Category: News

Old Fitzgerald releases, from Heaven Hill, remain some of the most sought-after allocated bourbons on the market. Part of that comes from the mystique behind the wheated bourbon’s history with the Van Winkle family. Another aspect of the hype is that these are released in pretty small quantities to a select few markets and liquor stores (allocations), making them catnip on the secondary market. Lastly, there’s the quality of the juice in the bottle — it’s usually stellar.

Today, we’re digging into the whiskey in these fancy decanters to see how the two 2021 drops stand up side-by-side. We’re comparing the just-dropped Fall release (an eleven-year-old bourbon) with the Spring release (an eight-year-old bourbon). We’re looking at what’s changed, what’s the same, and which is better.

To do that, I’ll be pulling in my review of the Spring 2021 release’s tasting notes for comparison’s sake after I review the new Fall 2021 release. Then I’ll sum everything up at the end and see if I can manage to pick a favorite. Let’s dive in!

Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 11 Years Aged, Fall 2021

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $110 MSRP

The Whiskey:

The juice in this decanter is an eleven-year-old bourbon pulled from barrels in Warehouse EE. The wheated bourbon was loaded into the rickhouse back in the spring of 2010 and left alone until 2021. The whiskey was then vatted and proofed down to the bottled-in-bond proof of 50 percent or 100 proof, as per federal law.

Tasting Notes:

This opens shockingly light with a note of dried fruit, creamy vanilla pudding, a touch of applewood with a smidge of cinnamon and clove, and the lightest note of leather. The palate leans into the maltiness of the wheat while touching back on that dried fruit (think sultanas and dates) and gently indulging in holiday cake spice, candied fruits, a hint of cedar-infused tobacco leaves, dry grass, and a malty cracker imbued with toffee and maybe a hint of dried almond shells. The end is pure silk with a line towards the drier aspects of the taste and malt plus a final note of piney firewood and apple-cinnamon fritters.

Bottom Line:

This is pretty damn even-keeled and delicious. It’s amazingly approachable while bringing some serious depth. You really get more and more as you go back for another nose and sip, again and again. It grows, makes sense, and is incredibly crushable.

Rating:

98/100 — This was damn near perfect. It’s also very easy to drink, making it a wonderful sipper while it’s still warm out.

FOR COMPARISON: Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 8 Years Aged, Spring 2021

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $85 MSRP

The Whiskey:

This year’s spring release is a marriage of eight-year-old whiskeys produced in the spring of 2013. That distilled juice rested in barrels spread throughout three warehouses on several different floors. In spring of this year, those barrels were vatted and whiskey was proofed down to 100 (per bottled-in-bond law). Then the whiskey was filled into Old Fitzgerald’s signature decanters and sent out into the world.

Tasting Notes:

Goddamn! This is gorgeous. The nose draws you in with warming eggnog spice, creamy vanilla pudding, rich toffee, mild fruit, and a hint of wet cedar and very muted citrus. To say this is “smooth” would be an understatement. The silky taste dances around oven-hot pans of pecan and maple-glazed sticky buns with plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg next to caramelized orange peel vibes and lightness that’s almost hard to believe. The finish is long, effervescent, and leaves you with this soft sense of having just eaten the best oatmeal raisin cookie of your life with just the right amounts of oats, spice, raisins, brown sugar, and crumble.

Bottom Line:

We can see how people go crazy for this juice. This is one of the most beautiful American whiskeys we’ve had in a while. This is classic bourbon flavors in a classic decanter but elevated to the next level. The taste is welcoming and fills you with a sense of ease. There are no rough edges. It’s somehow light while also brimming with big flavors. It’s a goddamn masterpiece.

Rating:

Ugh… I almost hate to do this, seeing as it’s such a high ranking for our first single bottle review of the year. But I just nosed and re-tasted this expression against my two favorite expressions of 2020 and, whew — 99/100. Final answer.

Final Thoughts:

Tasting these both again today, I have to give the edge to the Spring release. But I have to caveat that with the fact that my palate really loves those big, syrupy, Christmas cookie, spicy notes. The Fall 2021 is a masterstroke but a little drier and more into the woody spice barks with less textural depth and a little bit shorter finish.

I kind of feel like the Spring 2021 is going to be my go-to winter sipper after big meals with roasted fowl. The Fall 2021, on the other hand, feels like a late-summer sipper before things start to get too brisk and rainy. But, let’s be honest, I’m super-duper splitting hairs over these two exceptional whiskeys. I know, I know… great whiskey tastes great, who knew!?

