Each week our staff of film and television experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
15. Common Side Effects (Max)
adult swim
Mike Judge and Greg Daniels have been attached to some of the best TV comedies of the last 30 years, including Parks and Recreation, The Simpsons, and The Office for Daniels and Beavis and Butt-Head and Silicon Valley for Judge. They also co-created King of the Hill. Their latest collaboration is producing Common Side Effects, a surreal Adult Swim animated series about the “world’s greatest medicine” from creators Joseph Bennett (Scavengers Reign) and Steve Hely (30 Rock). Episodes will stream the next day on Max.
The White Lotus returns with a new location (Thailand) and a new group of talented actors playing emotionally- and spiritually-empty rich folks. The cast includes Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Blackpink’s Lisa, Michelle Monaghan, Parker Posey, Natasha Rothwell, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Aimee Lou Wood. “I do feel like the other seasons were a rehearsal for this one,” creator Mike White teased.
You know what time is it? It’s Reacher o’clock. In season 3, the big guy meets an even bigger guy. He also “hurtles into the dark heart of a vast criminal enterprise when trying to rescue an undercover DEA informant whose time is running out,” according to the Prime Video synopsis. “He finds a world of secrecy and violence and confronts some unfinished business from his own past.” Every episode is basically the same, which is to say, they’re all a lot of fun.
Hulu’s Deli Boys is a crime-comedy about a pair of pampered Pakistani-American brothers who lose everything following their father’s sudden death and are forced to reckon with his secret life of misdeeds as they try to take up his mantle in the underworld. The cast includes Asif Ali, Saagar Shaikh, and Poorna Jagannathan.
The guests for the first episode of John Mulaney’s weekly talk show Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney were Michael Keaton, Joan Baez, Fred Armisen, Jessica Roy, and musical guest Cypress Hill, followed by Nick Kroll, Ben Stiller, Quinta Brunson, Anne Kalosh, Kim Gordon, and Kim Deal in episode two. Oh, and the GOAT himself, Richard Kind, is Mulaney’s sidekick and announcer. This is the definition of must-see TV.
There are roughly 700 TV shows about true crime out there, so I totally understand if you’re burnt out on the genre. But maybe make an exception for Happy Face. For one thing, it’s got a good cast, including Annaleigh Ashford, Dennis Quaid, James Wolk, and David Harewood, and The Good Wife and Evil creators Robert and Michelle King are attached as executive producers. Also, the premise is something else: a serial killer re-enters his daughter’s life after decades of no contact, and it’s up to her to find out if an innocent man is going to be put to death for a crime her father committed.
Colman Domingo, one of the finest actors of his generation, got a well-deserved Oscar nomination for his performance in Sing Sing. The heartbreaking but hopeful film follows Divine G (Domingo), who is imprisoned at Sing Sing Correctional Facility for a crime he didn’t commit. He finds purpose by acting in a theatre group with other incarcerated men, many of whom are played by formerly imprisoned actors.
The latest Shondaland production is The Residence, a screwball comedy starring Uzo Aduba as a detective who is tasked with solving a murder at The White House. “The Residence is a different take and spin on the house that we all know — it’s a peek inside a world that we don’t often get to see,” the Orange Is A New Black actress said. “The show begs the question, ‘Who runs the house?’ And the answer is not what we think it is.”
Celebrate the streaming premiere of Wicked — the Oscar-winning movie musical starring Ariana Grande and the wickedly talented Adele Dazeem, I mean, Cynthia Erivo — by learning all about the “wicked witch of the east, bro” viral video. Or reading about Grande’s long (yellow brick) road to playing Galinda. If you’re going to defy gravity, though, do that on your time.
Nicole Kidman is in so many streaming shows that it feels like a treat when she returns to her roots as a Movie Star. In Holland, she plays Nancy Vandergroot, who has a seemingly picture-perfect life with her husband (Matthew Macfadyen) and son (Jude Hill). But she begins to suspect something is amiss. The thriller is directed by Mimi Cave in her first film since 2022’s Fresh.
Luca Guadagnino directed two movies in 2024: Challengers and Queer. The former is already on Prime Video; now the latter, which is based on a novella by William S. Burroughs, is on Max. It stars Daniel Craig as an expat living in Mexico City in the 1950s who becomes infatuated with a younger man (Drew Starkey). There’s sex and trippy drug sequences — what more could you want?
Michelle Buteau’s romantic-comedy series Survival of the Thickest returns for season 2. The ensemble cast of the “love letter to New York” includes Buteau, Tone Bell, Tasha Smith, Marouane Zotti, Peppermint, Garcelle Beauvais, Anthony Michael Lopez, and Liza Treyger, along with guest stars Anderson .Paak, Deon Cole, Tika Sumpter, Monét X Change, Honey Balenciaga, Sandra Bernhard, and Bevy Smith.
Timothée Chalamet nearly won an Oscar for playing Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. But he won my heart for his answer when I asked him to name his favorite Dylan song. “It changes every day,” he said. “Today, I’ll say ‘Outlaw Blues,’ because, I could be wrong, I’m sure I’m wrong, but it’s been very hard for me to ever find a live version of him doing ‘Outlaw Blues.’ And it’s also, conversely, one of the Dylan tracks from that period that has a crazy kick to it and a crazy energy. And to me, one of the underrated songs of that time period.” You can read the rest of the interview here.
The first thing you should know about The Studio is that there’s diarrhea zombies. The second thing to know about The Studio is that the diarrhea zombies are actually from a fake movie within the show, an industry satire starring Seth Rogen. His character, Matt, is tasked with saving Continental Studios in an ever-changing industry. The stacked cast also includes Kathryn Hahn, Ike Barinholtz, Rebecca Hall, Olivia Wilde, Chase Sui Wonders, Catherine O’Hara, and Brian Cranston. The Studio is one of the funniest shows of 2025.
(Warning: A potential Thunderbolts* spoiler might be found below…)
The MCU is in need of resuscitation. That’s no secret (after all, Captain America: Brave New Worldmight break even at best), and Kevin Feige is betting on a few pick-me-ups in the form of Thunderbolts* (this group is going to deliver MCU’s version of The Suicide Squad, which is not a bad thing) in May and Fantastic Four: First Steps in July. Did we need Pedro Pascal as Mr. Fantastic and The Bear‘s Ebon Moss-Bachrach as a rocky-crotched hero? Perhaps not, but comic book fans aren’t complaining yet, probably because mentally erasing those aughts movies is an ongoing endeavor.
Then there will be the next “big one,” or at least Marvel Studios projects as much for the vast ensemble, in Avengers: Doomsday. Disney is getting the gang, or rather gangs, back together with a cast list that must cost so many millions. This week, those empty chairs took over Marvel’s social media, and they’re potentially going to need a bigger CGI battleground:
– Chris Hemsworth (as Thor)
– Sebastian Stan (as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier)
– Anthony Mackie (as Sam Wilson/Captain America)
– Florence Pugh (as Yelena Belova/Black Widow)
– Pedro Pascal (Dr. Reed Nathaniel Richards/Mr. Fantastic)
– Lewis Pullman (as Bob/The Sentry)
– Simu Liu (as Shang-Chi)
– Wyatt Russell (as John Walker/US Agent)
– Tom Hiddleston (Loki)
– Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/Invisible Woman)
– Ebon Moss-Bachrach (as Ben Grimm/The Thing)
– Letitia Wright (as Shuri/Black Panther)
– David Harbour (as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian)
– Winston Duke (as M’Baku)
– Danny Ramirez (as Joaquin Torres/Falcon)
– Joseph Quinn (as Johnny Storm)
– Tenoch Huerta Mejia (as Namor)
– Kelsey Grammar (as Beast)
– Hannah John-Kamen (as Ava Starr/Ghost),
– Paul Rudd (as Scott Lang/Ant-Man)
– Patrick Stewart (Professor X)
– Ian McKellen (Magneto)
– Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler)
– Rebecca Romijn (Mystique)
– Channing Tatum (Gambit)
– James Marsden (Cyclops)
That’s plenty. Too much, really. Still, some names are arguably “missing” from this list, and Marvel Studios hasn’t elaborated, but we can take some semi-educated guesses at why:
Deadpool and Wolverine: Although these frenemies survived last year’s same-named movie together, it doesn’t make sense for them to surface in Doomsday. For one thing, Deadpool is the most high maintenance, attention-grabbing character who has ever (in the comics) joined an Avengers team. He precariously (and gloriously) teeters on the verge of being too much, even in his solo movies, and the Merc With The Mouth would only pull focus and distract from Doomsday. He’s frankly incapable of not being front and center, and Ryan Reynolds further suggested that he would enjoy pulling back to spend time with his fam. Surely we’ll see him again someday, when the MCU really needs another box office hit. As for Wolverine? Cut the dude a break. He’s probably exhausted from putting up with Deadpool.
Taskmaster: In Black Widow, the MCU botched what could have been a cool, borderline undefeatable villain that can mimic the fighting moves of former opponents. The character’s debut/identity reveal was such a let down that it seems clear that Thunderbolts* will consider Taskmaster an easy character to dispose of before that movie ends. And because audiences didn’t connect emotionally with changes from the comics to Taskmaster, it was no real shock that Olga Kurylenko’s Antonia Dreykov did not surface in a Doomsday chair.
Spider-Man: Who doesn’t love Peter Parker? C’mon. However, Spidey’s next semi-solo outing, currently known as Spider-Man 4, is due to arrive in July 2026 after being pushed back, so we can only assume that this production is so all-consuming that both Kevin Feige and Sony agree that the MCU doesn’t 100% need Tom Holland swinging in for the next ultimate battle.
Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, and Captain Marvel: Don’t count out a future return from Benedict Cumberbatch. In all likelihood, Dr. Steven Strange will resurface in Avengers: Secret Wars, possibly even in a Doomsday credits scene. Elizabeth Olsen, however, has repeatedly told reporters that Wanda Maximoff isn’t, to her knowledge, a part of the next few Avengers movies, and after The Marvels‘ box-office implosion, it seems likely that Carol Danvers is taking a breather from the spotlight while saving other worlds.
Steve Rogers/Captain America: Dude is retired from superhero days, despite the Internet’s dreams otherwise. Leave Chris Evans alone.
Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow: Likewise, Scarlett Johansson has been forthright about Natasha going out while saving the world. Scarlett even dropped a “let it go” while looking forward to tangling with dinosaurs in the next Jurassic World movie.
In other words, comic book fans can relax and look forward to dozens of heroes and villains in the next MCU movies. Now, here’s those release dates:
Lazarus, a new anime series from Cowboy Bebop director Shinichirō Watanabe, is coming soon: The show is set to premiere on April 5 at midnight, on Adult Swim’s Toonami block (episodes will be on Max the next day). Some great music folks are involved, too: Kamasi Washington, Bonobo, and Floating Points have all composed individual, full-length soundtrack albums for the show (all set for release on April 11), and some tracks from it have been shared today.
That includes Washington’s “Vortex,” which serves as the main theme for Lazarus. Also out now are Bonobo’s “Dark Will Fall” (featuring Jacob Lusk) and Floating Points’ “Dexion.”
A synopsis of the show reads:
“The year is 2052.
The world seemed to be on the verge of unprecedented peace and stability, and the painkiller drug ‘Hapna’ developed by a lauded neuroscientist Dr. Skinner has had a lot to do with it. Pervasive throughout the world with no known side effects, Hapna is said to have freed humanity from pain.
But then, Skinner suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth.
Three years later, he re-emerges as a prophet who brings countless deaths and the end of civilization. Hapna is designed with a fatal, retroactive effect, which manifests three years after ingestion, even by those who have only taken it once. Just thirty days remain until humanity is doomed to extinction. The only way to save the world is to get the cure that only Skinner knows. For that we must first find him.
‘Lazarus’ is a team of five agents gathered from various corners of the world to do just that. Can they save humanity? And what is Skinner’s true purpose?”
Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash has become a premier hip-hop festival, and it has a standout lineup ready for 2025. That was revealed today (March 27), and headlining at SeatGeek Stadium near Chicago, Illinois from June 20 to 22 will be Young Thug, Future, and the duo of Don Toliver and Yeat.
Tickets for the 2025 festival (the 7th edition of the event) sold out previously as part of a pre-sale. But, a new batch of tickets will be released on March 28 at noon CT via the festival website.
Check out the day-by-day lineup below.
Summer Smash 2025 Lineup For Friday, June 20
Trippie Redd
Ski Mask The Slump God
NLE Choppa
Nettspend
Che
DC The Don
Molly Santana
Benji Blue Bills
Karrahbooo
Weiland
Clip
Prettifun
Thirteendegrees
BossFTR
Summer Smash 2025 Lineup For Saturday, June 21
Sexyy Red
Lil Tecca
Destroy Lonely
SahBabii
Soulja Boy
Osamason
BabyTron
Plaqueboymax
Lazer Dim 700
Famous Dex
Yung Bans
Chuckyy
1900Rugrat
Nino Paid
1oneam
Adamn Killa
XTSY*
Komla
Summer Smash 2025 Lineup For Sunday, June 22
Chance The Rapper
Lil Yachty
Quavo
Nav
G Herbo
Saba
Insane Clown Posse
Lil Tracy
Bktherula
D. Savage
Skaiwater
Nine Vicious
BabyChiefDoIt
Yuno Miles
TiaCorine
DC2Trill
K3
Smokedope201
For the past couple years, a cloud of uncertainty has hung over Sheff G’s future. In 2023, he, Sleepy Hallow, and others were indicted on conspiracy charges. Sheff specifically was accused of giving money to New York street gangs connected to shootings and a murder. In 2024, Sheff paid $1.5 million in bail and was released from jail.
Legal proceedings have moved forward since then, and now, Sheff has pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree attempted murder and conspiracy in the second and fourth degrees. Per a statement from the Brooklyn district attorney’s office, on August 13, the rapper will be sentenced to five years in prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision. Prosecutors initially sought a 20-year sentence.
District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement:
“Notoriety could not shield this defendant from justice. He used his fame to fund and direct violence, terrorizing our streets, and though we sought a much longer sentence, he will now be held to account. Brooklyn will not tolerate gangs that endanger our communities, and we remain committed to dismantling these criminal networks and holding those responsible fully accountable.”
Along with Sheff, 17 other defendants have already pleaded guilty and 14 still have pending cases, per Pitchfork. Sleepy Hallow is among those with pending cases, and he’s charged with conspiracy to commit murder and criminal possession of a weapon, both in the second degree.
While it seems that every day of the calendar year brings with it an arbitrary celebration, we have to confess that this is one that we can 100% get behind.
Whether your typical preference is for American bourbon and rye, Scotch, or a dram of Irish whiskey, this list features the best from each category! We’ll be breaking down the best whiskey from each subset into three different price brackets: “Affordable” (under $100), “Premium” ($100-$250), and “Super Premium” ($250+).
Oh, and in the spirit of the holiday, don’t be shy about exploring the categories that aren’t your typical cup of tea. Part of the beauty of whisk(e)y is that it’s being produced in so many different styles across the globe (as this list will show), and regardless of which subset you prefer, the other categories likely have at least one bottle that will knock your socks off.
Now, let’s dive in and discover the best whiskey bottles from all over the world at every price point for International Whiskey Day!
Westward’s Cask Strength offering is the pinnacle of their core lineup in that it offers their flagship whiskey as unfettered as you can hope for, short of theiving it from a barrel yourself. Made with 100% malted barley using only Pacific Northwest grains, this whiskey is perhaps the truest representation of the region you’ll find.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Plums and cherries dance on the nose along with an undercurrent of malted chocolate, honey, and thyme. It’s a bold, fruit-forward bouquet that’s further buoyed by slightly burnt wheat toast and black pepper.
Palate: The silky mouthfeel of this whiskey leads to the introduction of black cherry, redcurrant, plum flesh, and black pepper on the palate. At midpalate is where honey sweetness simply bursts and fans out over the tongue with malted chocolate and oak, highlighting the transition to the finish.
Finish: The finish is full of fresh hazelnuts, more malted chocolate, and well-aged oak. Black pepper spice kicks in at the end as this lengthy finish slowly undulates away, making it a pour you’ll enjoy long after the last sip.
Bottom Line:
Westward’s Cask Strength expression is bursting at the seams with flavor, showcasing the nuance of barley and the blending prowess of Westward, which is one of the country’s preeminent American Single Malt producers. Simply put, this is a proof, pitch-perfect expression that will readily win over bourbon and rye drinkers to the nascent category.
Stranahan’s Blue Peak expression, named for a 13,000-foot peak in Aspen, is a four-year American Single Malt whiskey aged in new American oak barrels that then undergoes a Solera finish. For that final step, Stranahan’s transfers the whiskey into new American oak foeders for several months, removing a portion of the mature whiskey and bringing it to proof with Rocky Mountain water then chill-filtering it for bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this whiskey is full of golden raisins, chocolate truffle dust, honeyed black tea, and ripe melons. Allowing the whiskey time to interact with oxygen pulls forth additional notes of cream soda and dried strawberries.
