Last week, it was reported that America First — a white nationalist movement inspired by the rise of former president Donald Trump — had been thrown into turmoil. Why? Because one of its highers-up got himself a girlfriend. When the movement’s treasurer found a romantic partner, it enraged honcho Nick Fuentes, who has described himself as both “just like Hitler” and a “proud incel,” the term for those who are “involuntarily celibate.” (Why one would be “proud” to be “involuntarily” anything is another discussion.) Now Fuentes has doubled, tripled, quadrupled down on his stance, arguing that there’s nothing more “gay” than hooking up with girls.
On his video podcast, Fuentes railed against “people calling me gay because I’ve never had a girlfriend.” Au contraire, he argued. “I think if anything — if anything — it makes me less gay. If anything, it makes me not gay — as opposed to less gay, not that there’s any gay, but it makes me not gay.”
He then claimed he was “more hetrosexual than anybody” because he’s never had a romantic relationship nor had sex with a member of the opposite sex.
“If we’re really being honest, never having a girlfriend, never having sex with a woman, really makes you more heterosexual, because honestly, dating women is gay,” Fuentes claimed. “And if you want to know the truth, the only really straight, heterosexual position is to be an asexual incel.”
Back in February, Fuentes gained some notoriety after getting Marjorie Taylor Greene to speak at one of his white nationalist events. She claimed she had no idea who he was, despite pictures of them smiling together — and despite him giving a speech in which he joked, not really, that comparing Putin to Hitler isn’t such a bad thing.
Money fascinates us all, but how does it really work? How do you accrue it? Where does it come from? How does it fuel economic systems and pyramid schemes and billion-dollar industries? What role does it play in our everyday lives, from investing to buying to building credit? For something that’s practically a necessity to live on this planet, there’s a lot they just don’t teach us when it comes to money.
Luckily, there are some great documentaries and docuseries streaming right down that give us some inside knowledge when it comes to the way financial institutions work (and don’t work). These are the best of the best — ones that might actually teach you a thing or two about how money really moves so it doesn’t roll you over.
Some entries on this list double as classroom lessons in finance we never got in grade school but others, ones like this fascinating and depressing look into the lifestyles of the rich and richer, are here to remind us that more is not always better — even when it comes to money. Photojournalist Lauren Greenfield turns her camera first on the affluent kids who made up her 90s childhood in L.A. before sitting down with all kinds of money-chasing subjects — from Wall Street execs and fraudulent stock traders to historical experts that predict that our current obsession with excess might lead to our societal downfall. It’s a fun watch until it’s not but it does pose some probing questions that might have you re-examining your own attitudes towards wealth.
Despite what its title might suggest, this informative breakdown of America’s current economic system is actually sounding the alarm on all the ways capitalism (as we know it) is destroying our workforce. That sounds bleak and some parts of this doc certainly are, but it’s filled with rich history lessons on how capitalism built up so many countries and hopeful avenues for how we can change things now so that workers — not multi-billion dollar corporations — get their due. It’s narrated by economic savant Robert B. Reich who worked under Presidents Ford, Carter, Clinton, and Obama. Reich has the ability to break down even the most complex abstracts in ways that are entertaining and digestible, but it’s the undercurrent of hope in this film — that there might be a way to change the flow of wealth despite capitalism’s tendency to concentrate it on a lucky few — that makes it worth a watch. Just, you know, keep in mind that that hope is coming from a film made 5 years ago.
Perhaps the most entertaining look at how many different economies around the world function, this Kal Penn-hosted series is a wild ride filled with episodes on everything from how people launder money to why we’re all reliant on the rubber industry. It’s produced by Adam McKay, which should set the stage for some of the more stylistic choices — there are lots of narrated infographics and comedy skits to be found here — but Penn is a good interviewer and he’s given some really fascinating subjects to talk to. It all combines to make a docuseries that’s as fun to watch as it is informative.
