This seems impossible, but it’s true: Drew Carey has been the host of The Price is Right for 15 years. He’s almost halfway to Bob Barker’s 35-year run on the game show, which premiered in 1972. And based on recent comments that Carey made, the man who taught us all that Cleveland, in fact, rocks isn’t going anywhere soon.
“If you see me in the hotel or casino, feel free to punch me in the face,” he said while accepting an award at the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) Show in Las Vegas over the weekend, referring to the fact that he shows up 20 minutes before The Price is Right tapings begin at noon. “I know all the games, I don’t need to learn the prices, I don’t need to. I know how the games are played, and I just play along with the contestants and have a good time and laugh all day. So, thanks for the trophy.”
Carey also made a bold prediction for how much longer The Price is Right will air:
[Carey] believes the syndicated game show “could be around for 100 years on American television, because it’s just that strong.”
It’s comforting to know that people will still be winning free boats long after everyone I know, myself included, is dead. Did I say “comforting? I meant “I’m going to haunt every free boat winner from beyond the grave if I don’t get to play Plinko at least once.”
Jensen Ackles is gearing up for his The Boys debut (he will portray Soldier Boy and probably antagonize the hell out of Homelander), but he’s still finding time to hit the convention circuit for the long-running Supernatural series. Over the weekend, Ackles took the stage at a fan event in East Brunswick, New Jersey, where (shortly after the 1:00 minute mark in the above video) he revealed why co-star Jared Padalecki wasn’t also in attendance.
As it turns out, Padalecki was involved in a horrible car accident. Jensen told the crowd, “I miss my buddy. He sends his love. I spoke with him yesterday. He’s sad he can’t be here.” From there, Ackles relayed how “[h]e was in a very bad car accident. He wasn’t driving, he was in the passenger seat, and he’s lucky to be alive.”
Via PEOPLE, Padalecki’s representatives haven’t commented upon the accident, but Jensen promised the crowd, “He’s at home recovering,” yet “the fact that he’s not in a hospital right now is blowing my mind because I saw the car.”
Scary stuff for sure. Ackles and Padalecki remain incredibly tight these days, too, and the latter recently insisted, “Once brothers, always brothers.” That utterance arrived after a reported rift over the Supernatural prequel series, and at the time, Padalecki assured everyone that the pair speaks “often” and “things are good.” And it sure looks like Ackles is the person that Padalecki chose to spread his message of being on the mend. All positive vibes are going out for a speedy recovery.
Coachella 2022 is officially over as the final day of the second weekend went down last night. As for Saturday night, Billie Eilish was a highlight, most notably when she and Hayley Williams came together to perform the Paramore classic “Misery Business.” That closed out the set, but earlier in the show, Eilish had a mishap: She, as she put it, “ate sh*t” on stage.
Late in her set, between “Getting Older” and “Lost Cause,” the stage was dark and it sounded like somebody fell. That turned out to be true as Eilish quickly claimed the folly with a laugh, telling the audience, “I just ate s**t! Ouch [laughs]! You guys, I just ate ass up here. I’m good! It was dark! Ouch! I tripped on the f*ckin’ fire thing [laughs]! OK, let’s dance, huh? Ow [laughs]!”
Later, in fan-shot video shared by TMZ, Eilish continued, “You guys, I seriously ate sh*t. Seriously. It was pitch black. You see that square? This f*cking thing? I went de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de-de, bonk, and fell onto my face.”
Donald Trump’s sweaty discussion with Piers Morgan is being marketed as the “most explosive interview of the year.” That remains to be seen — the Piers Morgan Uncensored host claims that the former-president stormed out of the “deceptive” and combative interview, which Trump denies — but the two did find some common ground: complaining (and making sexist remarks) about Meghan Markle.
“[Prince] Harry is whipped. Do you know the expression?” Trump asked Morgan during the interview, according to the New York Post. “I’m familiar with the phrase,” Morgan responded, to which Trump added, “I won’t use the full expression but Harry is whipped like no other person I think I’ve seen.” This isn’t the first time the former-president has had a terrible take about Markle, and lord knows Morgan has a history with the Duchess of Sussex, too. Last year, he stormed off the set of Good Morning Britain after co-host Alex Beresford accused Morgan of having an uncomfortably personal beef with Markle.
Trump told the TV host he sees eye to eye with him on the disloyal royals, who now live in California.
