The last two years have been great for afrobeats singer Adekunle Gold. The Nigerian artist has made an impact outside of his home country and his progression eventually earned him a record deal with Def Jam Records. That deal came before the arrival of his most recent album Tequila Ever After which was released back on August 1. The project features 18 songs and contributions from Khalid, Coco Jones, Zinoleesky, Pharrell, and more. Less than two months after its release, Adekunle Gold is ready to bring Tequila Ever After on a North American Tour which kicks off on September 22. The Tequila Ever After Tour will also feature two guests: Nonso Amadi and Masicka.
Who Is Opening Adekunle Gold’s Tequila Ever After Tour?
Nonso Amadi
Nonso Amadi is a Nigerian-born singer who grew up in the UK. In 2015, he released his first EP, Alone, and his breakout moment came a year later with “Tonight.” In the years that followed, he would go on to deliver celebrated collaborations with the likes of Maleek Berry, Juls, Santi, Odunsi (The Engine), and others. Most recently, Amadi released his debut album When It Blooms which flaunts 15 songs and guest appearances from Majid Jordan, Tay Iwar, Beam, Zinoleesky, and Tamera.
Masicka
Masicka is a Jamaican dancehall artist who first earned recognition after he won a high-profile deejay competition that was sponsored by the Carribean media platform Hype TV. The recognition would continue for him as he won the Best Upcoming Artist at Jamaica’s Music Industry Achievers Award in 2013 and more recently, earned a nomination for Best Male Artiste at the 2020 International Reggae & World Music Awards. His last project was released back in 2018 with Start From The Grung, but he has released numerous singles over the past year including “Tyrant,” Swamp To The Globe,” “Pieces,” Grave Freestyle,” “Feisty,” “Like Gold,” and “Umbrella.”
Tequila Ever After Tour Dates
Here are the dates for the Tequila Ever After Tour:
9/22 — Dallas, TX @ House of Blues Dallas
9/23 — Houston, TX @ House of Blues Houston
9/25 — Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre
9/27 — Washington, DC @ The Theater at MGM National Harbor*
9/29 — Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre*
9/30 — Boston, MA @ Orpheum*
10/1 — Montreal, QC @ MTELUS*
10/3 — Toronto, ON @ Rebel*
10/6 — Chicago, IL @ House of Blues Chicago*
10/7 — Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
10/9 — Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
10/12 — Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues Las Vegas
10/14 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern*
10/15 — San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic
10/18 — Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
10/20 — Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
10/22 — Edmonton, ALB @ MIDWAY
* – dates that Masicka will perform
Tequila Ever After is out now via Def Jam. Find out more information here. When It Blooms is out now via Universal Music Canada. Find out more information here.
John Fetterman has always been good at social media. Zinging opponent Dr. Oz online was one way he crushed him at the ballot box. The Pennsylvania senator has been in the news a lot recently, and over the most shallow reason possibly: his love of hoodies and gym shorts, even on Capitol Hill. He’s handled those attacks with a cool wit, and he did the same over a more sinister issue: bizarre conspiracy theories alleging he has a doppelgänger.
People on social media have had a field day with claims that there are two Fettermans. Sometimes he has fewer tattoos. Sometimes he has a mustache (as Fetterman did, after losing a bit to one of his kids). But when confronted with the tinfoil hat theory, he’s had some fun with it. For one, he posted an image from The Simpsons, in which Homer’s “exact double” — a far wealthier gentleman who has a mustache, as Fetterman did not long ago — enters Moe’s and receives a rude rebuke.
He repeated the joke when asked about the theory by HuffPost. “I have to talk to my other,” he told them, adding, “It’s all true. I’m Senator Guy Incognito.”
On Monday, Fetterman was on a field day, firing back at people comparing his sartorial preferences with the antics of MAGA folks like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and Meatball Ron DeSantis. But it’s clear he can juggle multiple ridiculous fronts at once.
We’re deep in Bourbon Heritage Month, which is full of bourbon releases, parties, and festivals. Case in point, the 2023 edition of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival just wrapped up in Bardstown, Kentucky, and it was a doozy. This year’s three-day fest was a bespoke county fair devoted to dozens of whiskey brands pouring their best pours for rabid whiskey fans.
I was there for two days. Let me tell you, it was a blast.
I also got to taste a ton of new whiskeys — ryes, American single malts, blended whiskeys, and bourbons (of course). While I couldn’t taste them all, I tried my best to get a wide swath of options to find the best whiskeys that you should be looking for right now. Below, I’m calling out 20 whiskeys that truly stood out. While most of these were tasted at the actual festival, a couple of them were also tasted at dinners and parties that took place down in Bardstown, near the festival grounds. That means that there are some elite pours on this list that are going to cost you some serious cash.
This time around, I didn’t rank these whiskeys. They’re all good in their own ways. There’s something for everyone below. My advice is to read my tasting notes on each bottle and find the one that sparks your interest. Then smash that price link to see if you can snag your own bottle. Let’s dive in!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
This new rye from the team over at Bourbon Pursuit is a masterful blend. The whiskey is hewn from Bardstown Bourbon Company’s 95/5 Kentucky rye batched with two Sagamore Spirit ryes — one a 95/5 and one 52/43/5 rye/corn/malted barley. Those whiskeys are batched and re-barreled into a French sherry revere cask for a final rest before batching, proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a sense of dark fruits — black cherry, dates, rum raisin — on the nose that leads to soft and sweet oak next to worn leather, mulled wine, and brandy-soaked fig cut with nutmeg and clove.
