy-Ad5756
12.
“I’m a caffeine addict and I admit it. I start out every day with an energy drink and pop Diet Mountain Dew all day. In college I was very, very broke and at one point was down to about 14 ounces left in a 2 liter of Mtn Dew poured into a cup. My cat came to check out what I had, sniffed at it and I guess the popping bubbles tickled her nose and she sneezed directly onto the surface of it.”-@LatterTowel9403
13.
“Got a new dog and wanted them to be happy and acclimated to a new home. Gave them a pig ear to chew on (already a fairly disgusting treat) and they happily take it. A short time later, where did the dog go? On my bed, chomping away on the pig ear, with a large pile of drool and pig ear bits, now quite possibly a permanent part of my sheets. Not the way I wanted to start off a relationship with a new dog. Silver lining, my sheets smelled like bacon for a while even after washing them!” -@ItsGotHeart
14.
“My beta killed 3 fish in a week.” -@Tox1cShark7
15.
“My dog was still a puppy and has never seen a baby bird. One night I was taking her for a walk and there was a baby bird on the ground. It was chirping and it really caught her attention (probably cause it sounded like her squeaky toys). I started reaching for the bird so I could try and put it back in its nest but my dog jumped towards the bird. I just heard a loud squeak and silence. My dog’s expression changed when she realized what she had done. The rest of the night she was not herself, I’m sure she felt really bad.” -@justanotherperson218
16.
“He (dog) broke my mother’s nose with his big head by jumping around too excitedly.” -@mortokes
17.
“A few nights ago, in the middle of the night, my monster cat brought in a live pigeon through the cat door and released it in the living room. Feathers EVERYWHERE.” -@effieokay
18.
“I have a roomba. I set it to clean at 7:30 AM every morning… because I am always out the door for work by then, and my dog has just been walked. One morning, apparently, the 7 AM walk was not enough, and my dog shit on the floor. Then, like a good little robot, my roomba took off. I came home to poo circles all over my carpet and a dead roomba.
TL;DR–My dog teamed up with a robot to create an abstract art piece made out of feces.” -@SleepsontheGround
19.
“Whilst walking my friend’s dalmation, Stripey, one summer’s day in a park filled with happy picnickers and laughing children, she spotted a birthday party. A river separated the party from us and, underestimating her love of food, I kept her off the [leash]. I’m not sure how she even saw the birthday cake wrapped in tinfoil but she leaped into the river before I could stop her. She tore apart the tinfoil like a savage and devoured the cake before quickly moving on to the BBQ where she managed to eat every sausage, burger and chicken leg she could see whilst the birthday boy watched in terror. I stood awkwardly on the other side of the water, shouting her name and apologizing profusely but she only listened when she’d decided her meal was over after which she swam calmly back over the water and pranced into the distance whilst the entire family stared me down. I am sorry, birthday boy, I hope your day wasn’t too badly ruined.” -@Tanyabee
20.
“One time I was running to the basement to grab an ingredient I had forgotten to add to dinner. Like an idiot, I kept the burner and hot pan going because I figured that running to the fridge in the basement would only take a minute. Instead, I tripped over my dog before reaching the first step and tumbled down into the basement. I stared up to see my dog looking down and smiling as I scrambled frantically to run back upstairs before my stupid dinner set the entire house on fire.” – [deleted]
21.
“Maybe not ‘worst’ for me, but definitely for my mom. She pissed off the cat… kicking her out of the bedroom before bed because she hates animals sleeping on her bed or next to her…Apparently in the morning, she was running late for work. Rushed to put on her shoes and found vomit in one of them. Out of all her shoes, and of all the times in the day, the cat had decided to revenge-puke in the ones she wears to work almost every day.” -@badguywindow
22.
“My 55lb dog ate an entire tray of pot brownies.” -@karmavorous
After the Niners came up short in the NFC title game a year ago, it was widely anticipated that Jimmy Garoppolo had played his final game with in San Francisco.
Trey Lance, who the 49ers took with the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, was the heir apparent and San Francisco was ready to head in a different direction to hopefully liven up their offense some. However, no team ever met the Niners asking price for Garoppolo as he was the odd man out on the quarterback carousel this offseason after the Colts landed Matt Ryan and the Panthers traded for Baker Mayfield, and the result was some awkwardness in camp as Jimmy G sat off to the side awaiting a resolution.
That finally came on Monday when, to the surprise of many, the Niners struck a restructured deal with Garoppolo that drops his guarantee but offers some incentives for if he ends up under center again, making him, for now, the league’s highest paid backup.
