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Barrel-strength bourbon is for the bold-hearted. These bourbons are full of big flavors, big textures, and really big ABVs. Those ABVs (or very high proof) can be a lot to get a handle on and easily burn the palate of a newbie. That makes just grabbing a barrel-strength bourbon a bit of a crapshoot. You might grab a perfectly balanced barrel-strength bourbon with nuance and beauty — or you might grab a bottle that’ll taste like literal burning and nothing else. No one wants the latter.

To help you avoid those firey barrel-strength bourbon whiskeys that leave your palate exhausted after one sip, I’m conducting another bourbon blind tasting. This time, I’ve grabbed 10 brand-new bourbons that are all bottled at barrel strength. That means that the whiskey went into the bottle at the exact same proof/ABV that it came out of the barrel with zero proofing with additional water.

That makes our lineup today the following bottles of barrel-strength bourbon:

• Blackened X Rabbit Hole A Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys Distilled in Tennessee & Kentucky Finished in Calvados Casks Cask Strength
• Doc Swinson’s Hand Selected Exploratory Cask “Garryana” Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Garryana Oak Casks
• Nashville Barrel Company Single Barrel Straight Bourbon Whiskey Topflight Series by ReserveBar
• Jefferson’s Ocean Aged Cask Strength Bourbon Topflight Series by ReserveBar
• Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof
• Larceny Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof Batch No.: C923
• Rabbit Hole Dareringer Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Limited Edition Cask Strength Bourbon Finished in PX Sherry Casks
• Barrell Bourbon Cask Strength Batch #035
• Booker’s Bourbon Small Batch 2023-02 “Apprentice Batch” Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Starlight Distillery Carl T. Huber’s Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Tokaji Barrels

After the blind tasting, I’m ranking these barrel-strength bourbons. But since I’m dealing with something a little more nuanced with this panel, I’m going to rank these based on a few key factors:

• One, these whiskeys have to be balanced. That means that the ABV/proof warmth needs to balance with the rest of the flavor profile and not blow it out.
• Two, there needs to be real depth here. It can’t just be a heat bomb or a cherry bomb or a wood bomb. There needs to be a good and deep flavor profile.
• Lastly, it has to feel good. You don’t want a whiskey that leaves you physically buzzing with burning heat for five minutes after you’ve tasted the goddamn thing. A nice gentle buzzing or numbing that lasts as long as the taste and finish is fine. Still burning minutes later is not.

Sounds good? Let’s dive in!

• The 100 Best Bourbon Whiskeys From Kentucky, Ranked
• The Absolute Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States
• The ‘Smoothest’ Bourbons On The Market, Blind Tasted And Ranked
• The 100 Best Bourbons That *Aren’t* From Kentucky, Ranked
• The 100 Best Bourbons Under $100 Right Now, Ranked

Part 1 — The Barrel-Strength Bourbon Blind Tasting

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

Nose: There’s a nice sense of chili pepper warmth on the nose with a hint of macadamia cookie nuttiness, honey Graham Crackers, light summer florals, and a whisper of darkly stewed apple.

Palate: Cinnamon-infused pear brandy sparks on the palate with a sense of clover honey, walnut loaf, and this thin line of smoked applewood with a good sense of barrel warmth.

Finish: The honey and walnut drive the finish toward a soft warmth that leaves the gentlest of numbness on the senses.

Initial Thoughts:

Yeah, this is nice. It’s not a “wow” whiskey but it’s a perfectly good sipper.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

Nose: This has a strong nose full of slowly smoked brisket smoke, plum jam spiked with clove and allspice, rum raisin, and a deep dark fruit leather accented by chili tobacco.

Palate: Dark sugar cookies and more of that dark fruit leather drive the taste toward wet black tea cut with dried ancho chilis, soft chewing tobacco, and dark figs dipped in even darker chocolate with buzzing warmth underneath it all.

Finish: That black fig and chocolate sharpen on the finish as the tobacco gets warm and chili-focused next to a light cedar and hickory that’s just starting to smolder.

Initial Thoughts:

This has a good balance and depth. It got a little hot at the end but not overly so.

Taste 3

Tasting Notes:

Nose: This has a classic bourbon nose full of maple syrup over fresh pancakes with Nutella, vanilla sheet cake, and Cherry Coke all mingling together nicely.

Palate: The palate sharpens with hot cinnamon and clove-heavy Dr. Pepper (still cut with cherry) while cashews and dark chocolate nut clusters lead the taste toward hot cinnamon tobacco.

Finish: Sharp mint and cherry compote with plenty of hot cinnamon and clove drive the finish toward chili pepper-laced tobacco on a hot finish.

Initial Thoughts:

This is very nice and classic all around. The end is a little hot though.

Taste 4

Tasting Notes:

Nose: This is a strong nose full of burnt orange that turns into candied orange rinds before sweet and buttery toffee leads to soft whisper of sweet grits and old boot leather.

Palate: That dark and candied orange drives the palate toward cinnamon apple cider, burnt marshmallow, and salted dark chocolate-covered espresso beans with a hint of vanilla syrup and almond.

Finish: The end takes on a soft salinity (still barely tied to the chocolate) and goes deep on the old oak before fading out pretty quickly.

Initial Thoughts:

This starts out amazingly strong but sort of dies out at the end.

Taste 5

Tasting Notes:

Nose: This is rich on the nose with deep senses of dark chocolate brownies just kissed with stewed black cherry and old vanilla pods before a soft sense of red chili tobacco and wet brown sugar tobacco lead to a whisper of smoldering fall leaves.

