LeVar Burton may have had all the internet buzz when it came to potentially taking over as Jeopardy! host, but those tweets certainly didn’t translate into eyeballs on the syndicated trivia game show.
While the last week has been full of discussion and controversy over who Jeopardy! picked as its next hosts, a common name frustrated fans brought up when mentioning alternatives is former Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton. Burton fans were outraged he did not get asked to host the show over Mike Richards and Mayim Bialik, who will host the syndicated run and ABC prime time events, respectively.
A rumor that Burton was offered a production deal was also squashed much to his supporters’ dismay. Picking the successor to Alex Trebek has turned into a messy process involving behind-the-scenes politics, on-screen performance and other metrics of evaluation. One thing missing from that discourse, however, was how Burton actually did in the Jeopardy! ratings. But as Newsweek uncovered on Monday it was probably for the best that wasn’t a factor for Burton, because his week guest hosting the show in July was the worst reported stretch of the guest host periods this year:
But figures obtained by Newsweek from Nielsen Media Research show that the TV personality actually landed at the bottom of the guest-hosting pile, with a paltry 4.4 audience share during his single week at the helm of the syndicated quiz show.
Before that, Savannah Guthrie and Dr. Sanjay Gupta held the record with a tied low of 4.7 during one of their two weeks as presenter—a figure also shared by Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts during her week of hosting.
Newsweek pointed out that Ken Jennings had the highest ratings of the year, taking over for the late Trebek first and posting a high of 6.1 during his six weeks of hosting. Richards, the eventual pick to replace Trebek, had a 5.9 rating during his fortnight behind the podium. Those stood as the highs for the current season, which ended on Friday with broadcaster Joe Buck hosting the show.
Looking at these ratings as a 1:1 comparison is, of course, a bit unfair. But for one reason or another the show saw a steady decline in ratings as the guest hosting string went along. Jennings also hosted immediately after Trebek’s death, and there was considerable buzz over how he would do. Both his and Richards’ hosting duties were also in winter, not late in the summer when people may be less likely to sit down and watch syndicated television with the sun still out.
It’s also worth noting that Burton got just a single week to guest host, while most got a full fortnight’s worth of shows filmed over two days. That may have a lot to do with his actual performance on the show, which he himself admitted wasn’t nearly as good as he’d hoped. All of those factors, whether fair or not, conspired to keep him out in the cold when it came to who the show actually picked to succeed Trebek.
If you’re a fan of Burton and want him to host Jeopardy!, though, none of the numbers we’re seeing (or his own performance review) will deter the frustration of seeing Richards and Bialik taking over full-time. And it’s worth noting that we don’t have ratings data for David Faber or Buck just yet, so Burton may not end the season as the worst-rated guest host. But what is clear is despite Burton being the talk of Twitter in the aftermath of the hiring decision, his presence actually hosting the show did little to move the needle in the ratings.
Jalen Green became the leading star of Summer League before a hamstring injury put him on the shelf in Las Vegas, as the No. 2 overall pick looked every bit of the star Houston hopes he can become in his three games of action.
Summer League always figured to be a comfortable place for Green to shine, as his best attribute is as an on-ball scorer, a role that is regularly augmented by the Summer League environment. As Green showed out and stole headlines, the overreaction machine began spinning and some began to wonder if Detroit had erred in not taking the young guard out of the G League first overall. Detroit instead took Cade Cunningham, who had been the presumptive first overall pick for more than a calendar year, and while Cunningham showed flashes of brilliance in Vegas, he wasn’t as consistently dominant as a scorer as Green, which is the area that first jumps off the page at Summer League.
Green hasn’t been shy about saying he wants to make Detroit pay for taking Cunningham ahead of him, but he also wants it to be known that he didn’t want to live in Detroit anyways, telling Chris Haynes of Yahoo how he wasn’t impressed with the city in his time there for workouts.
“I wanted to be the No. 1 pick, but as for the location, I didn’t want to be in Detroit,” Green told Yahoo Sports. “I felt a lot more comfortable in Houston. It felt like a real homie environment. With Detroit, it felt like I was just going back to the G League bubble, and I just got out of the bubble. That’s pretty much what it was.