Leah Remini isn’t the only sitcom actress who’s escaped the clutches of Scientology. That ’70s Show star Laura Prepon, who later appeared on Netflix’s prison-comedy Orange Is the New Black, told People that she exited the church five years ago.

“I’m no longer practicing Scientology,” she said. “I’ve always been very open-minded, even since I was a child. I was raised Catholic and Jewish. I’ve prayed in churches, meditated in temples. I’ve studied Chinese meridian theory. I haven’t practiced Scientology in close to five years and it’s no longer part of my life.” Prepon and her husband, actor Ben Foster, “meditate daily and I’m really liking it, because it’s something that helps me to hear my own voice and it’s something we can do together,” she added.

Prepon joined Scientology in 1999 and credits the alleged “cult” with helping her relax. “The auditing has stripped away all of this charge, false ideas, decisions, and mis-emotions that were affecting me,” she explained. “When you really cognate that you are a thetan and you have a mind and body, and that the MEST universe does not control you; it puts things into perspective. It takes the weight off you and things become very easy.” Sounds good — except for the allegations of human rights violations and how members were tailed by goons and the “brainwashing,” as Remini put it. It’s genuinely heartening to hear that Prepon found tranquility without the use of an E-meter.

(Via People)

Over a month ago, Taco Bell added Nacho Fries to their constantly shifting menu for the — hold on let me count… seventh time. No, that’s not an exaggeration. Since first launching in 2018 as a limited-edition menu item, the Nacho Fries have disappeared and reappeared on the menu over a half dozen times, which is a little ridiculous. If you’re a fan of Taco Bell’s attempt at the all-powerful French fry, then you probably have a pretty intimate relationship with heartbreak at this point.

Hopefully, things are different this time around, because I just tried Taco Bell’s Loaded TRUFF Nacho Fries and they may just be the best menu item Taco Bell has given us since the Mexican Pizza. Which they’ve also taken away from us. Cruel, cruel Taco Bell.

Made in partnership with California-based hot sauce brand TRUFF, Taco Bell’s Loaded Nacho Fries feature seasoned French fries doused in a special mix of TRUFF hot sauce and Taco Bell’s Nacho Cheese sauce, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped tomatoes, and a huge glob of sour cream. Taco Bell is also testing out a burrito version called the Loaded TRUFF Fries Burrito, which is just the same thing but wrapped in a tortilla.

If you want to get your hands on these truffle sauced fries you’ll have to wait a bit because currently, Taco Bell is only testing the TRUFF collaborations at a single Taco Bell location — Newport Beach, California — until August 21st. So if you live anywhere other than Southern California, you’re sadly out of luck. Luckily, I’ve had them, so for now you can at least live vicariously through me.

Let’s break these new dishes down.

Loaded TRUFF Nacho Fries/ Loaded TRUFF Fries Burrito

Okay admittedly, the above picture doesn’t look fantastic. It looks less like food than it does a radioactive blob that is just waiting to wreak havoc on your digestive system. Welcome to Taco Bell. But don’t let its gut-bomb vibe fool you, this thing is full of flavor. A forkful gives you crispy french fries dusted in garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika — or as Taco Bell calls it “Mexican Seasonings,” which… okay — plus chunks of tomato, a redundant pinch of shredded cheddar cheese, some steak, all tied together with a spicy hit of the truffle sauce which is almost too umami dense but is expertly balanced by the tangy qualities of Taco Bell’s sour cream. It’s important to get all of those ingredients in your forkful because, on their own, only two of those ingredients are actually delicious. Let’s talk about them.

Taco Bell’s fries are some of the best in the game, they’re crispy on the outside, which supplies a nice crunch, and soft, buttery, and molten hot on the inside. But the true star of the show is that TRUFF Nacho Cheese hot sauce. Taco Bell’s hot sauce packets have always been lacking in my opinion. They don’t have the complexity that comes from fresh salsa, remaining very one-note (and that one note is vinegar). TRUFF remedies this by making a hot sauce that leans into bright chili notes that dance on the tongue and earthy umami-truffle notes while adding a sense of realness. Taco Bell’s food can often taste overly chemically, so that latter point is definitely a bonus.

Truffle sauce might be a bit played out in 2021, but at Taco Bell? The experience still feels novel. The TRUFF sauce seems carefully crafted and thoughtfully inspired — making this dish the anti-Mountain Dew Baja Blast. It’s just refreshingly unlike anything at Taco Bell, and that’s its real strength.