Palate: That dark chocolate and chili-laced tobacco drives the taste toward a Christmas cake brimming with candied cherry, orange rind, rum raisin, clove, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and creamy vanilla icing with a dash of salt, marzipan, and brandy-soaked apple and pear orchards.

Finish: The rich and boozy holiday cake fades on the finish as deep earthiness — think firewood bark and smudging sage — drives the end toward a big Kentucky hug of warmth that’s just right.

Initial Thoughts:

This is fantastic whiskey. It’s balanced, nuanced, and deeply warming without burning your senses. This is the one to beat.

Taste 6

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Lovely cinnamon cakes with a hint of milky malted chocolate shake cut with cherry, vanilla, and clove mingle on the nose next to salted caramel and maybe some smudging sage.

Palate: The sweetness of the nose carries over on the palate with a sense of cherry pie and cinnamon-laced mulled wine over cinnamon butter toast and chili-laced hot chocolate with mini marshmallows.

Finish: That cherry and chocolate dominate the end as the warmth sneaks in very slowly and leaves you with a soft numbness that’s accented with cinnamon holiday cakes and brandy-soaked cherry.

Initial Thoughts:

This is also really freaking good. It’s a tad sweet but does ultimately balance out.

Taste 7

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Thick vanilla custard and walnut cake drive the nose toward musty sherry oak still in the cellar next to dark raw sugar syrup over a spiced fruit cake.

Palate: The dark winter spices from the nut cakes drive the palate toward large stretches of cinnamon bark, old oak staves, and dark cherry with a hint of Meyer lemon and tart currants.

Finish: Mulled wine and salted toffee round out the finish with a return to the walnut cake and plenty of sherry-soaked old oak.

Initial Thoughts:

This is another winner. If I had to nitpick though (And that’s what I’m here to do), this felt a little thin when it comes to ABVs. This was certainly a low-ABV barrel-strength bourbon.

Taste 8

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Old fruit leather and plum jam drive the nose toward zucchini bread, orange oils, and Sioux City Sasparilla with a hint of old dark chocolate bars stacked with cedar bark, dry pipe tobacco, and rum raisin.

Palate: Orange-infused hot chocolate with a touch of dried red chili mingles with anise and port on the palate as eggnog and buttercream smooth everything out toward pine-driven earthiness.

Finish: Hazelnut ice cream and Almond Joys arrive on the finish with a sense of rainwater, old rye bread crusts, and soft winter spice barks with a hint of Cherry Coke before the heat arrives.

Initial Thoughts:

This gets really hot at the end. Is it out of balance? No. But it needs a rock.

Taste 9

Tasting Notes:

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose opens with a brandy-soaked holiday cake with a deep layer of rich vanilla, candied orange, candied cherry, stewed pear, and deeply sharp winter spices.

Palate: The taste is winter nut bread forward and spiced with real clove, allspice, and nutmeg next to apple-cider-soaked cinnamon sticks, eggnog creaminess, and floral honey.

Finish: The end really amps up those spices with a very barky vibe as the orange turns to marmalade and just keeps going and going until the heat overtakes everything and then crashes down, leaving your tongue buzzing.

Initial Thoughts:

This is just really good. It does get pretty hot on the finish, but a rock will solve that issue easily.

Taste 10

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose opens with a deep sense of burnt orange, smudging sage, old boot leather, and creamy spiced eggnog with dark vanilla, brandy-soaked pear, and moist marzipan covered in salted dark chocolate and drizzles of buttery toffee.

Palate: Stewed pears and cherries drive the taste toward warming winter spices layered into fruit and nut cakes with a mulled wine vibrance next to chili-chocolate tobacco and cedar bark braided and just smoldering.

Finish: The end leans into the sharp winter spices that are stewed into the apple, pear, and cherry with a deep nuttiness and dark caramel vibe that’s just kissed with pear-infused Crème brûlée served with boozy eggnog with just the right kick.

Initial Thoughts:

This is excellent and provides a fantastic balance of, well, everything.

Part 2 — The Barrel-Strength Bourbon Ranking

10. Jefferson’s Ocean Aged Cask Strength Bourbon Topflight Series by ReserveBar — Taste 4

ABV: 55%

Average Price: $105

The Whiskey:

This single-barrel version of Jeffersons’ Ocean Voyage 27 is a bit of a unicorn. The classic Indiana bourbon sailed around the world as a finishing process for the whiskey. Once back in Kentucky, barrel 33 was chosen for this bottling and bottled at cask strength.

Bottom Line:

This was good overall. It wasn’t overly warm and had a nice balance of classic bourbon with a hint of graininess. This will work great in a cocktail.

9. Nashville Barrel Company Single Barrel Straight Bourbon Whiskey Topflight Series by ReserveBar — Taste 3

ABV: 59.7%

Average Price: $90

The Whiskey:

This single barrel from Nashville Barrel Company is a six-year-old MGP bourbon with a classic 75/21/4 (corn/rye/barley) mash bill. The barrel was pulled in late May 2023 and the whiskey was bottled 100% as-is.

Bottom Line:

This is good classic bourbon. No notes.

8. Doc Swinson’s Hand Selected Exploratory Cask “Garryana” Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Garryana Oak Casks — Taste 2

ABV: 54.4%

Average Price: $66

The Whiskey:

This Washington bottler used two MGP whiskeys for this release (both high rye bourbons). The five-year-old barrels were batched and then re-barreled in a Garryana oak cask (Oregon white oak) for an additional 2.5 months of finishing before bottling as-is.