“I’m not a fan of Meghan,” he said. “I’m not a fan and I wasn’t right from the beginning. I think poor Harry is being led around by his nose. And I think he’s an embarrassment. And I think she spoke badly of the royal family but in particular the Queen.”
Trump wasn’t done with his sexist remarks against Markle. “I want to know what’s going to happen when Harry decides he’s had enough of being bossed around. Or maybe when she decides that she likes some other guy better. I want to know what’s going to happen when it ends, OK?” he said. When Morgan asked if he thinks her marriage to Prince Harry is going to end, Trump replied, “I do. I’ve been a very good predictor, as you know. I predicted almost everything.” There’s at least one thing he didn’t predict.
Morgan’s interview with Trump airs tonight, April 25, on Fox Nation.
For months now, Britney Spears has used her Instagram page as a way to connect with fans directly and let them know exactly what she’s thinking and how she’s feeling. Now, at least for a bit, Spears is ridding herself of that channel, as she announced yesterday she’s starting a “social media hiatus.”
In an Instagram post yesterday, she wrote, “I’m going on a social media hiatus for a little while [phone emoji] !!! I send my love and God bless you all [heart emojis] [rose emojis] !!!” The post is of a baby being pampered, perhaps an indication Spears’ hiatus is due to her recently announced pregnancy.
That said, it appears Spears is still working on other ways to speak her mind: She confirmed earlier this month she’s writing a book, and not long after that, she said she was considering starting a podcast during her pregnancy.
On a perhaps-related note, earlier this month, Spears wrote about her perception that people spend too much time on phones and computers, writing, “I’m sharing this because we all seem to alienate behind our phones and computers … I’ve never opened a computer my whole life … just a phone … but I do miss just walking up to someone on the street and saying hi and giving a smile … It’s so rude … I said hi to a young group of kids and smiled … they looked at me like I was on crack [crying laughing emoji] !!! It honestly made me feel so stupid so I will just continue to go back on my phone and not associate because honestly I guess that makes you cool in this world !!!”
Multiple times per week, our TV and film experts will list the most important ten streaming selections for you to pop into your queues. We’re not strictly operating upon reviews or accrued streaming clicks (although yes, we’ve scoured the streaming site charts and ratings) but, instead, upon those selections that are really worth noticing amid the churning sea of content. There’s a lot out there, after all, and your time is valuable.
There’s a Queen Charlotte spinoff on the way already and a few more guaranteed seasons, but this season is all about Anthony Bridgerton setting aside his, uh, former habits and looking to get married. This season does keep things rolling in the correct direction even without The Duke saucing up the whole joint. Fortunately, Kate gives Anthony more than a run for his money, and Lady Whistledown’s still wreaking havoc upon society while the show, as a whole, loses frequency of sex scenes but still makes room for butt grabs.
Tom Hardy needs to be in more things, and this years’ old season (which is actually his brainchild, in a way) found new life with the news that Season 2 is forthcoming. Hardy steps into view as The Devil Delaney, who’s not exactly a prodigal son but is returning to claim his late father’s empire. He’s got a forbidden love of sorts, and as if things weren’t complicated or dangerous enough, Jessie Buckley arrives to claim her surprising stake. You’ve seen her work on Fargo, surely. Don’t mess with any character portrayed by Jessie Buckley.
Bill Hader’s contract killer is back after nearly three years out of commission, and he’s not thrilled about it. This season will see him turn inward while examining why he started this killing business at all. As it turns out, it’s not so easy to abandon one’s darker tendencies, even when the instruments disappear. Hopefully, there will be more dancing from NoHo Hank to help everyone unravel the really important answers here.
The Yellowstone craze could spread into the sci-fi realm if people are already done watching 1883 and looking for similar action. However, Josh Brolin (who portrays a Wyoming-residing rancher) steps intom the expansive terrain and finds himself in the midst of a story with a supernatural mystery (possibly involving a missing young woman), and there’s a black void and other nefarious forces at work. This ain’t No Country For Old Men.
Although critics can’t stand this show, audiences love the thing. That type of divide isn’t unheard of, but can the show continue its successful streaming run while telling a “comical” version of prison life? It doesn’t come anywhere near Orange Is The New Black in terms of quality, and there’s a ton of toilet humor in the Catherine Tate-starring show. At the very least, you can scratch your head while wondering how this all happened.