Technically, this idiosyncratic odyssey of human habits isn’t focused solely on finances. There are plenty of episodes dedicated to exploring how (and why) people do certain things — and they’re all worth watching. But, for the purposes of this streaming guide, we’re recommending two episodes. The first is a fairly micro view of money, one that examines the intricate social dance of splitting the check. It’s cute and quirky and oddly revealing about how we view money and how much we should contribute to everything from a shared meal to taxes designed to make our lives better. The second episode worth watching for financial reasons pops up in season two, as host, John Wilson goes on a real estate journey every millennial — or commitment-phobic New Yorker — dreads: the act of buying a home. Will you be more likely to once Wilson’s experience ends? Probably not, but you’ll know a hell of a lot more about mortgages and loan approval, and credit scores.
This docuseries from Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney gives audiences a melange of true crime stories all set within the world of corporate corruption and capitalist greed, from payday loan scammers to big bank scams, maple syrup heists, illegal gold mining, and slumlord millionaire Jared Kushner. The show interviews some of the subjects at the center of these criminal exploits, which makes this all the more compelling.
You’ve likely heard the term “pyramid scheme,” but this deep dive really helps you understand how insidious these money-making scams truly are and why people so often fall victim to them. Spread over four episodes, this series focuses on the beloved legging empire that was LulaRoe. It’s filled with bizarre sitdowns with the company’s CEOs — a couple of megalomaniacs named DeAnne Brady and Mark Stidham — as well as heartbreaking accounts from people who got roped into the mess in this cautionary tale.
This series focuses more on consumerism than personal finance but watching it will likely have you questioning your own purchasing power and how you wield it. From how influencer culture is helping fuel the makeup black market to how unrecycled plastics are literally consuming villages in Malaysia and hazardous cost-cutting maneuvers by cheap furniture makers, there’s a horror story behind every industry and it all relates to our wallets in one way or another.
Yes, you could watch whatever Jared Leto’s doing on the fictionalized version of this entrepreneurial scandal or you could dive deeper with its documentary counterpart to truly understand how backward the Silicon Valley investment model is — and why that’s bad for everyone’s business. WeWork founder Adam Neumann wanted to change the world by creating a company that essentially rented overpriced desks to millennial workers. Add a dash of corporate malfeasance, some shady tactics, a late-stage capitalist bubble ready to burst, and a cult, and you’ve got this financial mess. Again, it’s more of a “what-not-to-do” for any would-be investors and prospective CEOs but you’ll learn a lot about what it takes to sell your idea (and yourself) for your dream.
It’s been a month since Elon Musk declared he was going to buy Twitter. When the news broke, there was much rejoicing, at least among the far right. But the deal has yet to go through, and it appears the richest man in the world is now trying to wriggle out of it. And the owner of another, far less successful social media platform thinks it simply won’t go through.
That person is Donald Trump, former president and owner of the comically flailing Truth Social, which even he didn’t much use until recently. After Musk claimed that a major sticking point is the large number of bots and spam accounts on the service (an issue he previously claimed he wanted to fix), Trump posted a lengthy screed on his Twitter clone, casting doubt on Musk ever going through with the purchase.
“There is no way Elon Musk is going to buy Twitter at such a ridiculous price, especially since realizing it is a company largely based on BOTS of Spam Accounts,” Trump wrote. “By the time you get rid of them, if that can even be done, what do you have? Not much?”
He then speculated as to why Musk hadn’t pulled out earlier. “If it weren’t for the ridiculous Billion Dollar breakup fee, Elon would have already been long gone,” Trump wrote, pointing out that Musk would lose $1 billion if he pulls out of the deal.
Trump also took some time to sing the praises of his own social media service, which has been a disaster from the start. “Just my opinion, but Truth Social is MUCH better and is absolutely exploding, incredible engagement!” he wrote.
Last week, Musk vowed to reinstate Trump’s Twitter account, which he lost shortly after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The ex-president claimed he had no interest in returning.
Hours after the world clocked out of work and shifted their attention to the weekend, the music community was met with shocking news. It was announced that YSL rapperLil Keed had died at just the age of 24. The news was shared by his younger brother and fellow YSL rapper Lil Gotit on his social media pages. “Can’t believe I seened u die today bro I did all my cries,” he wrote in a post. “I know what u want me to do and that’s go hard for Mama Daddy Our Brothers Naychur and Whiteboy.” A cause of death for Keed was not revealed as of press time.