“In the [G League] bubble, I didn’t really have anything to do but just stay in the gym. I didn’t have any time to get away for myself. The only time I had to get away for myself was in my apartment. That’s what it felt like in Detroit. I wouldn’t be stepping outside in Detroit. There are not many things you can do in Detroit like that. You’re going to stay in the gym and then go back to your apartment.”
You can be sure that quote won’t sit well with the folks up in Detroit, and it is funny to think about how differently he would be talking about the city had the Pistons taken him. Still, it’s kind of fun to imagine a very random Rockets-Pistons rivalry forming by sheer force of will from Green to talk enough trash about Detroit to turn an entire city against him. Pistons fans will hold tightly to this one, and if Green and the Rockets struggle to emerge from the pack in the West before Detroit and Cunningham do, you can rest assured they’ll be ready to throw this one back in his face.
Have you ever had a fried mortadella sandwich? We’re not talking about just another bologna sandwich here. This is what a bologna sandwich dreams of becoming in its tastiest fantasies. Hell, even the standard mortadella sandwich you get anywhere on the streets of Italy can’t compete, though I love those deeply. This is fried mortadella — a very special treat found in the food halls of São Paulo and wider Brazil.
The fried mortadella sandwich has become an Italian-Brazilian cornerstone of central markets and food halls in Brazil’s capital. It’s a stacked sandwich with about a half-pound (or more) of thinly sliced mortadella that’s fried on a flattop, topped with melty cheese, and piled high on a fresh bread roll with a little mustard and mayo. This is not healthy food. In fact, this might be the most unhealthy thing we’ve ever cooked in this series.
That said, it’s f*cking delicious and always the first meal I seek out when I go to Brazil. And often the second meal, too.
Since going to Brazil is pretty much out of the question at the moment, I decided to start the week off strong and make this sandwich at home. I got some decent mortadella from Italy, a good bread roll from the corner bakery, and some solid cheese. That’s really all it takes — so let’s get cooking!
Don’t skimp on the mortadella. You need that proper, nutty, slightly spicy, and fatty mortadella from a good Italian deli. If you use something like Oscar Meyer bologna, it’ll taste completely different (and a lot worse). American bologna is not a substitute for a real Italian mortadella. Ever. (If you don’t have an Italian deli handy, try a Persian grocer.)
I’m also doubling up on the cheese. All the sandos I had in food halls in Brazil did not go easy on the cheese. So, I’m layering Swiss gruyere with Irish cheddar. Neither are over the top but melt nicely and bring some serious cheesiness to the mix.
Other than that, the rest is easy. It’s just a fresh bread roll, good mayo, and mildly spicy brown mustard.
Zach Johnston
What You’ll Need:
Large saute pan
Tongs
Bread knife
Cutting board
Spatula
Zach Johnston
Method:
Get your cheese, mortadella, sauces, and bun lined up while the saute pan heats up on medium heat.
Add the mortadella to the saute pan and brown on each side while folding and stacking the mortadella to the side of the pan. A lot of fat will render out during this process so you do NOT need any oil in the pan to start. I like to turn the whole pile over after I add a new layer, this will allow the crispy edges to layer into the body of the sandwich.
Once you’ve browned off and stacked all the mortadella, top the stack with the cheese and the crown of the bun. Let the cheese melt while the bun steams on low heat.
Add a layer of mayo and mustard to the heal and crown of the bun.
Use the spatula to move the giant stack of fried mortadella to the heal bun.
Top with the crown, slice down the middle, and serve immediately.
Zach Johnston
Bottom Line:
Zach Johnston
I’m not going to lie, this was a greasy mess and I loved every goddamn bite of it. The mortadella was nice and warm, which really accentuated the nutmeg and clove in the spice mix while the fattiness literally melted in my mouth.
Zach Johnston
The cheese was the perfect, gooey counterpoint with a touch of funk next to a mild nuttiness. The melted cheese, mortadella fat, mustard, and mayo sort of coalesced to create a funky, cheesy, and fatty sauce. It was… not hard to finish this sandwich. And it was a pretty honkin’ sandwich, so that’s saying something.
The textural element of the fried mortadella is the real treasure here. The grilled fatty sausage took on this brilliant Maillard effect and crisped up as well as any good-quality bacon. This added an “x-factor” that took this from just a hot mortadella sandwich with some melted cheese to something truly delightful.