This brings us to the bad: everything else. The chopped tomatoes are fine, but the cheddar cheese feels unnecessary when coupled with a cheese sauce, and the steak is the saddest meat I’ve ever tasted and seen. It doesn’t look flame-grilled or seared like carne asada, it looks like someone boiled some steak. Ask to swap in ground beef, which may be hotly debated and significantly made of fillers but remains the Bell’s best protein option. The aforementioned sour cream does add balance but you should tell Taco Bell to go easy on it — it can certainly overpower the palate.

I’m a lot less enamored with the Loaded TRUFF Fries Burrito, which as I mentioned before, is the same thing just wrapped in a tortilla. Fries in a burrito is a love it or hate it thing. I happen to love it but in this dish, it ruins the fries. French fries wrapped in a tortilla will always get soggy, it’s just what happens, and that sogginess takes away this dish’s crunch, giving you a chewier experience that essentially tastes the same, but is a lot less satisfying to eat.

The burrito sounds tempting, especially if you love a good California burrito, but trust me on this one. It’s way too wet.

The Bottom Line

Taco Bell’s Loaded TRUFF Nacho Fries succeed where so many other Taco Bell stunts fail — ahem, Naked Chicken Chalupa with a Plant-Based Shell (yes, its real name) — because it doesn’t keep things completely in-house. By collaborating with a brand that knows the hot sauce space intimately, Taco Bell has stumbled into a couple of menu items that feature fast food’s best hot sauce, by a mile.

The Loaded TRUFF Nacho Fries are a must-try when they finally appear on Taco Bell menus nationwide.

In the video for Young Nudy’s latest Rich Shooter single, “Green Bean,” the Atlanta-bred rapper relaxes on a bed of green pellets as scientists take notes, explores the solar system, and gets lost in an extraterrestrial rain forest, all while he reels off the details of his illicit activities over a bouncy beat provided by Pi’erre Bourne.

Rich Shooter, released on August 4, is Young Nudy’s second project of the year after the horror-themed Dr. Ev4l. He’s currently in the middle of a tour promoting both projects, the Dr. Ev4l vs. Rich Shooter tour, pitting both of his alter egos against one another through 10 cities including his native Atlanta, with dates remaining in Silver Springs, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston.

If we just went by singles, Dr. Ev4l would be ahead in that competition, with videos out for the title track, “2Face” featuring G Herbo, and the haunting “Soul Keeper.” Nudy also explained why it’s harder for him to collaborate with other artists in a July interview, saying, ““You gotta go in there and fake smile with somebody… They not just going to let you in the door.” With two personas to choose from, it’s less of a problem, although something tells me his real breakout will come when he gets over that social anxiety and starts working with some bigger names.

Watch the “Green Bean” video above.

Rich Shooter is out now on RCA. Get it here.

Lorde got all eyes on Solar Power with both its butt-bearing album art and the breezy title track, which performed well on the charts and has peaked at No. 2 in the US so far. The album is set to drop this week, so Lorde’s new single, “Mood Ring,” is presumably the final pre-album single. She shared the song today, which arrived accompanied by a video, in which Lorde debuts a new blonde look.

Lorde says of the song:

“This is a song I am very excited about, it’s so much fun to me. Obviously when making this album I did a deep-dive into ’60s, Flower Child culture. I wanted to understand the commune life, dropping out from society and trying to start again. That really resonated to me when writing this album. One thing that occurred to me as a major parallel between that time and our time is our wellness culture and our culture of spirituality, pseudo-spirituality, wellness, pseudo-wellness. Things like eating a macro-biotic vegan diet or burning sage, keeping crystals, reading tarot cards or your horoscope. These were all things that they were dabbling in back then, and that me and my girlfriends are dabbling in today. I was like, ‘I think there’s a pop song in here.’ So this is kind of my extremely satirical look at all of those vibes.”

The new track was preceded by “Solar Power” and “Stoned At The Nail Salon,” which have achieved Hot 100 peaks at Nos. 2 and 33, respectively. It remains to be seen if “Mood Ring” will be a hit, but Lorde doesn’t seem to be trying for those these days. That’s not a knock on her: She said so herself. In a recent interview, she said of her new album, “There’s definitely not a smash. It makes sense that there wouldn’t be a smash, because I don’t even know really what the smashes are now.” She also said she’d never try to have a hit like her own “Royals” again, noting, “What a lost cause. Can you imagine? I’m under no illusion. That was a moonshot.”

Watch the “Mood Ring” video above.

Solar Power is out 8/20 via Republic. Pre-order it here.

There are two types of people in this world – those who panic and fill up their cars with gas when the needle hits 25% or so, and people like me who wait until the gas light comes on, then check the odometer so you can drive the entire 30 miles to absolute empty before coasting into a gas station on fumes.

I mean…it’s not empty until it’s empty, right?