Natasha Lyonne’s got it going on lately, and her swagger dominates this season to an even greater degree than we’ve seen before now. This season’s trippier and landed on 4/20, if that tells you anything at all. Watch out for the falling air conditioner units, but there’s a lot more here than a Groundhog Day-esque time loop. Rather, Natasha’s Nadia and Charlie Barnett’s Alan find themselves inadvertently taking time-travel trains.
Finally, Donald Glover’s creation is back in action with plenty of shenanigans and biting social satire in the process. Glover’s Earn is in a very different place than we saw him during the first two seasons. Fortunately, there are constants int he form of LaKeith Stanfield as Darius, Zazie Beetz as Van, and Brian Tyree Henry as Paper Boi. The show’s biting cultural critique goes into confusing territory for many, but stick with it and enjoy the surreal happenings as they pour into one’s senses and go into overdrive.
This is a rather low-key Disney+ series in terms of questions that need answering and easter eggs go, but there’s still plenty of mystery as Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke do their thing in the MCU with bad accents and otherwise good representation for Egyptian culture. Hawke plays a cult leader, and Oscar’s portraying multiple characters as a solitary man with dissociative disorder. The main Egyptian god in question, so far, has roasted the hell out of Isaac’s character, so this is definitely a comedy as well as a superhero adventure.
As of last season’s mayhem wasn’t enough, the Kaley Cuoco series is quadrupling down on the crackling chaos. It’s a righteous mess, even with Cassie on the wagon, because she’s now a CIA asset and the “making better choices” thing has flown out the door. The action moves around the globe again, this time in Iceland, where international intrigue is afoot with a sketchy murder case endangering Cassie herself. Zosia Mamet and Rosie Perez are back to do the supporting honors, and this adventure is much more interesting than flight attending could ever truly be in real life.
After a relatively short (yet very successful) box-office run, Robert Pattinson’s gritty, gothy Caped Crusader can be streaming in your living room. Paul Dano’s The Riddler, Zoe Kravitz’s Catwoman, and Colin Ferrell’s Penguin are all on board while Bruce Wayne’s early days get the spotlight. Although this film stands separate from the DCEU (like Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker), expect some HBO Max TV spinoffs to materialize. Until then, one can marvel again at how Pattinson’s no longer best known as Edward Cullen from Twilight, although perhaps he’s been a master of reinvention all along.
What will happen to Kim Wexler? Perhaps it’s time to stop worrying about it and just go with the Heisenberg flow. The show will soon collide with the Breaking Bad timeline, and we’re gonna see some Walt and Jesse action, all while we wonder what the hell is going on with Cinnabon Gene and whether this spinoff will end with the announcement of another franchise spinoff. No matter, man. The full fifth season’s on Netflix now, in case you missed it before hopping into Season 6 on a weekly basis.
Working alongside her fiancé, Paul Michael, today’s new song is actually the second collaboration is apparently the pair have shared in recent weeks. About a week ago a song called “Diamonds” was uploaded to the Amanda Bynes account on Youtube, but that song doesn’t feature Amanda’s vocals as prominently as this new song. Titled “Fairfax,” Bynes posted about the song on what looks to be her own Instagram account, though it hasn’t been verified yet.
While posting about “Fairfax” on the account, Amanda shared her frustration that Instagram had flagged previous posts for using the song. “Instagram blocked the last post of the song “Fairfax” because this account isn’t verified,” she wrote. “Because I own full rights to this song, maybe instagram won’t delete this post…”
If you’d like to hear the songs, check out “Diamonds” above and “Fairfax” at the top of this post. “Fairfax” credits Paul as “Paul Mitcheal” on Youtube, and notes the song was produced by Yung Yogi. Again, it might not be the greatest rapping that’s ever been done, but it’s nice to see Bynes getting back into the creative realm. If it is definitely Bynes, hopefully she can get the verification she deserves so fans know it’s really here.
Ever since Devin Booker exited Game 2 with a hamstring injury, the Suns have found themselves in a dogfight with the New Orleans Pelicans. That continued on Sunday night in New Orleans as the Pelicans managed to outwork the Suns in the second half, frustrating the defending Western Conference champs on their way to a 118-103 win to even the series at 2-2 going back to Phoenix.
The Suns got off to a solid start as they have throughout the series, leading at the half in all four contests, and this time they were led by Deandre Ayton and Cam Johnson, who entered the starting lineup in Booker’s place. Ayton dueled with Jonas Valanciunas inside and asserted his dominance for Phoenix, with 10 first quarter points as he got to work early, as he often does.