Palate: The taste is more on the woody side of the spice with a clear sense of old-school mulled wine with sweet vanilla and star anise over orange rinds and raisins with a slight chili warmth underneath.
Finish: The chili warmth drives the finish toward a soft red-wine-soaked oak that’s spiced with orchard barks and fruits next to vanilla/cherry tobacco just kissed with dark chocolate.
Bottom Line:
This is a delicate and nuanced rye whiskey. You can easily drink it neat or on the rocks and you’ll be rewarded with a deep and fun profile.
Luca Mariano Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Single Barrel
This whiskey marries Italian-American heritage with bourbon in Kentucky’s horse country. The whiskey is a contract-distilled high-rye bourbon that spends six years resting in new American oak. That whiskey is then just barely touched with local water before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose feels like walking through a peach orchard on a sunny day with blossoming honey suckles wrapped around cinnamon sticks in your hand.
Palate: The taste builds on that spiced honey with a mild root beer vibe next to overripe peach, a touch of vanilla cream, and a whisper of fresh mint.
Finish: The finish stays fairly mellow with creamy honey and mild spices blending with a soft touch of vanilla/mint tobacco warmth.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those bourbon pours that’s just… very nice. It’s balanced from nose to finish and provides a clear and concise profile. Pour it over a big rock and take your time sipping this one — or make a killer whiskey-forward cocktail with it.
Michter’s Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 10 Years Old 2023 Edition
The whiskey barrels sourced for these single-barrel expressions tend to be at least 10 years old with some rumored to be closer to 15 years old (depending on the barrel’s quality, naturally). Either way, the whiskey goes through Michter’s bespoke filtration process before a touch of Kentucky’s iconic soft limestone water is added, bringing the bourbon down to a very crushable 94.4 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a peppery sense of cedar bark and burnt orange next to salted caramel and tart red berries with a moist and spicy sticky toffee pudding with some brandy butter dancing on the nose.
Palate: The palate blends vanilla tobacco with salted dark chocolate-covered marzipan while espresso cream leads to new porch wicker and black peppercorns.
Finish: The end has a pecan waffle vibe with chocolate chips, maple syrup, blackberry jam, and minced meat pies next to old tobacco and cedar with a sweet yet toasted marshmallow on the very end.
Bottom Line:
Every time I taste this one it gets better. This is quintessential Kentucky bourbon with a fantastic and very deep flavor profile. If you’re looking for a pretty much perfect bourbon pour, this is the whiskey to chase down.
Hardin’s Creek ‘Boston’ Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Part three of the Hardin’s Creek 2023 releases is finally here. This whiskey is a 17-year-old bourbon made with Beam’s classic mash bill. The whiskey spent all 17 of those years in rickhouses on the Boston, Kentucky campus (a little further south of the Bardstown area). Those warehouses are in a flatter area (instead of tucked away in hollers or perched atop hills). So the actual buildings had more access to bathing warm sunlight, wind, and rain — all of which slightly shifts the aging process of the barrels in those warehouses.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a classic medley of wet brown sugar cut with rich vanilla buttercream, cinnamon bark, and dark cherry cola just kissed with dark chocolate and salt.
Palate: The taste leans nutty (more almond shell than marzipan) with a deep sense of salted dark chocolate-covered espresso beans next to sticky toffee pudding, salted caramel sauce cut with orange zest, and a hint of coffee cake dipped in black tea with a fleeting sense of old rickhouses floors and dry tobacco.
Finish: That dry tobacco and earthiness amp up the finish as the spice barks sharpen toward a warming finish full of Kentucky hugs, vanilla beans, and soft spiced brandied cherries dipped in dark chocolate.
Bottom Line:
I was a really big fan of the Frankfort version released early this year but this might have won me over. It’s just so beautifully rendered and deeply flavored with a profile that just keeps giving while you sip. Pour this one over a big ice cube and take your time digging into its depth.
Bardstown Bourbon Company Collaborative Series Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished In Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout Barrels
This brand-new release from Bardstown Bourbon Company is a collaboration with Chicago’s Goose Island’s iconic Bourbon County Stout. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of six- and seven-year-old Kentucky bourbons that are batched and then re-barreled into Bourbon County stout barrels. 12 months later, the whiskey is blended with another 9-year-old Kentucky bourbon, barely proofed, and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: A moment of honey draws you in on the nose before veering toward rich and very dark chocolate with a deeply stewed cherry cut with oily vanilla, mulled wine spices, and pear brandy-soaked marzipan with a hint of candied orange zest, dry espresso beans, and moist tobacco leaves.
Palate: There’s a moment of malted chocolate shakes on the taste that leads to a rich spiced Christmas cake brimming with walnuts, sultanas, candied cherry, candied lemon rinds, and leathery dates that lead to moments of creamy and very boozy eggnog poured over a Black Forest Cake.
Finish: The Christmas spices, fruit cake, dried fruit, and eggnog all combine on the finish to create a rich and sumptuous finish full of luscious textures and just the right amount of spiced whiskey warmth.
Bottom Line:
This is Christmas in a glass. Drink it accordingly.