But just how far can you drive your car once that gas light comes on? Should you trust your manual?

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Now, thanks to Your Mechanic sharing this information in a recent post, you can know for sure. Of course, they also want to warn you that driving on a low fuel level or running out of gas can actually damage your car.

Proceed at your own risk.

Here’s a link to a larger version of the chart.

These are, of course, approximations that depend on several factors, including how you drive, your car’s condition, etc. So don’t automatically blame Your Mechanic if you find yourself stranded on the side of the road.

This article originally appeared on November 24, 2015

When it comes to breasts, Americans really have it twisted. We’ve sexualized them to such a point we no longer see them for their main purpose: feeding babies. This disconnect is so extreme that when women breastfeed their children in public they are often met with scorn or shame.

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Florida mom and anti-circumcision advocate, Ashley Kaidel, isn’t having it anymore.

Kaidel was breastfeeding in an unnamed restaurant when another diner gave her the stink-eye, just for feeding her child in public. So Kaidel took a photo of herself staring right back at the shamer and posted it to Facebook. The photo quickly went viral, receiving over 420,000 likes.

In her post, she explained why she had such a stern look on her face.

“In the picture, it appears I’m staring off into the distance. In reality, I’m staring into the eyes of a woman staring at me. She is looking at me with disgust and shaking her head with judgement in an attempt to shame me and indirectly tell me without words that I am wrong and need to cover myself.”

Kaidel says she breastfeeds in public to reduce the stigma surrounding it.

“I do this for the person that has the mentality ‘Boobs are to be covered. They’re for your husbands eyes only. They’re intimate. It’s a personal/private thing to feed your baby. Cover up out of respect. My kids don’t need to see that. Walk out of the room’ and any other derogatory, close-minded comments and sentiments alike.”

Then, she cut through all the nonsense surrounding breasts to explain their real purpose.

“[B]reasts were made to sustain your baby’s life before they were made to bring pleasure to any other man, woman, partner or spouse. Their sole purpose is to make food and dispense it straight into a baby’s mouth. There is nothing weird about this and there’s no difference in me feeding my baby with my breast than you feeding yourself with a spoon.”

Finally, Kaidel had some strong words for the next person who attempts to shame her for breastfeeding in public.

“No person should be isolated and shunned because they’re eating, especially when you yourself are eating while ridiculing how someone else is eating. Is it not certainly easier to avert your eyes from a displeasing sight rather than suggest or demand a mother and child remove themselves from your presence? How pompous and selfish is this? Just look away. It’s simple to do so. No harm done at all.”

18-year-old Twitter user Aimee recently took to Twitter to ask something most of us have probably wondered about without even realizing it:

“Serious question, what the fuck is this for?” she asked, next to a photo of that handle on the ceiling of every car that we all knew about and probably wondered about but never thought to even ask for some reason?!?!?!?!?!?

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People immediately started sharing their theories, like this one:

@ShineMyGold to keep your armpits fresh when you roll the windows down on a hot day

— moira ♀ (@funkybugz)
1506747515.0

And this one:

For my mom to dramatically grab when I’m going 26 in a 25,” wrote Taylor Myers, a college student from Pittsburgh.

@TaylorRaee23 @eileen_reiley38 To help grandparents get in and out of the car!! Or to hang dry cleaning .

— Mary Reiley (@reileymc)
1507066199.0

T MAKES SO MUCH SENSE. MY MIND IS BLOWN.

Her response immediately blew up, wracking up over 118,000 retweets in three days. And Twitter could not agree with her theory more:

@TaylorRaee23 @Hannah_f0rd @EleanorFergie @abbieeeno @joannaa_clark https://t.co/tUt68ZeBTm

— Lizzy (@lizzymagleave)
1507029711.0

The “oh shit bar.” Apparently, this is old news in Texas, which is living in 3021 while the rest of us are stranded in 3021 (come rescue us, Texas!):

And for those of you who aren’t potty mouths, don’t worry, there’s also a more pious name for it: “the Jesus bar.”

@ShineMyGold https://t.co/yktOqYdoYQ

— Brewski (@Juanatpower)
1506716914.0

But whatever you want to call it, I think we can all agree, now that we know what it is, our lives will never, ever be the same.

Ancient sage Obi-Wan Kenobi once remarked, “Your eyes can deceive you, don’t trust them.” Well, he’s right, kinda.

Our eyes bring in information and it’s our brain’s job to decipher the image and determine what we’re seeing. But our brains aren’t always correct. In fact, sometimes they can be so wrong we wonder if we are accurately interpreting reality at all.