However, while Phoenix has taken care of the first half all series, the Pelicans continued their third quarter dominance in Game 4, as Brandon Ingram took over to push New Orleans to from down two to up 10 going into the fourth quarter.
Brandon Ingram is doing it all for the @PelicansNBA to start the half!
The Pelicans early run had the Smoothie King Center buzzing, but he blew the roof off the building with a monster dunk on Torrey Craig, as New Orleans simply took it to the Suns.
The Suns could never quite complete a rally to get back in control of the game, thanks in large part to the sensational defense of the Pelicans, led by their two rookies: Herbert Jones and Jose Alvarado. Jones continues to prove he is one of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders with his play in this series, blocking not one but two three-pointers in the fourth quarter to go along with a steal-and-score.
Alvarado found himself tasked with trying to disrupt the rhythm of one of the NBA’s best fourth quarter performers in Chris Paul and did just that, getting under the skin of the veteran, most notably forcing an 8-second violation that elicited as big of an ovation from the New Orleans crowd as any bucket.
As the Pelicans pulled away, the dagger came fittingly on a hustle play, as Larry Nance Jr. tipped out an offensive rebound to CJ McCollum, who buried a three to push the lead to 18.
From there, it was a celebration in New Orleans, with the final icing on the cake coming in the form of a vintage Alvarado steal, sneaking up on Paul from behind in the backcourt to set up Ingram’s fifth assist of the night to Jones.
Ingram finished with 30 points, six rebounds, and five assists to lead the Pelicans to the win alongside Valanciunas’ double-double, while McCollum added 18 points and Jones chipped in 13 points along with his sensational defense. For the Suns, they simply could not get anything going from the perimeter as Cam Johnson went cold after a strong start, finishing with 13 points, and Chris Paul couldn’t muster the same kind of fourth quarter effort as Game 3, finishing with just four points and 11 assists on the night. Ayton ended the game with 23 points and eight boards, and on a night where the guard play was lacking in terms of scoring, it’s fair to wonder why they went away from Ayton as a focal point after such a strong start to the game.
The series now shifts back to Phoenix all knotted at 2-2, with Devin Booker unlikely to make a return during this series. The Pelicans will be more confident than ever they can get the job done after how they’ve played the last three games (and really how they hung around in the first), and if Phoenix is going to get to the second round they’re going to need to regroup and find a way to match New Orleans’ consistent effort and intensity on both ends.
Whenever sports fans know an umpire or official’s name it’s rarely a good thing. The best officials and umpires are typically the ones that go unnoticed by fans, because when a game is called well and without controversy, they aren’t the topic of conversation.
In baseball, few umpires are as notorious as Angel Hernandez, as the longtime Major League Baseball ump is known for having a pretty wild strike zone when he’s behind the plate. On Sunday night in Philadelphia, Hernandez was calling balls and strikes in what became a 1-0 Brewers win over the Phillies, and that scoreline is representative of what was a wide and fairly erratic zone from Hernandez.
In the ninth inning, the Phillies had seen enough of Hernandez, particularly Kyle Schwarber, who got rung up on a fastball from Josh Hader that Schwarber felt was low and off the plate — and the K Zone, which isn’t always the most accurate, agreed. It was at that point that Schwarber authored an all-time meltdown, slamming his bat and helmet into the dirt, giving Hernandez a few choice words and then showing him (emphatically) how he’d had a zone for both teams that was all over the place.
It really is an incredible performance from Schwarber, and the best part is he seemed to be doing it for everyone on both benches who had been frustrated with calls for much of the night, pointing to the Brewers bench to point out that the Phillies weren’t the only ones getting jobbed. Naturally, this led to fans calling for MLB to just make the move to robot umpires because it couldn’t be worse than this.
Unicorn bottles of bourbon are beyond just “special” or “unique.” We’re talking about bottles that are so rare, they’re really made almost exclusively for investing. Obviously, you can crack open any of the bottles I’ve listed below, I’m not going to stop you. But in some cases, you might be pissing away a year’s college tuition or a down payment on a house or a new car ten, 15, or 20 years from now. Whether we like it or not, unicorn bourbon bottles are unicorns because you’ll likely never see them in the wild; and if you do, you’re probably a very rich whiskey investor/collector.
That’s just the reality we live in. Bourbon is booming.