Willett Straight Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey Rare Release Single Barrel Family Release Aged 7 Years Barrel No. 12266 Bottle 9/191
This is a rare one. It’s Willett’s classic bourbon mash that’s aged for seven long years at Willett in Bardstown, Kentucky. Then a single barrel was bottled at cask strength, yielding only 191 bottles.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Vibrant bourbon notes of vanilla-heavy crème brûlée mingle with fresh orange zest, creamed honey, old oak warehouses with dirt floors, salted caramel dipped in dark chocolate, whispers of star anise-heavy mulled wine, and a twist of fresh mint with this sense of apple cotton candy.
Palate: The taste bursts forth with blood orange zest, burnt sugar from atop the crème brûlée, bright red berries (think raspberry, currants, and holly), and a hint of rye roasting herbs just kissed with smoked fat.
Finish: The berries lean into homemade and winter-spiced cranberry sauce with a moment of Cherry Coke before veering back toward vanilla buttercream and old oak staves in a cold rickhouse on a rainy fall afternoon with a bold yet balanced warming Kentucky hug lingering for a good while on the very end.
Bottom Line:
This is a “F*ck, that’s delicious!” pour of whiskey. If you ever wondered why Willett is so revered and sought after, a pour of this will answer that question from the first nose. I do recommend pouring it over a big rock and taking your time though. There’s a lot to savor here and it takes time to really indulge in it all.
Very Olde St. Nick Antique Cask Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 9 Years “Straight Outta Bardstown”
This new release from Preservations Distillery is all about the old and forgotten barrels sitting in Bardstown warehouses. The whiskey is a nine-year-old blend of Kentucky bourbons that highlights the beauty of Bardstown whiskey from top to bottom.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a sense of dates and prunes dipped in floral yet creamy honey and then rolled in roasted and crushed almonds before old libraries full of leather-bound books and deeply rich tobacco arrive.
Palate: That musty leather gives way to old barrel houses full of 1800s wood pillars and used barrels before winter spices add a little warmth that’s countered by deep vanilla creamy eggnog, soft date cake cut with black tea, and a fleeting sense of dried cherries soaked in brandy and dipped in dark chocolate cut with espresso.
Finish: The end builds a warmth based around sharp winter spice barks and berries with a nice counterpoint of vanilla buttercream and lush eggnog over pound cake with a hint of poppy seed and soft pipe tobacco that’s just smoldering.
Bottom Line:
There are actually two of these new bourbons. The other is a 13-year-old version that, to my palate, is oakier and tighter (and a little less accessible). This is the sweet spot in that you’ll be instantly whisked away to fond winter memories of your childhood from the nose to the finish. Pour it over a rock and let it take you away.
Penelope Straight Rye Whiskey Heavy Toasted Barrel Finish
This is made with 100% Indiana rye whiskey. The whiskey was then re-barreled into fresh heavily toasted barrels (with a tiny bit of char) before batching and bottling with a touch of proofing water.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a leathery sense of old winter spice barks, rich caramel, and vanilla pudding cut with butterscotch and orange rinds.
Palate: There’s a sense of singed marshmallows and dark orange zest on the palate that leans into hints of minty tobacco and cedar bark.
Finish: A hint of salted caramel and dark chocolate oranges drive the finish toward a soft old oakiness and a touch of smudging sage.
Bottom Line:
This is just nice. Drink it how ever you like to drink your whiskey.
Rare Perfection 15 Years Old Cask Strength Canadian Whiskey
This very rare whiskey from Preservation Distilling is a Canadian whiskey that was hidden away up in Canada for a long time. The whiskey in the batch is a 15-year-old whiskey that’s batched to highlight dark and deep fruitiness while feeling like something deeply familiar to the American bourbon lover.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Dark orange chocolate balls open the nose toward rich vanilla buttercream, smoldering oak staves, and a whisper of dry green tea leaves with this whisper of strawberry shortcake lurking in the background.
Palate: The orange takes on a candied vibe with a hint of ginger on the palate as creamy eggnog lattes mingle with pear brandy-soaked marzipan dipped in dark chocolate next to a moment tart red fruit tobacco.
Finish: A deep oakiness arrives late with warming spice barks and rich tobacco leaves before the orange returns with a bright zestiness that accentuates the warming spices and old oak.
Bottom Line:
This is a very fruit-forward pour with plenty of citrus and berry. Then it just goes so much deeper. I really want to play around with this in Manhattan variations as the winter arrives.
Heaven Hill Heritage Collection 2nd Edition Kentucky Straight Corn Whiskey Aged 20 Years
The 2nd edition of Heaven Hill’s Heritage Collection asks what budget brand Mellow Corn would taste like when left alone for 20 years and treated like an elite whiskey. The results from the mash of 80% corn, 12% malted barley, and 8% rye ended up in 110 barrels back in October 2002. After 20 long years in Heaven Hill’s famed Rickhouse 1K, they were batched and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a mix of sweet white grits cut with salted caramel and old oak on the nose next to a slight nuttiness with a hint of sweetgrass dipped in Caro Syrup.
Palate: That dry grassy nature continues on the palate as burnt orange and dry nuts balance out next to sweet dry white hominy and a hint of vanilla pods.
Finish: The end leans into the burnt orange and nuttiness with a creamy edge and a mild sense of powdered winter spices.
Bottom Line:
This is a wildly different and delicious pour of whiskey. Yes, it’s literally Mellow Corn that’s aged for 20 years, and it 100% works. I’d pour this over a single small rock and let it bloom in the glass and then take my time really diving deep into the profile.