Let me go ride my bike for a week. Then I’m eating this again.
Following the massive popularity of Netflix’s The Witcher, the streaming service has been quick to greenlight additional shows and movies set in the novel-turned-video game series’ land of monsters, magic, and coin-tossing. Among these is The Witcher: Blood Origin, a prequel series starring actress Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Star Trek Discovery, Crazy Rich Asians) that follows Yeoh’s character, Scían, as she “launches herself into a deadly quest that will change the outcome of the Continent.” While we might not know much about what this quest entails just yet, we do know Scían will surely need some help on the way. Luckily for us, Netflix has finally announced who’s joining the party.
According to Variety, ten new cast members — as well as two directors — have been attached to The Witcher: Blood Origin. Mirren Mack is set to play Merwyn, Lenny Henry will play Balor, Jacob Collins will play Eredin, Lizzie Annis will play Zacaré, Huw Novelli will play Callan, of “Brother Death,” Francesca Mills will play Meldof, Amy Murray will play Fenrik, Nathaniel Curtis will play Brían, Zach Wyatt will play Syndril, and last but not least, Dylan Moran will play Uthrok One-Nut. In addition, both Sarah O’Gorman (Cursed, The Last Kingdom) and Vicky Jewson (Close, Born of War) are set to direct three episodes each of the six-episode mini-series.
As you can see — and much unlike Yeoh — nearly all of the new additions to The Witcher: Blood Origin are fresh faces with just a handful of roles to their names. Furthermore, while their character names have been given, we really don’t have much of an idea how exactly they’ll fit into the Elven world set 1200 years before the events of The Witcher. What we do know is that the upcoming series is actually covering one of the most mysterious and profound events to happen in The Witcher series: The Conjunction of the Spheres.
The Conjunction of the Spheres refers to the cataclysmic event in which the infinite universes existing in the world of The Witcher collided into one another, creating multidimensional rifts that allowed supernatural creatures and magic to enter the previously mundane world. This event essentially birthed magic into the world and created the need for Witchers such as everyone’s favorite, Geralt of Rivia.
As of right now, no release date has been set for The Witcher: Blood Origins, which is set to begin filming in the United Kingdom this fall. However, you can catch Geralt, Yennefer, Ciri, and Jaskier when The Witcher returns December 17 over on Netflix.
When it comes to iconic character actors, no one is doing it quite like Jennifer Coolidge. The blonde, often-bouffanted star — known for her roles in Legally Blonde, American Pie,Two Broke Girls, and recent HBO series The White Lotus — has made her living off of portraying women with huge personalities and little shame or self-awareness. Her natural knack for portraying very unnatural trophy wives has earned her a lot of praise over the years, and could even give her a bit of an edge when it comes to securing a big role Coolidge says she’s ready to take on: Melania Trump.
In an interview with The Guardian, Coolidge was asked if she’d ever consider playing Melania Trump in a biopic following several people noting similarities between the actress and the former first lady on social media. While she laughed at the thought of how Melania might take the whole ordeal, Coolidge says she’s ready to sign up for it.
What a compliment. Where do I sign [laughs]? Between you and I, though, I’m sure Melania would be bummed.
The interviewer then proceeded to ask Coolidge what other types of projects and genres she was interested in outside of her usual work, to which Coolidge replied with “a serious play” before tacking on “and then the Melania biopic, of course.”
While Coolidge was absolutely playing up her answers to provide us with some much-needed laughs during her interview, it wouldn’t be the first time a star has manifested a role by purely revealing interest in it. Here’s hoping the right person notices her interest in the role and gets to work on the cathartic Trump-era comedy we all need because a Coolidge-version of Melania sounds hilarious.
Outkast favorite André 3000 has reportedly been cast in the upcoming Netflix film White Noise, which is directed by Noah Baumbach (who helmed Marriage Story) and also stars Adam Driver, Don Cheadle, Greta Gerwig, and Jodie Turner-Smith. Based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Don DeLillo, the movie, according to Netflix, “dramatizes a contemporary American family’s attempt to deal with the mundane conflicts of day-to-day life while grappling with the larger philosophical issues of love, death, and the possibility of happiness in an uncertain world.”
Since leaving Outkast in 2007, André has acted in a handful of roles over the last 15 years, notably appearing as Jimi Hendrix in the 2013 biographical drama Jimi: All Is By My Side, for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead.