Bottom Line:

This is also a very good bourbon. It felt like a solid cocktail base that also works on the rocks.

7. Blackened X Rabbit Hole A Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys Distilled in Tennessee & Kentucky Finished in Calvados Casks Cask Strength — Taste 1

ABV: 53.3%

Average Price: $149

The Whiskey:

This brand-new collaboration between Metallica’s Blackened and Rabbit Hole is masterful whiskey. The blend is a 13-year-old Tennessee high-rye bourbon batched with Rabbit Hole Heigold High-Rye Double Malt Bourbon (with malted rye and malted barley). Once batched, the whiskey was re-barreled into Calvados casks (an apple brandy) for a final rest before 100% as-is bottling.

Bottom Line:

This is just tasty. The ABVs/heat were barely there which is why it’s a tad lower today. But that’s not a knock. This is good stuff.

6. Barrell Bourbon Cask Strength Batch #035 — Taste 8

ABV: 58.75%

Average Price: $84

The Whiskey:

This brand-new blend of bourbons from Barrell Craft Spirits is a masterclass in blending. The mix starts off with six, seven, and eight-year-old Indiana bourbons and then adds in seven and 13-year-old Tennessee whiskeys alongside an eight-year-old Kentucky bourbon. That blend is then bottled 100% as-is at cask strength.

Bottom Line:

This is another really good whiskey. It gets a little hot at the end, sure. Pour this over a rock or two and you’ll be set.

5. Booker’s Bourbon Small Batch 2023-02 “Apprentice Batch” Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 9

ABV: 62.75%

Average Price: $249

The Whiskey:

The second 2023 batch of Booker’s has arrived. This batch is named after the relationship between Booker Noe (who helped define Beam in the 20th century) and his mentor, Carl Beam, back in the 1950s. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of a lot of barrels from prime spots in several warehouses across the Beam campus. The end blend ended up being 7+-year-old bourbon that’s bottled completely as-is without proofing or filtering.

Bottom Line:

This a great bourbon that gets very warm by the end. You’ll definitely want to pour this over a big ol’ ice cube to calm it down. Once you do that, you’ll be set.

4. Rabbit Hole Dareringer Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Limited Edition Cask Strength Bourbon Finished in PX Sherry Casks — Taste 7

ABV: 51.9%

Average Price: $312

The Whiskey:

This new Founder’s Collection release from Rabbit Hole is a doozy. The whiskey in the bottle is made from wheated bourbon, aged in well-charred Pedro Ximenez sherry casks from Spain’s renowned Casknolia Cooperage. Just 15 barrels were selected for this tiny small batch offering and bottled 100% as-is.

Bottom Line:

This is where we get into the well-balanced pours. This is nice, classic, and deep. The heat is on point. This didn’t wow but it kind of didn’t need to. It’s just good.

3. Larceny Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof Batch No.: C923 — Taste 6

ABV: 63.2%

Average Price: $59

The Whiskey:

The last Larceny Barrel Proof of 2023 is a batch of six to eight-year-old wheated bourbons from Heaven Hill in Kentucky. The barrels were batched and bottled 100% as-is.

Bottom Line:

This is excellent overall. It did lean a little sweet throughout, but I think the heat balanced that out nicely by the end. I really want to try this in an old fashioned or Manhattan.

2. Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof Batch #22A– Taste 5

ABV: 66.1%

Average Price: $399

The Whiskey:

Stagg is Buffalo Trace’s Mash Bill no. 1 (a low-rye mash) turned all the way up to MAX volume. The whiskey spends about a decade resting in the old Buffalo Trace warehouses before it’s batched and bottled (in this case in Spring 2023) 100% as-is.

Bottom Line:

This is exactly what you should be looking for in a perfectly balanced hot bourbon. It has some heat, sure, but it also has an incredibly deep bourbon profile that never gets muted by that heat. It’s also very Buffalo Trace with all of that earthiness, which is a great extra layer of depth. You can’t go wrong with this one, especially if you’re looking for real Kentucky heat that’s balanced.

1. Starlight Distillery Carl T. Huber’s Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Tokaji Barrels — Taste 10

ABV: 56.25%

Average Price: $75

The Whiskey:

This new bourbon from Indiana’s Starlight Distillery is a blend of their four-grain and high-rye bourbons — both farm-to-glass and distilled on pot stills. Once batched, that whiskey goes into a Hungarian Tokaji Essencia barrel (a sweet white wine) for another seven months of rest before bottling one barrel at a time.

Bottom Line:

This is a perfectly balanced whiskey with a deep and unique flavor profile that goes well beyond the usual. It also balances the heat with the flavor exceptionally well. Everything is clear and concise while offering surprises and comfort in equal measure. Try it neat and then go on your own whiskey journey from there.

Part 3 — Final Thoughts on the Barrel-Strength Bourbons

Stagg and Starlight are the true winners. Both of those whiskeys are everything you want in a barrel-strength bourbon — nuance, depth, and just the right layer of heat.

That said, there wasn’t a bad whiskey on the panel today. Some were very light, which doesn’t exactly meet the parameters of a big and bold barrel-strength bomb bourbon. But that doesn’t mean they were bad or faulty. Just lighter.

Overall, it’s the top two that you want to chase down. They’re fantastic bourbons.

