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Good cheap bourbon isn’t hard to find. The shelves are stacked with bottles that won’t break the bank. But those same shelves are also stacked with cheap bottles that leave… a lot to be desired. As a customer, how do you sort the bottles that kind of suck from the good ones?

A great place to start is this blind taste test of 20 cheap bourbons. For this blind tasting, I pulled every cheap bourbon off my shelf and put it to the test. The price range was between $10 and $30 (give or take a dollar here and there) with the bulk hitting around the $20 mark.

That makes our lineup the following today:

• Kirkland Signature Small Batch by Barton 1792 Master Distillers Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Very Old Barton 100 Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Old Crow The Original Sour Mash Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Weller The Original Wheated Bourbon Special Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Benchmark Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Old Tub Unfiltered Bottled In Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• 1792 Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Benchmark Old No. 8 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Jim Beam Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Maker’s Mark Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• George Dickel Bourbon Whisky Aged 8 Years
• J.W. Dant Bottled In Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Evan Williams Bottled-In-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Heaven Hill Old Style Bourbon Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Wild Turkey 101 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Elijah Craig Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• J.T.S. Brown Bottled In Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Evan Williams Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• Old Fitzgerald Prime Bourbon Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

As for the ranking, it’s simple, folks. This is about taste alone. If it had a good flavor profile and real depth, it ranked higher. If not, it ranked lower. And perhaps surprisingly, the more spendy bottles didn’t beat out the cheaper ones by all that much. Let’s dive in!

• The 100 Best Bourbon Whiskeys Of 2022, Ranked
• We Put A Whole Bunch Of Bourbons To A Giant Blind Test And Discovered Some Absolute Gems
• The Affordable Vs Expensive Blind Bourbon Bottle Battle
• The Best-Known Basic Bottles Of Bourbon, Blind Tasted And Ranked
• The 30 Best Bourbon Whiskeys For Fall, Blind Tasted & Ranked

Part 1: The Tasting

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Apple and pear open the nose up toward peach taffy with a hint of black licorice ropes, old leather, sweet winter spices, and a whisper of Nutella.

Palate: The palate lets the vanilla linger while a sweet and mild Red Hot vibe mixes with classic cherry cola, dried sweetgrass, salted caramel candies, and apricot jam on a Southern biscuit with a drop of fresh honey and butter.

Finish: The end stays pretty classic with a sense of spiced cherry tobacco, rich vanilla, and a few old oak staves.

Initial Thoughts:

This was pretty nice overall — solid nose, palate, and finish with a very classic sweet bourbon vibe.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

Nose: This has a really nice nose full of buttery caramel, dark berries in a pie, soft oak, and a hint of peppermint.

Palate: The palate dials those berries into a slice of blueberry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a dusting of cinnamon and leather.

Finish: The end is short and sweet but brings back the mintiness but more like menthol tobacco with a dry edge.

Initial Thoughts:

This hit pretty well. It wasn’t bold but had a standard solidness that helped stand out.

Taste 3

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Fresh Wonder Bread and burnt popcorn lead to buttery caramel and a dab of vanilla oil.

Palate: The palate is very balanced between a sense of caramel, cherry, and “spice” with a wintry vibe.

Finish: The end is pretty short and watery with the vanilla and brown spice leading to a dash of dry straw.

Initial Thoughts:

This was pretty light and thin with a decent finish.

Taste 4

Tasting Notes:

Nose: There’s a tannic sense of old oak next to sweet cherries, vanilla cookies, and that Buffalo Trace leathery vibe with a hint of spiced tobacco lurking underneath.

Palate: The palate has a creamy texture kind of like malted vanilla ice cream over a hot apple pie cut with brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and walnuts next to Frosted Raisin Bran with a hint of candied cherry root beer.

Finish: The end takes that sweet cherry and apple and layers it into a light tobacco leaf with a mild sense of old musty barrel warehouses.

Initial Thoughts:

This was far and away better than the last pours. The depth was far more evident from the jump.

Taste 5

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Soft leather and old vanilla pods mix with old lawn furniture sitting in green grass with a hint of floral honey and apple pie on the nose.

Palate: The palate has a rich toffee vibe next to sweet cinnamon and plenty of eggnog creamy/spicy vibes that leads to a nutmeg-heavy mocha latte.

Finish: There’s a sense of dried corn husks on the finish with a mix of rum-raisin, vanilla pound cake, and cherry bark-infused tobacco layered into an old cedar box.