This new release is a masterful blend of whiskeys from the core of America’s distillery region. The blend in the bottle is a batch of Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee whiskeys that are balanced to highlight classic bourbon notes at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Peach cobbler with a big scoop of malted vanilla ice cream pops on the nose with a light sense of rye bread crusts, caramel pie, and mild orange zest cut with oaky tobacco.
Palate: Apricot jam over buttermilk biscuits leads the taste toward white pepper spiciness, winter spice barks, and a bright burst of grapefruit pith before this mild sense of white grape juice and almost savory melon arrives.
Finish: That melon goes full honeydew on the finish with a bit more of that orange before black peppercorns and smoldering smudging sage drive the end toward woody tobacco boxes wrapped in old leather.
Bottom Line:
This is another outlier that’s very fruit-forward in fascinating ways. Weirdly, this feels like something you play around with in cocktails while also serving as an obvious neat pour to really take your time with. Your mission is to find how that balances for you.
Barrell Rye Cask Strength A Blend of Rye Whiskeys Batch #004
This brand-new blend of ryes from Barrell Craft Spirits combines four styles of rye. The main component is five, six, and 10-year-old Indiana rye mixed with a five-year-old Tennessee rye, a 6-year-old Kentucky rye, and a 14-year-old Canadian rye. Once batched, those whiskeys were bottled at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Leathery candied fruits and berries drive the nose toward tobacco leaves, roasting herbs, and nasturtiums with a whisper of woody sasparilla just kissed with spearmint and sesame seed.
Palate: There’s a candied fruit vibe on the palate with pecan waffles, butter, maple syrup, and a touch of burnt marshmallow dipped in creamy espresso that leads to anise and old boot leather.
Finish: Hazlenut shells and marzipan lead to a whisper of dried botanicals like juniper and ancho chili with a woody sense of dried herbs and tobacco dosed in old brandy.
Bottom Line:
This is quickly becoming one of my favorite rye whiskeys of the year. It’s just so goddamn good, deep, and delicious. You know what to do!
Hemingway Rye, Signature Edition Straight Rye Whiskey Finished in Rum Seasoned Oloroso Sherry Casks
The second release from Hemingway Rye is a blend of six-year-old Indiana rye (classic 95/5 rye/barley) with a four-year-old Kentucky 95/5 rye. Once those whiskeys were batched, the rye was re-barreled in Oloroso sherry casks that held rum.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a hint of dry sweetgrass over berry brambles before veering into nut cake and rum-soaked raisin with a hint of spice barks and vanilla cream.
Palate: Caramel cut with orange oils and dipped in dark chocolate drives the palate toward clove and nutmeg-heavy eggnog with a touch of vanilla sugar cookies, orange cake, and a medley of dates, figs, and prunes.
Finish: That dark fruit folds into a sticky toffee pudding vibe with more of that chocolate-covered caramel and dark orange with a lush finish.
Bottom Line:
Yep! Another stellar rye whiskey. This one feels like the perfect all-around whiskey in that I want to make cocktails with it just as much as I want to sip it neat or on the rocks.
Green River Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Full Proof
The latest addition to the core Green River lineup is a doozy. The Kentucky whiskey is a rye-forward single-barrel bourbon. The mash bill is 70% Kentucky-grown corn with 21% rye and 9% malted barley. That whiskey rests for at least five years before water is added to bring the proof back down to entry proof, hence “full proof”. The whiskey is then bottled directly from the barrel as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Cream soda and honeycomb greet you on the nose with a light sense of spiced holiday cakes, vanilla sheet cake, soft-dried chili, and old woody spice.
Palate: The honey and vanilla bond on the palate to create a luscious mouthfeel that leads to balanced notes of sharp dried chili spice, soft worn leather, pipe tobacco, and rich walnut bread with plenty of butter, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.
Finish: The end leans toward the leather and tobacco with a chili-choco vibe accented by soft walnut and even softer vanilla.
Bottom Line:
This single-barrel product just doesn’t miss. The spice is perfectly balanced with the deeper nutty and vanilla bourbon vibes. Take it slow, find your sweet spot, and then experiment with this one.
Filmland Spirits Presents Ryes of the Robots Small Batch Straight Rye Whiskey 2023 Batch
This brand-new whiskey blends Hollywood B-movies with sourced whiskey is very new. The actual juice is a 95/5 rye/malted barley sourced whiskey from Kentucky. Beyond that, not much is known. Though there’s been an incredible amount of work about writing a script and drawing up storyboards around the beautifully designed release.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a nice mix of dark berries and old leather next to cinnamon bark and clove berries with a hint of caramel before veering toward sheet cake and singed marshmallows.
Palate: The palate hits a mint chocolate chip vibe with a dash of black peppercorn before bright red berries floating in vanilla-laced cream lead the taste back toward smoldering marshmallows and a lot of woody winter spice.
Finish: Oak staves and cinnamon bark really peak on the finish next to very mild menthol tobacco just kissed with red berries and more of that creamy vanilla with a whisper of green grass lurking under it all.
Bottom Line:
This is a great straightforward rye pour. It’s succinct and gets the job done. I’d start by using this in whiskey-forward cocktails and then go from there.