A great fast food breakfast sandwich is the best way to start a day. Well, okay, maybe a great homemade breakfast brought to you in bed after sleeping in on your day off is the best way to start the day, but who has time for that? When you’re pressed for time and on the go, a salt-heavy carb-bomb breakfast sandwich absolutely slaps. So which fast food drive-thru deserves your time and money?

We tried to answer this back in 2021 by ranking 11 of our favorite breakfast sandwiches and again this year by blind taste-testing our five favorites against one another but in two years a lot has changed — so we updated our ranking with some new sandwiches and swapped out a few that we’ve gradually soured on.

If you rely on the fast food drive-thru for your lunchtime eating rather than breakfast, you might not be aware that the AM hours are where all the innovation hides. Some of our favorite new fast food items this year landed exclusively on breakfast menus. Do you realize how annoying that is? We don’t want to have to wake up early just to get the best fast food but as the old saying goes — the early bird flies through a bunch of traffic to eat the best breakfast in a parking lot while listening to a podcast about people getting stabbed.

Since fast food breakfast is always changing, always evolving, we’re here to break down the best breakfast sandwiches you can order right now. Let’s dive in!

15. Starbucks — Bacon, Gouda & Egg Sandwich

Thoughts & Tasting Notes:

You’ve got bacon, gouda, and egg on an artisan roll — this can’t possibly be bad right? Wrong! Starbucks has a gift for making normally edible things inedible. Their muffins: dry. Scones: bland. Hot sandwiches: cold. They just can’t get it together.

Biting into this sandwich you’re be greeted by a weird milky texture (that’s the egg) followed by the thinnest yet greasiest bacon you’ve ever tasted and cheese that is one note (salty). Also… I’m not entirely sure it’s gouda to begin with

The Bottom Line:

It’s actually mind-blowing how bad Starbucks’ breakfast sandwiches are. Just order some madeleine cookies and your favorite coffee, and you’ll be much better served.

Find your nearest Starbucks here.

14. Subway — Bacon, Egg & Cheese Wrap

Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

Not every Subway has the breakfast time Bacon, Egg & Cheese wrap so before you set your alarm to wake up early for this one, check with your favorite local Subway first. Or you know… don’t. Because this thing is not worth eating. We ordered this so that you don’t have to.

The fried egg in this sandwich is surprisingly flavorless, it’s all texture, the bacon is pathetically thin and way too sweet, and the cheese tastes and looks like melted plastic. The only good thing about this sandwich (if you want to call it that) is that you can add any of Subway’s other ingredients to it to make it better. Our suggestion is to add bell peppers and spinach to make this more like an omelet.

The Bottom Line:

Not great. Skip it and order one of Subway’s other sandwiches instead.

Find your nearest Subway here.

13. Sonic — Sausage Breakfast Toaster

Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

Sonic doesn’t have the strongest breakfast sandwich game (they do have a handful of great breakfast burritos though), leaving you with only two options: the Bacon Breakfast Toaster and the superior Sausage Breakfast Toaster.

The sandwich features a folded egg, a thin sausage patty, American cheese, and two thick pieces of Texas toast. While the build sounds fine, the execution is lacking. This bread is way too thick and often stale and stiff, it dominates the entire flavor of the sandwich making the end result taste like bland and greasy bread, rather than the winning combination of sausage, egg, and cheese.

On its own, the sausage is decent, it’s peppery and meaty, but you just can’t taste it underneath all the bread. The best move here is to add bacon to the sandwich to make it a bit meatier.

The Bottom Line:

You’re at Sonic, get a breakfast burrito or go somewhere else.

Find your nearest Sonic here.

12. McDonald’s — Bacon, Egg & Cheese McGriddle

Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

People swear by the McGriddle, it tops many publications’ best breakfast lists, and I know a handful of people who think the McGriddle is the greatest gift McDonald’s has ever given us, yes even more than the fries. All of those people are wrong — the McGriddle isn’t just overrated, it’s… kind of bad.

It’s way too sweet, the bun is like a very thick fluffy pancake and has a strong maple flavor to it. Admittedly that makes an interesting combination with the smokey bacon, but the use of cheese here really throws things off. Maple and cheese just don’t mix, creating a clash of flavors that comes across odd.

Amongst McDonald’s other breakfast options, I’d say this is a strong contender, but compared to all the other breakfast sandwiches out there from the other brands, this one just can’t compete.

The Bottom Line:

A clash of flavors and textures that don’t come together the way they should.

Find your nearest McDonald’s here.

11. Burger King — Fully Loaded Croissan’Wich Bacon, Ham, and Sausage

Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

Burger King has a ridiculous amount of fast food breakfast sandwiches (over 10) but far and above the best is the Fully Loaded Croissan’Wich with Bacon, Ham, and Sausage. The sandwich features bacon, sweet and salty Black Forest ham, American cheese, a thick and meaty sausage patty. It also has a rather disturbing egg, served on top of a flaky, buttery croissant bun.

The sandwich is a medley of smokey, sweet, salty, and savory flavors with a buttery finish and lots of great texture. It’s so well thought out and balanced that I’m surprised it comes from Burger King. This sandwich is such a winner that it even beats out BK’s line of breakfast burgers, and this is Burger King we’re talking about, they’re supposed to be the king of burgers!

They should rename themselves Breakfast King.

The Bottom Line:

Layers of sweet, salty and smokey meats and a wonderful crispy texture, this breakfast sandwich may just be one of BK’s top three menu offerings of all time.

Find your nearest Burger King here.