In 2019, the Atlanta rapper delved into why he has no interest in releasing a solo album, telling Rick Rubin on the Broken Record podcast, “I haven’t been making much music, man. My focus is not there. My confidence is not there. I tinker a lot. I’ll just go to a piano and sit my iPhone down and just record what I’m doing. Move my fingers around and whatever happens, but I haven’t been motivated to do a serious project. I’d like to, but it’s just not coming. In my own self I’m trying to figure out where do I sit? I don’t even know what I am and maybe I’m nothing. Maybe I’m not supposed to be anything. Maybe my history is kind of handicapping in a way.”
White Noise is currently filming in Cleveland, Ohio and is expected to hit Netflix sometime in 2022.
When last week’s Billboard Hot 100 chart was released, it was noted that The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” had tied Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” for the most time spent on the chart, and it was therefore one week away from claiming the record outright. Sure enough, on the latest Hot 100 (dated August 21), “Blinding Lights” is on it for the 88th week and is now the longest-charting song in the history of the Hot 100. The song was released on November 29, 2019, and despite all the time that has passed between then and now, it’s still high up on the charts, at No. 18 this week.
Additionally, aside from the new feat, “Blinding Lights” also holds the record for most weeks spent in the top 5, top 10, top 20, and top 40 of the chart.
.@theweeknd‘s “Blinding Lights” has now spent 88 total weeks on the #Hot100 (No. 18 this week).
That sets a new record for the most weeks spent on the chart in history.
It was a good week on the chart for The Weeknd beyond that as well: His latest single, “Take My Breath,” makes its debut on the chart at No. 6, making it his 13th top-10 song on the chart.
.@theweeknd‘s “Take My Breath” debuts at No. 6 on this week’s #Hot100 chart.
Meanwhile, The Weeknd is gearing up for a new album, of which “Take My Breath” is the first look. He recently said of the album, “The music hit the studio like a Mack truck. The new project is packed with party records. Like real-deal, illuminated-white-tiles-on-the-floor party records. Quincy Jones meets Giorgio Moroder meets the best-night-of-your-f*cking-life party records.”
The USA men’s basketball team didn’t have the smoothest run to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, with two losses to start their exhibition run, two replacement players, three players who missed all of camp during the Finals, and a loss in their opening game against France.
Despite those hiccups, they eventually found their stride and steadily got better as the Olympics wore on, ultimately avenging their loss to France in the gold medal game. Afterwards, no one had forgotten the questions and comments about whether they were capable of winning the gold, and players and coaches all reveled in the opportunity to prove them wrong. That included Gregg Popovich, who offered an emotional speech in the locker room after winning the gold, telling his team that he was appreciative of being a part of this group and appreciative of the way they battled through adversity.
At the end, he collected himself and had one message for everyone who had doubted they could do it: “How the f*ck do you like us now?”
You can see that the players loved it and you can also tell how much this meant to Pop, who was finally getting his chance to coach Team USA in an Olympics, only to hear for most of the run how this team was underachieving, not good enough, and not being put in the right positions to succeed by the staff. Winning the gold medal wasn’t just fulfilling a dream for Pop, but also validation of what he was trying to do with USA Basketball and you can see how much that mattered to him in sharing the moment with this team.
We, um, mayhavenotedthisbefore, but… there’s a lot of bourbon on the shelf right now. We wouldn’t say there’s too much, however. Especially not in this market — where competition drives quality. But we certainly understand if it all feels overwhelming when you’re strolling the aisles and there are 40 brands lining shelves.
And that’s just brands. Add in styles, proofs, single barrels, regions, age statements, and limited releases and… did we mention it’s a lot? Fear not, that’s why we’re here — to help you sift through it all by tasting as much as we can and letting you know what rises to the top. It’s a tough gig but someone has to do it.
This time around, we’re going back to the old “barrel proof” well of bourbons. We’re tasting 12 (!!!) new barrel proof bourbon whiskeys as a sort of part two to our tasting last spring. We’re not repeating any releases. All of these expressions are also 2021 specific, with a few coming directly from the distillery.