Initial Thoughts:

This is classic, deep, and simply tastes good. I like this one.

Taste 6

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose has a sweet yellow corn meal, a hint of butterscotch, and a mix of creamy honey and creamy eggnog with plenty of nutmeg and allspice next to a very distant dry woody note.

Palate: The palate has a touch of candy corn next o Almond Joys, sweet cinnamon Hot Tamales, and black cherry tobacco leaves rolled up with dried sweetgrass.

Finish: The end is lightly dry with a sawdust vibe next to apple stems and burnt orange.

Initial Thoughts:

This is nice and sweet but has a little roughness to it.

Taste 7

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose opens with a woody cherry bark next to sour apple pies, distiller’s beer, and caramel candies next to vanilla cream with a counterpoint of cumin and dry chili lurking in the deeper reaches of the nose.

Palate: The palate opens with a Cherry Coke feel next to rich and buttery toffee, vanilla malts, and sharp Hot Tamales cinnamon candy with a nod toward allspice and root beer.

Finish: The end is soft and lush with vanilla smoothness leading to black cherry tobacco braided with cedar bark and wicker.

Initial Thoughts:

This is really nice bourbon. It has a great balance of spicy and sweet with a classic vibe through and through.

Taste 8

Tasting Notes:

Nose: It takes a minute to find the nose on this one. There’s a touch of lemon honey next to vanilla wafers but that’s about it.

Palate: The palate is very middle of the road with clear hints of leather, brown spice, cornmeal, and vanilla.

Finish: There’s a dash of buttered popcorn and caramel toward the end, but the finish is pretty watery overall.

Initial Thoughts:

This smells cheap — think cardboard by way of lemon pepper from the 90s. It’s pretty thin all the way through too.

Taste 9

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Vanilla pound cake and salted caramel are countered by spicy cherry tobacco, mulled wine vibes, and dark chocolate cut with orange zest and a hint of corn husk.

Palate: The palate brings in some floral honey sweetness and more orange oils with a sticky toffee pudding feel next to more spicy cherry tobacco and a hint of coconut cream pie.

Finish: The end amps up the cherry with a little more sweetness than spice before salted dark chocolate tobacco folds into dry sweetgrass and cedar bark before a hint of fountain Cherry Coke pops on the very back end with a sense of sitting in an old wicker rocking chair.

Initial Thoughts:

This is a winner from the first nose to the bold yet nuanced finish. This is a really good pour. I also am 99% sure I recognize it.

Taste 10

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose is full of those heavily charred oak barrel notes next to classic hints of caramel and vanilla with a grassy underbelly.

Palate: That grassiness becomes vaguely floral as slightly spiced caramel apples arrive, along with a chewy mouthfeel that leads towards a soft mineral vibe — kind of like wet granite.

Finish: The end holds onto the fruit and sweetness as the oak and dried grass stays in your senses.

Initial Thoughts:

This is nice and has a wheated vibe (grassy). The end is a tad thin but that doesn’t really take anything away from the overall depth of the pour.

Taste 11

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose opens with creamy vanilla next to spiced tobacco with plenty of apple pie vibe and winter spices with a butter underbelly.

Palate: The palate has a light bran muffin with a molasses vibe next to vanilla/nougat wafers (hello, Tennessee) that then leads to peach skins and gingerbread.

Finish: The end leans into the nutty chocolate and vanilla wafer with a touch of orange zest, marzipan, and mint tobacco with a dry wicker end.

Initial Thoughts:

This is clearly the Dickel and it’s pretty good. There’s depth, clear flavor notes, and plenty to enjoy.

Taste 12

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose on this one is pure banana bread brimming with buttery cake, walnuts, cinnamon and nutmeg, and a touch of honey.

Palate: The palate leans into the wood with a No. 2 pencil vibe that leads towards dry vanilla husks and a touch of salted caramel-covered peanuts.

Finish: The back end of the sip stays sweet and nutty as wintry spices cut with orange oils drive a slowish finish.

Initial Thoughts:

This was fine. It’s classic bourbon that’s clearly cheap (No. 2 pencil is a dead giveaway).

Taste 13

Tasting Notes:

Nose: There’s a lovely nose at play with soft taco mix spice next to creamy vanilla, caramel-dipped cherries, a hint of pear skins, and plenty of nutmeg.

Palate: The palate has a minor note of cornbread muffins next to cherry-vanilla tobacco with a dash of leather and toffee.