For this list, I’m calling out ten bottles that I’ve been lucky enough to try that are also bottles that I’d invest in if I were able to snag them at MSRP. “If” is the keyword in that sentence. I’m also only calling out bottles that were released in the past year or so (a lot of special bourbons are released between September and December to gear up for the holiday buying season). That leaves out unicorn bottles like 1960s Old Fitzgeralds, 1970s Old Crows, 1980s Japanese Blanton’ses, 1990s J.W. Dants, and pre-Buffalo Trace Pappy Van Winkles. This is about current releases that you might actually see open at a high-end whiskey shop or bar, which means the closed bottle you find on a shelf will be even rarer (and gain value).
As for this ranking, I’m going purely off the taste. I’m not, in any way, projecting the investment value of these bottles. Some of them will be worth a hell of a lot more than others down the road and sometimes there’s little rhyme or reason to why. This is simply about what tastes good in the world of ultra-rare bourbon whiskey.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
This is the Pappy that made “Pappy” what it is today. The wheated bourbon rests for 20 long years without any meddling. And since everything moved to Buffalo Trace in 2002, we know that this is pretty much modern Pappy and not the rare stuff from the Stitzel-Weller Distillery days (though there might be a barrel or two still in the mix).
Tasting Notes:
There’s a subtlety to the nose that draws you close with wisps of soft cedar, Christmas cakes filled with dried and candied fruit, nuts, and dark sweetness and spice next to an old leather pouch of very dry tobacco with a hint of cherry bark. The palate opens with an apple pie filling vibe alongside oily espresso beans and vanilla pods with what almost feels like maple bars fresh from the oven on the mid-palate. The finish is a very slow fade that melts through bitter dark mocha espresso, sweet cedar planks, spicy cherry tobacco, smoked applewood, and a final note of that old leather tobacco pouch.
Bottom Line:
This is probably the best place to start this list. This whiskey is goddamn delicious and kind of deserves all the hype it gets. If you can win this in a raffle for MSRP ($199.99), then you’ll be ahead of the game. Otherwise, I’d spend $200 for a pour at a whiskey bar or shop and move on.
9. Old Forester 2021 Birthday Bourbon (September 2021)
Every year, Old Forester releases their most anticipated whisky, Birthday Bourbon. 2021’s release was a 12-year-old blend created from 119 barrels of the good stuff.
Tasting Note:
Berries really drive this nose with raspberries in cream next to blackberry compote, Luxardo cherries, and a touch of cranberry bread with walnuts, plenty of spice, and a moist, buttery, vanilla-laden cake vibe. The palate holds onto the syrupy cherry notes but veers more towards vanilla cream with woody spices, buttery toffee, marzipan, and a touch of green pepper pretty far in the background. The mid-palate has an old cigar box feel to it that dries everything out from the cherry to the vanilla, creating a sort of thin pecan cookie vibe with dry spice, tobacco, and berries in the mix.
Bottom Line:
This is a bottle you always see at whiskey auctions — sometimes you see the whole Birthday Bourbon set from 2002 to the most recent release. Overall, I’m not a huge fan of these as they’re a little too fruity-sweet for me. That’s not to say it isn’t delicious, it just feels more like something that would make an insanely good old fashioned than a thousand-dollar sipper.
This is the most interesting expression from Weller. A few years back, Buffalo Trace asked hardcore Weller fans to “Craft Your Perfect Bourbon.” C.Y.P.B. was born according to those fans choosing their favorite bourbon recipe, proof, warehouse location, and age. A consensus shook out that pinned the ideal whiskey to a wheated bourbon aged on the highest warehouse floors for eight years that’s then bottled at 95 proof. Today, that manifests yearly as a very limited release that’s part fan service and part special limited edition bourbon.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a nose of dried orange peels that have been loaded into an old cedar box and left in the back of a cupboard for years. Then a creaminess arrives that’s kind of like the halfway point between a vanilla flan with caramel sauce and spicy sasparilla. As the taste rolls towards the back of your mouth and settles in, you get this warming sense of eggnog spice next to soft tobacco leaves and dark chocolate-covered marzipan.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those bourbons that’s just nice. Plus, any whiskey with a “dark chocolate-covered marzipan” vibe is going to win my favor. The only reason this is a little lower on the list is that this list is nothing but hardcore bangers and this is middle-of-the-road among these standouts.