Lil Keed began making music back with Lil Gotit in 2017. He released his first project at the beginning of 2018 with Trapped On Cleveland. That year he would go on to release three more projects, Slime Avenue, Trapped On Cleveland 2, and Keed Talk To ‘Em, with the latter two coming after he inked a deal with YSL Records. In the summer of 2019, Keed released his debut album Long Live Mexico which delivered 20 songs and features from Young Thug, Roddy Ricch, Lil Uzi Vert, YNW Melly, Moneybagg Yo, Nav, Gunna, and more.
The following year, he released Trapped On Cleveland 3 and was inducted into the XXL Freshman Class. The 2020 project gave listeners 19 songs with Young Thug, Gunna, Travis Scott, Lil Baby, Future, Ty Dolla Sign, and more. Trapped On Cleveland 3 was extended to 37 songs with a deluxe reissue in fall 2020.
Keed preparing to release his fifth solo mixtape Keed Talk To ‘Em 2 prior to his death. He leaves behind one daughter named Naychur.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
It wasn’t always pretty, but the Golden State Warriors are on their way back to the Western Conference Finals. Thanks to a vintage performance from the Splash Brothers, Golden State beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 110-96, on Friday night to pick up a win in Game 6 and secure their spot in the next round of the postseason.
Both teams got off to hot shooting starts — Golden State knocked down seven of its 13 attempts from deep, while Memphis went 5-for-12 from downtown. Because it was a Game 6 in the playoffs, Klay Thompson had one of his best individual quarters in the first, scoring 11 points on 3-for-3 shooting from three, while Steph Curry had six and knocked down a pair of triples.
Despite the hot shooting by Thompson continuing to the second quarter, Memphis was able to rip off a 14-0 run to go up, 51-44, but it was a short-lived lead. At that point, Golden State was able to compose itself and respond with a 9-0 run of its own to take a 53-51 lead into the locker room. Brooks’ 18 was a game-high, while Thompson had 17 and Curry had 14.
For years, the Warriors have punished teams in the third quarter of home playoff games. That wasn’t the case this time around, as neither offense seemed to be able to really get a feel of things for long stretches in the period. Shots you might expect both teams to hit were not falling, the Warriors kept turning the ball over, and for much of the quarter, Golden State simply won a war of attrition, thanks in large part to Thompson’s continued hot shooting.
They never really slammed the door shut, though, and thanks to a 7-0 run late in the third that featured a lovely Bane layup through contact, Memphis was able to take a brief lead.
While the Warriors were able to immediately respond, their lead was only 78-77 at the start of the game’s final frame. Once again, neither team was able to get a leg-up on the other, but the first big haymaker came halfway through the period. After Bane hit a triple to put the Grizzlies up by two, Andrew Wiggins and Curry combined for a 8-0 Warriors run to give them some much-needed breathing room.
Draymond D. Draymond board. Draymond push. Steph triple.@warriors 8-0 run to surge back in front in Game 6…get to ESPN now pic.twitter.com/rpqWODaLRT
To continue the boxing analogy, Golden State realized it had Memphis on the ropes and kept pummeling its opponent, knowing the end was near. The knockout blow came with just under three minutes remaining, when a pair of Kevon Looney offensive rebounds led to Thompson hitting his eighth three of the night.
In all, Golden State went on a 21-3 run over more than five minutes of action to emphatically shut the door on this series and get back to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2019. Thompson’s 30 points and eight rebounds led the way for Golden State, while Curry had 29 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Wiggins had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Green nearly had a triple-double with 14 points, 16 rebounds, and eight assists, while Looney gave them four points, five assists, and 22 rebounds, half of which came on the offensive glass. Brooks scored 30 points to lead the Grizzlies, while Bane had 25 with seven rebounds.
Now, the Warriors will wait to see if they’ll play the Phoenix Suns or the Dallas Mavericks. The two teams will square off on Sunday with the winner securing the other spot in the conference finals.
In 1888, Ernest Thayer wrote the poem “Casey at the Bat.” One of the greatest poems in all of American literature, “Casey at the Bat” tells the story of the baseball team in the town of Mudville. As the team entered the ninth inning down by two, the fans found themselves hoping, praying, that Casey — the team’s star player who was scheduled to hit fifth — would get one chance to step up to the plate with a chance to win the game. After two outs, a pair of poor hitters did the unthinkable by getting on base and giving Casey an at-bat, only for the local hero to strike out swinging.