Here are our competitors in today’s blind taste test:
Orphan Barrel Copper Tongue Aged 16 Years
Traverse City Barrel Proof Bourbon
George Dickel 15-Year-Old Single Barrel
Stellum Cask Strength Bourbon
Woodinville Cask Strength Bourbon
Still Austin Cask Strength
Larceny Barrel Proof Batch: B521
Blue Run 13.5-Year-Old “The Honey Barrel”
Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel
Barrell Bourbon Batch #29
A. Smith Bowman Cask Strength Virginia Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Garrison Brothers Single Barrel
All in all, these were great bourbons. Some will be a little easier to find than others but that’s not really the point of this test. We’re here to rank whiskey based solely on its flavors — with label, legacy, availability, and price all being unknown variables. If any of these sound good to you, make sure to click on the prices to see if you can find a bottle in your neck of the woods.
This opens with a hint of buttery cornbread that immediately veers into cinnamon apple crackers in an old leather tobacco pouch. There’s a mild sense of eggnog spices next to vanilla cream with a clear note of old, musty cellar beams leading back to that warm tobacco chew.
Taste 2
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Butterscotch, dried corn kernels, raw leather, orange peels, and sweet caramel lead the way. The taste is pure toffee hard candies with light touches of roasted almond, vanilla oils, and old oak. The end lingers for a while and leaves you with this hint of chocolate-covered almonds and sweet toffee.
Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This is all about the cherry pie with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream next to a slight apple-tobacco vibe. It’s also light on the nose and on the palate with red berries leading towards a cherry-choco soda pop, more vanilla cream, and a light touch of bourbon-soaked oakiness.
Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This is a nutty Christmas cake with hints of worn leather, red berries, and plenty of wood. The palate opens with a hint of dried fruits, but the real star of the show is an apple candy sweetness that leans into honey. The end holds onto the fruit and honey but hits you with a dried chili pepper flake warmth on the very end.
Taste 5
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
“Soft” is written in my tasting notes and with good reason. This is all about soft vanilla, soft salted caramel, and soft tobacco leaves with a hint of time-softened leather. The taste holds onto that softness with an apple/pear candy sweetness, a touch of rich dates, clove and nutmeg, and a twinge of cinnamon candy.
Taste 6
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Cedar greets you and forms a foundation for choco-cherry candies with a hint of dried mint. The taste moves into a blackberry feel with rich vanilla cream and plenty of cinnamon. The end takes on a warmth that feels more like a dried chili pepper than alcohol heat.
Taste 7
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This is another soft bourbon with touches of maple syrup next to cinnamon sticks soaked in hot apple cider and a bit of a buttery croissant. That butteriness drives into the palate with a brandy butter note next to bruised apples, eggnog spices, and dry tobacco leaves. A touch of red fruits with more buttery bread powers the end towards a warm Kentucky hug of spices, tobacco, and ABVs.
Taste 8
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This is also buttery, but more in the sense of a bespoke toffee next to a bright red cherry with vanilla lurking in the background alongside a little old leather and wood. The taste brings on a touch of bitterness thanks to a dark cocoa note, more vanilla, and date-heavy sticky toffee pudding. The end reads completely differently, as cherry candy leads to dry reeds and a final hint of green pepper.
Complex, exciting, and just beguiling enough to thrill the senses.
Taste 9
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose is full of nutty nougat, pecan pies, red berries, and salted caramel. The vanilla kicks in and draws a straight line towards cedar boxes full of cherry tobacco next to a big pot of floral honey. The warmth is tied more to the mild woody spices than any alcohol warmth on this velvety sip.
Taste 10
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This opens with spicy oatmeal cookies next to fresh leather notes, a touch of orange oil, and a douse of new honey sweetness. The body of this is all plums, honey-roasted nuts, toasted coconut mixed with dark chocolate, and … an almost salty, dry bread. The end is light and soft — with a green edge that edges winds towards fresh and savory herbs.
Taste 11
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This is hot. There’s a vanilla cream and toffee sweetness under the high ABV, plus a clear touch of woodiness. Berries come through loud and clear through all that buzzy alcohol next to candied apples (the kind with the bright red covering) and a direct note of cedar and tobacco. The end lingers — with the berries and apple while the heat builds and pretty much blows out my palate.