This whiskey was made by Master Distiller Eddie Russell to celebrate his 40th year distilling whiskey with his dad, Jimmy Russell. The juice is a collection of a minimum of 13-year-old barrels that Eddie Russell hand-picked. Those barrels were married and then bottles as-is with no proofing or filtration.
Tasting Notes:
Sweet and dried fruits invite you in the nose as a touch of Black Forest cake mingles with mild holiday spices. That dark chocolate and cherry fruit drive the palate as a hint of charred cedar lead towards vanilla tobacco with more of that dark chocolate and a small touch of honey. That honey leads back to the warmth and spice with a whisper of smoke lurking on the very backend with more bitter chocolate, buttery vanilla, and dark cherry.
Bottom Line:
This is a whiskey I truly wish there was more of. Wild Turkey truly hit it out of the park with this release. If this wasn’t so rare, this might be a go-to end-of-week pour and Manhattan base.
6. 2021 Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch (September 2021)
This year’s LE Small Batch is a blend of four bourbons. Four Roses is renowned for its ten distinct recipes with two mash bills and five yeast strains. This whiskey marries four of those recipes with two from Mash B (very high rye) and two from Mash Bill E (high rye). The yeasts at play are “delicate fruit,” “spice essence,” and “floral essence.” The barrels ranged from 12 to 16 years old, making this a fairly old bourbon, all things considered.
Tasting Notes:
The nose has a mix of honey next to buttery biscuits, rich vanilla, a touch of tart red berries, dry cedar, and a very faint hint of dry mint. The palate dives into a dark plum jam with a spicy edge of allspice and nutmeg. That fruit gives way to a spritz of orange oils next to a light touch of dark chocolate on the mid-palate that leads to a rich finish. That finish leaves you with warming spice, more of that orange/choco vibe, and another mild hint of green, dry mint.
Bottom Line:
This really is a great bourbon. It’s equal parts classic and comforting. It’s not pushing the genre forward (by any stretch) but it’s truly one of the best limited releases that are dropped every year.
This whiskey is a blend of Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky bourbons. Each barrel in that blend is a minimum of 16 years old. The barrels were specifically chosen for their cherry, nutty, high-proof, and chocolate profiles. Half of those barrels were then finished in new American oak for a final touch of maturation before vatting and bottling as-is.
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with a sense of wet oak staves (think rained on barrels) next to freshly pressed sugar cane juice, damp, almost still unharvested cherry tobacco leaves, the seeds from a vanilla pod, rainwater, stringy cedar bark, and fresh apricot next to Bing cherry. Next, dark cherry leads to candied ginger on the opening of the taste as orange marmalade mingles with toasted sourdough, sticky yet subtle fir resin, and creamy key lime pie filling with just a hint of the butter in the crust of that pie. The mid-palate leans into the sugar in that pie filling as the cherry kicks back in with a sliver of tartness next to overripe peaches, dried hibiscus, mild anise, allspice berries, sassafras, and dried cacao nibs. The finish gently steps through a field full of orange blossoms as that cacao dries out more, leaving you with dried choco-cherry tobacco that’s been inside of a cedar box that’s wrapped in decades-old leather.
Bottom Line:
Okay, now this is anything but “classic.” This bourbon is special both as a limited edition release and with a flavor profile that does push the whole genre of bourbon somewhere new. These Barrell special releases can be a lot and are, admittedly, for advanced palates. That all aside, this is great bourbon that deserves your time to really dig into. That also makes this a good mid-point. From here on out, we’re looking at bottles that hit such high marks that mood dictates where they fall on the ranking more than anything else.
Distilled back in the fall of 2009, this barrel-strength bourbon skips the Minnesota rye and instead uses North Dakota wheat with that NoDak barley and Kentucky corn. The juice spent 12-and-a-half years mellowing in warehouses C, D, K, L, and Q on floors one through three. While maturing, 64 percent of the whiskey was lost to the angels before it was small-batched and bottled as is.
Tasting Notes:
The creaminess of the vanilla on the nose is extraordinary. Imagine the softness and richest crème anglaise with a touch of salted caramel syrup, eggnog spice, and a towering croquembouche with all the spun hard sugar holding the whole thing together. That light yet buttery cream puff drives towards a slight shortbread vibe with toasted cinnamon sticks, moist cherry tobacco, more vanilla cream, and a soft echo of dried smoked stone fruits. The finish drives back towards the sweetness of that salted caramel but this time it’s covered in dark chocolate and sitting inside an old cedar box that once held fistfuls of menthol-laced tobacco leaves.