Palate: Taking an initial sip, Stranahan’s Blue Peak greets the palate with the flavor of golden raisins and milk chocolate before faint banana notes fuse with roasted almonds, sweet malt, and dried apricots. The texture is fairly viscous despite its lean density, allowing the whiskey to travel well on the palate without distracting you with its weight.
Finish: The medium finish on this whiskey is where oak, nutmeg, and traces of black pepper spice can be found, along with a faint uptick in the cacao nib notes.
Bottom Line:
This remarkably even-keeled whiskey is a revelation in balance in addition to its bounty of well-developed flavors. Stranahan’s is America’s premier American Single Malt producer and their years of experience shines in their entry-level offerings just as much as it does with their more limited releases. This is a whiskey you need to experience in 2025 as the American Single Malt revolution is on the cusp of beginning.
1. Cedar Ridge “The QuintEssential” American Single Malt Whiskey Portside Special Release
Since its founding in 2005, Iowa’s Cedar Ridge Distillery has slowly put the state on the whiskey-making map. For this “Portside” edition of The QuintEssential, the brand starts off with its 100% 2-row pale malted barley distillate aged in Cedar Ridge’s ex-bourbon barrels. Then it uses first-fill ruby port casks in conjunction with whiskey finished in a first-fill Amontillado Sherry Butt and a Virgin French Oak cask. The end result is matured for at least six years and bottled at full cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Sugar cookies, candied ginger, sweet barley notes, and fresh berries dominate the nose on this whiskey at first pass. Allspice, pecans, a dollop of caramel, and gentle clove aromas are undulating just beneath the surface once you really begin taking deep inhalations and preparing for your first sip.
Palate: On the palate, the port influence is far more pronounced than it initially was on the nose, as raspberry compote, oily Brazil nuts, cacao, and hints of toffee stand out. Freshly cracked black pepper breaks things up a bit and introduces the earthier nutty tone of walnuts, while those jammy berry notes gain their second wind and bring some vanilla extract with them as they transition to the finish.
Finish: The medium-length finish on this whiskey features more Sherried notes than Port, as almond meat, dried cranberries, figs, and nougat begin to overtake the cooked fruit and dark sweetness found at midpalate. It’s a delightful closing impression that does well to balance the whiskey.
Bottom Line:
Cedar Ridge’s impressive Special Release, The QuintEssential “Portside,” does indeed boldly showcase port-led flavors, but by tempering those robust tones with sherry and virgin French oak, it delivers a level of nuance that will leave you in awe. At a relatively affordable price point, this is a great exploration of how the art of blending is crucial in creating a beautiful American Single Malt whiskey.
The Best American Single Malt Whiskey From $100-$250
3. Westward Milestone Edition 2 American Single Malt Whiskey
For Westward’s premium Milestone expression, Master Blender Miles Munroe created a twenty-one-barrel Solera system to continuously age and blend some of the brand’s most precious whiskey in various casks. Two other things that make this release unique? The distillate is slow-proofed in-cask, and new for this year is the inclusion of Amburana barrel-aged whiskey in the solera blend.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich orange marmalade and cinnamon notes come leaping out of the glass when you run your nose over the rim, with further aromas of malt chocolate and dense French vanilla drawing you in and imploring an initial sip.
Palate: This is an incredibly lush and smooth whiskey with cinnamon and nougat meshing harmoniously with the orange marmalade, French vanilla, and malt chocolate notes from the nose. The texture is also remarkably creamy, allowing all of those decadent flavors to coat your palate and blossom at length.
Finish: The medium-length finish gently recedes with orange blossom, Brazil nuts, and cinnamon, leaving the final impression before it escapes your palate.
Bottom Line:
Westward Whiskey’s annual Milestone expression has quickly established itself as a whiskey not to be missed, exhibiting Master Blender Miles Munroe’s expert blending prowess. This expression’s moniker, a sly nod to Mr. Munroe and aptly named to mark Westward’s growth, definitely fits, and the whiskey exemplifies the neck tag’s Latin dictum Verum Factum, the maker’s knowledge.
How does the highest-proofed nationally released Stranahan’s whiskey of all time sound? Pretty damn good to us, and that’s exactly what’s in this bottle. Aged for 12 long years in Colorado, this American Single Malt is made from 100% malted barley and aged in new American oak barrels. It’s worth noting that some of the barrels in this blend were finished for one to four years in second-use bourbon barrels and blonde ale casks.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Honeydew, golden raisins, and apricots come tumbling out of the glass almost immediately. Sweet barley notes and organic honey soon follow, with a hint of allspice, amaretto, and oak tying it all together. This is a truly lovely nose.
Palate: The heavy mouthfeel stands out immediately because I’m not used to Stranahan’s liquid being so dense. Oily and viscous, yes…but this is a different animal. Sweet malt, honey, plump coconut tones, and cinnamon over buttered biscuits make a striking first impression on the palate, and those notes only grow richer as they sit on your tongue. Brown sugar peaches, freshly cracked black pepper, torched lemon peels, and a faint dusting of chocolate truffle powder cap things off.
Finish: The finish is lengthy and concentrates the notes of honey, cinnamon, and sweet malt for an exceedingly satisfying conclusion.
Bottom Line:
With all due respect for Snowflake releases from years past, this just catapulted to the top of my favorite Stranahan’s releases ever. What it lacks in a variety of flavors, it more than makes up for with the richness of its limited notes, and that’s before you add points for its robust mouthfeel and extensive finish.
Whether you’re already on the American Single Malt train or not, this is a sweet release you’re sure to instantly fall in love with.
Westland’s Garryana expression represents the brand’s exploration of a species of oak found only in the Pacific Northwest: Quercus garryana. Utilizing the oak is Westland’s way of imbuing a sense of place in its whiskey, featuring a minimum maturation time of 60 months (5 years), a grain bill that utilizes five different types of malt, and three cask types: Virgin Quercus garryana, first fill ex-bourbon barrels, and first fill ex-Oloroso butts.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Waxy plums and Rainier cherries come leaping out of the glass to greet the nose at first, clear indications of the Sherry casks that played a part in this whiskey’s formation. Coconut flakes, vanilla beans, malted chocolate, and soft candied clementine notes follow those aromas. It’s a delightful aroma set that whets the palate for an initial sip.
Palate: This silky whiskey washes over your palate and instantly begins gently coating it in a blanket of mellow Sherry, Manuka honey, toasted almonds, peppermint tea, and cloves. It’s an enchanting melange made all the more impressive by its warm, viscous texture, enhancing the flavors’ richness.
Finish: The finish here is appropriately medium-length, giving the whiskey just enough runway to leave you enamored without overstaying its welcome and becoming astringent or cloying on the back end. A final kick of cinnamon, vanilla, and Brazil nuts really rounds it all out.
Bottom Line:
I’ve been over the moon about each of the top 5 whiskeys on this list, but Westland’s 9th Edition of Garryana quite handily takes the cake. This balanced and beautifully well-developed ASM expression ticks every box along the way to mesmerize you with its robust layers of flavor.
If you’re looking for just one American Single Malt whiskey to begin your journey into the category, or if you’re already familiar with the subset and looking for a knockout expression that will deepen your appreciation of it, Westland’s latest Garryana expression is the one for you.
The Best American Single Malt Whiskey Over $250
3. Triple Eight Distillery The Notch 8-Year American Single Malt Whisky
Neatly tucked on Nantucket Island is Triple Eight Distillery, which has been quietly producing some of the country’s best single malt whiskey for north of twenty years. Made from 100% Maris Otter malt, a heritage barley cross-bred in 1966, The Notch is distilled twice through an Arnold Holstein hybrid pot still before being matured in ex-bourbon barrels for eight years, then finished in scrapped and retoasted wine barrels.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nosing notes open with gentle cloves, tobacco leaf, sweet malt, and Manuka honey tones, which will send your nose deeper into the glass to discover more aromas. Once fully plunged, additional notes of melon rind, golden raisins, and nutmeg continue to waft out of the glass for a well-integrated and balanced aroma profile.
Palate: On the palate, this whiskey is impressively creamy, with notes of hazelnuts, dried apricots, and cloves capturing your focus at first. From there, further notes of malted chocolate, vanilla, and a faint tobacco leaf aspect coat the palate as it transitions to the finish.
Finish: The finish is short-to-medium, but it has a slightly saline-inflected send-off that pairs nicely with the notes of dried stone fruits and hazelnuts, which makes it a treat down to the last drop.
Bottom Line:
While its expressions are famously on the spendy side, there’s absolutely no denying that Triple Eight Distillery is producing some of the best American Single Malt whiskey on the market today. With a combination of experience and a unique micro-climate, releases of The Notch deserve to be on your list.
If you can only splurge on one expensive ASM expression, it’s worth targeting this bottle to experience one of the more elusive offerings in the category.
2. Wolves The Malted Barley Series California Single Malt Whiskey Lot No. 2
Lot Two of Wolves’ Malted Barley Series Small Batch expression comprises 9 barrels of 11-year-old whiskey initially distilled in 2012. Each of their releases thus far has combined a wide range of whiskeys, and this one is no different, featuring imported Irish malts and a California yeast in the fermentation process. The whiskeys were distilled in a copper alembic pot still, and matured in new American oak with a range of toast and char levels, from a light toast to a char 3.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Immediately, the aroma of Tiramisu, caramel, and malted barley fills the air, and scents like toasted coconut flakes, dark chocolate, and fresh raspberries soon join those notes.
Palate: Allspice and tobacco leaf opens the floodgates for malted chocolate on the palate. This whiskey has a heavy mouthfeel, and vanilla buttercream, nutmeg, and black pepper leap up at midpalate from that dense textural wave. Deep oak tones creep in with a touch of honey as the whiskey slowly transitions to the finish.
Finish: The finish on Wolves Malted Barley Series Lot 2 is bursting at the seams with crème brulée and tobacco leaf paired with the malted barley on the lingering full-bodied finish.
Bottom Line:
Each bottle of Wolves Whiskey is hand-wrapped ined sheepskin leather, so black, UV-print you know just by handling the bottle that you’re in for an elevated, carefully crafted experience. The liquid does not disappoint as this intensely complex blend of flavors continues to evolve both in the glass and on your palate far longer than any other American Single Malt Whiskey. Straight up, this is the sort of drinking experience you should be hungry for.
Distilled from 100% malted barley and aged for at least 9 years, the 2024 Snowflake, Stranahan’s annual distillery-only release, marks Head Blender, Justin Aden’s second crack at crafting the highly sought-after expression. Named for the fact that “no two Snowflakes are alike,” this year’s “Redcloud Peak” expression is indeed unique, despite hewing more towards longtime fans’ expectations for the offering. The whiskey was aged in American charred oak barrels before being transferred to a variety of Portuguese, French, and Spanish fortified wine casks (Madeira, Port, Sauternes, Pedro Ximénez, and Oloroso) and Brandy casks.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The enchanting aroma notes open with honey-drizzled caramelized orange wheels, toffee, milk chocolate, and cinnamon. Further hints of milk chocolate, freshly cracked black pepper, and vanilla frosting add heft to the nuanced structure of the nosing notes.
Palate: Once this whiskey passes your lips, its richness immediately washes over your tongue. The caramelized orange wheel note rises to the fore along with Rainier cherries, cinnamon bark, and milk chocolate for an alluring melange that causes the edges of your tongue to start salivating as your taste buds welcome the deluge of decadent flavor. The mouthfeel is impressively viscous for such a modest proof point, which enhances your enjoyment of all those well-developed flavor notes.
Finish: The finish recedes slowly from your palate with bright red cherries, ripe raspberries, and allspice notes clinging to your tongue long after your last sip.
Bottom Line:
Stranahan’s has been pushing the envelope for the American Single Malt category for two decades now, and all of that expertise takes center stage with their exceptional annual release, Snowflake. While 2023’s expression received polarizing reviews, 2024’s Redcloud Peak offering doubles as both a return to form and a raising of the bar.
Be advised that this bottle retails for $120 at the distillery when it’s initially released, but if you aren’t in Denver for the launch event, then you’ll have to fork over some pretty eye-popping figures to secure a bottle on the secondary market.
Russell’s Reserve Single Barrel Bourbon is one of the quintessential bourbons on the market today. The brand was first launched in 2013 on the heels of Wild Turkey’s success with Russell’s Reserve Small Batch. Non-chill filtered and always proofed to 55% ABV, this release features both a general release and private barrel selections.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This whiskey opens with a rich interplay of thick cherry syrup and vanilla ice cream with honey, white pepper, clove, and oak aromas, and it noses as one of the best damn desserts Lawrenceburg, KY, can offer.
Palate: Cola nut, Luxardo cherries, and French vanilla hit the palate first before this rich bourbon invites white pepper and some faint barrel char notes to join them. As the liquid travels to the back of your palate, it begins bringing peanut brittle, black pepper, oak, and a faint green apple flavor to the fore.
Finish: The medium-length finish has cooked red apple and cinnamon, with restrained barrel char having the final say.
Bottom Line:
What happens when you bottle up some of Wild Turkey’s hand-selected barrels, proof them to 110 without chill filtration, and pour it in a glass? Absolute magic. You can visit your local liquor store and inquire about the standard version of this offering, or you can go the extra mile and seek out single-barrel selections from folks whose palate you trust. Either way, you’re sure to hit on a winner.
Four Roses Single Barrel, offered at Barrel Proof, is one of the single-barrel bourbon world’s best offerings. Not only does Four Roses make all ten of its recipes available in the single-barrel program, but by offering them at an undiluted strength, it showcases their distillate in its purest form every time. This particular single barrel is a nine-year and five-month version from the OESO recipe.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Juicy orange rinds, bright red cherries, and sweet brown sugar aromas come flying out of the glass with this delicious bourbon freshly poured. There’s also a touch of sage, vanilla frosting, and tobacco leaf to be found.
Palate: Brown sugar and red currants are the most immediately available flavors to download once you take a first sip of this single-barrel bourbon. The dense oak introduces some clove and mellow black pepper baking spice notes, as well as grips the palate and pushes towards the finish.
Finish: The finish is mellow and lingering, with figs and cherries fusing with juicy orange notes and barrel char before pulsing off of your palate.
Bottom Line:
No matter the recipe, Four Roses Single Barrel Barrel Proof Bourbon is an exemplar of the single-barrel format, though we do have our favorites. As one of the most historic brands in all of bourbon, it’s simply a must that you try Four Roses Bourbon as undisturbed as possible at full cask strength.
Fortuna Barrel Proof Bourbon is the pinnacle of the revived Fortuna brand from Rare Character. Always aged for at least seven years, the bourbon is sourced from an undisclosed distillery in Kentucky and blended in three-to-five barrel lots.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with boozy cocktail cherries, cinnamon bark, rich oak tones, and even a hint of mocha. After a wave of the hand, as the liquid tumbles around your glass, aerating it will reveal further aromas of butterscotch, black pepper, cacao nibs, and strawberry jam.
Palate: The nosing notes offer a solid roadmap for what follows on the palate as blackberry jam replaces the strawberries found on the nose while cinnamon, almond extract, dense oak, and sticky toffee run rampant on the tongue. The texture is robust and offers a fullness that allows each flavor to present itself distinctly, revealing its impressive richness.
Finish: The finish is long-lasting and introduces clove, freshly grated ginger, and black pepper for one final baking spice sizzle before the syrupy black cherry notes leave a sweet final impression.
Bottom Line:
Fortuna Barrel Proof entered the market with a splash, immediately challenging the supremacy of several cask-strength stalwarts on this list. Now, less than two years after its introduction to the market, it’s become clear that it isn’t just beginner’s luck that warrants its place in the conversation. Fortuna Barrel Proof Bourbon is easily one of our most highly recommended bottles to buy for under $100 in 2025.
The Best Bourbon From $100-$250
3. Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon 2024
Four Roses’ highly anticipated Limited Edition Small Batch for 2024 has finally been announced, and we were able to get a first taste of it. For this year’s release, Master Distiller Brent Elliott opted to blend three of Four Roses’ ten bourbon recipes with a 12-year-old OBSV, 15-year-old OESK, 16-year-old OESF, and more OBSV, this time at 20 years old, to create the final product.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is initially floral with ripe apples, butterscotch, and butter pecan ice cream. Faint bits of dark chocolate, star anise, and tobacco leaf help to round out the beautiful bouquet of aromas.
Palate: The butterscotch and apple note really pops on the palate off the bat. The whiskey is well-rounded with a mellow black pepper baking spice tone to go with a more pronounced helping of cinnamon bark, pecans, and brown sugar. The range of flavors reminds me a lot of fried apple pie with a splash of citrus zest. The mouthfeel is medium-bodied and enhances the depth of the flavors without becoming an attraction unto itself.