10. Dunkin’ — Sourdough Breakfast Sandwich

Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

Here is my issue with Dunkin’, the chain’s breakfast offerings are a fast food version of what a local bagel shop or bakery does best: croissant, sourdough, and breakfast sandwiches. They don’t taste nearly as good as the real thing, but at the end of the day they come pretty damn close, so if you’re in an unfamiliar city and all you can find are Dunkin’s (“Welcome to Boston!”), the breakfast is good enough to take a chance on.

Our favorite in the lineup is the Sourdough Breakfast Sandwich. The sandwich features two eggs that, get this, actually taste like eggs with five pieces of crispy smokey bacon topped with sharp melted white cheddar on a toasted crispy sourdough bun. The bread isn’t real sourdough, it’s a lot softer and easier to chew through, but it has that characteristic tang, which pairs nicely with the other ingredients.

The Bottom Line:

Starbucks take note — this is how a coffee chain makes a delicious breakfast sandwich.

Find your nearest Dunkin here.

9. Chick-fil-a Chick-n-Minis

Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

When I published my last ranking of fast food breakfast sandwiches, a lot of people reached out to me and complained that we didn’t include Chick-fil-A’s Chick-n-Minis in our ranking, so I’m begrudgingly putting them into this ranking.

To call this a breakfast sandwich is being incredibly generous, the Chick-n-Minis consist of Chick-fil-A’s delicious chicken nuggets sandwiched between mini yeast rolls. The chicken is delicious, tender, juicy, crispy, and full of flavor, but these yeast rolls don’t bring anything to the table but more carbs. Wouldn’t you rather sandwich one of these nuggets between two waffle fries instead?

The Bottom Line:

Very delicious but incredibly over-hyped. Do yourself a favor and order an 8-count nugget meal and sandwich those nuggets between your waffle fries.

Find your nearest Chick-fil-A here.

8. Jack in the Box — Loaded Breakfast Sandwich

Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

The Bottom Line:

Jack in the Box owns every other fast food brand in the sourdough department. Is this real sourdough bread? No. But the flavor is on point — it’s dense, chewy, and has a subtle sourness that is incredibly addicting.

Add smokey bacon, a thin slice of grilled ham, a freshly fried egg, two slices of cheese, and a pepper-forward sausage patty and you have a damn good breakfast sandwich. Ham is always a weak choice on fast food breakfast menus (looking at you McDonald’s) but JiB makes it work by grilling its ham, giving it a nice toasty flavor and a seared edge that adds a tiny bit more texture to this already heavily textured sandwich.

That ham adds an emphasis on sweetness which pairs well with the smokey bacon flavors and the meaty savory sausage patty.

The Bottom Line:

A delicious breakfast sandwich that offers a nice texture and a whole lot of shifting meaty flavors.

Find your nearest Jack in the Box here.

7. Farmer Boys — 2-Egg Breakfast Sandwich with Bacon

Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

The Bottom Line:

Getting a breakfast sandwich at Farmer Boys is a missed opportunity. Why order a sandwich when you can have a full plate? Pancakes, French toast, omelets, epic breakfast burritos — Farmer Boys has all of that, so the simple 2-egg Breakfast Sandwich with Bacon is hands down the weakest choice you can make.

Which is a real shame, because this sandwich is pretty delicious. On a brioche bun is a tasty folded egg fried to perfection. It’s not too moist or too dry, on top of that are two pieces of thick smokey bacon that tastes just as good as anything you’d make at home on a toasted and heavily buttered brioche bun. The bun is spongey enough that it doesn’t get in the way, making way for the egg and bacon to really shine.

You also have the option to order this sandwich with sausage or ham, but since the quality of bacon is so high, your best bet is going with bacon.

The Botton Line:

Farmer Boys’ other breakfast options offer more food and better flavors, but if you’re on the go, this bacon-topped sandwich is a perfect choice.

Find your nearest Farmer Boys here.

6. Panera — Chipotle Chicken, Scrambled Egg & Avocado on Ciabatta

Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

I know what you’re thinking. You’re looking at this delicious sandwich and wondering how it’s ranked in the middle of this list rather than at the top. I mean it has Peppadew peppers, salt and pepper, cilantro, gouda cheese, Chipotle aioli, smoked chicken, scrambled eggs, and avocado, all served on an artisan ciabatta bread. It looks and sounds amazing right?

And yet, something about this sandwich comes across as a bit flavorless. The chicken is bland, the egg is just fine, and the chipotle aioli is too sour and doesn’t provide enough heat, leaving the avocado (never ripe), peppers (good), cilantro, gouda, and bread to do all of the work. It comes across as a real missed opportunity.

The bread is legitimately delicious though. Panera makes some seriously bland food, but they know how to bake some damn good bread.

The Bottom Line:

Not bad tasting by any means, just not nearly as good as it should be.

Find your nearest Panera here.

5. Chick-fil-A — Spicy Chicken Biscuit

Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

Simple, very tasty, but a bit boring. All of the elements of this sandwich deliver, the biscuit is soft, buttery, and a bit salty, which works well with the spicy cayenne pepper heavy flavor of the chicken breast filet. Each bite is sweet, crunchy, and has a nice kick of heat to it on the back end.

My issue with it is that it feels like it’s missing something. I think some sauce or an additional ingredient (maybe some bacon) would go a long way to making this sandwich go from simply tasty to straight-up delicious. Considering Chick-fil-A’s lunch menu is fully available during breakfast hours, I’m not sure what the incentive to order this over the Spicy Deluxe lunch sandwich (which comes with pickles, tomato, and cheese) is.

So overall, this just feels skippable.