The #49ers lowered Jimmy Garoppolo’s base salary to $6.5M fully guaranteed while giving him a chance to make nearly $10M more in incentives if he’s starting. A solid solution. https://t.co/la4T5rNpir
Comp update: Jimmy Garoppolo’s one-year restructured deal is worth $6.5 million in base, fully guaranteed, per sources. He has another total of $500k in roster bonuses. He also has playtime bonuses that can boost it another nearly $9M. So, one year, $7M, up to just shy of $16M.
The deal gives San Francisco some flexibility with cap room for any additions they may want to make during the season, while also ensuring they have a (very) good backup should anything happen to Lance. It also gives them the most valuable quarterback to trade should someone get hurt during the season on a contender, which would make Garoppolo much more valuable than he was this offseason. Garoppolo would have to sign off on such a deal, as his new contract contains a no-trade clause, but if the chance to start on a playoff contender arises during the season, one would think he’d be happy to do so.
Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers agreed to a restructured one-year contract that will keep the QB in San Francisco this season, per sources. The contract contains no-trade and no-tag clauses, assuring Garoppolo will remain in SF this season and have the freedom to leave in 2023. pic.twitter.com/2tj0dDGgN9
Remember Donald Trump? He used to president of the United States. He lost re-election almost two years ago, and like the aging former high school quarterback who never stops yapping about his glory days, he’s never gotten over it. Indeed, he still tells boring stories about how the election was rigged or something to whoever will listen. Apparently he also thinks he can still be suddenly reinstated into his old gig, or even that there can be a Mulligan. Which, well, ain’t happening, no matter how much the big guy wants it to.
On Monday, Trump went nuclear about a story currently being misrepresented amidst conservative circles. Mark Zuckerberg recently admitted he limited stories on Facebook about the sitting president’s son’s laptop in the lead-up to the 2020 election. Republicans are putting the blame on the FBI; what’s actually been reported is that the feds told Zuckerberg to be extra cautious about Russian interference. But guess who went with the former, misleading claim for personal gain?
“So now it comes out, conclusively, that the FBI BURIED THE HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY BEFORE THE ELECTION knowing that, if they didn’t, ‘Trump would have easily won the 2020 Presidential Election,’” Trump wrote on his failing Twitter clone. He deemed it “massive FRAUD & ELECTION INTERFERENCE at a level never seen before in our Country.”
Luckily, Trump offered some practical solutions: “REMEDY: Declare the rightful winner or, and this would be the minimal solution, declare the 2020 Election irreparably compromised and have a new Election, immediately!”
The whole screed had strong Michael Scott-declaring-bankruptcy vibes. That said, it’s not the first time Trump has fantasized about simply removing his successor from office. Earlier this year, MAGA crony Mo Brooks confessed that Trump contacted him about some harebrained scheme to remove Joe Biden, install him, and then hold a special election. That didn’t happen, as there’s nothing in the Constitution that remotely addresses this idea, nor was there any reason to do so. (Oh, and then Trump turned on Brooks.)
Does Trump really want his old gig back — the one whose job description he never seemed to have read? Or is he actually getting extra worried that he might be headed for the slammer and could really use the legal protection of the presidency? Whatever the case, surely it has nothing to do with all those classified documents he may have illegally shoved in magazines in his the not exactly secure resort where he now lives.
The second episode of HBO’s House of the Dragonfeatured some tense alliances in turmoil and ended with a new one potentially taking on a sinister threat. And what’s clear about the show about, well, dragons, is that a lot of it will involve the water.
That’s good news for Steve Toussaint, the actor who plays the Sea Snake, Lord Corlys. And it’s apparently also bad news for Steve Toussaint, the actor who plays the Sea Snake and is having a bit of trouble keeping his stomach in check on the water.
In an interview with the New York Times, the actor admitted that in recent months he’s had some trouble keeping his stomach in check the last few times he’s been on the water.
“It’s a weird thing,” he said, laughing. “The last couple of times I’ve been on a boat, I suddenly started getting seasick. I’ve never had that in my life, but just recently it started happening.”
Through two episodes and some sneak peek trailers there hasn’t been any clear evidence we’ll see Toussaint on a boat this season, though with the powers of CGI he may not have to actually get on the water much anyway. But there’s definitely some danger coming for Toussaint’s character, as a battle with Crabfeeder looms large on the horizon. And then there’s that (spoilers incoming) alliance with Daemon Targaryen that seems to have solidified at the end of Episode Two, the second instance in the hourlong drama where Corlys got deep into treasonous territory.