Finish: The finish has a mature oak backbone with the additional flavor of caramel chews and Fuji apple skin. It’s medium-length, but that brevity really works, urging your focus on the next sip rather than your last.
Bottom Line:
If you want evidence that 2024 was the best year for bourbon releases in recent memory, look no further than this bottle here. Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch is annually considered one of the stars of the fall-release schedule and its consistently high quality is indicative of why. In another year, this could’ve easily been the best or, at worst, second-best bourbon of the year, which goes to show how thin the margin was between each of the expressions on 2024’s “Best Bourbons Of The Year” list.
Premier Drams is a new brand that was launched early this summer by the same man behind Washington D.C.’s legendary whiskey bar, Jack Rose, Bill Thomas. 8 years ago, Thomas began procuring contract-distilled whiskey from an elusive producer in Bardstown, Kentucky, and aging it at the site of the historic Old Taylor Distillery, which today is the home of Castle & Key. Due to Castle & Key’s uniquely cool maturation facilities, many of the barrels that went into these Premier Drams single barrels saw a significant drop in ABV, with the majority hovering right around the 100-proof mark at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Strawberry saltwater taffy escapes the grasp of the glass to greet the nose at first before evolving into a cherry Luden’s note and partnering up with truffle honey, white pepper, and peanut brittle for a mellow and intriguing medley.
Palate: On the palate, it’s a delight to discover that the Luden’s cherry note has evolved into a full-blown Rainier cherry, carrying white pepper, allspice, nutmeg, and honey in tow. The flavors here are markedly rich, defying its moderate proof and delivering a depth and richness that will have you sucking your molars, frantically trying to prevent even a single drop from slipping through the cracks.
Finish: Vanilla pods, salted butter, fatty Brazil nuts, and white pepper prevail on the finish with a dollop of honey and Rainier cherries, adding a sweet closing kiss as it succinctly slides off your palate.
Bottom Line:
Premier Drams is quietly revolutionizing the modern bourbon landscape by delivering cask-strength bourbon at a moderate proof point. Take note of that. In the fashion of any groundbreaking innovator, I’m not entirely sure the public is ready for it yet, but that’s what makes discovering excellent single-barrel offerings like this so awesome. I suspect that, in due time, these stellar new releases will be even more coveted than they already are.
Russell’s Reserve 15 is Wild Turkey’s latest age-stated release, and boy, has it been met with enthusiasm. The brand’s digital launch caused its website to crash both days it made the expression available online and the legend of the liquid in the bottle has only grown legs since then. This bourbon is non-chill filtered, and given their track record, one can safely assume there’s whiskey aged for even longer than 15 years in this blend.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Syrupy fig, mature oak tones, and rich leather fill the room once you pour this whimedicinal cherry notes and milk chocolate join them chocolate. There’s no mistaking the fact that this is a bourbon of a certain age. With further investigation, your nose will bump up against clove and cinnamon as the aroma of vanilla pod takes root. Finally, a faintly floral note reminiscent of rosewater can be found.
Palate: Black cherries covered in chocolate truffle dust hit the palate at first; this is distinctly different than, say, cherry cordials as there’s a ripeness to the fruit and an almost chalky textural component to the chocolate. On the second sip, observe nougat, caramel, vanilla, and rich oak. While the nose gave the impression that this would be over-oaked, the palate greatly alleviates those concerns as each of the hallmarks of hyper-aging has its say without muddling any of the others.
Finish: Lengthy, balanced, and delicious, the finish is marked by black cherries, clove, and cacao nibs as it grips your palate for dear life, refusing to dissipate until minutes after the last sip.
Bottom Line:
Russell’s 15-Year Bourbon is truly a world beater. When it was initially released, expectations for this bottle were sky-high, and our impression of it has remained there throughout the year. Sure, Russell’s Reserve 15-Year is one of the best bourbons available today, but taking the superlatives a step higher, this might go down in the pantheon as one of the best bourbons in the Wild Turkey brand’s history.
Brook Hill is the top-of-the-line series from the wildly successful Rare Character brand. By cherry-picking some of the best liquid in its inventory, Rare Character offers these premium bourbons (and ryes) in a single-barrel format, undiluted at cask strength in limited quantities. This particular single barrel was selected by Emerson K. Shotwell and named “Pablo Honey” as a tongue-in-cheek reference to Rare Character co-founder Pablo Moix and doubling as an homage to Radiohead’s debut album.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose entices with marshmallow creme, dark chocolate, and burnt honey, which goes a way toward explaining the name, as well. What’s most impressive about the aromas of this bourbon is how rich and well-defined they are without being obnoxiously bold. In fact, this bourbon takes the opposite track and burrows deep into your olfactory system with subtle ease, making it feel like the aromas are enveloping your senses with even the most modest inhalation.
Palate: The palate of this whiskey is immediately remarkable for being velvety, dense, and rich. What I constantly come back to is the flavor of Luxardo cherries on the front palate, which then graduates into a sticky toffee with a whisper of clove on the back of the palate. It’s slick, to be sure, but it also has some grip — hugging the edges of your tongue and imbuing your palate with a light dusting of dark chocolate truffle flavor and vanilla between the beautiful cherry notes which bob up and down like a buoy at sea.
Finish: There’s an intimate kiss of sweet, rich oak that coats the palate with an oily texture before you’re allowed to say goodbye to this sip. It closes out like a much older bourbon, minus any hints of dry oak, hugging your palate for a satisfyingly long time.
Bottom Line:
If indecorous lip-smacking isn’t your thing, you’ll want to stay far away from Rare Character’s stunning Brook Hill Bourbons. This single-barrel series showcases some of the best bourbon available today and highlights how vital barrel curation is for any brand built on sourced whiskey. What Pablo Moix and Pete Nevenglosky are doing across their Rare Character portfolio is impressive enough, but they’ve raised the bar to dizzying heights for their premium Brook Hill lineup.
Rare Character’s ascent in the bourbon world has been a white-knuckle ride. For one of the greatest thrills yet, you’ll want to seek out a bottle of Brook Hill immediately.
Oakley Spirits is a brand-new producer with some absolutely jaw-dropping whiskey in its portfolio. Case in point: its inaugural release, a 20-year Kentucky Bourbon forged from single barrels and aged to its optimal peak.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with stunning force as fresh Brazil nuts, gooey caramel, and mature oak aromas set the tone. From there, crisp red apples, marzipan, and palo santo notes emerge alongside honeycomb, cinnamon, peanut butter, and white pepper. It’s the sort of nose that makes the hair on the back of your arm stand up as you anticipate the first sip.
Palate: Caramel sweetness seizes the palate, allowing the flavors of Rainier cherries, vanilla bean ice cream, stunning oak, milk chocolate, and faint whisps of polished leather to take turns delighting the center of the tongue. At the tongue’s edges, you’ll pick up more forceful oak and baking spice tones like cinnamon and clove, which help to balance the sweetness and elevate its richness.
Finish: The long and lingering finish welcomes the reincorporation of Rainier cherries and an uptick in the vanilla bean flavors, while dark chocolate chunks and well-developed oak notes offer earthier layers of nuance that enhance each sip.
Bottom Line:
From a quality standpoint, there’s no good reason why Oakley Spirits’ inaugural bourbon offering should be flying under the radar. The combination of an unknown name in the space and a prohibitive price point is surely to blame, but tasting is believing, and we’ve been head-over-heels in love with this bourbon from the first sip, so much so that we have it earmarked as an early bourbon of the year contender.
Heralded as one of the most exceptional bourbons of the modern era, Michter’s 20-year bourbon is a rare treat that hasn’t been released since 2022. For the production of this expression, Michter’s — which was recently named the World’s Most Admired Distillery — utilizes bourbon of the highest quality, which has rested for a minimum of 20 long years in new American white oak barrels before it’s approved for bottling by the distillery’s tasting panel which includes Master Distiller Dan McKee and Master of Maturation Andrea Wilson.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this bourbon immediately announces itself as a mature expression with hot cocoa and seasoned oak emanating from the glass, riding a cinnamon bark raft with a leather sail over waves of brown sugar, coffee beans, vanilla ice cream, and savory dates — the sort you would cook in a Moroccan tajine alongside a succulent chicken dish. I’m already salivating.
Palate: The tasting experience with Michter’s 20-year bourbon seals the deal in a single sip. This is decadent whiskey. The velvety texture brushes your palate with thick layers of flavor, coating your tongue with a primary base of chocolate truffle dust, brown sugar, and roasted coffee beans. From there, an intermediate layer is laid, resplendent with cooked dates, ripe plums, and juicy black cherries. At last, the topcoat of vanilla bean ice cream, wildflower honey, and a caramelized orange wheel begins to set, seeping into your tongue and sneaking between your teeth, allowing you to enjoy each distinct flavor at length.
Finish: The lengthy, lingering finish is the perfect reward for such an enveloping blanket of flavor, as the palate’s greatest hits float to the surface as you savor the end of each sip. Expect vanilla bean, dark chocolate chunks, mature oak, Maduro cigar leaf, blood orange juice, and ripe black cherries to be among those indulgent closing notes with polished leather bounding them all together.
Bottom Line:
Rather than engaging in the rat race of trying to have the best annual limited edition for Michter’s 20-Year Bourbon, the distillery opts instead to chart its own course, holding back the liquid that goes into this bottle until Master Distiller Dan McKee and Master of Maturation Andrea Wilson deem it to be ready. It’s not the first time that patience has paid off for Michter’s, which has been known to forego even their more moderately priced expressions with an eye on sending their very best bourbon into the market every time.
Slane Irish Whiskey is a blend that comes from a triple cask process that utilizes virgin oak, seasoned Tennessee whiskey barrels, and Oloroso sherry casks. Once the whiskey is fully matured, the liquid in those three different barrels is blended together to create this expression.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this one opens with some faint butterscotch that’s buoyed by an oily, nutty note, Sherry, dried strawberries, and hay. It’s a pretty light aroma base but one that comes together with good balance.
Palate: The palate is marked by more butterscotch, light Sherry tones, sweet malt, faint black pepper, and a touch of cacao. The mouthfeel is lean but substantial enough for each of those layers of flavor to establish themselves before it transitions to the finish.
Finish: The finish is where the Sherry casks have their strongest say as the notes of dried strawberries interact with cinnamon and black pepper before things trail off with one last gasp of sweet malt and dilute butterscotch.
Bottom Line:
Slane Irish Whiskey and its employment of multiple cask varieties open it up to a unique world of flavor you don’t get from most whiskeys in this price range. Because of that distinctive, well-executed flavor profile, this is a bottle that you should definitely target at the <$50 price point.
This peated single-malt Irish whiskey is triple distilled in Dublin, then matured in Sauternes and first-fill ex-bourbon barrels. It’s a fun and funky hodgepodge that is bottled without chill filtration.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nosing notes open with that peated barley before the cereal notes take center stage, bringing black pepper, apple chips, clove, and dried apricots to the party. The smoky influence is immediately noticeable but maintains an airiness that allows you to appreciate all of the other aromas, which is a delight.
Palate: Apple chips, dilute honey, black pepper, and peat smoke hit the palate at first when you endeavor to take a sip of this whiskey. From there, it opens up thanks to a creamy texture and a distinct delineation between each flavor note, allowing you to explore each layer at your leisure.
Finish: The finish on Blackpitts is medium-length and more assertively integrates the peat smoke with cereal grains, apricots, vanilla frosting, and grilled apple cores.
Bottom Line:
The secret sauce that elevates this Blackpitts release is adding a subtle touch of peat smoke to Teeling’s already stellar distillate. If you want a smoky Irish whiskey answer to Islay Scotch, look no further than this excellent offering, which delicately balances those peaty notes with subtle stewed stone fruits.
Bushmills 12, made from 100% Irish malted barley, is part of the well-known brand’s core range. Alongside Jameson and Redbreast, Bushmills is perhaps the most widely known Irish whiskey brand, and that’s due to their 237-year legacy of producing high-quality liquid. For this expression, they marry ex-bourbon and ex-Oloroso casks together, then finish them in ex-Marsala casks for 6-9 months.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with dilute honey and bright apple notes with a lovely infusion of faint nutmeg, pears, and vanilla beans, giving this whiskey a distinctly autumnal vibe from the outset.
Palate: Once the liquid crosses your lips and hits your palate, those lovely aromas from the nose spring to life as full-figured flavors on your tongue. Apple chips dipped in honey come to mind at the tip of the tongue before the graininess of Cheerios curtails the sweetness and allows you to appreciate the creamy texture as it barrels toward the finish.
Finish: The finish is short to medium in length and introduces a bit more baking spice, caramel, and dried apple flavors.
Bottom Line:
Bushmills 12 is a beautiful display of balance when using finishing casks, as each of the barrels selected contributes a little bit of oomph to the overall flavor profile. Caramel and faint coconut from the bourbon casks, rich apple notes from the Oloroso, and a slight nuttiness offer a more full-bodied texture with the Marsala casks, making this one the ideal affordable option from the category.
Knappogue Castle draws its name from a castle originally built in the 15th century in County Clare, but the whiskey they’re sending to market comes from County Cork. With every single one of the brand’s expressions sporting an age statement, they’ve got their aim set on connoisseurs more than casual whiskey fans. This 16-year unseated expression spent 14 years aging in ex-bourbon casks before being finished in an Oloroso Sherry butt.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This one has a lovely, fruit-driven nose that makes me think it’s finished. That’s not a knock, as it works with (what I assume are) the base liquid aromas.
Palate: On the palate, it has some nuttiness and red berry sweetness, which indicates its secondary maturation in sherry casks. While the texture isn’t overly viscous, it maintains a buttery mouthfeel that allows that balance of nuttiness and red berries to develop nicely while faint baking spices and freeze-dried orange peels emerge at the periphery.
Finish: The finish is fairly succinct but marked by faint Sherry notes, black pepper spice, toasted almonds, and dilute butterscotch.
Bottom Line:
Knappogue Castle whiskeys are always a great option for people who are looking to take the next step on their Irish whiskey journey beyond your classic Jameson and Bushmills offerings. For our money, the 16-year is the sweet spot where enthusiasts and newcomers alike will find plenty to enjoy.
For this 16-year-old whiskey, Bushmills ages the base spirit in a combination of Oloroso Sherry and bourbon-seasoned casks before going the extra mile of finishing it for about nine months in port wine pipes.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Honey and port wine come billowing out of the glass once Bushmills 16 is poured, as the aroma of black cherries, raw almonds, and vanilla pods accent the air. There are also gentle hints of menthol, pine, and tobacco leaf to enrich the experience further.
Palate: Once on the palate, this whiskey lives up to the expectations set by the nosing notes as syrupy black cherry notes meld with almond meat and vanilla extract with a slightly oily texture that quickly coats your tongue with rich flavor. There are also hints of pistachio, dark chocolate chunks, and Manuka honey in the mix to keep things interesting.
Finish: The finish is most prominently marked by black pepper, oak, almonds, and non-descript red berries as it slowly tapers off with a medium-length departure that you’ll want to take your time savoring.
Bottom Line:
While there’s a time and a place for every bottle in Bushmills’ core lineup, I find myself reaching for this 16-year expression more than any of the others. With a subtle blend of Sherry and Port influences adding robust sweetness and a nutty backbone to Bushmills’ classic flavor profile, this is a bottle that you should never hesitate to pour — whether you’re celebrating International Whiskey Day or simply having a regular Thursday.
Redbreast 15 sits plop in the middle of the brand’s core range, which showcases Irish whiskey at 12, 15, and 18 years of age. Utilizing first fill and refill casks (ex-bourbon and ex-sherry, to be exact), this 15-year expression is where the whiskey really starts hitting its stride.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Dried chunks of pineapple, Golden Delicious apples, and blueberries form the fruit-forward base of this whiskey, with drizzles of dilute honey, a hint of cedar, sweet malt tones, and white pepper giving it an almost elegant roundness. This is a delightfully balanced whiskey on the nose.
Palate: The palate is a bit toned down in “oomph” and opts instead for finesse. The dried pineapple notes demure into more of a dried apricot flavor on the palate, while the aroma of Golden Delicious apples is also subdued into more of a stewed green apple note. The flavors of honey, sweet malt, and white pepper remain, and they’re joined by a touch of nougat and a faintly metallic note that streaks up the mid-palate.
Finish: The finish is gentle and lingering. I’d even call it creamy, as it gently sizzles away with sweet malt, white pepper, and candied ginger, closing things out.
Bottom Line:
Redbreast 15, despite being only three years older than Redbreast 12, brings an added layer of depth that its younger sibling intimates but doesn’t quite achieve. For our money, this might be the most well-rounded, unfinished Irish whiskey you can regularly find on the shelf today.