Taste 12
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Hello, Texas! This opens with a clear note of butterscotch next to milder notes of cherry, caramel, and Red Hots. A vanilla kicks in on the palate and drives towards more butterscotch, chocolate oranges, old cedar, and a touch of bitter black tea.
Part 2: The Ranking
Zach Johnston
12. A. Smith Bowman Cask Strength Virginia Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 11
The A. Smith Bowman Distillery is a Sazerac distillery that hardcore whiskey nerds know of but the average whiskey drinker has probably never even heard of. Their line is primarily filled with experimental small-batch releases. That changed this year, with A. Smith Bowman’s release of their new permanent expression — A. Smith Bowman Cask Strength.
The juice is a ten-year-old Virginia bourbon that somehow stayed at a bafflingly high ABV of 70.55 percent.
Bottom Line:
This was just too hot today. It really blew out my palate (partially due to it being the eleventh taste). I ate some celery and came back to it and I stand by this ranking. That being said, this will be going into a lot of cocktails for maximum ABVs going forward.
This release from Diageo’s Orphan Barrel program is from Cascade Hollow Distilling Co., better known as George Dickel. The juice is a marrying of two 16-year-old bourbon barrels that were hand-selected by Dickel Master Distiller Nicole Austin. The ABVs are very low for a “barrel proof” bourbon.
Bottom Line:
This was really nice but didn’t jump out at me. It’s weird to say given that this is a really tasty and easy-drinking whiskey. But again, we had a great lineup today.
This Michigan bourbon is all about the grain-to-glass experience with Michigan’s unique terroir, weather, and access to freshwater. This expression is comprised of single barrel selections of Traverse City’s much-lauded straight bourbon. The juice goes into the bottle uncut and unfiltered at barrel proof.
Bottom Line:
This was, again, perfectly fine. It’s just that nothing really stood out and drew me back in for more. This is quality, crafty bourbon that hits all the right marks.
Still Austin is getting a lot of love for their very crafty (and fruity) bourbon, The Musician. This is that — but as cask strength and released as a limited offering. The juice in the bottle is a local, grain-to-glass operation that utilizes the best grains and water Texas has to offer.
Bottom Line:
I’m not quite on the Still Austin train yet. Their bourbon is still very green (overly fruity) but this expression promises something bigger and bolder coming down the road for this crafty distillery.
This single barrel expression from Hye, Texas’ Garrison Brothers is all about highlighting the craft distillery’s grain-to-glass process. The juice is made from a mash of 74 percent local white corn, 15 percent estate-grown soft red winter wheat, and eleven percent Canadian malted barley. That spirit is then rested for three to five years, or until it’s just right to be proofed and bottled.
Bottom Line:
This was so clearly Texas bourbon just from the look of that syrupy juice in the glass. Still, this was a fine sip of whiskey that offered something a little different. It didn’t quite pop like I thought it would amongst some of the huge bourbons on this list. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a worthwhile bourbon to have on your bar cart.
Stellum Bourbon is the new kid on the block. The bottle grabs your attention immediately by having a super low-key design in a classic wine bottle. The juice in that bottle is a cask-strength blend of whiskeys from Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. This whiskey is all about the blending process that Stellum employs to make this special and award-winning juice.
Bottom Line:
This bourbon is really growing on me. The dram really stood out on this flight. It’s refined, clear about its flavor notes, and very silky. Yet… this isn’t even the top five.
6. George Dickel 15-Year-Old Single Barrel — Taste 3
This whiskey from the famed Cascade Hollow is a very old whiskey, all things considered. The juice is from single barrels and the proof varies accordingly (sometimes it’s cut with water too). The whiskey is all about showcasing Dickel’s vast warehouses and the gems they have hidden deep on those ricks.
Bottom Line:
This tasted like a very refined and well-aged Tennessee whiskey (which is bourbon, remember) with all that bright yet dark fruit. In the end, this was an extremely silky sip of whiskey that felt more complex than old while still being very easy to drink from start to finish.
These barrel blends from Heaven Hill are meant to highlight the precise quality of the distillery’s prowess from grain to bottle. This small batch of wheated bourbon is derived from barrels between six and eight years old. The juice then goes right into the bottle with no cutting or filtering, allowing the masterful craft to shine through in every sip.