Three Chord Cask-Finished Bourbon & Corn Whiskey Finished in Honey & Toasted Barrels
This is from a wide-ranging whiskey brand created by Neil Giraldo (Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame guitarist and producer behind Pat Bantar and Rick Springfield’s biggest hits). The whiskey in this expression is hewn from a high-rye five-year-old MGP bourbon, a standard six-year-old MGP bourbon, and an eight-year-old Kentucky corn whiskey. Those barrels are batched and the whiskey is re-barrelled into toasted barrels from ISC and Speyside cooperages for three months. Then those barrels are batched and that whiskey is then re-barreled once more into Fern Valley Farms honey casks for one final month of mellowing.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This has a nice spiciness to the nose that leans into cedar and smudging sage with a hint of nasturtiums, creamy honey, and gingerbread cookies.
Palate: The mouthfeel is lush with a nice layering of corncake with honey, vanilla malt with a cherry on top, and bold winter spice barks and botanicals with a hint of burnt orange and red chili pepper.
Finish: The spice ramps up on the end with a good Kentucky hug (more a buzz than a burn) next to light white grits cut with butter, honey, and caramel with a hint of orchard fruit lurking behind it all.
Bottom Line:
This builds from a soft nose to a powerful finish. It’s nuanced and deep in all the best ways. Take it slow on the neat pour, add water to let it bloom, and then play around with it once you get a handle on the overall profile.
New Riff Sour Mash Single Malt Kentucky Single Malt Whiskey Cask Strength
This brand-new whiskey from New Riff is years in the making. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of single malt whiskeys made with 100% barley mash bills (Golden Promise, Maris Otter, Chevallier heirloom barley, and Scottish peated barley malt) that are aged for seven to eight years in a combination of new charred oak, de-charred toasted oak, red wine casks, Portuguese brandy casks, classic sherried oak casks, and a few others.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rich malted winter spiced cakes lead the nose toward chili pepper spice, old dried fruits (dates, prunes, figs) all dipped in floral honey, and a light sense of citrus (both candied and dried) before old oak, orchard bark, and fall leaves arrive with a sense of fermented fruit laying on the ground of that orchard.
Palate: The funky fruit and fall leaves drive the taste back toward rich vanilla and spiced malted fruit cakes with a light sense of pipe tobacco and old leather boots before floral honey gives way to bright nasturtiums.
Finish: The floral spiced honey gets malty on the backend with a hint of salt and rock candy before hot tobacco and dried red chili build on the end.
Bottom Line:
This is a bold American single malt that hits every note so clearly. It all makes sense and becomes a bit of a whirlwind on the senses (in the best way). Pour this over a big ice cube and go from there.
Barrell Bourbon Cash Finish Series: Tale of Two Islands
This new release from Barrell Craft Spirits is a unique one. The whiskey in the bottle is batched from Indiana bourbon (five, six, and nine-year-old barrels) with Maryland bourbon (five and six-year-old barrels). Once batched, the whiskey is re-barreled into rum casks and Islay whisky casks. Then those barrels are batched and the whiskey is bottled 100% as-is at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with big notes of bananas foster, peach cobbler, and blackberry crumble next to roasting herbs, smoldering smudging sage, old cedar kindling, and rich vanilla-chocolate malted tobacco with a dash of Cherry Coke and Almond Joy.
Palate: Lushness dominates the palate with dark chocolate-covered espresso beans, candied orange peels, candied almonds, black cherry soda, cream soda, plum pudding, and mincemeat pies dusted with powdered sugar before dark and lightly smoked oak arrives.
Finish: That smoky oak leads to pepper brisket fat and salted butter cut with cedar tobacco before veering toward blackberry pie and red currants swimming in dark chocolate with a faint whisper of fresh vanilla pods.
Bottom Line:
This is delicious, unique, and deep. This is another one that you’ll need to take your time with to really savor. But trust me, it’ll be a very rewarding time investment thanks to how much depth is here.
Bardstown Bourbon Company Chateau Doisy Daene A Blend Of Straight Whiskeys Finished In Sauternes Barrels And Toasted Oak Barrels
This collab is a blend of 10-year-old Kentucky bourbon with six-year-old Indiana rye (with a high-corn mash bill). Those whiskeys were batched and then re-barreled into Chateau Doisy Daene Sauternes barrels for another seven months of aging before another batching session. Then that whiskey was re-barreled again into new toasted oak barrel for a final four months before batching and bottling as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Rum raisin and black-tea-soaked dates drive the nose toward bitter marmalade, brandy-soaked marzipan, cinnamon-laced apple cider, and creamed honey with a fleeting sense of white wildflowers in the summer.
Palate: Semi-fermented raisins fresh off the vine open the palate toward caramel candies cut with freshly ground cinnamon and nutmeg next to soft vanilla pound cake drizzled with toffee cut with orange and salt.
Finish: The finish leans gently toward old oak staves in a sunny grape orchard with a light sense of orange blossom, Earl Grey tea, and fresh honeycomb with a nice vanilla lush underbelly.
Bottom Line:
This is a dark fruity masterpiece. Drink it slow and enjoy every moment.
This whiskey is Michter’s standard rye that’s finished in a second, toasted barrel. In this case, those barrels are air-dried for 24 long months before being lightly toasted and loaded with the rye. The whiskey then goes into the bottle at barrel strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This has a spicy and sweet nose that’s just like a buttery, candied, and dried fruit, and nut-filled holiday cake that’s been drenched in good whiskey and left to sit for a month to really amp up those flavors while a flutter of dry cedar kindling dipped in dark chocolate sneaks in.
Palate: The taste has a clear sense of black-tea-soaked dates, creamed vanilla honey, black walnuts, wet brown sugar, and a touch of salted dark chocolate with a whisper of bitterness that feels like vanilla pods still on the branch and old smoking hickory just kissed with brisket fat.