The Best Irish Whiskey Over $500
3. Bushmills 46-Year-Old “Secrets Of The River Bush” Irish Whiskey
This instantly historic expression is now credited as the oldest Irish single malt ever bottled. The Secrets Of The River Bush was aged entirely in two 500-liter oloroso sherry European oak butts from the Antonio Paez Lobato Cooperage in Jerez, Spain, which, in addition to its age, accounts for its incredibly dark color. Having entered into that sherry cask in 1978 at 63.4% ABV, the angels had their fair share of this whiskey, limiting it to 300 bottles globally, with only 100 bottles available in the U.S.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Stout beer, orange wheels dipped in dark chocolate, and faint honeyed malt tones stand out immediately on the nose of this whiskey, which is expansive and complex. As it settles in the glass, additional notes of figs, espresso, and vanilla custard aromas begin to take shape.
Palate: On the palate, a chalky dark chocolate note leads the way for toasted coconut, mulled wine, nutmeg-dusted hazelnuts, citrus, marzipan, and allspice to follow. On the second sip, nuances like tobacco leaves and black cherries help to expand the flavor profile, along with flecks of fresh black pepper.
Finish: The finish is only medium length, which causes the rich layers of flavor to become quickly unwound as it recedes from the palate. It is an all-too-brief experience that will lead to you drinking this one more rapidly than you might otherwise prefer.
Bottom Line:
Impressive age statement aside, there’s no denying that Bushmills 46-Year-Old “Secrets Of The River Bush” is downright delicious whiskey. You’d be hard-pressed to do any better for a complex, slightly brooding pour than this magnificently matured marvel.
Named after the legendary Master Distiller Barry Crockett, this premium single-pot still Irish whiskey was matured in ex-bourbon barrels. Triple-distilled and crafted from a mash of malted and unmalted barley, when it initially launched in 2011, this expression became only the second product from an Irish distillery that was named after a Master Distiller, following John Jameson’s lead.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Golden raisins, vanilla, and faint citrus undertones set the stage on the nose, which is marked by an impressive depth with each aroma. Toffee, ripe apples, and gingerbread aromas also meld well with a drizzle of honey and cracked black pepper to round things out.
Palate: Once this whiskey crosses your lips, the notes on the palate welcome more of the same. Accents of white pepper, cream soda, and candied ginger propping up the more prominent notes of golden raisins, vanilla ice cream, toffee, and ripe red apples.
Finish: The finish is lengthy and introduces smoked honey and apricots to the palate. It also features a slight uptick in pie crust and clove notes.
Bottom Line:
In short, this remarkable liquid forces you to sit down and savor it but also to lean forward and listen as it reveals all its secrets. Its sweetness is front and center while displaying a restraint that allows baking spices and barrel-driven notes to shine with its sugary side in perfect harmony. This is a near-ideal celebratory pour.
1. Redbreast 27-Year Irish Whiskey
Redbreast
ABV: 54.6% Average Price: $1,150
The Whiskey:
Matured for nearly three decades, this expression from Redbreast is the penultimate release in their premium lineup — bested only by the Dream Cask series. This release features the inclusion of port casks which bolsters the base of liquid matured in ex-bourbon and sherry casks for added complexity and depth.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: With my nose making the initial descent, I’m able to gather a bouquet of red currants, vanilla custard, dark chocolate, and candied ginger. Think of a boozy, spiced holiday cake, and you’re on the right track with the nose on this whiskey.
It’s a lush, richly concentrated bouquet of aromas that all work well with one another.
Palate: On the palate, crème brûlée and more nondescript red berries claim the stage, with citrus accents ranging from fresh oranges to lemon glaze also making an impression. While the sweetness is borderline decadent and indeed inescapable, the depths of flavor in this pour are aided by black pepper, a sort of depleted, mature sweet oak, and coffee beans, which makes this a complete delight.
Finish: The finish is silky and lingering, gently revealing nutmeg, dried oranges, and a touch of Port wine sweetness.
Bottom Line:
While we were tempted to recommend the Dream Cask series, this more readily available alternative displays remarkable richness, balance, and consistency, making Redbreast 27 the top of the flock.
Redbreast 27 is a rich, remarkably well-rounded Irish whiskey that mines a depth of flavor rarely found in expressions from any category. Its combination of patient primary maturation and complementary secondary maturation sends this one into the stratosphere, and there’s no better bottle at your local liquor store to celebrate International Whiskey Day than this.
Wild Turkey Rare Breed Rye directly reflects Wild Turkey’s burgeoning commitment to making some of the best rye whiskey on the planet. Officially launched in 2020, Rare Breed Rye is a barrel-proof, non-chill filtered blend of Kentucky straight ryes.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rye spice, sorghum, chocolate truffle dust, and orange buttercream fill the air once this whiskey leaves the bottle and enters the glass. There’s lots of ginger and nutmeg, adding depth to the overall aroma profile, along with touches of crème brûlée and floral notes.
Palate: Waves of orange buttercream spill over the palate, carried by the whiskey’s oily texture. Some well-developed milk chocolate notes introduce a darker sweetness at midpalate to contrast with the citrus quality at the tip of the tongue, along with some freshly cracked black pepper and clove.
Finish: Rising spice is very prominent on the finish, which has a medium length before being curtailed by chocolate truffle dust and fresh mint.
Bottom Line:
It is a crime not to include this world-beater of a rye whiskey as one of the best rye whiskeys under $100. Rare Breed Rye is frequently overshadowed by its equally stellar bourbon counterpart, but this killer rye definitely deserves its own shine.
For this juiced-up expression, Jack Daniel’s takes its standard rye mash bill of 70% rye, 18% corn, and 12% malted barley and subjects it to all of its standard production methods with one key twist: it’s bottled at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is full of nougat, overripe banana peels, caramel, cedar, and spearmint. There are subtler notes along the periphery of the glass, such as black pepper, lemon zest, and apple leather, but those core notes take up a significant amount of space as each of them is impressively distinct and well-developed.
Palate: Vibrant mint blends well with the taste of bananas fosters, and freshly cracked black pepper flavors, which all further fuse with caramel, dense oak, and black tea notes to make up the base of this meaty, delicious whiskey. The mouthfeel is robust and burly with its few “rough edges” tucked neatly behind spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, while maple candy and cedar do additional work sanding down those spiky spots.
Finish: The lengthy finish is full of caramel, subtler banana flavors, and sweet mint accented by black pepper. One of the things this whiskey does most impressively is balance its bold core notes with elegant and purpose-driven accenting flavors, and the finish effectively reestablishes this display.
Bottom Line:
If you only measure by cases sold, Jack Daniel’s is easily one of the most successful whiskey brands on the planet, and yet, despite that, one of their greatest expressions continues to go underrated by hardcore whiskey enthusiasts.
Kings County operates out of the Brooklyn Naval Yard and is highly regarded as New York’s oldest distillery. It’s also one of the inaugural Committed Members that got legislation passed to officially recognize “Empire Rye” as a designation. That means 75% of the mash bill must be New York State-grown rye and aged for a minimum of two years, among other specifications. This particular single barrel is over three years old.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: French vanilla and dates are immediately evident on the nose, along with some sassafras, toffee, and plenty of barrel char.
Palate: On the palate, you’ll find those rich dark notes take the lead, with toffee and barrel char being the main players. On the periphery, there’s a bit of smokiness, some piquant lemon zest, a touch of mintiness, and some of the French vanilla from the nose.
Finish: The finish is long and buttery, with a drizzle of honey serving to lighten up the overall flavor profile.
Bottom Line:
Kings County’s Empire Rye is a revelation in that it’s a far departure from their bourbon’s much darker, more brooding profile. The light notes of lemon zest and honey cling to the palate, making this one rye you’ll want to savor over hours, not minutes.
The Best Rye Whiskey From $100-$250
3. Hughes Brothers Belle of Bedford Single Barrel Rye Whiskey
Hughes Brothers has been releasing its stellar Belle of Bedford Rye series for a few years now, but these 12-year age-stated expressions are newer to their portfolio, and this particular barrel was one of 2024’s big winners. Selected by the team at Seelbach’s and featuring 95/5 rye from Indiana’s MGP Distillery, the stats on this whiskey should make any enthusiast in the know raise an eyebrow.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nosing notes begin with a luscious wave of dark chocolate as caramel chews, cooked pears, leather, and mint notes come wafting out of the glass. A few waves of the hand introduce more caramel notes in lockstep with mature oak for a classic, well-aged Indiana rye aroma wheel.
Palate: From the initial sip, this whiskey captures the full essence of what makes the nosing notes so remarkable. Each aroma translates on the palate in a stunning fashion with a distinct richness that enables you to pick them apart and savor each note individually. Finally, the mouthfeel is impressive without seizing all of your attention away from that cavalcade of delicious flavors. It’s a helluva party trick.
Finish: Once this whiskey transitions to the finish, it already has its hooks in you, and the closing impression of dark chocolate truffles, cooked apple, and barrel char is enough to leave you with an ear-wide smile before diving in for another sip.
Bottom Line:
While this is one of the lesser-known ryes on this list, as far as name recognition is concerned, most rye whiskey enthusiasts should be well-aware of the magic spell 10+ year 95/5 rye from MGP can cast. This bottle proves that the magic is real, and Hughes Brothers in partnership with Seelbach’s managed to bag themselves a whale.
For this impressive Double Oaked variant of its standard rye whiskey, Peerless Distilling Co. matures the liquid in a second new American oak cask to beef up the oak wood extraction, darken the color, and enrich the flavors.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Whisps of smoke and oak cast a cloud over richer tones of orange zest, vanilla buttercream, black pepper, and cinnamon on the rich nose of this whiskey. Many of the classic rye tones are obfuscated by the robust oak tones, but that’s not a complaint, as the overall aroma is sumptuous and inviting.
Palate: Molasses-based cinnamon cookies hit the palate with your first sip, which is bolstered by robust oak tones, undercut by juicy orange peels, and elevated by vanilla buttercream. The flavor of herbal tea with mint and subtle hints of cacao nibs begins to pool at midpalate, causing the edges of the tongue to salivate and unlock further cinnamon notes along with a touch of nutmeg and brûléed brown sugar.
Finish: The lingering finish is where the rye spice and orange peel notes finally begin to win out over the darker elements, though the flavor of oak, black pepper, and herbal tea aren’t far behind.
Bottom Line:
I’ve been really impressed with several Peerless expressions over the years, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to say this Double Oaked Rye is among the best of the bunch. While Peerless’ base rye is an incredible, albeit overpriced, display of the dazzling flavors that capable hands can wrest from young rye whiskey, this Double Oaked offering balances the scales of value and quality to a better degree.
1. Frank August Case Study: 03 Winter Cover Rye Whiskey
For their newest Case Study release, Frank August created nine unique batches, each consisting of three selected barrels of straight rye whiskey, and blended them optimally. Notably, this is the first straight rye whiskey in the Case Study series, which has previously highlighted the impressive rising brand’s bourbon blending prowess.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Incredible apple orchard aromas that immediately transport you to a farm in the fall leap out of the glass. There’s some faint cinnamon bark and sage, along with some more distinct honey and muted orange blossom notes that make this whiskey an absolute delight to swirl in your glass and enjoy.
Palate: On the palate, there’s a ton of vanilla ice cream and clove flavor before the apple and cinnamon notes begin to trickle in. It’s incredibly creamy, with crème brûlée enticing the taste buds while gentle oak streaks up the middle of the tongue and floats to the edge of the palate.
Finish: Black pepper, oak, and burnt sugar land on the finish along with some salted caramel sablés
Bottom Line:
This incredibly creamy and well-rounded rye will shock people more accustomed to grassy, peppery takes on the category, but rather than being an imitation bourbon, this one really carves its own lane and leans into the lush apple orchard flavors that will make it a hit all autumn long. With Case Study: 03 representing the brand’s most ambitious foray into the rye category, they’ve earned a ton of respect for their craft and boldly made it known that they’re not just here to stay but that they’ve got next.
Initially barreled at 125 proof over six years ago, the 2024 Thomas H. Handy saw its proof rise to 127.2 during those years spent maturing in Frankfort, Kentucky, at the Buffalo Trace Distillery. This expression is always the youngest of the group and, as such, is typically the least sought-out despite frequently being one of the collection’s better offerings.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This year’s Handy begins with an impressive nuttiness, as peanuts, Valencia oranges, herbal tea, and a blend of cinnamon and brown sugar rush up from the glass to greet the nose at first. Over time, there’s an increasingly prominent mint note that latches on to the citrus aroma and forms the body of this whiskey’s stunning bouquet.
Palate: 2024’s Thomas H. Handy opens with a wonderfully heavy mouthfeel that carries orange marmalade, fresh hazelnuts, mint, dark chocolate, and drops of honey across the entirety of your palate. Chewing the whiskey reveals chunks of dark chocolate and touches of oak before it transitions to the finish.
Finish: The medium-to-long finish on this year’s Thomas H. Handy is full of orange blossom notes along with vanilla and peanut shells, making it a real treat from start to finish.
Bottom Line:
Thomas H. Handy is a perpetual dark horse in the race for crowning the best whiskey in the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection each year, but 2024’s release really has some legs. By impressing at every stage, from the distinct and delightful nosing notes to the incredibly flavorful drinking experience, which extends through the satisfyingly lengthy finish, the 2024 Thomas H. Handy proves that age is only one variable in the equation of what makes high-quality whiskey.
Michter’s is known for being meticulous with their releases, and not just the ultra-premium ones, utilizing proprietary custom filtration for each of their whiskeys. For 2024’s 10-year single barrel, Michter’s uses yet another custom filter to ensure this year’s version is different from years prior while maintaining the expression’s award-winning quality.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Huge scoops of vanilla ice cream with mint sprigs melt out of the glass. With Manuka honey and gentle leather accents in the background, this is such a classic Michter’s rye nose that it’s immediately identifiable. And awesome.
Palate: Rich buttercream, fresh cinnamon bark, creamy milk chocolate, crisp red apples…need I go on? Michter’s always does an incredible job with whiskey at a lower proof, and these 10-year expressions offer the grandest stage for them to showcase that prowess. Here, the mouthfeel is jaw-dropping, and the richness of the flavors hit you in lush waves, one after another, but they never threaten to overwhelm your senses. There’s enough runway for each excellent flavor note to take flight.
Finish: The finish undulates away gently after a considerable length of time, sucking your teeth for more hazelnut cream and sweet oak tones.
Bottom Line:
The beautiful array of aromas in Michter’s 10-Year Single Barrel Rye will definitely appeal to bourbon enthusiasts, but it’s really its robust feature of barrel-driven flavor notes that seal the deal. Worthy of an “A+” on its own, when viewed through the lens of being a “bourbon drinker’s rye,” this expression deserves a ton of extra credit.
Brook Hill is the Rare Character brand’s ne plus ultra expression, which, as you should already know, means this is some absolutely epic whiskey. With a history that dates back to the turn of the 19th century, the modern-day revival of Brook Hill is releasing exclusive bourbons and rye, with a highly limited number of single barrels of the rye hitting the market so far this year.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Milk chocolate, like the milk in a bowl after you finish your Cocoa Puffs, and sweet mint are most immediately alluring on the nose. Stick around a while, and you’ll also find chunks of toffee, polished leather, and paprika contributing to this dark and brooding nose.
Palate: Candied walnuts hit the palate along with a big spoonful of brown sugar before that Cocoa Puff milk note begins to pool at midpalate, whetting the edges of your tongue. Paprika and barrel char are relegated to the shotgun seat as some nutmeg, Smarties candy, and dried cranberries steer the ship before this transitions into the finish.
Finish: Almost chalky as the texture grips the back of your tongue before tapping out. There’s some oak and nuttiness on the finish, along with drops of honey, but despite the impressive length of those flavors, you’ll probably be on your second glass before you truly appreciate them.
Bottom Line:
After taking home the top prize as our Best Rye Whiskey Of 2024, it should be no surprise to see us lavish praise on Rare Character’s decadent Brook Hill Rye whiskey. However, its unparalleled depth of flavor makes it such an ideal option for bourbon drinkers looking to get into the category. Bourbon drinkers are often in search of bold, rich layers of flavor that they can chew on for hours, and there’s no rye on the market that offers the same lush experience as this one right here.
Benriach’s use of Highland peat sets them apart from the bruising Islay peated expressions that most whiskey drinkers are familiar with. The Highlands’ wood-rich peat is more delicate and fruit-forward, and it’s part of what makes Benriach’s Smoky Ten (and their fabulous Smoky 12) expression so unique. This one is made from a blend of peated and unpeated whiskey that was aged in a combination of ex-bourbon barrels, ex-Jamaican rum casks, and virgin oak that was toasted to the distillery’s specifications.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose gives you an indication of that intricate lineage with a faint bit of tropical fruits like overripe mangoes and bananas joining forces with butterscotch, dried apricots, and smoked applewood.
Palate: Once on the palate, this whiskey opens with spiced pear flavors along with smoked honey and dried apricots. Wow, the first sip is so complex and full of well-defined flavors that a second sip is immediately necessary, and once you take a second sip, the joy of unlocking that mystery takes hold. The liquid is moderately textured, which means that its viscousness doesn’t stand in the way of your picking apart each layer of flavor and savoring it at length.