The Bottom Line:

Great flavors, but you get a sense it’s missing something.

Find your nearest Chick-fil-A here.

4. Carl’s Jr — The Breakfast Burger

Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

Sausage and bacon are the standard breakfast meats, but they don’t have to be. If you’d like to start off your day with a big juicy flame-grilled burger, Carl’s Jr is the place. The breakfast burger features a single charbroiled hamburger patty topped with crispy mini hash browns, two strips of bacon, a folded egg, American cheese, and lots and lots of ketchup.

Each bite is bursting with flavor, its meaty, savory, moist, sweet, salty, crispy, smokey, each bite is a medley of indulgent flavors. You could make an easy case for the Carl’s Jr’s Breakfast Burger being the ultimate breakfast sandwich. But we won’t because as delicious as it is, it’s not our favorite.

The Bottom Line:

Charred with notes of smokiness and a satisfying audible crunch. This sandwich makes the case for the hamburger patty as a breakfast staple.

Find your nearest Carl’s Jr. here.

3. McDonald’s — Sausage McMuffin with Egg & Cheese

The Sausage McMuffin with Egg & Cheese used to be the ultimate fast food breakfast sandwich but those days are behind us now. Still, while I think there are a couple of better options out there, this sandwich is still pretty damn good.

The sausage is savory with a meaty flavor and strong black pepper prominence while the cheese adds a salty component and the fried egg adds some soft texture that serves as a counterbalance to the toasty English muffin bun. The bun is the real star of the show here, it’s craggy, toasted to perfection, and works as a sort of sponge for all of the flavors to soak into, but when the best aspect of your sandwich is the bread, you’ve got a serious problem.

The Bottom Line:

As good as this sandwich is, it’s not our favorite. It’s still a classic though and is definitely worth braving the long McDonald’s breakfast line for.

Find your nearest McDonald’s here.

2. Wendy’s — English Muffin Sausage Sandwich

Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

We use to ride hard for the Breakfast Baconator, but Wendy’s new muffin sandwiches deserve the top spot. We’ll be real with you, Wendy’s copycat Sausage McMuffin drops the ball on the bun compared to McDonald’s. The English muffin isn’t bad by any means, it’s nicely toasted, but just a bit too soft. Congrats McDonald’s, you make a better English muffin, but everything else about this sandwich is straight-up better.

The sausage patty is incredible, yes incredible! It has a prominent smokey flavor, some mild sweetness, a heavy dose of black pepper and some herbal depth courtesy of thyme and fennel. Those herbs help to deepen the flavor of the meat, making it the best sausage patty in all of fast food.

And that’s just the sausage! The egg is also great, it’s perfectly cooked rather than over-fried (looking at you McDonald’s), the American cheese adds a nice salty finish to the sandwich, and the browned butter that is spread across the muffin adds a rich almost caramel component.

The Bottom Line:

It’s clearly inspired by McDonald’s best breakfast sandwich but it improves upon it in almost every way, resulting in a much better breakfast sandwich.

Find your nearest Wendy’s here.

1. Wendy’s — Bacon, Egg & Cheese Muffin

Thoughts and Tasting Notes:

I feel pretty self-conscious about giving Wendy’s the top two spots in this breakfast sandwich ranking, but it is what it is, Wendy’s is doing breakfast better than any other brand and we need to celebrate that. The sausage-topped version of this sandwich is a must-order, but the bacon version is something that you should actually make an effort to wake up early for. It’s a perfect breakfast sandwich.

Wendy’s bacon is the best in the business, it’s smokey, thick, crunchy, and oven-baked in-restaurant every morning, resulting in a strip of bacon that is perfectly rendered and full of flavor. Add a freshly fried egg, melted American cheese, and a toasted browned butter English Muffin, and you have a sandwich that is crunchy, textural, savory, buttery, and smokey with a slightly sweet aftertaste.

Every element of this sandwich just delivers. Add a side order of Wendy’s amazing breakfast potatoes, and you have the best breakfast meal in all of fast food.

The Bottom Line:

Yes, Wendy’s two new breakfast sandwiches deserve the top two spots. They’re both that good. Fast food is all about convenience, but this is a sandwich so good we actually recommend you set an alarm and wake up early for it, whether you’re on the road and looking for a quick bite to eat or not.

Find your nearest Wendy’s here.

School is about to be out, forever … at least on Netflix’s Sex Education.

The popular British comedy is about to drop its fourth season on the streamer and, according to showrunner Laurie Nunn, it will also be its last. In speaking with TUDUM, Nunn said wrapping things up in season four wasn’t the initial plan but as the writer’s room began fleshing out certain storylines, saying goodbye just felt right.

“During that process, it just started to feel very clear that the stories were coming to an end, the characters were being left in a place that I felt really good about it,” Nunn explained. “I felt happy for them, and I felt like I’ve said everything that I want to say with these characters at this time.”

Over the course of four seasons, the show has struck a deft balance between situational comedy and surprisingly thoughtful storylines that touch on everything from LGBTQ+ issues to women’s health, mental health, and beyond. Steered by a stellar cast that includes Emma Mackey, Asa Butterfield, Ncuti Gatwa, and Gillian Anderson, the Netflix dramedy has earned legions of fans and plenty of praise from critics. But, as the star power of its main players grew — Mackey just appeared in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, and Gatwa was recently named the next Doctor Who — it felt like there might be a graduation date for certain characters. Before that happens, Nunn says fans can expect a climactic send-off.