After all, our brain can only label things if it knows that they are. If you lived on a deserted island your whole life and a cow showed up on the beach, you’d have no idea what to label it.

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The latest baffling image that’s making people across the internet doubt their senses is a picture tweeted out by Twitter user nayem. “If you can see a beach, ocean sky, rocks and stars then you are an artist,” the comment reads.

But some people who see it also think it looks like a car door. What do you see?

via nxyxm / Twitter

If your brain told you the picture is of a lovely evening laying on the beach then you’re definitely an optimist. But, according to the person who posted it, the photo is of the bottom of a rusted out car door. Not very romantic, is it?

via nxym /Twitter

The tweet has since gone viral, earning over 5,000 likes.

Here’s what Twitter users thought about the illusion.

This guy must be hungry.

via Twitter

This guy is having flashbacks to 2015.

Your perception determines your reality.

This guy explains it perfectly.

This guy has a great imagination.

This article originally appeared on 05.22.19

Everyone is entitled to a few nice words at their funeral, as the adage goes. Normally, this is a non-issue. Flaws can be ignored or overlooked for the sake of harmony and a peaceful, optimistic send-off.

But what if the flaws created too much damage and heartache to go without saying?

Sheila Smith made headlines last week with an obituary that was as honest in what can only be described as a brutal sense. Brutal for the departed, her father Leslie Ray Charping, and brutal for the family that had to endure his life and death.

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Here’s the obituary in its entirety, taken from the website of Carnes Funeral Home:

Leslie Ray “Popeye” Charping was born in Galveston, Texas on November 20, 1942 and passed away January 30, 2017, which was 29 years longer than expected and much longer than he deserved. Leslie battled with cancer in his latter years and lost his battle, ultimately due to being the horses ass he was known for. He leaves behind 2 relieved children; a son Leslie Roy Charping and daughter, Shiela Smith along with six grandchildren and countless other victims including an ex wife, relatives, friends, neighbors, doctors, nurses and random strangers.

At a young age, Leslie quickly became a model example of bad parenting combined with mental illness and a complete commitment to drinking, drugs, womanizing and being generally offensive. Leslie enlisted to serve in the Navy, but not so much in a brave & patriotic way but more as part of a plea deal to escape sentencing on criminal charges. While enlisted, Leslie was the Navy boxing champion and went on to sufficiently embarrass his family and country by spending the remainder of his service in the Balboa Mental Health Hospital receiving much needed mental healthcare services.

Leslie was surprisingly intelligent, however he lacked ambition and motivation to do anything more than being reckless, wasteful, squandering the family savings and fantasizing about get rich quick schemes. Leslie’s hobbies included being abusive to his family, expediting trips to heaven for the beloved family pets and fishing, which he was less skilled with than the previously mentioned. Leslie’s life served no other obvious purpose, he did not contribute to society or serve his community and he possessed no redeeming qualities besides quick whited sarcasm which was amusing during his sober days.

With Leslie’s passing he will be missed only for what he never did; being a loving husband, father and good friend. No services will be held, there will be no prayers for eternal peace and no apologizes to the family he tortured. Leslie’s remains will be cremated and kept in the barn until “Ray”, the family donkey’s wood shavings run out. Leslie’s passing proves that evil does in fact die and hopefully marks a time of healing and safety for all.

The obituary walks a fine line between uncloaked honesty and mean-spiritedness, repeatedly falling on either side. If this obituary is to be believed (no person or account has publicly questioned or denounced this characterization), his family has a right to be both angry for his life and happy for his death. However, the controversy surrounding this obituary isn’t the survivors’ feelings, but their expression of them.

Sheila, speaking to The Michael Berry Show, a radio program, stood by the obituary she wrote, claiming it was an effort to heal, forget, and minimize the residual impact his death would have on their lives. To realize this, and to fulfill her late father’s wishes, the obituary needed to be honest. She said to the show’s host, ” A week after he passed I sat down and began working on it. I was somewhat blocked and everything I was going to write was going to be a lie,” she said. “He hated a liar and he would appreciate this.”

Speaking earlier to KTRK, Sheila said that those who are bothered by this or the notion of speaking ill of the dead, are fortunate to not understand. “I am happy for those that simply do not understand, this means you had good parent(s) — please treasure what you have.”She continued to say that whitewashing transgressions that are so endemic and undiscussed in the world, such as her father’s issues with domestic violence and alcoholism, serves no greater good.

She concluded, “I apologize to anyone that my father hurt and I felt it would have been offensive to portray him as anything other than who he was,” she also said. “This obituary was intended to help bring closure because not talking about domestic violence doesn’t make it go away!”