Finish: The mid-palate dries out towards that pitchy yet dry woodpile with an echo of dirt from the bottom of that woodpile on the finish before the roasting herbs and soft dark berries arrive with a whisper of dark chocolate tobacco and leather.
Bottom Line:
This is another masterpiece whiskey. The woodiness from the toasted barrel balances excellently with the deep rye vibes to create something bigger than its individual parts. Again, take it slow and enjoy every second.
Earlier this month, That ’70s Show star Danny Masterson received a 30-year prison sentence (to life) following two rape convictions, years after he was formally charged for the 2003 events that took place at his Hollywood Hills home. His fellow Scientologist wife, Bijou Phillips, married The Ranch actor in 2011 and was said to be inconsolable when the sentence was announced in court. Less than a month later, TMZ reports that Bijou has filed for divorce:
According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Bijou filed to end things Monday in a California court. Her attorney, Peter A. Lauzon, tells TMZ, “Ms. Phillips has decided to file for divorce from her husband during this unfortunate time. Her priority remains with her daughter.”
He continues, “This period has been unimaginably hard on the marriage and the family. Mr. Masterson was always present for Ms. Phillips during her most difficult times of her life. Ms. Phillips acknowledges that Mr. Masterson is a wonderful father to their daughter.”
TMZ further reports that Phillips has listed “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the divorce and is looking to restore her maiden name. She also requests legal and physical custody of their daughter, age 9, and she’s seeking spousal support.
Masterson’s conviction and sentencing arrived several years after the allegations against him stalled out in the Los Angeles County court system.
Read David Grann’s non-fiction bestseller Killers of the Flower Moon and you spend a lot of it with the feds. Originally the forthcoming movie was supposed to focus heavily on the FBI, too. But the filmmakers decided to make the story of the Osage story the main focus, with law enforcement mere supporting players. Now Leonardo DiCaprio is opening up about why they effectively turned the movie inside out.
In a profile of the film by British Vogue, DiCaprio talked about how he let himself be recast. Initially, he was to play Texas Marshal-turned-federal agent Tom White. He wound up playing Ernest Burkhart, a WWI vet who marries Mollie (Lily Gladstone), a wealthy Osage woman, and gets involved in a sinister plot hatched by his uncle, William Hale (Robert De Niro). (White wound up going to Jesse Plemons, who’s still fourth-billed.) Focusing on the feds ultimately felt off, he said.
“It just didn’t feel like it got to the heart of it,” DiCaprio explained. “We weren’t immersed in the Osage story. There was this tiny, small scene between Mollie and Ernest that provoked such emotion in us at the reading, and we just started to penetrate into what that relationship was, because it was so twisted and bizarre and unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.”
Director Martin Scorsese also opened up about the switch in a cover story by Time. “After a certain point, I realized I was making a movie about all the white guys,” Scorsese said. “Meaning I was taking the approach from the outside in, which concerned me.”
And so Scorsese and the screenwriter decided to dramatically overhaul the original script, which, for one thing, gave Gladstone a far meatier role.
“Before the rewrites, I had three pages of some pretty mouthy dialogue,” Gladstone revealed in an interview for Interview:
“But I was struggling so much with the scenes that when COVID shut everything down and the project went quiet for a minute, I assumed that I’d blown the audition. About a year later, I got a request to Zoom with Martin Scorsese. And then I got new sides sent to me that had beats. Suddenly it was a scene that had minimal dialogue…And I was like, ‘Oh man, I can plug a character in here now. This is amazing.’ Because I’d heard that the rewrites completely did a 180. Leo was supposed to be playing Tom White, Jesse Plemons’s character.”
In just a few days, Netflix will kick off the official fifth season of Love Is Blind with a new round of episodes. Just six months after Love Is Blind launched for season four in Seattle, the show brought its talents to Houston for season five. Per usual, viewers can expect dramatic, fun, romantic, and emotional moments throughout the 10-episode of season five. So, before the new season arrives, here’s everything you should know.
Release Date
Love Is Blind season five begins with new episodes on Netflix on September 22. The first four episodes will appear on the platform that day, episodes 5-7 on September 29, episodes eight and nine on October 6, and the tenth and final episode on October 13. Each will first appear on Netflix at 3am EST/ 12am PST.
Cast
The cast members for Love Is Blind season five are all from Houston as it’s where the season was filmed for the most part. Here is the list of cast members according to Netflix Tudum:
Aaliyah (29); ICU Travel Nurse
Carter (30); Construction
Chris (28); Project Manager for Commercial and Retail Development
Connor (31); Geoscientist
Efrain (27); Software Sales
Enoch (27); Financial Advisor
Erica (27); Marketing Manager
Ernesto (32); Supply Chain Manager); Oil and Gas
Estefania (30); Teacher/Dancer
Izzy (31); Sales
Jared “JP” (32); Firefighter
Jarred (34); University Director
Johnie (32); Lawyer
Josh (32); Sales Rep
Justice (28); Personal Trainer
Linda (32); Talent Acquisition Recruiter
Lydia (32); Geologist
Maris (30); HR Specialist
Mayra (25); Minister
Milton (25); Petroleum Engineer
Miriam (32); Scientist
Paige (32); Stylist
Renee (32); Veterinarian
Robert (30); Special Education Teacher
Shondra (32); Flight Attendant
Stacy (34); Director of Operations
Taylor (26); Teacher
Uche (34); Lawyer / Entrepreneur
Plot
Here is the official synopsis for Love Is Blind season five:
The fifth season of the cultural hit reality series returns with a new group of Houston singles ready to hit the pods and find love. As the experiment continues to expand, each participant’s individual journey, emotional growth, and ability to embrace a new approach to dating is key — whether they find love outwardly or within. In the most shocking season yet, the singles face new challenges, unexpected twists, and surprising turns that will test their personal resolve, and the strength of their connections, more than ever before. Even if the couples can forge a strong enough bond to get engaged sight unseen, can their love survive the challenges waiting for them in the outside world — including protective families, skeptical friends, and the exes they thought they’d left behind?