“We have skipped forward in time a couple of months,” Nunn says. “Maeve is in America, which is where we left her on the bus, going off to study. The Moordale Secondary students are starting at a new school called Cavendish College, which is very different from Moordale. It’s very progressive and woke, and it makes the Moordale students feel like they’re little fish in a big pond. Otis starts at Cavendish, and quickly realizes that his ambition to start an ethical new sex therapy clinic has been thwarted because there’s already a talented sex therapist called O on campus.”

Despite the drama, Nunn hopes that fans who have been on this journey since the beginning will appreciate how far these characters have come, and leave feeling optimistic about where they’re headed.

“If you go back and watch where they all started, they’ve really grown up so much and changed so much,” says Nunn. “In Series 4, we’re seeing our characters getting closer to launching themselves into the adult world. They’re right on the precipice of leaving being a teenager behind, and with that comes a lot of pressure. That feeling of limbo between being a child and a grown-up is something we’re exploring in quite a particular way in this series. ”

Sex Education season four premieres on Netflix Sept. 21st.

Disney+’s highly-anticipated series Ahsoka finally landed on the streamer last week, so all you Jedi nerds can rest easy knowing that at least someone is out there protecting the galaxy far far away. The series is centered on the young Jedi Ahsoka Tano, played by Rosario Dawson, who was first introduced in The Clone Wars back in 2008 as Anakin’s apprentice with a much cooler hairstyle.

Apparently, Disney+ is so confident in Ahsoka’s streaming numbers it decided to share them with the world, which is a first for the streamer. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the first episode racked up 14 million views worldwide since its debut, but it’s not that simple. Disney+, like Netflix, counts a “view” by dividing the total viewing time by the run time, which means 14 million views of the episode, which ran 56 minutes, would mean 784 million minutes of views worldwide.

But it’s still not that simple: the total viewing time doesn’t necessarily account for families, multiple viewers, or a single person re-watching. One thing’s for certain: a lot of people checked this show out, or Ewan McGregor watched the episode a dozen million times in order to support his wife, Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

The series follows Ahsoka (Dawson) who is searching for Grand Admiral Thrawn, played by Lars Mikkelsen, who has been missing for over a year after the events of Star Wars: Rebels. Ahsoka enlists help from her former apprentice and Mandalorian warrior Sabine, played by Natasha Liu Bordizzo, in order to track down Thrawn. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ray Stevenson, Ivanna Sakhno, Diana Lee Inosanto, and David Tennant also star.

While the first episode was definitely a hit, the streamer has yet to release any information about episode two, which dropped the same day. Maybe they are giving Ewan a break so he doesn’t feel too bad about not getting another Obi-Wan season.

New episodes of Ahsoka drop on Disney+ on Tuesdays.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)

Class is almost in session for Netflix’s Sex Education.

The beloved British comedy series that follows a group of teenagers bumbling through the hormone-filled hellscape that is high school is set to return for its fourth and final season this fall and it’s promising one hell of a climax. Asa Butterfield, Gillian Anderson, Ncuti Gatwa, and Emma Mackey are all on the call sheet for the last bunch of episodes which drop on Netflix on September 21st, but a new school and new baby throw Butterfield’s likable sex savant Otis a curveball, bringing in some new players to shake things up in the show’s final run.

With Mooredale Secondary closing, Otis, Eric (Gatwa), and the rest of their classmates are forced to integrate with the student body at Cavendish Sixth Form College, a high-tech and progressive academy that might not need Otis’ brand of homeschooled sex therapy. While they try to avoid being relegated to losers once more, Mackey’s Maeve is across the pond, studying under an eccentric and illustrious author. And, as if the stress of the classroom wasn’t enough, Otis’ mom Jean (Anderson) has a newborn demanding most of her attention at home.

Sex Education has become a fan favorite on the streamer for how it deftly balances comedy with insightful storylines surrounding LGBTQ+ issues so fans should expect more of the same from the show’s final season — plus character arcs that end with everyone satisfied.

(Via Games Radar)

Ben Simmons‘ time as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers came to a very unceremonious end. After spending the start of the 2021-22 NBA season away from the team, Simmons was sent to the Brooklyn Nets as part of the package that sent James Harden to Philadelphia. It was a strange departure, one that came on the heels of Simmons struggling in and being scapegoated for the team’s Eastern Conference Semifinal loss to the Atlanta Hawks the year before, and since joining the Nets, he hasn’t been able to regain the form that made him one of the most uniquely talented players in the league.

The hope for the 2023-24 campaign is that Simmons will be back to 100 percent health and ready to help an upstart Brooklyn team as it moves out of the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving era. But before that happens, Simmons sat down with Marc J. Spears of Andscape and revealed that he’s very open to a return to Philadelphia someday.

“I had a lot of fun there,” Simmons said when asked to reflect on his time in the city. “It was time for me to go. When I did leave, it was good timing. Obviously, the injury and everything that was going on didn’t help. But I think it gave me a chance to really appreciate it. I’ll always have love for Philly. People always ask me like, ‘If you were to get traded again where you want it to be?’ I always say, ‘Just Philly. Philly is a second home to me.’ And in time, you learn and grow as people. I don’t really have anything bad to say about Philly. It was a crazy situation at the end, but it is what it is.”

Well, there you have it: If Daryl Morey wants a solution to his “I need to trade Harden somewhere” problem, a new option has presented itself in the form of Ben Simmons.