Finish: The end leans into some fresh gingerbread with a vanilla frosting next to hints of pear candy cut with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Initial Thoughts:

This, again, was fine. Nothing to really find fault in beside it just being average bourbon.

Taste 14

Tasting Notes:

Nose: There’s a sweet sense of oak on the nose next to mint chocolate chip ice cream, brown sugar, and dried cinnamon sticks.

Palate: The palate has a light smooth vanilla base with a pecan waffle vibe next to maple syrup and cinnamon butter.

Finish: The end adds a layer of warm but mild chili pepper spice next to cherry/vanilla tobacco with a whisper of sweet oak.

Initial Thoughts:

This is also fine but has a pretty thin finish.

Taste 15

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Sweet and buttery toffee is countered by burnt orange, old oak, and a hint of cumin and red chili pepper flakes.

Palate: The palate leans into soft vanilla pudding cups with a touch of butterscotch swirled in next to orange oils, nougat, and a hint of menthol tobacco.

Finish: The midpalate tobacco warmth gives way to a finish that’s full of woody winter spices and a whisper of Cherry Coke next to orange/clove by way of a dark chocolate bar flaked with salt.

Initial Thoughts:

This is leaps and bounds better. It’s not “wow” better but has serious depth and character that tracks through a bold beginning, middle, and end.

Taste 16

Tasting Notes:

Nose: There’s a light sense of rickhouse wood beams next to that mild taco seasoning on the nose with caramel apples, vanilla ice cream scoops, and a hint of fresh mint with a sweet/spicy edge.

Palate: The palate opens with a seriously smooth vanilla base with some winter spice (especially cinnamon and allspice) next to a hint of grain and apple pie filling.

Finish: The end leans towards the woodiness with a hint of broom bristle and minty tobacco lead undercut by that smooth vanilla.

Initial Thoughts:

This is also pretty damn nice. Bold, deep, and kind of charmingly tasty.

Taste 17

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Cream soda with a dash of cherry opens the nose next to dry leather patches, caramel sauce, and a light touch of floral honey.

Palate: The palate brings forward dry and woody spices with a hint of eggnog creaminess leading toward Graham Crackers and a sweet tobacco chew.

Finish: The end turns the woody spice into old oak with more vanilla, honey, and leather lingering the longest.

Initial Thoughts:

This is another classic that has some depth to it. It’s not a “holy shit!” good, but it’s well put together for what it is.

Taste 18

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose is very light but does meander through apple candy, dry corn, vanilla, and a touch of caramel.

Palate: The taste stays on a similar path with a hint of brown spice and “oak.”

Finish: The end is short but does touch on more vanilla and oak with a hint of cherry tobacco way in the background before an ethanol note takes over.

Initial Thoughts:

This is pretty thin and cheap.

Taste 19

Tasting Notes:

Nose: This opens with a rush of Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple Cider, pear candy, and vanilla cake with a hint of dark chocolate, orange zest, salted caramel, and some sour red berries tossed with fresh tobacco and mint.

Palate: The palate opens with some dried apple skins next to cinnamon sticks floating in hot and spicy apple cider, a hint of mint tobacco, and salted orange dark chocolate bars.

Finish: The end has a nougat wafer vibe next to caramel and vanilla cookies with a hint of old porch wicker and boot leather.

Initial Thoughts:

This has a nice sense of classic bourbon notes that are never overplayed. I dig it as a good average bourbon pour.

Taste 20

Tasting Notes:

Nose: This is a bit thinner on the nose with a touch of vanilla and dry cinnamon next to a hint of caramel and maybe a little straw.

Palate: The palate is fine but feels very average bourbon — orchard fruit, vanilla, wood, caramel — and not much more.

Finish: The end is a little washed out (this has to be a lower proof) and ends more watery than bourbon-y.

Initial Thoughts:

This is pretty pointless.

Part 2: The Ranking

20. Old Fitzgerald Prime Bourbon Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 20

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $11

The Whiskey:

This is the entry-point wheated bourbon from Heaven Hill to the Limited Edition Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond seasonal releases. Overall, this is the same wheated bourbon as that, just aged far less and barreled at a low 80 proof.

Bottom Line:

Yeah, this is hard to defend. It’s just watery and cheap tasting. I’d skip it altogether.

19. Evan Williams Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 18

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $12

The Whiskey:

This is more of an entry point for Evan Williams. The whiskey is a mix of four to seven-year-old barrels of the standard Heaven Hill bourbon. The difference in this bottle is that it’s proofed at a slightly higher 86 proof, giving it a slight edge against Evan Williams Green Label at 80 proof.