Bottom Line:
This is really starting to win me over as a sipper. It’s so damned refined yet does pack a pretty big wallop on the senses. With big ABVs, I can also see pouring this over some rocks next weekend and not complaining for a second.
Woodinville continues to be at the top of the craft distilling game. Their Cask Strength Bourbon (available at the distillery) is their award-winning bourbon bottled at barrel proof, allowing the Eastern Washingto-based aging to shine through.
Bottom Line:
This is so soft and delightful. It’s a really easy and rewarding sipper, and it still only hit the fourth spot on this list.
Blanton’s is “The Original Single Barrel” bourbon, and this expression is the purest form of that whiskey. The juice in this case is from the barrels that need no cutting with water and are perfect as-is, straight from the barrel. All the barrels will come from Warehouse H (where Elmer T. Lee stored his private stash of barrels back in the day) and arrive with varying proofs.
The through-line is the excellent taste of that single, unadulterated barrel in each sip.
Bottom Line:
I changed two through five about ten times while ranking these. This is where Blanton’s ended up and I don’t have a really good excuse why it’s here instead of two or five or four. This is a freakin’ delicious whiskey and it’s almost hard to believe that it’s cask strength, given how easy-drinking it is.
This new release from Barrell Bourbon is a blend of whiskeys from Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee. The final mix is a blend of six, seven, nine, ten, 14, and 16-year-old barrels that are vatted and then bottled at barrel proof.
Bottom Line:
These blends rarely disappoint and this one lives up to the hype. It’s refined, super engaging, and has a soft and easy demeanor. This is a great sipper.
1. Blue Run 13.5-Year-Old “The Honey Barrel” — Taste 8
Jim Rutledge’s new project after leaving Four Roses is one of the most sought-after new bourbons on the market (we’ll be doing a live tasting soon). The juice in the bottle is hand-selected by Rutledge and barreled as a single barrel at cask strength. That also makes each bottle unique… and fleeting.
Bottom Line:
While the rest of the top five were a struggle to rank, this was a no-brainer. This whiskey is one of the most delicious (new) drams I’ve tasted in a long, long time. If you can find a bottle, grab as many as you can. Whiskey like this doesn’t come around all that often.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
I’d like to say I was surprised by this or that on these rankings. But… this is pretty much how I would have called it. There were a few bottles that felt hard to rank, sure. But, a lot of this was really splitting hairs and I mean really. In fact, seven through two could have all been a tie for varying reasons. In the end, these get harder to rank the closer the whiskeys get in quality.
Even though that Blue Run is near perfection (for my palate), I still reach for Larceny, Barrell, Woodinville, and Dickel more because of habit (and price). If I had a case of Blue Run 13.5 sitting around, it’d be my go-to for the rest of the year.
As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.
Body autonomy means a person has the right to do whatever they want with their own body.
We live in a world where people are constantly telling women what they can or can’t do with their bodies. Women get it form all sides — Washington, their churches, family members, and even doctors.
A woman on Twitter who goes by the name Salome Strangelove recently went viral for discussing the importance of female body autonomy.
Here’s how it started.
She continued talking about how her mother had a difficult pregnancy.
Her pregnancy with me was utterly miserable. She actually lost weight while pregnant. The delivery was problematic… https://t.co/YhWLFi3Deo
Her mother asked her doctor about the possibility of sterilization.
He also added that her pregnancy might not have been so stressful if she’d stopped working entirely. — Salome Strangelove (@salstrange) September 6, 2018
As was typical of the times, she was chastised by her male, Catholic doctor.
Over the next five years my mother was pregnant three more times. Two were horrific miscarriages that caused her a… https://t.co/NZphouv5if
Her mother was made to feel guilty about simply exploring the medical options about her own body. But later on, a new doctor made her feel more comfortable about her situation.
Following my brother’s birth, she mustered the courage to ask him about having a tubal ligation again. She did so i… https://t.co/6LeW3SpnzN
So when old white men disguise their pathetic misogyny as concern for unborn children, I think of my mother at 20, sobbing alone in shame and depression and helplessness and terror while dealing with the stress of being a new mother. — Salome Strangelove (@salstrange) September 6, 2018
Once her mother had the courage to speak up, her own family members supported her.
But here’s the most horrific footnote. Before my mother was deemed healthy enough to have her tubal litigation surg… https://t.co/4HuRcpTHHo
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