Now, imagine you are there for that game, only instead of a fictional stadium in 1888, you’re at an Arkansas-Vanderbilt game in Fayetteville on Friday night. And instead of waiting for Casey to step up to the dish with the hopes that he can carry your team to a win, a pair of raccoons ran into the stands while you were trying to watch a gosh dang baseball game. Well, you don’t have to imagine, because that happened!
It seemed like it was going to be a one raccoon evening — which, let’s face it, far too many raccoons — but as it turned out, a second raccoon saw the first one do its thing, must’ve thought that was pretty awesome, and did the same.
It’s only fitting that the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks will need seven games to decide their epic second round series. Milwaukee entered Friday night’s tilt at Fiserv Forum looking to punch its ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals, but despite Giannis Antetokounmpo putting up a postseason stat line we have not seen since Shaquille O’Neal in the 2001 NBA playoffs, Boston was able to pick up a 108-95 win thanks to perhaps the greatest performance of Jayson Tatum’s career.
Antetokounmpo came out swinging. With the Bucks one win away from making the conference finals, Antetokounmpo scored 17 first quarter points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field and 6-for-6 shooting from the free throw line. This included 10 of the first 14 points that Milwaukee scored on the evening.
It was not enough early on, though, as Marcus Smart and Tatum combined to score 23 points and the Celtics drilled eight of their 15 attempts from three to find themselves up after on, 28-26.
While that hot shooting from deep by the Celtics cooled off a bit in the second, Milwaukee’s offense really struggled to close out the first half. Antetokounmpo had 21 and eight boards at the break and Jrue Holiday had 12, but the remaining players who took the floor for the Bucks combined to score 10 points. Six of those were scored by Bobby Portis, and the collection of players other than those three combined to shoot 2-for-14.
The greatness of Antetokounmpo and Holiday providing some much-needed scoring certainly helped, but it was nowhere near enough. Boston took a 53-43 lead into the locker room, powered by 18 points from Tatum and 16 from Smart, while Derrick White gave the team a huge lift with nine points off the bench.
Boston came out of the locker room firing to start the third quarter to extend its lead to as many as 17 points. For a team that blew a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter last game, the Celtics managed to show their resolve this time around when the Bucks went on a 12-2 run to cut the lead down to eight.
Thanks in large part to Tatum, who scored eight of his 13 points in the final 2:19 of the frame, Boston was able to settle things down, even as Antetokounmpo continued to attack their defense with aplomb. As a result, the Celtics found themselves up 83-70 at the conclusion of the third.
It seemed like Antetokounmpo was cooking up a potentially special fourth quarter to get the Bucks over the line, as he started things out with one of the most emphatic dunks of the postseason.
And then, it looked like disaster was going to strike for the home team. With Milwaukee trailing by 11 and more than 10 minutes remaining, Antetokounmpo tried to attack Grant Williams but got called for a charge, his fifth foul of the game. Mike Budenholzer opted to challenge, though, and the call was overturned, preventing Antetokounmpo from heading to the bench at the worst possible moment.
In the immediate aftermath, the Bucks ripped off a 7-1 run to get the lead down to four, capped off by a three by Antetokounmpo from way downtown.
As things were looking tense for the Celtics, Tatum decided to another level, ripping off 11 points in a row, including a pair of threes that did not even think to touch the rim.
That stretch gave Boston the exact lift it needed to compose itself. The team stretched its lead to as many as 14 points — thanks in large part to Tatum’s stellar game — before the two sides opted to put in the backups for the game’s final 90 or so seconds.
Tatum led all scorers with 46 points on 17-for-32 shooting from the field and 7-for-15 shooting from three, with nine rebounds and four assists for good measure. Brown scored 22, while Smart had 21 with seven assists and five rebounds. Antetokounmpo became the first player since O’Neal in 2001 with a 40/20 game in the playoffs, going for 44 points, 20 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and a steal. But outside of Holiday’s 17 and Pat Connaughton’s 14, seemingly everyone else on the Bucks struggled.