Finish: The medium-length finish is where the smoke takes hold, and as promised, it’s a gentler smoke profile than most Islay Scotches and comes complete with an applewood and honey sweetness that makes it more palatable for beginners and more intriguing for avid imbibers.
Bottom Line:
Benriach’s Smoky Ten expression perfectly encapsulates the type of fun, flavorful whiskeys that the Highland distillery is making across its portfolio. While it remains true to the delicate, sweet, and slightly floral profile that Highland single malt is known for, by adding that twist of Highland peat, Benriach elevates this whiskey to must-try status with ease. This bottle has the wow factor to make you truly appreciate it on International Whiskey Day.
Glendronach’s stellar 12-Year Single Malt Scotch Whisky undergoes primary aging in ex-Sherry casks before being finished in American oak. It’s that combination that gives it such sweet base notes, with the American oak providing some spice that makes this balanced, single malt so on-theme in the winter.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Glendronach 12’s gentle nuance makes a striking initial impression as the aroma of red berries, vanilla extract, pralines, and rich roasted malt fills the air above the glass. The nose on this whiskey perfectly primes your palate for what’s to come.
Palate: With your first sip, “gentle nuance” again comes to mind as the liquid subtly seeps into your tongue and envelopes your tongue in the flavor of both ripe and stewed raspberries, dilute honey, hazelnuts, and almonds. From that auspicious start, it continues to evolve with black pepper and a more savory Brazil nuts flavor, laying claim to the back end of your palate as it transitions to the finish.
Finish: The finish is medium-length and loaded up with freshly baked graham cracker notes to go with the jammy red berries, a prominent infusion of black pepper spice, and a dollop of vanilla ice cream, giving it an ultimately sweet send-off that you’ll want to explore at your leisure.
Bottom Line:
The beautiful balance of sweet and spicy notes will have you vacillating between the two, trying to figure out which aspect you appreciate most. As Glendronach deftly appeals to both sides of the flavor spectrum, you’ll revel in the fact that both the sweet and spice notes offer gifts to your palate that you’ll want to unwrap again and again.
Considered by many to be the benchmark of smoky Islay Scotch whisky, Lagavulin’s well-earned reputation is difficult to escape. This peated Scotch classic achieved its status as the King of Islay for balancing that smoky profile with a deft touch of sweetness.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with bold billows of peat smoke, but as those gently waft away, you’ll notice some meaty undertones with slight salinity reminiscent of savory bacon fat, a touch of smoked honey, sweet sherry, and creamy vanilla ice cream with a touch of cinnamon bark.
Palate: On the palate, this whiskey remains true to its aroma notes as it opens with enveloping smoke that then introduces the savory bacon fat notes, which then subside, allowing space for the sherry sweetness along with a touch of honeyed black tea and the flavor of crème brûlée. The texture is robust, and it simultaneously coats your palate while also spryly rolling over your tongue, searching for new territory to claim.
Finish: The finish continues the interplay of savory and sweet with a gentle kiss of smoke as it lingers for quite a while after the final sip is gone, gently and slowly receding as it beckons you to re-fill your glass.
Bottom Line:
While the heavily-peated Islay profile isn’t for everyone, this bottle is sure to sink its hooks into someone. At the very least, it’s a cool idea to open this classic example of Islay Scotch on International Whiskey Day to get a great sense of what people mean when they say they love smokey single malts.
The Best Scotch Whiskey From $100-$250
3. The Glen Grant 21-Year Single Malt Scotch Whisky
The Glen Grant has no shortage of options in its Core Collection series, and yet it’s this 21-year-old expression that claims the stage as the best Christmas-sipping companion. Aged for 21 long years, making it the third oldest offering in the range, this whiskey hits the sweet spot of the Glen Grant DNA.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The Glen Grant’s 21-year-old expression opens with the aroma of golden raisins, Manuka honey, brown butter sugar cookies, and dried apricots. Those notes are buoyed by ripe Golden Delicious apples, white pepper, and a touch of nougat.
Palate: On the palate is where this whiskey really opens up and shines. There are pineapple chunks, honey, golden raisins, white pepper, roasted almonds, and blood orange flavors. The mouthfeel is deceptively viscous, with an austere start that keeps you captive long enough for it to reveal just how slick the texture is as it transitions to the finish.
Finish: The finish is medium-length, and again it’s the texture and robust flavor of honey that stand out as white pepper, well-developed nutmeg, dried apricots, and tropical fruits accent the entire affair.
Bottom Line:
While a bevy of tropical fruits definitely provides the backbone for this whiskey, it’s the healthy helping of raisins, roasted almonds, and nutmeg that really rounds out the flavor profile, making this an ideal choice for International Whiskey Day.
Bruichladdich 18 is an unpeated Islay Scotch that primarily utilizes ex-bourbon plus a small number of Sauternes and Port casks in its maturation profile. Non-chill filtered and free of additional coloring, Bruichladdich 18 is also unique in that each varietal of the barley used is fully traceable from farm to bottle. The Bruichladdich 18 is the first single malt in the brand’s new range of high provenance, age-stated whiskies, joining The Bruichladdich Thirty. Tasting Notes:
Nose: Honeyed wheat toast and the faint indication of smoke clear the way for a touch of hazelnut and chocolate wafer cookies on the nose.
Palate: On the palate each of those notes is amplified with notes of lemon cake and confectioner’s sugar joining the mix. It has a supple and silky mouthfeel that rewards “chewing” and only extends the pleasure of each sip.
Finish: The chalky cocoa note comes through on the palate as does a bit of tropical fruit — think grilled pineapples — and the hint of smokiness reemerges to offer some delicate balance to the sweeter and earthier notes.
Bottom Line:
Bruichladdich 18 offers an expert level of finesse, deploying sweetness and smokiness with impressive restraint, which leaves space for more savory, nutty aspects to shine in equal measure. While Bruichladdich 18 displays the hallmarks of quality Scotch whisky, it also offers complexity and depth of flavor that will deeply impress bourbon fans the world over.
For Octomore 15.2, the whiskey was initially aged in second-fill wine casks (42%) and second-fill Bourbon casks (58%) before being finished in second-fill French oak ex-Cognac casks that push the flavor profile in an intriguing direction. The 15.2 features the same batch of Scottish-grown barley as 15.1, also malted to 108.22 PPM.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The aroma notes sing with Brie cheese, lime zest, walnuts, and cherries. Despite having the same phenol level of 15.1, the 15.2 comes across as less smoky thanks to its pine-like woodsiness, with moss, ginger cookies, and brown butter.
Palate: Once on the palate, those nosing notes delicately unfurl with wisps of moss and smoke, subtly masking the vanilla custard, dried apricot, and Rainier cherry notes. The slick, velvety texture finds a home in every corner of the mouth as it gently coats the palate, allowing each flavor note to develop with ample space.
Finish: The finish is where a greater infusion of smoke comes through with pink peppercorn, nutmeg, and a slight salinity.
Bottom Line:
While this year’s Octomore 15.3 is drawing a lot of attention for being a phenomenal phenolic force, it’s the finesse of the 15.2 that stands tall in the lineup. With a balanced bouquet of aromas married to a patient, revealing palate, Octomore 15.2 is a testament to the delicate deployment of peat.
The Best Scotch Whiskey Over $250
3. House of Hazelwood 50-Year-Old Blended Scotch Whisky
House of Hazelwood is a product line from the Gordon family, owners of Willliam Grant & Sons, conceived to release their vast inventory of unique whisky. This particular whisky was distilled in 1972 and aged in European and American oak casks before undergoing a fifteen-year secondary finishing period in active ex-bourbon barrels. The final product has an age statement of 50 years.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The layers of complexity are immediately apparent on the nose as waves of thick toffee sweetness take flight and a faintly floral aspect crests in concert with rich malted chocolate and faint bits of hazelnut spread. Palate: On the palate is where this whisky is most gobsmacking. The toffee carries through with orange marmalade, chocolate truffle powder, and lemon buttercream showing up in force. The texture is particularly remarkable, it translates from the tip of the tongue to the roof of the mouth. Finish: On the finish, malted chocolate returns to the flavor wheel, and rich toffee sticks to the back of your teeth making for an incredibly long-lasting experience.
Bottom Line:
House of Hazelwood brings an incredibly rich history in the industry and an immaculately curated inventory of well-aged Scotch whisky to the table despite having only been launched in 2022. In their most-premium Charles Gordon Collection only “A Singular Blend” carries a higher age statement and none convey a higher degree of quality.
2. Glenfiddich “Suspended Time” 30-Year Single Malt Scotch Whisky
This stunning whiskey from Glenfiddich comes in equally awe-inspiring packaging. Suppose Christmas is (at least partially) about unwrapping presents. In that case, this recently redesigned expression perfectly fits the bill showcasing whiskey that has spent at least 30 years in Spanish Oloroso and American Bourbon oak.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with smoked honey, roasted almonds, bacon fat, and canned peaches before black pepper, figs, and dark chocolate seize the wheel and steer the aromas in an altogether darker direction.
Palate: Once this whiskey hits your palate, its viscous slickness grabs your attention and forces you to pay attention to the robust flavors within. The nosing notes give a good indication of what follows, as smoked honey, tallow, roasted almonds, and cooked peaches make an initial impression on the front end before it takes a turn toward darker flavor elements at midpalate. It’s there that dark chocolate, figs, and touches of baking spice round things out.
Finish: The finish is surprisingly lengthy and rich, with the taste of honey, apricots, and hazelnut gracing the back of your palate for minutes after the liquid leaves your glass.
Bottom Line:
Glenfiddich’s flagship range and Grand Series both feature a bevy of impressive single malt Scotches, but in stepping it up to the Time Reimagined collection, we really get a glimpse into some of the brand’s most impressive stock of barrels. Though it’s the entry point into this hyper-aged series, the decadent sherry-inflected flavors in Glenfiddich 30 make it a must-buy bottle if you’re looking to splurge on something spendy. It is a holiday, after all.
1. The Dalmore Cask Curation Series: The Port Edition 30-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch Graham’s 1994 Single Harvest Tawny Port Cask Finish
The Dalmore’s latest iteration of its venerable Cask Curation Series was created in partnership with Graham’s Port, pairing exquisite single-harvest tawny port pipes with The Dalmore’s mature whiskey. The exclusive three-bottle package is limited to just 150 sets globally, with only a shade over 20 sets making their way Stateside.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich malt notes and Brazil nuts with juicy blood orange and caramel greet the nose once this whiskey tumbles into the glass. The aroma of fresh walnuts comes wafting up, too, with candied ginger, cinnamon, redcurrants, and coconut joining for the journey.
Palate: The palate is marked by an incredible creaminess as the flavor of nougat, Tahitian vanilla, flan, and tobacco leaf pool at midpalate, leaving the taste of Medjool dates and chocolate wafer cookies gently undulating at the periphery. It’s far nuttier than either the 27-year-old or 43-year-old iteration.
Finish: The rich liquid concludes with a medium-length finish full of gently toasted walnuts and sweet red berries while hints of vanilla also persist.
Bottom Line:
This ultra-premium set of decidedly mature whiskeys succeeds in matching the beauty of the liquid with the luxury of the packaging that houses it. With only 150 sets available globally (and a hefty asking price), it’s perhaps the most challenging whiskey on this list to acquire, but for those with a sense of adventure and the commensurate coin to seek this release out, it’s well worth the hunt.
Hakata 10-Year Sherry Cask Whisky is the entry-level offering from the Hakata lineup which is distilled in Fukuoka, Japan from 100% malted barley. A portion of that barley is koji-fermented and the entirety of the whisky is matured in ex-sherry casks.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Right off the bat, you get notes of umami, clove, lemon custard, cinnamon, and sage. They all meld together nicely and are distinctly separate as opposed to being muddled or difficult to tease out. Palate: Once on the palate, this whisky is full of flavors like raisin, orange peel, more umami, and some slight nuttiness. Overall, it’s a fairly balanced pour with a substantive mouthfeel that grips your palate and allows each of those flavor notes to blossom. Finish: The finish is marked by more umami flavor, some slight nuttiness, and, more than anything — the fruit-forward notes wrought by the sherry cask. There is also some additional cracked pepper spice that contributes to the medium-length finish as well.
Bottom Line: Unexpected, big flavors and lots of creativity mark this gem of a bottle, which we simply can’t stop revisiting. Simply put, this is one of the more chimeric, yet satisfying entry-points into Japanese whisky.
Nikka Whisky From The Barrel features a blend of whiskies from Japan and Scotch, mingling single malt and single grain whiskies for this singular release. Offered “overproof” at 51.4% ABV, this stout bottle packs quite a punch. Also, for clarity’s sake, while this whisky was produced in Japan and contained Japanese whisky, it cannot legally be called a Japanese whisky as of 2021, thanks to new regulations and its inclusion of Scotch whiskey in the blend.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Orange marmalade and dark berries (think blueberries and blackberries) inform the nose right away that this is going to be a rich, full-bodied whisky experience. There’s also some strong oak with a faint leather backbone to go with an elusive level of smoke that grows in prominence once you initially detect it.
Palate: On the palate, those jammy berry notes come to the fore along with some stern oak, a stronger presence of smoke, and further accenting notes of roasted hazelnuts, toasted multigrain bread, and caramelized sugar. At this hefty proof, it definitely sits on your palate with some density, making it a treat to chew and enjoy at length.
Finish: The finish is lingering and strips away some of the sweeter, fruit-forward notes in favor of the slight nuttiness and oak influences. Toffee is there, but white pepper, hazelnuts, and tobacco leaf flavors close things out.
Bottom Line:
As of 2021, this expression no longer meets the legal definition of “Japanese whisky,” but as one of the most well-known and popular whiskies produced in Japan, we thumbed the scale to include it here. While American palates are more accustomed to the bold flavors of bourbon and rye whiskies, this nifty blend of Japanese whisky and Scotch offers a range of rich flavors capable of not only dispelling that myth but also living up to the expectation of bold flavors that U.S. drinkers are more accustomed to.
1. Alberta Premium Cask Strength Canadian Rye Whiskey
Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye, aged for at least 5 years, is more or less the premier Canadian whisky export. A ton of your favorite brands that utilize Canadian rye whisky are sourcing from this distillery, so you’d be wise to taste the liquid that they personally deem worthy of sporting the Alberta label.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this whisky opens rather floral, with lilacs and lavender hard candy leading the charge before aromas of dilute honey, allspice, vanilla, and fresh hazelnuts have their say. There’s also a touch of mint, sage smudge, and faint toffee emanating from the glass.
Palate: On the palate, this whisky begins coyly before rapidly expanding over the tongue like a squished marshmallow. Flavor notes of faint mint, peppercorns, lavender honey, and Mexican hot chocolate stand tall, while red pepper flakes, allspice, and thyme sit at the periphery. The mouthfeel is robust and medium-bodied, which helps carry all of these well-developed flavors through the finish.
Finish: The finish is lingering and more assertive in displaying notes of black pepper, oak, toffee, Rainier cherries, and cola nuts.
Bottom Line:
I’ve had many friends tell me that this bottle was their introduction to “world whisky,” and I can’t think of a better way for American drinkers to explore beyond the border. This is a bold, flavorful rye whisky that will be instantly familiar (thanks to Alberta’s chops as a premier contract distiller and source of barrels for NDPs) but also elevates expectations about whisky from the north.
The Best World Whiskey From $100-$250
3. Amrut Aatma Sherry Cask Single Malt Indian Whisky “Collector’s Series” 2024
This intriguing whisky, distilled from six-row Indian barley, features primary maturation in an Ex-Oloroso Sherry Cask for seven years. This single-cask product was filled in June 2016 and bottled in August 2024, producing 300 bottles in total after 8 years of maturation. Lastly, this expression is non-chill filtered to preserve flavor and presented at full cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is incredibly potent, with bold Sherry notes of Brazil nuts and jammy red berries joining nutmeg, singed orange peels, and fresh hazelnuts. Overall, it’s a dense experience packed with classic Oloroso notes, but the underlying Indian barley also manages to shine through.
Palate: On the palate, the base spirit is much more prominently featured as savory barley notes play nicely alongside the flavors of Oloroso Sherry, hazelnuts, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, and torched orange peels. The mouthfeel is expansive and full-bodied, with a twinge of heat prickling the edges of the tongue with every sip.
Finish: The finish is lengthy here, and that mostly falls on the shoulders of the Sherry cask, which imparts candied cranberries, oily Brazil nuts, and black pepper into the back end of this whisky.
Bottom Line:
There are so many ways to execute a sherry cask-finished whisky properly, and this excellent Amrut expression goes to show that Indian whisky producers belong on the world stage with the best of them. This bold yet balanced offering might be a bit atypical for the category due to its sweltering hot proof, but its robust flavor takes center stage here, rather than the ethanol, making it a treat to sip neat.