Trailer
You can watch the trailer for Love Is Blind season five below:
‘Love Is Blind’ season 5 is available to stream on Netflix on September 22 at 3am EST/12am PST. Season 1-4 available now to stream on Netflix.
For months, Flyana Boss’s “You Wish” viral videos have been inescapable on Instagram Reels, TikTok, and Twitter (“X” is a dumb name and I am never calling it that). Then, ahead of the release of the official music video, the duo dropped a slick remix featuring Kaliii and one of their greatest forebears in OG “weird Black girl” icon, Missy Elliott.
Today, Missy got in on the viral video action, sharing a Reel of her performing her verse from the remix. Rather than all-out sprinting through her shoot location, though, Missy goes maximal, sauntering coolly toward the camera as controlled chaos swirls around her. She even does a wardrobe change, going from a multicolored T-shirt and parachute pants to a black jumpsuit with a chain adorned by a pendant of her own head from her breakout “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” video. She also throws on a monogram-print jean dress with a matching hat.
Flyana Boss — who are currently on tour with Janelle Monáe — sent their approval in the comments on Instagram, writing, “Obsessed!!!! We adore youuu!!!” with a UFO emoji. Missy wrote back, “Much love & Continued Success for you both.” That’s one way to pass the torch.
Missy Elliott is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
While the United States is undeniably one of the most culturally dominant countries in the world, its depth and complexity go far beyond what most people understand before seeing it for themselves.
The U.S. is a melting pot of diverse cultures, histories and landscapes, creating a rich and complex national tapestry that takes time and travel to truly comprehend. Heck, even Americans ourselves have a hard time understanding each other from time to time.
It’s a place where every state can feel like its own little world, each with its own traditions, accents and cuisines. So, it’s understandable that when many people from around the world visit for the first time, there are some things they probably wished they had known ahead of time.
To help people better understand America’s unique quirks, a Reddit user named AlainasBoyfriend asked the online forum, “What should a foreigner avoid while visiting the United States?” While it’s reasonable to assume the comments would be about avoiding dangerous neighborhoods or tourist traps, the conversation was a lot more positive. It was centered around the vastness of the U.S. geography and the regional differences that people from another country may not expect.
The big takeaway is that America is a huge place where our states can be as different as most countries. Any place with regions as diverse as Hawaii, Oklahoma, Alaska and New York will be hard for most people to grasp on the first visit.
Here are the 13 things foreigners should “avoid” when visiting the U.S.
1. Watch for wildlife
“If you go to the national parks, don’t attempt to take selfies with the wildlife. A full grown bison will throw you through the air like a crumpled piece of paper.” — Juergen2993
“I want to really emphasize this. There are US Park Rangers who are full-time employees of the National Park Service. Their job is to protect the park, the wildlife, and visitors. Take the posted signs seriously and listen and do what rangers advise. Yearly, a dozen or so people die in the Grand Canyon National Park, often tourists who go hiking without enough water or food and are not aware of how treacherous the terrain and weather can be. Same for Big Bend NP in Texas.” — aaby-rose
2. Don’t underestimate the ‘rural-ness’
“If you are visiting a more rural area, like Montana where I live, don’t underestimate the rural-ness. You might not be able to get a hotel in a small town and there are plenty of places where there aren’t any hotels or accommodations. You can take the highway and run out of gas because there aren’t any gas stations for 70 miles. Also, if it is a dirt road, and there are a lot of them in the rural U.S., don’t ever assume that you will have cell/GPS reception or that the dirt road goes anywhere besides 50 miles into the mountains where you can get stuck or break down.” — Violet624
3. America is huge
“The flight from London to New York is only about an hour longer than the flight from New York to Seattle.” — UnspecificGravity
“And we don’t have any kind of sensible train infrastructure connecting cities.” — NobodyCool1234
4. You can’t drive from NY to LA
“We had an exchange student from France staying with us (NY). One day, we saw her with a map of the US, said she was going to take a bus to California because she had heard so much about it on television. We had to sit down and explain it was going to take a week, each way.” — MedicinalTequila
“Lol I have some German friends who flew into Texas and wanted to make a day trip to Los Angeles during the week they were in the US. After that first trip, they planned much better and now visit the country by regions and give themselves more time.” — MarbleousMel
5. Give us space
“I find a lot of foreigners have about 2 1/2 inches of a personal space bubble, while us Americans value our space. Keep at least a 2-3 feet distance when conversing with strangers. I’ve had an Italian guy come so close I thought he was going to kiss me. Very uncomfortable for someone who isn’t used to a lack of personal space.” — MasterPip
6. Forget the stereotypes
“Leave all your stereotypes about America home, it’s a hugely diverse country and your experience in one part of the US will be very different to your experience in another. Keep an open mind and have fun.” — Zerbey
“But.. Murica!!! Seriously I try to get this across to people. The United States is not one place. Or even 50 places. It’s huge and a cultural melting pot like no other. There is absolutely no way to stereotype ‘America.’ Remember guys, Hawaii, Florida, New York, Alaska and Oklahoma, etc, are vastly different places. And they’re all their own unique thing, different from the next state over.” — BlueIsBlackbird