Game 7 between the Celtics and the Bucks will take place in Boston on Sunday afternoon. It is scheduled to tip off at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
Vanity Fair loves to stir up drama in their interviews by asking celebrities to take lie detector tests (which have been proven to be not accurate, right?) and then they get squirmy when asked about their fellow Hollywood peers. Elizbeth Olsen is the latest star to be put in the hot seat and things got weird!
The Multiverse Of Madness star was asked a series of questions about her career and life, including her friendship with Chris Evans (she awkwardly insisted they “don’t, like, hang out” anymore), and then was asked about Licorice Pizza after showing a photo of Danielle Haim, who had a small role in the film.
When asked, “Do you think you’re a better actor than her?” Olsen chuckled TOO hard, before saying, “Yeah. Sorry, Danielle. I hope she’d agree.” Olsen went on to say she “loved the film” and thought Haim was “great” in it, though she “didn’t have to do much.” The lie detector then found that she was lying.
“F*ck, man. Sorry, Danielle. You did great. I don’t know what’s happening. It’s so uncomfortable right now.” Olsen added before the interviewer moved on. Obviously, the internet took this and ran with it.
To be fair, Danielle was only in it for a brief cameo, while Alana Haim was the main star. Was Olsen confusing the two? Or did she not even see the movie? Olsen is used to being compared to her famous sisters, so perhaps she could relate? The whole thing is a hilarious mess. Check out the full clip above.
While kicking off his comedy tour in London, Chris Rock decided to touch upon the worst things that a comedian should touch upon right now: cancel culture, The Slap, and the current defamation trial between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp. That’s just what we all needed.
According to LADBible, while joking about “cancel culture,” Rock managed to bring in the topic of inappropriate sexual encounters, which led to the joke: “Believe all women, believe all women… except Amber Heard… What the f*ck is she on? She sh*t in his bed! She’s fine but she’s not sh*tting fine.” Sure? He added, “She s**t in his bed. What the f*ck is going on there? Wow. And they had a relationship after that. It must be amazing p*ssy… I’ve been with some crazy b*tches, but goddammit.”
Rock, of course, was referencing one of the weirder moments in the Depp/Heard trial where Heard allegedly left feces in the bed they shared together. There were photos too, unfortunately. The legal battle has been nothing but messy on both sides.
To finish off the segment, Rock then discussed the idea of being a victim in Hollywood. “Everyone’s a victim these days,” Rock added. “There are real victims in the world, they deserve to be heard, they deserve our love and compassion. But if everybody claims to be a victim, then no one hears the real victims.” He’s right about that, but maybe making “believe all women” jokes isn’t helping those potential victims seek the help they need. Just a thought!
Also, of course, Rock mentioned “The Slap,” though only briefly. The comedian joked: “I’m okay in case anyone was wondering. I got most of my hearing back and I’m trying to make a decent show.”
Wheated bourbon whiskey is the most popular bourbon whiskey. The biggest and most sought-after bourbons are wheaties — Pappy, Weller, Old Fitzgerald, Maker’s, Rabbit Hole, and Larceny to name a few. The latter is why we’re here today. I just received the new Larceny Barrel Proof B522 and it’s pretty damn good. But, how does it stand up to other “good” wheated bourbons? I knew a blind taste test was in order.
Generally speaking, wheated bourbons are just bourbons — few people outside the industry chase down a bottle of Pappy or Weller because they’re a “wheated” bourbon. Still, there are plenty of nuances to be found. The difference is that wheated bourbons generally don’t have rye grains in their mash bills. This creates a subtly different flavor profile as wheat leans more toward soft cereals, fruit esters, and more winter spice than rye’s often dark pepperiness, grassiness, and herbal vibes. Of course, I’m making very broad statements with that, but it’s a place to start.
For this blind taste test, I’ve pulled six wheated bourbons and two “four-grain” bourbons that have both wheat and rye in the mix. Wheat is the through-line from top to bottom, and I want to know how the latest Larceny release stands up to them.