2. Starward in Collaboration with Lagavulin Single Malt Whisky
Starward, founded in 2007, is Australia’s premier whisky producer and their latest release is easily among the best on the continent. This collaboration with Lagavulin was finished in the brand’s peated Islay whisky barrels for 18 months and released exclusively in the United States.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this whisky is resplendent with bright cherries, grilled pineapples, and a gentle smokiness. With a few waves of the hand, the fruit becomes punctuated by white pepper and allspice with a faint honey sweetness that creeps in as well.
Palate: The influence of the Islay whisky casks is apparent on the palate, where smoke billows over the tongue and carries with it those fresh fruit notes that were so evident on the nose. Black tea and honey-drenched baklava can also be found at midpalate once the initial fruity and smoky shock subsides.
Finish: On the finish, there’s a faint leather aspect to go with the re-emergence of grilled pineapple and the gentle peaty notes that make this enjoyable from start to finish.
Bottom Line:
This is a seriously decadent pour. It packs a ton of flavor from both the base whisky and the finishing cask, making it an excellent display of balance and a fine showcase of the quality you can expect from Australia’s best distillery.
Distilled, matured, and bottled in Taiwan, this expression combines three different Sherry casks (Oloroso, PX, and Moscatel) to create a harmonious blend that’s both approachable and complex.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this whisky immediately reveals its richness as waves of Sherried notes unfold over a bed of gooey caramel and butterscotch candies, with nougat, ripe oranges, and sweet malt notes undulating beneath the surface.
Palate: The palate on this whisky is incredibly viscous with honey and dark chocolate integrated harmoniously alongside a bevy of red berries, sweet malt, vanilla, and nougat notes. After I chew the whiskey, and savor the decadence of the flavors, I keep coming back to how silky it is on the palate.
Finish: The finish here is lengthy, and it’s where the vanilla, citrus, and dark chocolate notes fuse most harmoniously with black pepper, nougat, and red berries. This is magnificent from start to finish.
Bottom Line:
Kavalan Triple Sherry Cask Whisky just might be the brand’s best introduction on the world stage. Here at UPROXX, we’ve been fans of Kavalan’s remarkably rich whisky for years, and we’ve yet to find an entry-level offering from the brand that checks every box as well as this one.
WhistlePig’s Boss Hog expressions have become a breeding ground for some of the wildest ideas in all of North American whiskey, and this year’s release pushes things still further by marrying the brand’s signature Canadian rye whiskey with the flavor of Thandai courtesy of unique finishing casks they created themselves, as Thandai is not traditionally aged in casks. Those barrels were seasoned with rye, saffron, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, fennel, poppy, and black peppercorn to achieve the desired flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: It opens with incense, cinnamon bark, lemon zest, allspice, and menthol. After a few twirls in the glass, it also gives off the aroma of saffron, plums, and orange peels, with some growing honey and youthful oak notes becoming evident in the background.
Palate: The palate opens with a ton of Manuka honey, cinnamon bark, menthol, and plum notes, all of which hold true to the aromas in this whiskey. The mouthfeel is a tad thin, but the complex melange of disparate flavors in this one has more than enough intrigue to overcome that minor flaw.
Finish: The finish is slightly smoky, with toffee, cinnamon, spiced chai, and plum notes dancing on the tongue, giving it a moderate length.
Bottom Line:
WhistlePig has never been shy about swinging for the fences and delivering some of the wildest flavor profiles in the whiskey world with each Boss Hog release, and this one only furthers that reputation. But what good is being different for different’s sake? The Vermont-based brand perfectly toes the line between weird and wow with the series’ 11th release, proving that experience (and off-the-wall experimentation) has taught them well.
Found North’s Hell Diver release is the newest addition to the brand’s High Altitude Collection and highlights its complex blending process. For this release, Found North utilized a blend of 15, 22, and 23-year-old corn whisky with 18 and 19-year-old rye, which they re-casked into Pedro Ximénez Sherry, Cognac, and New American oak casks. They then spent the following year monitoring the maturation of those casks, vatting the liquid inside when it reached optimal flavor. The final blend is composed of 85% corn, 14% rye, and 1% malted barley.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Fig jam, chocolate wafers, and honeyed black tea open the nosing notes on this one while lighter, sweet notes of pound cake, dried apricots, and peanut shells waft up from the background.
Palate: The flavors that hit the palate first are those of cinnamon, nutmeg, oak, and butterscotch before further notes of graham crackers, allspice, and vanilla extract come through in lush, steady waves. The mouthfeel is full and expansive, with the heat making its presence felt along the edges of the tongue before gently radiating inward.
Finish: The finish here is surprisingly smooth, given the tannic power found at midpalate and the tongue’s periphery, and it lasts for quite a long time, too, extending the pleasure of each sip.
Bottom Line:
The Found North portfolio is fully stocked with intriguing blends of Canadian whisky, and this is easily one of the best for our money. This is an incredibly creamy, full-bodied experience that is opening a lot of eyes to the complexity Canadian whisky can achieve in the hands of capable blenders. Found North are exceedingly capable blenders. `
1. Yamazaki Mizunara 18-Year-Old Single Malt Japanese Whisky 100th Anniversary Limited Edition
Yamazaki has a real treat to offer with this 18-year-old Japanese Single Malt, which sees the entirety of its maturation subjected to Mizunara oak. Created in honor of Suntory Whisky’s centenary, this 100th Anniversary Edition is brand-new for 2024.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Black cherries and peaches introduce this whisky on the nose as a fruit-forward treat before baking spices like cinnamon and nutmeg reveal themselves.
Palate: The palate is delicate, with flavors that coyly sidle up to your tongue with subtly spiced torched orange wheels combining with floral undertones, vanilla custard, and a gentle drizzle of honeyed black tea. The texture is very soft, but the flavors hold together even when rolling them over the tongue.
Finish: Despite the sparse texture, the finish lingers with medium length, as aspects of clove, sandalwood, and dried coconut close things out.
Bottom Line:
Yamazaki Mizunara 18-Year-Old shows just how well Yamazaki’s delicate liquid can interact with the porous Japanese oak, utilizing the cask’s characteristic notes of subtle spice and sandalwood to mold the distillery’s mature liquid in an oft-used albeit impressive fashion.
Speculation runs the gamut from carefully calculated chicanery to secondary market malarkey, but Occam’s Razor and conventional wisdom suggest a simpler answer: they’re wildly popular. When demand far outpaces the supply, bottles become scarce in the wild, hunted into near-extinction on liquor store shelves. At this point, however, one might stop and ask themselves, are Buffalo Trace’s most popular bourbons truly worth it?
Your patience and wallet’s pain tolerance may vary, meaning you may be willing to go further (or spend more) than others to buy your favorite bottles from Buffalo Trace. Still, to determine whether you should save your time and money, we decided to do a blind taste test with some of the distillery’s most popular offerings.
So we set up six flights featuring Buffalo Trace vs. everybody from Heaven Hill, Jim Beam, Wild Turkey, and more. This isn’t simply to say there are other options out there (although there are!) but also to settle once and for all whether popularity is a direct reflection of unmatchable quality.
Are you ready? This is our personal March Madness; Buffalo Trace bourbon blind tasted and ranked against its best competitors!
I’m picking up a lot of brown sugar and raisins on the nose with some dilute honey. After the first sip, what’s most impressive beyond the cohesive flavor profile of honey, walnuts, and raisins is the slick mouthfeel.
This is a damn fine bourbon, no doubt about it.
Taste 2
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
Honeysuckle and orange peel on the nose lead the way for the similarly straightforward flavors on the palate. The texture is pretty quotidian, and in fact, it’s a bit lean.
Overall, this is solid, no-frills bourbon, but it isn’t remarkable in any one way. It’s just a pleasure to sip.
Taste 3
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
I like the nose on this one a lot! It’s got lemon zest, a faintly floral aroma, and some gentle nuttiness like hazelnuts. On the palate it’s appropriately medium-bodied with some nice sizzle on the finish.
I’d gladly drink this every day of the week.
Taste 4
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
Wow, this aroma base is unlike the others; it has a lot of milk chocolate and some coconut undertones with faint oak and brown sugar as well. This is the creamiest whiskey of the bunch on the palate, with a slick mouthfeel complementing the flavors.
Yup, this is a close flight, but I’d say that this one narrowly edges it out for my favorite of the bunch.
Buffalo Trace is one of the biggest names in the bourbon world because it produces legendary expressions like Pappy Van Winkle and bottles from the critically acclaimed Buffalo Trace Antique Collection like George T. Stagg and William LaRue Weller. Their flagship product is the perfect entry point for anyone interested in bourbon and curious about those more elusive expressions.
Bottom Line:
Buffalo Trace Bourbon skews a bit on the lighter side of the sweetness spectrum with vanilla, caramel, and delicate oak, showcasing the classic trio of prototypical bourbon flavors. Not to be overlooked as a mere beginner’s pour, there is enough depth to these flavors to keep even a more seasoned drinker engaged without rebuffing its reputation as a remarkably smooth-sipper…but there are slightly better options in its price range.
Michter’s was recently voted the World’s Most Admired Whiskey Distillery, and its flagship bourbon is the most readily available example of why. For this expression and the rest of its whiskey lineup, Michter’s uses a proprietary filtration process to optimize the flavor coming from its barrels.
Bottom Line:
Michter’s US*1 Bourbon perfectly threads the needle of being delicious and affordable. Free from any harsher elements, your palate will take to this whiskey like a fish in water as those enchanting mellow notes wash over your tongue and coat your mouth with a remarkable range of flavors that make this one of the best bang-for-your-buck bourbons on the market today.
The new and improved Jim Beam Black Label is the result of tireless tinkering from Master Distillers Fred and Freddie Noe. Revamped in 2024, the long-standing Jim Beam expression now has an age statement and a slightly altered flavor profile designed to optimize the distillery’s 7-year-old bourbon profile.
Bottom Line:
Jim Beam Black Label has the sweetness, spice, flavor, and wallet-friendly price to tip the scales during any trip to the liquor store. Even in a blind taste test, the well-integrated flavors in this expression shine with a great balance between notes characteristic of older bourbon and a light sweetness that brings the vivaciousness of more precocious distillate.
This isn’t just a step above Jim Beam White Label; it’s a giant leap.
Woodinville Whiskey Co., out of Washington State, has been producing stellar craft bourbon since 2009. Even with the incredible quality they put into their limited edition offerings, you’d be foolish to skip over their flagship offering. Aged for at least five years, Woodinville Bourbon is made entirely with local grains from a mash bill of 72% corn , 22% rye, and 6% malted barley.
Bottom Line:
Woodinville Bourbon’s borderline tropical appeal is a substantial part of its appeal. Those coconut and milk chocolate flavors work well with the whiskey’s velvety texture to provide a smooth experience that will impress bourbon savants and intrigue any newcomers. This is an entry-level offering that truly represents its distillery of origin.
Matchup 2: Eagle Rare Bourbon Flight
Part 1: The Tasting
Taste 1
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
Wow, the nose on this bourbon is really alluring. Sweet notes of caramel and cocktail cherries come tumbling out of the glass to greet the senses and on the palate it sticks the landing, albeit with a slightly lean mouthfeel.
This is a nice, balanced bourbon, and though it doesn’t stand out in any one way, it’s definitely a bottle I’d reach for repeatedly. I think the colloquial term for this one would be that it’s “crushable.”
Taste 2
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
Coming off taste one, this bourbon is a lot earthier, with only vanilla cream and caramel notes to balance out the oak profile and faint cherry tones. The nice, medium-bodied texture is definitely welcome, and the finish here is nice as well.
The longer I sit with this glass, the more I like it, though it falls just short of matching the first glass in this flight.
Taste 3
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
This glass has the most distinct cherry note yet, with it appearing on the nose and more prominently on the palate. It also has some good touches of cinnamon bark, oak, and black pepper spice to balance that out. Still, there’s no denying that the flavor of black cherries is the star of the show here.
This isn’t a complex whiskey, but it has great depth and balance. I’m loving it.
Taste 4
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
This is the most viscous whiskey of the bunch. It has a supple texture that introduces honey-roasted peanuts, caramel, nutmeg, and mellow oak tones.
This is the most complex whiskey of the bunch and the flavors come together in impressive harmony. Deciding the best of this flight is really going to come down to preference, because this is as technically sound as any of the others. Perhaps even more so.
Since its debut in 2001, this bottle has been often considered one of the most classic bourbons on the market, especially given its ubiquity and price point. Russell’s Reserve 10-Year Bourbon is the flagship of Wild Turkey’s Russell’s Reserve lineup.
Bottom Line:
Russell’s Reserve 10-Year Bourbon is typically one I reach for if I’m looking for a robust, mature bourbon that doesn’t break the bank. In today’s lineup, it was a step behind its pricier competitive set, but this is still a bottle that I recommend trying for yourself as an Eagle Rare alternative.
Penelope’s Estate Collection showcases some of the brand’s finest whiskey. A 9-year batched bourbon and a 13-year wheat whiskey join this 10-year single-barrel offering in the series. This hand-selected single-barrel expression is bottled without chill filtration and made from a mash bill of 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malted barley.
Bottom Line:
While I’m definitely a big fan of the flavor profile on this one and give it credit, especially for having a lovely mouthfeel, it was just a hair behind the top two glasses in this flight. After the reveal, I was a bit disappointed that the priciest bottle from this flight didn’t secure the top spot.
Rebel’s 10-year single-barrel bourbon is an expression marked by a winding history that saw it go from production at the famed Stitzel-Weller distillery as a locally distributed bargain brand to becoming a surprise hit thanks to a Billy Idol song, being sold to current owners Luxco, and being repackaged as a premium offering.
Bottom Line:
Rebel 10-Year Bourbon is still somewhat under the radar, but this shows that it’s an outstanding option.
It’s long been rumored that the blend features whiskey significantly exceeding its age statement and that speculation certainly passes the taste test. The liquid is a lush showcase of how depth can overcome the brevity of flavors to deliver a balanced and highly enjoyable bourbon, one of the more staid and consistent single-barrel ranges in all of American whiskey.
Eagle Rare is one of Buffalo Trace’s most sought-after mid-shelf offerings. Matured for at least ten years, this bourbon is essentially a single-barrel version of Buffalo Trace Bourbon at a higher age, with the primary difference being that the two brands are hand-selected to cater to slightly different tastes despite the fact they have the same mash bill.
Bottom Line:
Single barrel variability is an undeniable factor when judging Eagle Rare versus its competition, but this particular bottle from the brand is a winner. That rich black cherry note that the expression is famous for is front and center with this one, and it comes complete with balanced baking spice notes.
Bottles like this go a long way in proving the “Buffalo Trace hype” is real.
Matchup 3: Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon Flight
Part 1: The Tasting
Taste 1
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
This one has a really robust nose with cherries, milk chocolate, and caramel, all balanced by baking spices like cloves and black pepper. Transitioning to the palate, all of those notes hold true, but the caramel flavor is dialed up a bit, and the finish sizzles with black pepper spice and a touch of green apple and pie crust.
This may only be the first glass of the flight, but it has the potential to be the best of the bunch.
Taste 2
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
Coming off the first glass, this one is a bit more restrained, making me think the proof is lower. The aroma of hazelnuts and caramel leads the way for nuttiness and silky sweet flavors on the palate, but it feels a bit dilute.
This is tasty stuff, but the mouthfeel is thin, which limits the richness of the well-integrated flavors it has.
Taste 3
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
This whiskey is really fruit-forward on the nose, with cherries and dried strawberries standing out at first. From there, it includes lush caramel, allspice, and lime zest. The palate is bold and medium-bodied, with slightly more spice and some faint floral notes before it concludes with a nice lingering finish.
This is fantastic stuff and one of the best bourbons I’ve tried so far in any flight.
Taste 4
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
Coming off the last glass, this one is at a bit of a disadvantage, but it does have a lovely nose with peanut shells, honey, and creme brulee, fusing with a touch of youthful oak, cloves, and tobacco leaves. The palate is more restrained, and I’m positive that’s due to it being a lower proof than some of the others.
This is a well-made bourbon that showcases solid balance; however, its proof and tame finish are the main drawbacks.
Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon was transitioned into a Kentucky-exclusive offering in 2022. However, in 2024, the brand announced that it would be distributed in other states for the first time in two years due to a surplus. The word isn’t yet out on whether that trend will continue through 2025 and beyond, but it came as welcome news to fans of the Evan Williams lineup’s only single-barrel bourbon.
Bottom Line:
Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon is one of our favorite single barrel bourbons on the market. Not only is it delicious, but it’s a great value-buy that has seen increased availability outside of the state in the last two years after being announced as a Kentucky exclusive a few years back.
That said, its light flavor profile and restrained proof held it back a bit in this blind taste test, and that’s why it finished last here.