Toussaint was asked about that, too, and had some interesting things to say about what his character feels he can do given how important he is to the safety of the Targaryen crown.
In terms of the character, the resentment that Corlys has for what he considers these privileged people helps me a lot. In fact, there were some points where Ryan would have to rein me in and go: “If you spoke to the king like that, you’d have your head cut off. You’ve gone too far.” It would be more difficult for someone like — and I didn’t have this discussion with them, so I don’t know — Paddy or maybe Gavin Spokes [who plays the Small Council member Lord Lyonel Strong], whose characters have to be mindful of not upsetting people and trying to keep the balance. I never felt that way with my character.
There is a side to him that is, as far as he’s concerned, above the rules. Also, he knows just how valuable he is for the realm, because he controls the majority of the navy. So he knows he’s got a little bit more leeway.
The full interview is worth parsing for sure, as it also includes his reaction to some unfortunately racist backlash to his casting as Lord Corlys. But Toussaint has certainly found his bearings playing the role, even if he’s struggling to find his sea legs in real life.
There’s nearly an endless amount of new bourbon on the shelves right now. Some of it is great. A lot of it … not so much. There was a time — not that long ago — when a rare or limited release whiskey was an assurance of quality. Rare and limited releases were where brands highlighted their talents and hidden barrels. In 2022 with the dearth of endless releases, that’s not always true. Sometimes brands are just trying to keep up (and stay relevant).
Meaning it’s high time for a blind taste test to separate the great bottles from the mediocre — or even downright bad — ones.
For this blind taste test, I grabbed ten new bottles (a few so new that they won’t be on shelves until next month) plus some other pretty limited expressions. For the most part, these are whiskeys that are going to be rare and hard to find. That’s kind of the point. I did throw in a few limited releases that get wide distribution (but with a small bottle count) and a crafty release (Cedar Ridge) but that’s not available everywhere/all of the time. The overall point is that these aren’t really big nationally distributed basic expressions that you can grab at any corner liquor store — this is the stuff you find in specialty shops and higher-end whiskey bars where real effort was put into stocking great whiskey.
Our lineup today is:
15 STARS Fine Aged Bourbon Private Stock Aged 7 & 15 Years
Yellowstone Limited Edition 2022
Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch 2022
Cedar Ridge Iowa Bourbon Whiskey Bottled-in-Bond Release 003
As for the blind tasting and ranking, this was insanely hard. It might have been one of the harder rankings I’ve done. Basically, the bulk of these whiskeys are all great. That means I’ve split some serious hairs in the ranking below.
Let’s get into it!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
This has a nice and deep nose with layers of woody cinnamon with a hint of dried chili next to a touch of dried apricot, a hint of maple syrup, and a dash of pine resin with a faint whisper of dried rose lurking way in the background. The palate has a spiced orange vibe that warms up on the palate before creamy vanilla with a line of salted caramel softens the taste. The end leaves the creaminess behind and hits on almond shells and old deck wood.
This is a really nice place to start.
From my notes: “a solid AF pour.”
Taste 2
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This opens soft with an almost meaty dried apricot dipped in pine-laced honey with a line of cinnamon-spiced tobacco sharpening the nose. The palate has a mild sticky toffee pudding vibe with plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg next to meaty dates, rum-raisin, and a hint of walnut cake with a twinge of butteriness. The end leans into those sweet dates with a hint of black tea and a dash of wet brown sugar before raisins packed in vanilla tobacco leaves round things out.
This is another excellent pour.
Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a hint of old basement floorboards with a hint of worn leather jackets next to a hint of sour blueberry pancakes with a deep butteriness next to thin lines of red berry jam and maple syrup. The taste feels like a mix of pecan sandies and mulled wine spices (heave on clove and anise) next to soft vanilla creaminess with a hint of spiced cherry tobacco just kissed with dark chocolate and nutmeg. The end has a slight warmth with a hint of dry cedar bark and hazelnut next to brown sugar and cinnamon butter with a final echo of sour cherry.
This was very clearly a step up from the last two, but not by that much. All three are still great in their own ways, especially as I go back and re-nose and re-taste.
Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This opens fairly young and grain-forward but not overly so. The nose feels a bit like raw oatmeal cookie dough with plenty of muted brown spices and brown sugar with a hint of butter underneath it all. The palate has this soft Frosted Mini Wheat vibe with a creamy vanilla layer and a hint more of that spice. The end is subtle with a hint of dried mint and cold cornmeal next to a final line of winter spice.
This is very crafty but fine. It’s nowhere near the last three though.