Our lineup today is:
Larceny Barrel Proof B522
Redemption Wheated Bourbon
New Riff Red Turkey Wheated Bourbon
Garrison Brothers Small Batch
Old Elk Four Grain Bourbon
Weller Special Reserve
Frey Ranch Small Batch Four Grain Bourbon
Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 17-Year Spring 2022 Limited Edition
Let’s see how Larceny holds up.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
This release from Redemption is their take on MGP’s 45 percent winter wheat bourbon. Redemption’s team brings four-year-old barrels in-house and then masterfully blends them in small batches until they get just the right notes.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
The nose is kind of thin. It takes a while to find the fresh grass, nougat, cedar, and vanilla but it is there. The palate is slightly peppery with a lime leaf vibe next to drip coffee and brisket fat with a little more of that pepper. There’s a southern biscuit with butter and Nutella that leads to a finish full of creamy vanilla and woody spice.
Bottom Line:
Overall, this ends way stronger than it opens. It’s a fine sip, especially if you’re smoking a big piece of meat in the backyard. Still, it’d probably be mixing this into highballs while I’m tending to the firebox.
This whiskey from out in Colorado combines two whiskeys from Indiana (MGP) with Colorado’s Rocky Mountain vibe. The whiskeys are a corn/rye/barley mash bill combined with a corn/wheat/barley mash to create a four-grain experience from blending instead of scratch. That whiskey then spends six to seven years aging in the Rocky Mountain state before it’s bottled as-is.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Dark fruit and almonds play with sweet apple wedges and vanilla sheet cake on the nose with a hint of leather, oats, and toffee lurking underneath it all. The taste is all about the creamy and nutmeg-heavy eggnog with a nice counterpoint of sweetgrass and vanilla pipe tobacco. The mid-palate has a sweet winter spice vibe that leads to a raw and sweet carrot and apple cores next to a hint of new wicker.
Bottom Line:
This was another one where I thought, “well, that’s nice,” and that was about it. Nothing pulled me back. Nothing pushed me away. It was just fine.
6. Garrison Brothers Small Batch Bourbon — Taste 4
Garrison Brothers is a true grain-to-glass experience from Hye, Texas. The juice is a wheated bourbon made with local Texas grains. That spirit is then aged under the beating heat of a hot Texas sun before the barrels are small-batched (with only 55 barrels per batch), proofed with local water, and bottled.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Sweet grains. Sweet cereals. Sweet masa! The nose and palate are all about those grains and cereals with a welcoming sweet edge. The nose is more than just that though, there are notes of fairground candy apples, dry straw, old leather belts, and a hint of milk-soaked Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The palate is part vanilla shortbread and part angel food cake with lemon frosting, which all leans into those sweet grains. The mid-point coalesces into an oatmeal raisin cookie with plenty of nutmeg and cinnamon next to a bit of applewood smoke.
Bottom Line:
I never know where to put this. The sweet and raw grains are a lot but then it becomes really endearing by the end of the sip. Still, this feels pretty “crafty” and green because of that factor too.
Buffalo Trace doesn’t publish any of their mash bills. Educated guesses put the wheat percentage of these mash bills at around 16 to 18 percent, which is average. The age of the barrels on this blend is also unknown. We do know that they cut down those ABVs with that soft Kentucky limestone water.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This felt the most “classic” on the nose with hints of vanilla cream, cherrywood, new leather, and apple blossoms leading the way. The palate had a thin cream soda feel to it with both cherry and apple pie filling, a buttery pie crust, and a vanilla/cherry pipe tobacco chewiness. The mid-palate was full of dark cherry syrup that lead to more of that tobacco with a slight dry reed vibe on the end.
Bottom Line:
Well, look at that. Weller hitting the middle of the road… This was nowhere near as bold or refined as some of the other drams on this list. It was fine and classic but that was about it compared to what’s coming next.
4. New Riff Red Turkey Wheated Bourbon — Taste 3
New Riff
ABV: 50%
Average Price: Limited Availability ($50 MSRP)
The Whiskey:
This release from craft whiskey darling, New Riff, is all about the heritage grains. The whiskey uses a 19th-century grain, Red Turkey Wheat, to create a unique whiskey. The juice is aged for five years at New Riff’s warehouse before it’s vatted, proofed ever so slightly, and bottled as-is.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Sourdough crusts and cherry pies lead the way on the nose with support from raw leather, orange and grapefruit rinds, and a hint of cedar plank. The taste cinnamon forward with stewed cherries, more leather, and sweet grass. The mid-palate leans into the dark cherry with mulled wine sweetness and spiciness that leads to old grape skins and a little wet granite after the rain.