Post Malone is a major Bob Dylan fan and there’s plenty of evidence of that. One of the most-circulated online videos of pre-fame Posty is him covering Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.” In 2020, Malone told Uproxx that after his set of Nirvana covers, he’d be keen to put on a performance of Dylan songs. It turns out Malone apparently had the opportunity to collaborate with the folk icon, but it appears the future of the partially finished song is now in doubt.

This is according to a new Rolling Stone interview with producer Michael Cash, who was involved with the project. Cash says he was trying to put together an album of hip-hop artists covering Dylan songs. Dylan apparently approved of Posty and event sent along some unreleased lyrics, which Dylan had titled “Be Not Deceived,” for Malone to build a new song around. Cash says Malone was “literally in tears” when he first heard Dylan’s words.

In March 2021, Malone apparently visited Cash’s studio to record the song, and after getting the track “about 40 percent done,” Malone had to leave. Malone seemingly dragged his feet finishing the song, and according to Cash, Dylan got tired of waiting and retracted permission for Malone to use the lyrics. As Cash put it, “It just seems like nobody really managed expectations, and it just seems like nobody communicated. A really cool piece of music got made, and then it just got weird. It got really weird.”

Malone didn’t offer a comment for the story, but he seemed to address the collaboration during a 2022 interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, telling the host, “I have not met Bob Dylan but we have been… hmm, I don’t how much I’m at liberty to discuss. We’ve been chatting. He’s always just been a voice in my head. Always just appreciated the music and appreciated the songwriting.”

The Rolling Stone piece dives into more details about the Malone/Dylan story, so check it out here.

As more and more rappers get into into using dance-centric production (think Vince Staples’ Big Fish Theory, Leikeli47’s Shape Up, or Drake’s Honestly, Nevermind), it was only a matter of time until the biggest names in EDM came recruiting hip-hop faves to appear on more straightforward electronic fare.

Tiësto is the latest to do so, tapping BIA and 21 Savage for his ravenous new single, “Both.” “As a fan of both 21 Savage and BIA, I’m super excited to have collaborated with them on this one,” he said in a press release. “BIA and I had been looking to work together, and after sharing my new track with her and then hearing her verse I instantly knew this would be the one. Before she could cut another verse, 21 Savage hopped on and brought a whole new energy to the project! I couldn’t have asked for a better collaboration for this song!”

Tiësto has been branching out a bunch lately, working with alt-pop songwriter Tate McRae on “10:35” last November after linking up with Charli XCX in June with “Hot In It.” Earlier this year, he even took a swing at remixing the fan-favorite theme song from The White Lotus. He’s bridging the gaps between multiple genres and his own, and his timing couldn’t be more perfect as tastes evolve, expand, and melt together more than ever.

Tiësto is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

If there’s one thing David Fincher is going to do, it’s make a darkly lit, tension-filled trailer for his next neo-noir crime movie that gets the online film buffs buzzing. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo director took a page from that movie’s promo to tease his latest Netflix project, The Killer. Starring Michael Fassbender, the film has been in development for over a decade but judging by this first look, released by the streaming platform earlier today, it was well worth the wait.

Here’s everything we know so far about Fincher’s next masterpiece.

What Is The Killer About?

Based on a French graphic novel of the same name by author Alexis Nolent, the film follows a solitary assassin who begins to slowly unravel after a job gone wrong. Known simply as The Killer, the hitman begins the story as a cold, calculating machine, methodical in his movements and rituals before every kill. A near-miss causes him to question, if not his morality, certainly his skill, disrupting his routine and putting a target on his own back. There are currently five volumes in Nolent’s story so it’s unclear which books Fincher might be adapting here or if there’s room for a sequel.

Who Is In The Killer?

Fassbender scored the title role in Fincher’s thriller despite not appearing on-screen since 2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix. The two-time Oscar nominee has been busy racing in the European Le Mans Series where he drives for Proton Competition but he’s got a couple of blockbusters on the slate for 2023, including this crime drama. He’s joined by Tilda Swinton (Marvel’s Doctor Strange), Arliss Howard (Mank), Charles Parnell (Top Gun: Maverick), and Brazillian actress Sophie Charlotte.

When Will The Killer Be Released?

The film is expected to drop on Netflix on November 10th but it will be screened in select theaters beginning October 27th. Before that, Fincher plans to give the movie its world premiere at the 2023 Venice Film Festival.

You can catch the trailer for The Killer below:

Earlier this month, Republican primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy went viral for his butchering of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” during an impromptu performance at the Iowa State Fair. Clearly, Ramawswamy is a huge fan of the rapper, so it must have been especially neat for the GOP candidate to get hit with a cease and desist letter from Eminem.

Considering Eminem has been an outspoken critic of Donald Trump, and most musicians want nothing to do with Republican politicians, Ramaswamy should’ve seen this move coming. However, Ramaswamy has a penchant for spouting off, and he did exactly that when asked by MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell to respond to the cease and desist from Enimem.

Via Mediaite:

Yeah. Look, I think that I’ll respect his wishes, but I would just say: Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?

Eminem, in his rise, used to be a guy who actually stood up to the establishment and said the things that the establishment didn’t want him to say. I think the fact that my political viewpoints may differ from his, I think people change over the course of their lives.

But I have hope for him that he will one day rediscover the renegade that made him great. And I’m rooting for that success in his life.

To be clear, that was Vivek Ramaswamy essentially arguing that the Eminem of the early 2000s would’ve been… a Republican? Apparently, there’s nothing more “renegade” than abolishing the estate tax and outlawing gay marriage. There’s no way Eminem can come back from this one.

(Via Mediaite)