Taste 5
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a rich and tart berry cobbler with a solid layer of spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove) and buttery brown sugar with an almost warm tart berry compote driving everything toward a woody sense of walnut. The palate marries burnt orange rinds with rich, creamy, and salted caramel with a very faint sense of tart cream. The end brings it all together as the tart dark berries and butter brown sugar ends up all loaded into a nutshell and wrapped in a vanilla tobacco leaf.
From my notes: “Okay, we’re back! This is another solid pour of whiskey.”
Taste 6
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This pour opens with a hint of soft leather next to raisins, sour grapes, a dash of apple fritter with plenty of cinnamon, and a mild sense of dried red currants. The palate hits with an ABV buzz (kind of like the numbness you get from wasabi without the taste at all) before soft vanilla creaminess calms everything down toward berry jams with cinnamon and clove next to a light buttermilk biscuit with a hint of dry sweetgrass lurking under it all. The end softly lands on a dried prune/date/raisin finish with a twinge of tartness and a light sense of cedar-laced tobacco just touched with cardamon and vanilla.
What can I say? This is another great pour.
Taste 7
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a sense of chili pepper-infused dark chocolate pudding next to a hint of toasted coconut, dry ginger next to root beer, and an echo of pineapple stems. The palate is full of orchard wood and espresso cream next to a hint of lush eggnog with plenty of nutmeg and a dash of some green, herbal, and savory — kind of like tarragon. The end lets the spice amp up toward red peppercorns as plum cake counters with a soft and sweet finish.
We have yet another winner right here.
Taste 8
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this one is complex and meaders through mint fields and caramel apple stands as hints of old boot leather, plum jam, winter spice, and a hint of sweet oak round things out. The palate opens with a rich toffee before a warmth takes over with a soft spice (nutmeg and allspice) before woody vanilla and creamed honey take over. The end feels like a handful of candied fruits wrapped up in leathery tobacco leaves with a hint of cedar bark and dried mint in the background.
From my notes: “This is a really good pour of whiskey.”
Taste 9
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this one is salty/sweet with a sense of caramel and buttermilk next to soft oak and a mild hint of coconut shells. The palate toasts that coconut as buttery toffee leading to a vanilla cream pie with a lard crust and a dash of orange oils. The end mixes a soft vanilla cake with a pecan waffle with a whisper of woody maple syrup and light raisin.
This is really good. It’s not quite as amazing as some of the bourbons on this list but it’s damn fine.
Taste 10
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a hint of sourdough maple bars next to coconut cream pie, overripe bananas, and soft almond paste cut with rich toffee. The taste leans into a dried nutshell with a hint of rum-raisin next to wintry spices, cherry syrup, and a hint of cedar bark. The end has a mild oatiness with a touch of almond and spicy cherry tobacco leaves with a hint more of that sourdough doughnut.
This very local whiskey is made with 74 percent corn, 14 percent malted rye, and 12 percent two-row malted barley. After mashing and distilling, the juice is aged for at least four years in Iowa. Once just right, the whiskey is touched with a little water to bring it down to proof and bottled without any fussing. For this 2021 release, only 400 cases were released, but it was the first Cedar Ridge Bottled-in-Bond to make it out of Iowa.
Bottom Line:
This was the thinnest bourbon of the day. It felt crafty with those grainy notes but it was still perfectly fine. It’s not overly crafty or young by any stretch. That all said, I’d likely use this for cocktails more than anything else.
9. Daviess County Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Lightly Toasted American Oak Barrels — Taste 9
This brand new release from Daviess County is the first in Lux Row Distillers’ new Toasted Barrel Finish Series, which will be an annual release. The juice in the bottle is a blend of rye and wheated bourbons that aged at least four years. Once vatted, those whiskeys are re-filled into lightly toasted new oak for a final maturation. Once just right, the whiskey is proofed down and bottled (only 18,000 bottles were shipped).
Bottom Line:
This is where things get really good on this list. This is worth seeking out. The only reason this is this low on the list — and this is a massive nitpick — is that I’d like it at a little higher proof. But that’s just me.
The latest batch of Redwood Empire’s Grizzly Beast is a four-grain bourbon. The California whiskey was made with 69 percent corn 22 percent rye, five percent malted barley, and a mere four percent wheat. After five years of maturation, 26 barrels were picked for this batch. Those barrels were vatted and the juice was just kissed with pure water from a local Russian River Valley aquifer.
Bottom Line:
This is another really solid pour that could have easily been tied for second place with nine through three on this list.