One of the most polarizing and hyped bourbons in all of the land, Blanton’s is the original single-barrel bourbon. Launched in 1984, each bottle of Blanton’s is the product of a single barrel, an idea hatched by Buffalo Trace’s then Master Distiller Elmer T. Lee.
Bottom Line:
Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon is one of the most sought-after bottles in all of the land, and I’m not saying that hype is undue. It’s rock-solid juice with an incredibly cool bottle, and it has the cultural cache to make it a great conversation starter. That said, due to single-barrel variability and the bevy of awesome alternatives on the market, you can certainly find other options that can outperform it in the taste department.
For their John J. Bowman single-barrel expression, the brand selects some of the oldest barrels in their inventory, though the age is omitted. Of note: the Fredericksburg, VA distillery was purchased by the Sazerac Company in 2003, which also owns Buffalo Trace.
Bottom Line:
While John J. Bowman Single Barrels share the exact same DNA as their purebred Buffalo Trace brethren, they manage to fly a bit under the radar, which makes them a great alternative if you can’t find something like Blanton’s. The bump in proof also tends to bring a boost in flavor, and that’s what we’re all looking for.
1. Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon OBSV — Taste 3
This bottle, a single-barrel version of Four Roses’ OBSV recipe (learn about all of their recipes here), is an absolutely classic bourbon. The brand describes the OBSV recipe as having a delicate, fruit-forward yeast and a high-rye mash bill.
Bottom Line:
While bourbon snobs tend to prefer the barrel proof version of Four Roses’ single barrel bourbon, overlooking the more standard, 100-proof offering would be a mistake. As this taste test shows, this bottle can hang with the best in its subset by delivering a ton of flavor and just enough bite to confirm that every rose has its thorns.
Matchup 4: Weller Antique Bourbon Flight
Part 1: The Tasting
Taste 1
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
Right off the bat, this is a funky whiskey with some peanut brittle and dark chocolate notes joining caramel, black pepper spice, petrichor, and clove cigarettes on the nose. That peanut brittle note expands on the palate, picking up tobacco leaves, candied orange peels, and mature oak.
This slick, full-bodied bourbon is a delight. We’re starting on a high note with this flight!
Taste 2
Tasting Notes:
The nose of this whiskey is full of light sweetness. White sugar, caramel corn, and Rainier cherries are the standout aromas. Switching to the first sip, those aroma notes hold true, and while the texture is a bit leaner than “medium-bodied,” it keeps all of those flavors together nicely.
This is a tasty, light, uncomplicated whiskey, but one that, despite its well-roundedness, could use a bit more oomph.
Taste 3
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this one is a delight with caramel-drizzled cherries, red licorice, black pepper, nougat, and sage smudge making an impression initially. On the palate, this one is full of vanilla ice cream, cherries, and faint black pepper spice. It all concludes with caramel and an uptick in the black pepper on the finish.
Thanks to its prominent cherry note, I’m willing to bet that this is the Weller. Whether it is or not, this is a delicious glass of bourbon.
Taste 4
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
The nose immediately tells you that this is a slightly higher-proof bourbon. That rush of ethanol is paired with a lovely infusion of caramel, corn pudding, Rainier cherries, and vanilla bean. On the palate, the cherry and caramel notes are dialed up, but they’re curbed by the vanilla, along with some allspice and white chocolate.
This is the most nuanced bourbon in this flight, and, in all likelihood, it has the highest ABV. I have to add that it is also the tastiest. Bravo.
Part 2: The Ranking
4. Bardstown Origin Series High Wheat Bourbon — Taste 2
Bardstown Bourbon Company’s Origin Series, founded in 2023, began with three initial entrants, but this new 6-year-old High Wheat Bourbon marks the lineup’s first official expansion. By combining a low barrel entry proof with a high percentage of wheat (39%) in the grain recipe, the brand sought to extract the maximum amount of wood sugars.
Bottom Line:
Bardstown Origin Series’ High Wheat Bourbon is easily one of the tastiest entry-level wheated bourbons on the market, seriously, we can’t sing its praises high enough for that simple fact. In this matchup, however, despite its crowd-pleasing flavor profile, this one lacks the dynamic depth and textural experience on the palate to topple the rest of its competitors.
3. Preservation Pot Still Wheated Bourbon — Taste 1
This 100% in-house distilled expression from Preservation features liquid between 6-7 years of age using an undisclosed mash bill blend of corn, toasted wheat, and dark toast malted barley. Each release comes from 1-3 barrel blends and is made on Preservation’s pot still.
Bottom Line:
While the proof certainly made this bourbon stand out in the blind tasting, the well-developed flavors were most arresting. Pot still funk combined with wheat funk can be a tricky balancing act to manage, but the distillery knocked this expression, their first 100% self-distilled product, out of the park.
Old Weller Antique, or Weller 107 as it’s commonly called, is the second expression in Buffalo Trace’s Weller lineup. With an estimated age range of about seven years, it shares a grain recipe, warehouse location, and proof point with Old Rip Van Winkle.
Bottom Line:
Weller Antique has long been a favorite of mine, beating out even Weller Full Proof and Weller 12 in my ranking of Buffalo Trace’s 42 best bourbons. It remains an incredible mid-shelf bourbon capable of besting far more expensive wheated bourbons in blind tastings — provided you can find it at MSRP.
That said, I’ve also been a longtime fan of the bourbon on this panel that ranked ahead of it, and that one is much more available, which underscores the point of this matchup.
Maker’s Mark Cask Strength Bourbon is the fully amplified, small-batch version of one of the best-selling whiskeys in the world. Released in small batches, with their identifying codes found on the front label, this expression showcases Maker’s Mark in its purest form.
Bottom Line:
While it might be a bit unfair to throw a cask-strength bourbon in the ring with the proofed-down Weller 107, there’s a method to the madness. For one, this bottle is comparably priced (at SRP) and far easier to find. Secondly, even at full barrel-proof, Maker’s Mark Cask Strength isn’t bottled at a significantly higher ABV which helps balance the scales.
With that said, if you’re in the market for a wheated bourbon and the Weller lineup has proven too elusive or expensive, Maker’s Mark Cask Strength Bourbon is an even tastier, readily-available alternative.
Matchup 5: Stagg Bourbon Flight
Part 1: The Tasting
Taste 1
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with the aroma of Cracker Jacks, with honey-roasted peanuts, caramel corn, and almonds making an initial impression. On the palate, this bourbon welcomes hazelnuts and black pepper to the fray.
This is balanced, punchy bourbon that delivers multiple layers of flavor. There isn’t a single flaw to speak of here.
Taste 2
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this whiskey rings a bit hot, and with the first sip, that impression comes true as black pepper spice, apple leather, and pipe tobacco notes linger before barrel char, black cherries, and vanilla extract emerge on the finish.
Overall, the flavors are solid, but they don’t really come together harmoniously, which is my biggest knock against what’s in this glass.
Taste 3
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you can tell that this is potent stuff, but the dense aroma notes of caramel, brandied cherries, and mature oak are up to the task of fleshing out that ethanol punch with robust flavor on the palate. It’s a bit rough around the edges, with baking spices doing little to obfuscate the alcohol nipping at the edges of your tongue, but overall, this is a fun sipping experience.
Taste 4
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
Coming off the last glass, this one is far more tame and well-put together. Vanilla ice cream and cooked red apple notes on the nose open the door for its buttery mouthfeel to introduce those flavors to the palate. Those notes are joined by honey, black pepper spice, and mature oak for a satisfying balance.
This is wonderfully rich, impressively balanced bourbon that delivers at every step of the journey.
Holladay’s patiently aged bourbon has been an industry darling since it first hit the scene in 2023, but in the intervening years, the brand has only improved — expanding its core lineup to include two “Rickhouse Proof” releases, one from soft red wheat and this one from their standard mash bill. This bottle was aged for 6+ years and bottled at full cask strength.
Bottom Line:
I’ve always found that Holladay’s Rickhouse Proof expressions are full of brilliant baking spices and unexpected heat, but this one dispensed the heat with a slightly heavier hand. While some bourbon enthusiasts might prefer as high-octane an experience as possible, that robust spice profile felt out of balance in the tasting, and as such, it didn’t crack the top 3 in this flight.
Stagg, formerly known as Stagg Jr., is the younger, more commonly found member of the George T. Stagg lineup. Named after the founder of the George T. Stagg Distillery, which is what Buffalo Trace was called before their 1999 rebranding, this bourbon is released in semi-regular batches at full cask strength.
Bottom Line:
Stagg Bourbon has surprisingly become one of the more inconsistent expressions under the Buffalo Trace banner. I say ‘surprisingly’ because the rest of the brand’s offerings are remarkably staid, and Stagg has long been one of its better, high-quality releases.
While Batch 24A is tasty, bold, and delivers on the core profile that makes Stagg Bourbon so beloved, it isn’t by any means an unbeatable experience, which is why it landed outside of the top two in this flight.
Wild Turkey Rare Breed was initially introduced as Wild Turkey’s (really Jimmy Russell’s) response to the launch of Jim Beam’s Booker’s. Launched at a time when high-proof bourbon was less en vogue, it reflects Jimmy’s prescience in predicting the market’s future.
Bottom Line:
I like to think I’m one of the world’s foremost believers in the exceptional quality of Rare Breed Bourbon. It’s a bottle that always hits the spot, like peanut butter and jelly, delivering creamy, comforting flavors with a consistency that’s unmatched in all of bourbon. Due to that high-quality and its classic flavor profile, it landed comfortably ahead of Stagg Bourbon in this tasting.
Elijah Craig is well known for putting out three different batches of this exceptional barrel-proof bourbon each year, and the A125 batch marks the first of 2025’s offerings. Aged for 10 years and seven months and clocking in at 118.2 proof, this one is as classic as it gets.
Bottom Line:
Elijah Craig’s A125 batch of its Barrel Proof Bourbon is par for the course with this expression, which is to say it’s almost ordinary in its excellence. It’s only upon further review and close inspection that you realize this isn’t just average whiskey, but rather, excellent whiskey is the Elijah Craig lineup’s baseline.
In the ongoing battle for “best barrel-proof bourbon,” Elijah Craig will always have a dog in the race.
Matchup 6: Colonel E.H. Taylor Single Barrel Bourbon Flight
Part 1: The Tasting
Taste 1
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
This whiskey opens with a lot of mature oak tones, some black cherries, caramel, Brazil nuts, and even a touch of sassafrass. It’s a simply intoxicating nose, and it delivers much of the same on the palate. Sadly, the Brazil nuts and sassafrass flavors are absent on the palate, but some tobacco leaves and brown sugar do well to compensate for their disappearance.
This is really delicious, medium-bodied bourbon. It’s only the first glass of the flight but I have a sneaking suspicion this might end up as my group favorite.
Taste 2
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
This is one of the more robust nosing experiences of this entire blind taste test. Black cherries, apple leather, mature oak, and milk chocolate all initially inform the nose. Once I took my first sip, I couldn’t stop smiling. Milk chocolate leads the way before cinnamon, mature oak, and cloves come tumbling over the palate, barreling towards a finish that features rich Chelan cherries, tobacco leaves, and caramel.
As it reaches the finish, this whiskey thins out significantly, but its rich flavors and initially medium-bodied mouthfeel make this quite a delight.
Taste 3
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
The nose is full of leather, with an almost artificial backbone of black cherries reminiscent of fresh plastic. The black cherry note has a bit of a medicinal twinge on the palate, but the flavors of barrel char, leather, and wet leaves help curb that unpleasant development, allowing the cherry sweetness to shine.
The flavors in this bourbon are a delight, and they force you to think a bit. My only complaint is that the texture is a bit lean, and thus, the finish is a bit brief.
Taste 4
Frank Dobbins III
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens nicely with a floral aspect joining allspice and candied orange peels. On the palate, it takes a surprising turn, with some caramelized banana notes that recede behind the flavor of vanilla custard, white pepper, and peanut shells.
The finish is pretty brief, but a fresh infusion of black pepper spice rounds things out nicely. This is a nice, albeit slightly tame, pour.
Part 2: The Ranking
4. 1792 Bottled In Bond Single Barrel Bourbon — Taste 4
When private groups and retail partners elect to select a barrel from the 1792 lineup, they’re typically given a few options: Do they want it under the “single barrel” banner, at full proof, or bottled in bond? While the two former choices are the most popular, groups occasionally choose the single-barrel, bottled-in-bond option, which aligns with similar specs to Colonel E.H. Taylor Single Barrel bourbon.
Bottom Line:
I should state upfront that when it comes to Sazerac’s ‘satellite brands,’ I tend to prefer the work of the Bowman Distillery to the juice that Barton. That said, the Single Barrel tends to hit the sweet spot for me, and this particular expression landed well, it just didn’t have enough zip or a singularly impressive note to make it stand out from the field.
Early Times is a historic brand first launched in 1860 by John Henry “Jack” Beam, Jim Beam’s paternal uncle. In 2021, it was announced that the production of this bourbon would be moved from Brown-Forman, the brand’s previous owner, to the Barton 1792 Distillery under new owner Sazerac.
Bottom Line:
While it isn’t a single barrel expression, Early Times matches E.H. Taylor’s Bottled In Bond bonafides but over-delivers in the value category thanks to the fact it comes in 1-liter bottles instead of the more standard 750ml size. Value aside, Early Times Bottled in Bond has a great cherry-forward flavor profile and impressive consistency, which makes it a great alternative to its harder-to-find competitors.
2. Colonel E.H. Taylor Single Barrel Bourbon — Taste 1
E.H. Taylor Jr. Single Barrel bourbon is fairly unique in the Buffalo Trace lineup because it is an ongoing single barrel, bottled in bond expression. While it’s more coveted by consumers than its small-batch counterpart, it should be noted that they’re both bottled in bond expressions and thus bottled at the same 50% ABV.
Bottom Line:
Colonel E.H. Taylor Single Barrel Bourbon is exceeded in price only by its Barrel Proof and Limited Edition counterparts. Still, thanks to more widespread availability, this is typically the best of the bunch I can enjoy regularly. As we’ve seen above, single-barrel variability should always be considered in comparisons like this. Though this is a superb bottle with great flavors and impressive balance, it was slightly outdone today.
1. Henry McKenna Single Barrel Bottled In Bond Bourbon — Taste 2
Henry McKenna is Heaven Hill Distillery’s critically acclaimed 10-year-old single-barrel bourbon. Due to that critical acclaim, this expression has become far less readily available (and more high-priced), but it remains a stellar value in the Heaven Hill portfolio.
Bottom Line:
Heaven Hill’s sole 10-year-old single barrel bottled in bond bourbon is notoriously inconsistent, with hits that have landed it at the top of “bourbon of the year” lists and misses that made one of my followers on X (formerly known as Twitter) say, “McKenna is a meh in liquid form.” Ouch.
Setting aside that penchant for variability, there’s no denying that it’s like a rainbow after the rain when you find a delicious barrel of this stuff. This bottle, in particular, is terrific.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
In six matchups, Buffalo Trace expressions finished in the following order: first place (Eagle Rare Bourbon), second place (Weller 107, Colonel E.H. Taylor Single Barrel Bourbon), third place (Stagg Bourbon, Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon), and fourth place (Buffalo Trace Bourbon). That tells us that while half of the Buffalo Trace bottles we blind tasted were essentially the best of the bunch, the other half couldn’t keep up with the competition.
Does this mean Buffalo Trace is overrated swill, which you should completely disregard? Of course not (unless you want your fellow enthusiasts drinking your share). Instead, what this tasting shows is something savvy spirits fans have known all along: no distillery has a monopoly on quality. If that’s your jam, I encourage you to continue enjoying Buffalo Trace, Stagg, and Blanton’s. Don’t let anyone yuck your yum.
However, it pays to keep your eyes peeled for similar expressions from other brands. Your new favorite bourbon could be one purchase away, and compared to Buffalo Trace’s bourbons, it could be more readily available, more affordable, or both!
FKA Twigs makes great music videos that also work as short films, and “Childlike Things” is no exception. On Thursday (March 27), she shared the high-concept visual accompaniment to the Eusexua highlight, which features North West, Jake Shane, and Clerks director Kevin Smith (!), who she attempts to impress with her contortionist-like dance moves.
The video is directed by Jordan Hemingway and written by Tony Award winner Jeremy O’Harris, who is a huge FKA Twigs fan. “No one in popular music is coming anywhere near twigs choreographically that’s a given,” he once wrote on X, “but thinking about the way she’s in many ways mainstreaming the ‘dance film’ with her contributions in the music video space make me excited for a new generation to research her influences.”
In a recent Instagram video, FKA Twigs explained how North West — Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s daughter — ended up on the track: “It [needed] someone who has that tenacity, who has that strong point of view that you have when you’re 11,” she said. “Then I saw an interview with North West, and she was so confident. It suddenly occurred to me that I would’ve loved to have a friend like North who could speak up for themselves.”