7. Don’t travel with pot
“Taking weed across state lines. It’s not legal everywhere.” — Gromit801
8. Avoid the chains
“Don’t go to the big chain-type places. Go to the mom-and-pop little restaurants and coffee shops and specialty shops. You will usually find new cool things you enjoy.” — Election Proper8172
“When visiting the U.S., it’s best to avoid discussing sensitive topics like politics and religion with strangers, even if they bring it up.” — Vexina1997
“I’m a huge fan of Bill Burr’s catch-all non-committal response: ‘Hey, fair enough!’ You just say, ‘Hey, fair enough’ to any baiting comment.” — Heretic Jones
10. Be sure to tip
“Generally, you should tip at sit-down restaurants with full service (ie waiter comes and takes your order, brings food, refills drinks and clears your dishes). At these places, traditionally the minimum is 15%, but most people I know tip closer to 20% standard.” — Heliawe
11. Don’t get the large
“Ordering a large at a restaurant, or especially a movie theater. I don’t care how hungry you think you are, you will not eat/drink it all in one sitting.” — Amazing_Excuse_3860
12. Buy travel insurance
“Medical travel insurance that goes into the 7 digits. Someone from my country had the misfortune of having a stroke in the USA. 150k+ in expenses. When I went there it was my number 1 concern: getting insurance.” — N0t_N1k3L
“Underrated comment. You can run, but hospital debt might find you unable to return. Use a fake name. Get a fake name and a story ready now. You do not speak English nor any modern language. When discharged, run. This also applies if you have health insurance.” — univ06
“Avoid a hospital visit. Whatever you think it costs, it’s more.” — pug_fugly_moe
13. Be careful around police
“Don’t interact with the police unless you absolutely need to.” — Snackdoc189
“If you didn’t call them, don’t talk to them, at all.” — Shastadakota
“Yeah they’re honestly not there to help you, and some will be annoyed if you ask for so much as directions.” — Honestnt
Double H Canine Academy in Louisville, Kentucky is a place where dog owners can take their rambunctious pets and have them turned into respectable members of the family.
However, as you can tell in this hilarious video, not all dogs are meant to follow orders.
Ladies and gentleman, meet Ryker.
Double H Canine Training Academy… Epic Service Dog Training Failure
Ryker giving it his all before flunking our of Service Dog Training School
As you can see below, Ryker is living his life to the fullest. While he may never be the world’s greatest service dog, he continues to provide an invaluable testament to being true to one’s self.
One of the biggest problems with coffee production is that it generates an incredible amount of waste. Once coffee beans are separated from cherries, about 45% of the entire biomass is discarded.
So for every pound of roasted coffee we enjoy, an equivalent amount of coffee pulp is discarded into massive landfills across the globe. That means that approximately 10 million tons of coffee pulp is discarded into the environment every year.
When disposed of improperly, the waste can cause serious damage soil and water sources.
However, a new study published in the British Ecological Society journal Ecological Solutions and Evidence has found that coffee pulp isn’t just a nuisance to be discarded. It can have an incredibly positive impact on regrowing deforested areas of the planet.
In 2018, researchers from ETH-Zurich and the University of Hawaii spread 30 dump trucks worth of coffee pulp over a roughly 100′ x 130′ area of degraded land in Costa Rica. The experiment took place on a former coffee farm that underwent rapid deforestation in the 1950s.
The coffee pulp was spread three-feet thick over the entire area.
Another plot of land near the coffee pulp dump was left alone to act as a control for the experiment.
“The results were dramatic.” Dr. Rebecca Cole, lead author of the study, said. “The area treated with a thick layer of coffee pulp turned into a small forest in only two years while the control plot remained dominated by non-native pasture grasses.”
In just two years, the area treated with coffee pulp had an 80% canopy cover, compared to just 20% of the control area. So, the coffee-pulp-treated area grew four times more rapidly. Like a jolt of caffeine, it reinvigorated biological activity in the area.
The canopy was also four times taller than that of the control.
The coffee-treated area also eliminated an invasive species of grass that took over the land and prevented forest succession. Its elimination allowed for other native species to take over and recolonize the area.
“This case study suggests that agricultural by-products can be used to speed up forest recovery on degraded tropical lands. In situations where processing these by-products incurs a cost to agricultural industries, using them for restoration to meet global reforestation objectives can represent a ‘win-win’ scenario,” Dr. Cole said.
If the results are repeatable it’s a win-win for coffee drinkers and the environment.
Researchers believe that coffee treatments can be a cost-effective way to reforest degraded land. They may also work to reverse the effects of climate change by supporting the growth of forests across the globe.
The 2016 Paris Agreement made reforestation an important part of the fight against climate change. The agreement incentivizes developing countries to reduce deforestation and forest degradation, promote forest conservation and sustainable management, and enhance forest carbon stocks in developing countries.
“We hope our study is a jumping off point for other researchers and industries to take a look at how they might make their production more efficient by creating links to the global restoration movement,” Dr. Cole said.
This article originally appeared on 03.29.21
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