7. 15 STARS Fine Aged Bourbon Private Stock Aged 7 & 15 Years — Taste 1
The whiskey is a blend of old sourced barrels of bourbon from Bardstown, Kentucky. In this case, it’s a blend of seven and 15-year-old barrels with a reasonable yet bold proof of 107.
Bottom Line:
This had that little extra ABV oomph I was looking for, so it’s a tad higher in my seven-way-near tie with the other bottles on the list today.
This year’s Yellowstone Limited Edition is a masterstroke of blending by Master Distiller Stephen Beam. The juice in the bottle is a mix of seven, 15, and 16-year barrels finished in Sicilian Marsala Superiore casks (a drier sherry-like Sicilian fortified dessert wine). Once vatted, the whiskey was just touched with water to bring it down to 101 proof, which yielded about 30,000 bottles this year.
Bottom Line:
I can see this winning in a different blind taste test. It’s that good. Overall, the depth was there, the ABVs were subtle, and the juice was enticing. You really can’t ask for more.
This Ohio whiskey is all about grain-to-glass. The juice is made from a mash of sweet yellow corn, soft red winter wheat, dark pumpernickel rye, and Two-Row malted barley. The whiskey spends about four years in oak before it’s bottled as-is at cask strength.
Bottom Line:
This was a fun ride of flavor and warmth. The ABVs were a little hot on the mid-palate. But a single rock will calm that right down. This also feels like a great candidate for a subtle yet very good Manhattan.
This brand new release from Barrell Craft Spirits really leans into unique and rare finishings. The blend is a mix of Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky bourbons that were finished in three different oaks separately before blending. In this case, that’s Japanese Mizunara casks, French, and American oak. Different toast and char levels were used for the barrels to achieve a unique palate that builds on the heritage of Barrell’s other triple cask-finished whiskeys (Dovetail, Seagrass, and Armida).
Bottom Line:
This is a great bourbon with serious depth — it’s everything you should expect from a Barrell release. It’s nuanced and really takes you on a journey. Just make sure to add a little water or a rock to really plumb the depths of this one.
The last (of three) Larceny Barrel Proof releases of 2022 is here. The juice, in this case, is a classic wheated bourbon — 68 percent corn, 20 percent wheat, and 12 percent malted barley — from Heaven Hill. This small batch bourbon was aged for six to eight years before vatting and bottling as-is, creating 2022’s highest ABV release from the brand.
Bottom Line:
I’m really looking forward to seeing how this stacks up against both the rest of Larceny Barrel Proofs from this year and other wheated bourbons. This felt like it’ll be in the running for the best whiskeys of 2022.
2. Remus Repeal Reserve Series VI 2022 Medley — Taste 8
This year’s Remus Reserve is a mix of six to 14-year-old bourbons. Buckle in. The blend is made from two percent from a 2008 bourbon with a 21 percent rye mash, 27 percent from a 2012 bourbon with a 21 percent rye mash, 29 percent from a 2014 bourbon with a 21 percent rye mash, 17 percent from a 2012 bourbon with a 36 percent rye mash bill, and 25 percent from a 2014 bourbon with that same very high rye mash bill. Once vatted, the whiskey is just touched with water for proofing and bottled as-is.
Bottom Line:
Remus Reserve releases tend to be one of the high points of the yearly bourbon release calendar. This year’s release was no different. This is great bourbon that packs depth and nuance but goes down very easily and never feels overdone.
It’s deep but accessible — a nice balance.
1. Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch 2022 — Taste 3
This year’s LE Small Batch is made from a blend of 20-year-old Bourbon from the OBSV bourbon recipe (high rye mash bill, delicate fruit yeast), a 15-year-old OESK (lower rye mash, slight spice yeast), a 14-year-old OESF (lower rye mash, herbal notes years), and a 14-year-old OESV (lower rye mash, delicate fruit yeast). The blend is non-chill filtered and bottled at 109 proof. All of that yielded a mere 14,000 bottles this year.
Bottom Line:
This is a contender for the best bourbons of the year list, for sure. It’s just really unique and yet somehow nostalgic and comforting. It’s worth waiting in line to buy come September.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
This was a ridiculous ranking. All of these whiskeys are without fault and each one has its own charms. Yes, some are better than others. But they’re all worth a look if you really want to get into trying a lot of different bourbons. Yes, even Cedar Ridge.
Brasstacks, the top five are all bottles that I would keep an eye out for. Some will be findable… but only for a minute. Others, well, you’re going to have to do some hunting. The point is, there are a lot of great whiskeys out there. Look at those tasting notes above, find one that speaks to you, and then go out and have a good time tracking it down. Hell, maybe you’ll make a few friends along the way.
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