Bottom Line:
This is a nice mid-point for this list. This is a pretty tasty whiskey but was missing that “wow” factor. I’d sip it neat all day, mind you. But, I’d probably get a little bored after a while.
Frey Ranch is all about the farm behind the whiskey. In this case, that’s a 165+-year-old farm in the Sierra Nevada basin near Lake Tahoe. The grains (corn, wheat, rye, and barley), fermentation, distilling, aging, and bottling all happen on-site at Frey Ranch.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Raw sourdough, cherry gummies, and vanilla mingle with freshly chopped firewood, burnt sugars, and a whisper of something that feels like my grandparent’s back porch on a hot summer’s day. Cinnamon-laden oatmeal raisin cookies and tart cranberries lead the way on the palate with red fruit leather and a hint of mocha latte. The red fruit drives the mid-palate toward a finish with plenty of raw oats and dark berry tobacco with a final note of that oatmeal cookie.
Bottom Line:
This was a damn nice pour today. It didn’t nearly reach the heights of the next two entries, but it easily beat the six pours below it.
The second batch of Larceny Barrel Proof of 2022 is batched from barrels of Heaven Hill’s iconic wheated bourbon (68 percent corn, 20 percent wheat, and 12 percent malted barley). Those barrels are chosen for their specific flavor profile and blended as-is and bottled at barrel proof.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
A hint of red berries hits your nose first and then the nose goes full “classic” with notes of rich caramel, fresh leather, vanilla beans, raw pancake batter, and a soft note of kindling. The palate feels high-proof but not “hot” — that means it coats your mouth with a buzzing sensation but there’s no burn — as grassy mid-palate leads to subtle Christmas cake spice, salted caramel sauce, and a layer of cherry compote between two sheets of vanilla cake. The end is silky and lush with that cherry and vanilla fading toward damp and supple wicker that ultimately leaves you with a velvet mouthfeel and warm Kentucky hug.
Bottom Line:
This was really nice. I had no idea it’d be the first sip but it was a hell of a place to start. I kind of assumed this was the Old Fitz since it’s so dynamic but was corrected of that assumption once I actually got to the end of this tasting.
Still, this is pretty damn good and incredibly nuanced for a 120+ proof whiskey, wheated or not.
1. Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 17-Year Spring 2022 Edition — Taste 8
This wheated bourbon whiskey — 68 percent corn, 20 percent wheat, and 12 percent malted barley — was distilled and laid down in barrels back in 2004. The barrels were vatted after 17 years and proofed down to the bottled-in-bond standard of 100 proof and then bottled in the iconic Old Fitz decanter for a Spring 2022 release.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This opens with a hint of fried dough with blackberry jam next to old vanilla pods, dried roses in an old leatherbound book, burnt orange peels, a hint of green cedar bark, and a stick of rock candy. The palate is a nuanced dance between creamy vanilla, lush pipe tobacco, winter spices, and soft cherrywood that’s just starting to light on fire with a twinge of char forming. Brandy-soaked cherries covered in creamy milk chocolate lead to sticky toffee pudding with plenty of nutmeg and cinnamon and the lush, velvety, decadent note of cherry tobacco by way of soft, almost airy vanilla cream inside of an old cedar box that held leather for an eon.
Bottom Line:
This was miles ahead of every other sip. It was evident from the first nose. If Larceny is second (and great), this is first and transcendent. It’s just so much more refined while having more going on that speaks to the cockles of your soul. It’s also the pour I immediately wanted to go back to.
Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
It’s kind of ironic that the two whiskeys from the same distillery, mash bill, and warehouses topped this list. I had no idea Larceny was the first pour but it was immediately evident it was a heightened bourbon experience. Then that Old Fitz was just on another plane of existence.
Then like a lot of these tastings, the rest was perfectly fine. There were no bombs or stinkers. Everything was drinkable, mixable, or very sippable. But that Old Fitz made me forget about pretty much everything else once it hit my nose and lips, including the Larceny, which is wild because that is a pretty damn good whiskey.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
(@RonFilipkowski) 
Marcus 
2 