She added, “I was like, ‘OK, it has to be North, she has to put her point of view on the song.’ She came and wrote about her faith, which I think is really powerful.”
The music video has changed a lot since the turn of the century. Labels are no longer spending millions of dollars to trap Michael and Janet Jackson in an anime-playing spaceship, and just as video killed the radio star, so, too, have YouTube and social media replaced MTV. But with lower budgets and less of a reliance on a corporate entity comes higher creativity and the ability for artists to release music videos on their own terms.
With the century a quarter of the way completed, let’s take a look back at 25 of the most inventive music videos since 2000, arranged chronologically.
Two notes: the 21st century technically didn’t begin until 2001, but come on; 2000 videos are allowed. Also, artists and bands were only eligible for one video. Same with directors, with one exception. With that out of the way, these are the videos that will still be remembered in the 22nd century.
“Untitled (How Does It Feel)” by D’Angelo
Directed by: Paul Hunter
“Untitled (How Does It Feel)” came out on New Year’s Day in 2000 (a present for surviving Y2K?), and honestly, the year may have peaked there. The video for the sultry track is an intimate one-shot that slowly admires D’Angelo’s impossibly sculpted body.
“I wanted him to bare his soul to the world,” director Paul Hunter said during a “Making The Video” interview. “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” came out during an era of flashy music videos, but it’s the lack of opulence that makes the strongest impression 25 years later.
“Stan” by Eminem
Directed by: Dr. Dre and Philip Atwell
One of the only music videos on this list with a Mubi listing, “Stan” plays out like a horror movie. Fittingly, Final Destination star Devon Sawa (not Macaulay Culkin) was cast as the titular character, whose name would later become a catch-all term for overly enthusiastic fans. In fact, Eminem doesn’t appear in the full-length video until past the two-minute mark; the pre-pencil-scratching intro is a disturbing argument between Sawa’s Stan and Dido as his pregnant girlfriend. It’s so effective at conveying the song’s dark tone that you can understand the story even with the video on mute.
“Since I Left You” by The Avalanches
Directed by: Rob Leggatt and Leigh Marling
The Avalanches have only released three albums since 2000. This is unacceptable for many reasons, not the least of which is because they’re really good at making music videos. “Since I Left You,” the title track from their cult-favorite debut album, is about a pair of unassuming miners who emerge from the black-and-white underground into a dance studio during an audition with two gorgeous female dancers. One of the miners, the Paul Walter Hauser-looking one, impresses the judges and the ladies with his unexpectedly lithe moves, while the other fails to embrace this rare moment of joy and fades back to monochrome. In less than five minutes, “Since I Left You” tells a better take-a-risk story than most two-hour movies.
“Weapon Of Choice” by Fatboy Slim
Directed by: Spike Jonze
To a younger, post-“Standing” generation, Christopher Walken is more meme than man. But that’s not giving him enough credit: The actor is an Oscar winner, plus a trained dancer. He showed off both talents on Saturday Night Live, which inspired director Spike Jonze to cast him for “Weapon Of Choice.” The video begins with Walken sitting in a hotel lobby chair before Fatboy Slim’s groove kicks in and he feels a primal urge to begin dancing. It’s an extraordinary physical performance from the Severance star as he makes full use of his surroundings. Fred Astaire, a hero of his, would be proud.
“Clint Eastwood” by Gorillaz
Directed by: Jamie Hewlett and Pete Candeland
How did a bunch of cartoon characters — with vocals from the guy from Blur — become one of the biggest rock bands of the 2000s? The video for “Clint Eastwood” is a big reason why. It’s a forward-thinking mix of distinctive 2D characters in complex 3D environments. Plus, a bunch of gorillas do the “Thriller” dance, which is fun.
“I have a big issue with over-acting and over-animation, so I would play it the other way — I’d under-animate everything. Make it as simple but as cool as possible,” co-director Pete Candeland told Animation Obsessive. “It started to become a signature for Gorillaz.”
“Pagan Poetry” by Björk
Directed by: Nick Knight
It’s not immediately obvious what’s happening in the “Pagan Poetry” video. But then you realize: It’s abstracted footage of Bjork, shot by the Icelandic singer herself, in the throes of passion. We also see pearls being sewn into skin with needles. In the video’s second half, as she grapples with the conflict between sexual vs. emotional fulfillment, Bjork wears a wedding dress that’s literally attached to her body.
“She approached me with the idea,” director Nick Knight explained. “She wanted to show her sexuality.” The music video was banned from MTV and to this day, it’s still not available on YouTube.
“Fell In Love With A Girl” by The White Stripes
Directed by: Michel Gondry
It was tough to pick only one video from ever-imaginative director Michel Gondry, but it has to be the one with the Legos — even though the brand wanted nothing to do with The White Stripes (and not because of the siblings vs. married couple myth). “Lego the company refused to endorse the video or help us,” the Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind filmmaker explained. “We had to pay for every single box we used, because they thought the music of the White Stripes was not matching their image.” It was money well spent on a video that, like Legos themselves, appeals to kids and adults alike.
“Work It” by Missy Elliott
Directed by: Dave Meyers and Missy Elliott
The “Work It” music video is one iconic moment after another. The bees. The backwards footage to match the accidentally reversed hook. The tributes to Aaliyah and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes. The tracksuits. The dancing little girl. But most iconic of all is the connection between the legend Missy herself and “Work It” co-director Dave Dave Meyers.
“When I was living it, it was just that I was having fun. Each video was like, ‘Oh Missy, let’s pull your head off, oh Missy let’s do this,’” he shared. “It was just sort of a riff session between artists, what they were about at that time and how I was able to respond to that.”
“Hey Ya!” by Outkast
Directed by: Bryan Barber
Pure joy. How else to describe “Hey Ya!”? The music video for the wedding reception staple pays homage to The Beatles making their US television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show some 40 years earlier. André 3000 had never seen the footage before, but after watching it a half a dozen times, he pitched a tweak on the concept to director Bryan Barber: “Let’s make it seem like the Americans invaded England.” Dre portrayed all eight members of The Love Below, Klumps-style, meaning he had to perform the song roughly two dozen times during the shoot. But the studio audience made up of over 100 screaming female extras kept the energy up. Their energy is palpable enough to make you want to shake it like a Polaroid picture.
“Get Back” by Ludacris
Directed by: Spike Jonze
The big arms in Ludacris’ “Get Back” music video are so iconic, he brought them out of the storage to throw out the first pitch at an Atlanta Braves game in 2024. What do the Popeye-esque limbs mean, though? I’ll answer that question with another question: Does it matter? The inherent comedy of “arms… but big” is reason enough, and Ludacris and director Spike Jonze fully embrace the absurdity. Sometimes bigger really is better.
“Helena” by My Chemical Romance
Directed by: Marc Webb
I’ve been to enough Emo Nights to see the effect My Chemical Romance’s “Helena” music video had on a generation of Hot Topic-raised misfits. There will always be at least one person (usually the one with the most eyeshadow) who will dance along with the dead lady tip-toeing down the church aisle.
The video, which was choreographed by the legendary Michael Rooney (“Praise You,” “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head,” the dance scene from 500 Days Of Summer), plays out like an old-school Hollywood musical. There’s even umbrellas being twirled, a la Singin’ In The Rain. “Helena” is a morbid delight, a song about death that makes you glad to be alive.
“Only” by Nine Inch Nails
Directed by: David Fincher
David Fincher was one of the most in-demand music video directors of the late 1980s. But once he started making full-length features, he would only return to his former profession occasionally. One of those times was the highly-digital music video for “Only,” which Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor called “a technical exercise.” You can understand why the guy who made The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button might be interested. It was Reznor and Atticus Ross’ first time working with Fincher, but not their last: they composed the chilling scores for The Social Network, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and Gone Girl.
“Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” by Beyoncé
Directed by: Jake Nava
By 2008, Total Request Live — once the epicenter of music videos — was fading in influence, so much so that in September of that year, MTV announced that the show had been canceled. But TRL had one more ace up its sleeve: On October 13, exactly one month before the finale, Beyoncé premiered the music videos for “If I Were A Boy” and “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).” The former was meant to be the main attraction, but it’s the latter — a “down-south” spin on a Fosse and Verdon routine — that became a cultural sensation.
Not everyone can be as technically precise in their choreography as Beyoncé, but one of the keys to the music video’s virality is its accessibility. “Certain movements, anyone can do — anyone can move their hand back and forth,” one of Beyonce’s backup dancers, Ebony Williams, theorized in an oral history. “That is what people are searching for.”
“Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
One of pop’s most visual-minded artists, Lady Gaga has multiple music videos that could have made the cut, including (speaking of Beyoncé) the cinematic “Telephone” and the proactively autobiographical “Marry The Night.” But let’s give it to her best song: “Bad Romance.”
Gaga emerges from a pod in a futuristic bathhouse, struts in impossibly expensive shoes, and poses in bed next to a recently charred skeleton while wearing a pyrotechnic bra. The high-concept video is directed by future The Hunger Games filmmaker Francis Lawrence, who enjoyed collaborating with Lady Gaga “because it’s always fun to work on videos with artists who love the art form, and she loves the art form and she was down.” Gaga’s music videos continue to be an event to this day.
“Lotus Flower” by Radiohead
Directed by: Garth Jennings
“I’m never confident about how I look, but I’m always into being shocking and visually interesting,” Thom Yorke once said. It’s this dynamic — an awkward attraction to the spotlight — that makes the music video for The King Of Limbs cut “Lotus Flower” so riveting to watch. The Radiohead frontman admitted that he felt “deeply uncomfortable” with having to flail about, comparing it to “paparazzi footage of me naked or something. It was f*cked up.” But that was also the appeal: “If it’s a risk, that’s probably a good thing.”
“Yonkers” by Tyler The Creator
Directed by: Tyler The Creator
The hype around Odd Future was never higher than it was during a three-month span in 2011, when Frank Ocean released Nostalgia, Ultra in February, followed by Tyler The Creator’s Goblin in May. Both are considered classics, but only one features a music video involving a cockroach being ingested.
Tyler had a succinct concept in mind for “Yonkers,” his grimy breakout single: “I’m sitting on a chair rapping, I’m playing with a bug, I eat it, I throw it up, my eyes go black, and I hang myself.” He’s the first to admit that there’s no deeper meaning to the video; Tyler did it because it looked “really cool” and knew that it would get him attention. He was right on both accounts.
“Oblivion” by Grimes
Directed by: Grimes and Emily Kai Bock
Grimes has lived many lives in her 37 years on Earth (and possibly other planets, too). But let’s focus on her most acclaimed era, when she sounded like an android who was programmed to make chillingly good electro-pop. Yet the music video for “Oblivion” is exceedingly… human.
Shot in a single weekend, co-director Emily Kai Bock keeps Grimes’ attention on the camera “against a typically male crowd,” which makes her appear to be the “most [dominant] thing in the frame while at the same time surrounded by men twice her size.” A fitting choice for someone at her (creative) peak.
“Wyclef Jean” by Young Thug
Directed by: Ryan Staake
Ryan Staake’s first idea for the “Wyclef Jean” music video was to have Young Thug light $10,000 on fire. The concept was discarded when the rapper’s label objected, but in a way, it’s exactly what happened. Young Thug never showed up to the set of the video; the only time he even appears is self-shot footage of him eating a single Cheeto. This required Staake to get creative, so he turned “Wyclef Jean” into a Hearts Of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse-style meta-narrative “where we talk about the video itself in the video,” he explained. “We talk about what a disaster production was.” Staake (and a bunch of models and kids dressed as cops) turned a debacle into a spectacle.
“This Is America” by Childish Gambino
Directed by: Hiro Murai
Released at the same time as Childish Gambino’s season-best performance on Saturday Night Live, the “This Is America” music video remains shocking seven years later. A spiritual-sounding intro is interrupted by Gambino taking out a gun in a cavernous warehouse and unceremoniously firing a bullet into the back of a guitar player’s head. Shot on film, the music video tackles gun control, racism, and systemic violence. It’s heavy stuff.
But what keeps it from being overwhelmingly bleak is the technical skill involved, and what director Hiro Murai described as “Looney Tunes logic” to the brutality. Childish Gambino wanted “This Is America” (which started as a Drake diss track) to “feel like a moment.” He succeeded.
“Pienso En Tu Mirá” by Rosalía
Directed by: Nicolás Méndez
“Pienso En Tu Mirá” blurs the line between music video and short film. It begins with an unbroken shot of a flamenco dancer ornament dangling on the rearview mirror of a vehicle as it crashes into a wall; later, Rosalía is decorated with jewelry and gets surrounded by a group of men threatening her with guns, knives, and baseball bats. “Pienso en tu mirá, tu mirá clavá es una bala en el pecho,” she sings (which roughly translates to “I think of your gaze, your gaze nailed like a bullet in the chest”) as we see blood soak through once-clean shirts. It’s startling imagery that matches the song’s tale of “toxic love.”
“Lucid Dreams” by Juice WRLD
Directed by: Cole Bennett
Lyrical Lemonade founder Cole Bennett is one of rap’s foremost music video directors, and “Lucid Dreams” is his magnum opus. It’s a dream-like visual abstraction of Juice WRLD’s vivid lyrics about a breakup. There’s a melancholy that hangs heavy over the video, but you can also sense the trust between the late rapper and a fellow artist. “My creative expression is very important to me,” Bennett, who has worked with everyone from J. Cole to Eminem to Doechii, said. “It’s what keeps me happy, motivated, and inspired.”
“Now I’m In It” by Haim
Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
If there’s one thing Haim loves, it’s working with Paul Thomas Anderson. If there’s two things, it’s working with Paul Thomas Anderson and walking in their music videos. “Now I’m In It,” a video directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (!) which finds a bleary-eyed Danielle Haim in a depressive haze that’s only briefly broken when she’s walking (!!) alongside her sisters Este and Alana, has both. Walking is “cheap, quick, and cinematic,” according to the Phantom Thread filmmaker. Alana: “I will be walking in music videos ’til the day I die.”
“Cellophane” by FKA Twigs
Directed by: Andrew Thomas Huang
A year before the “Cellophane” music video was released, FKA Twigs revealed that she had laparoscopic surgery to remove six fibroid tumors from her uterus. “I started to doubt if my body would ever feel the same again,” she shared on Instagram, adding, “My confidence as a woman was knocked.” The singer accompanied the post with a video of herself practicing pole dancing, something she feared she would never be able to do again. “Cellophane,” a song about unrequited, publicly scorned affection, takes those feelings of vulnerability and turns them into a surreal masterpiece about attempting to attain perfection, and feeling like you’ve failed. All you can do is get up and try again.
“Forever” by Charli XCX
Directed by: Charli XCX
In the early months of the pandemic, Charli XCX wanted to make a music video for “Forever,” the lead single from her overlooked album How I’m Feeling Now. But, with the world in lockdown, a traditional promo wasn’t possible. Instead, Charli reached out to her fans for videos of cherished memories, sentimental objects, and pets. Especially pets. Over 6,000 people submitted footage, which were pieced together for the crowdsourced music video. It was a moment of connection during a time when we needed it the most.
“Squabble Up” by Kendrick Lamar
Directed by: Calmatic
You don’t have to be from Los Angeles — Compton, specifically — to appreciate the “Squabble Up” music video, but it sure helps. Kendrick Lamar packs the video for the GNX highlight with IYKYK references to his home city, including a 105 Freeway exit sign and scraper bikes, and a nod to Black cinema classics Menace II Society and Do The Right Thing. His humor shows up, too: The Drake-trolling rapper, who stays straight-faced the entire time, reads from a book entitled How To Be More Like Kendrick For Dummies (lesson one: make more videos as good as this one). There’s no throwaway lyric in “Squabble Up,” and every shot in the music video has a purpose, too. All killer, no filler.
Last week, Keshateased, “JUST TURNED IN MY ALBUM… TO MYSELF . @kesharecords.” Last July 4, Kesha dropped “Joyride,” her first single on her own label, Kesha Records. She has plans for next Independence Day, too: Today (March 27), Kesha announced a new album, . (also known as Period), set for July 4. She also unveiled the T-Pain collaboration “Yippee-Ki-Yay.”
A press release describes the project as “an unapologetic, unfiltered declaration of artistic freedom and fearless authenticity” and “a raw, daring, and intensely personal sonic journey, a defiant act of self-expression that refuses to adhere to expectations or play it safe.”
“This is the first album I’m making where I’m 100% in control of everything. It feels like it’s my first album. It feels divine; it feels like it stands for a lot. It’s really beautiful, and I cannot wait to share it. It’s maybe the most beautiful time of my entire life! I am so excited I got to work with the people I did and capture this moment in time, and put it onto something other people can listen to. It’s been deeply life-changing and profound to make this album, but it’s also the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. If you thought Animal was fun, just f*cking wait.”
Listen to “Yippee-Ki-Yay” above and find the . album art and tracklist below.
. is out 7/4 via Kesha Records. Find more information here.
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