Bottom Line:
I just retried this a week or so ago and it’s just so goddamn delicious. There’s really nothing else to say besides I hope you get to try it too one day.
3. Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 17-Year-Old Barrel Proof Bourbon, First Edition (March 2022)
The base of the spirit is Heaven Hill’s classic bourbon mash of 78 percent corn, 12 percent malted barley, and a mere ten percent rye. This particular whiskey is built from several barrels from four warehouse campuses in the Bardstown area. In this case, three different ages were pulled with 17 years being the youngest. The whiskey is made from 28 percent 20-year-old barrels, 44 percent 19-year-old barrels, and 28 percent 17-year-old barrels. Once those barrels are vatted, the bourbon goes into the bottle as-is, without any cutting or fussing.
Tasting Notes:
The age is apparent from the first nose with old glove leather next to a soft hint of cobweb-draped cellar beams leading towards a dark and thick cherry syrup that’s laced with cinnamon, clove, and allspice. The nose then grows with an almost cherry-maple syrup with a buttery base pushing it toward a toffee creaminess. The palate leans into those spices with a winter-spice-laced chewy (almost wet) fistful of tobacco leaves jammed into an old cedar box. The mid-palate bursts with spiced cherry crumble with baked brown sugar and nutmeg nuts, creating a velvety texture. The finish carries the spice from that mid-palate towards a sweet finish that feels like a marrying of toffee syrup and cherrywood tobacco with that dry cedar tobacco box echoing on the far backend.
Bottom Line:
This is one of my favorite releases of 2022, so far. It’s classic yet fun and surprising. Even now, I want to pour another dram just thinking about it. That’s a powerful bourbon, which is why it’s top three.
Master Distiller Dan McKee personally selects these 20-year-old (at least) barrels from their rickhouses based on, well, excellence. The juice is bottled as-is with no cutting with water. This is whiskey simplicity at its best and creates an exemplary product.
Tasting Notes:
Imagine dark and sweet cherries smothered in rummy molasses with a touch of dried roses, fatty nuts, and wet cedar all leading towards the soft — almost wet — tobacco leaf. That’s just the nose. The palate doesn’t veer too far from those notes but adds in a touch of burnt ends from vanilla pods with a light spice that leans more towards that tobacco with a dusting of woody brown spices. The finish really embraces the cherry but more towards the stem and seed as the nuttiness leans marzipan and the tobacco takes on an ever-so-slight chewiness with an echo of dark chocolate-covered espresso beans infused into a string of cotton candy.
Bottom Line:
This might be my perfect bourbon. It’s really that good. The only reason it’s not number one is that there’s a rarer — more “unicorn” if you will — bourbon next.
1. Double Eagle Very Rare 3rd Edition (February 2021)
This whiskey ups the Eagle Rare game up in two ways. First, this is “double” aged, meaning that the whiskey spends 20 years mellowing in Buffalo Trace’s warehouses — or twice as long as standard Eagle Rare. That makes the barrels that go into this expression super rare. The second aspect is the decanter. The crystal decanter has two eagles, one as a stopper and one that is blown into the bottom of the bottle. It’s a striking bottle and only 199 were produced.
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this gently draws you in with mellow hints of cherry liqueur, dry cedar tobacco boxes, rich vanilla pods that feel oily, and a buttercream toffee candy that’s more sticky than brittle. The nose then leans towards a woody spice matrix of cinnamon sticks soaked in cherry syrup next to a slight note of anise that’s more absinthe green than licorice dark. On the palate, very dark cacao dust opens up your taste buds as dates soaked in floral Earl Grey create a base for a moist and very sticky toffee pudding with a small dollop of the silkiest vanilla ice cream you’ve ever had. The spices in that date-filled cake slowly rise after the sweet mid-palate veers into a soft and velvety finish that echoes with the woody spices but doesn’t carry forward the heat from them. The very end leaves you with this dry cedar box that once held allspice berries, anise, and cinnamon but now holds a very dry leaf of cherry-choco tobacco.
Bottom Line:
199 bottles. That’s it. I’ve seen two of these open. That means 197 (or less) are actually left. That’s a unicorn right there. This also happens to be one of the best bourbons made in the modern era. It’s a double threat of the category! If you do want to try this, I suggest hitting up The Ballard Cut in Seattle. It’ll cost you, but it’s worth it before you commit to $20-plus-k for this bottle.
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