Bottom Line:

This was very thin and had a cheapness to it. It was fine but I can’t see doing anything with this besides mixing it with Coke.

18. Old Tub Unfiltered Bottled In Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 6

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $20

The Whiskey:

Back in 2020, Beam decided to release this “distillery-only” expression nationwide. The classic Jim Beam whiskey is a tribute to what the brand was before Prohibition. “Jim Beam” used to be “Old Tub” as a brand back then. Anyway, the whiskey in this bottle is Beam’s low-rye bourbon that’s batched to comply with Bonded laws, meaning the barrels are from one distilling season, from one distillery and distiller, and bottled at 100 proof.

Bottom Line:

This was solid until the mid-palate then it got a little jagged around the edges. That said, I can see this being okay with Coke or ginger ale.

17. Benchmark Old No. 8 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 8

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $10

The Whiskey:

The whiskey in this bottle is from Buffalo Trace’s Mash #1, which has a scant amount of barley and rye next to mostly corn. This is the same mash that’s used for bigger-hitting brands like Eagle Rare, Stagg, and E.H. Taylor. In this case, this is a standard straight bourbon that’s sort of like a base-level Eagle Rare, in theory, but from barrels that didn’t make the cut and were then proofed all the way down for bottling.

Bottom Line:

This also clearly fell into the “cheap” pile with a thinness and alcohol astringency. Still, this felt like it’s work with a Coke or even Cherry Coke mixer.

16. Old Crow The Original Sour Mash Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 3

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $11

The Whiskey:

This is a classic bourbon that became part of Jim Beam about 30-odd years ago. Until then, it was famed for being the drink of choice of President Grant, back in the 1870s — which gave it a lot to hang its hat on as a brand. The whiskey in the bottle is a year younger than a typical Jim Beam bourbon — so three-ish years — and it is cut way down to 80 proof for bottling.

Bottom Line:

This was the epitome of “fine” with nothing really to latch onto. Mix it with Sprite or ginger ale, you’ll be fine.

15. Heaven Hill Old Style Bourbon Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 14

ABV: 45%

Average Price: $13

The Whiskey:

Heaven Hill’s Old Style Bourbon is always affordable and very palatable. The whiskey is Heaven Hill’s classic bourbon mash that goes into this, Evan Williams, Elijah Craig, and so forth. This expression adds an extra two years (or so) of aging to Heaven Hill’s entry-level “Old Style” whiskey (their White Label version).

Bottom Line:

This had a really solid start but kind of petered out by the finish. Still, this was solid enough that I can see this shining in a highball with good fizzy water and twist of orange or lime.

14. J.W. Dant Bottled In Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 12

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $13

The Whiskey:

This is the same mash bill from Heaven Hill as the bottle above. The difference is that the barrels chosen for this brand follow a different flavor profile than the ones for the bottles above and below this entry.

Bottom Line:

File under “fine.” This is a solid mixer that I think inches into making simple old fashioneds.

13. Evan Williams Bottled-In-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 13

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $16

The Whiskey:

Look, Heaven Hill makes great whiskey, especially inexpensive bottled in bonds. This b-i-b is tailored for the Evan Williams flavor profile. Still, this is Heaven Hill, so we’re talking about the same mash bill, same warehouses, and same parent company as several entries on this list. This is simply built to match a higher-end Evan Williams vibe.

Bottom Line:

This was also fine. I can see this working well in a highball or cocktail. It also feels like it’d be a good shooter with a beer back.

12. Very Old Barton 100 Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 2

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $13

The Whiskey:

This was an old-school “bottled in bond” from the Barton Distillery in Bardstown, but they dropped the “b-i-b” designation. The whiskey in the bottle used to be at least six years old but today it’s at least four. All of that sounds like deterrents from this bottle but it’s still 100 proof and there are still barrels up to six years old in the mix, meaning this still works well at this price point.

Bottom Line:

This was pretty good all things considered. I can see mixing some good, simple cocktails with this and being pretty content.

11. George Dickel Bourbon Whisky Aged 8 Years — Taste 11

ABV: 45%

Average Price: $34

The Whisky:

The whisky in the bottle is the same Dickel Tennessee whiskey but pulled from barrels that leaned more into classic bourbon flavor notes instead of Dickel’s iconic Tennessee whiskey notes. The barrels are a minimum of eight years old before they’re vatted. The whiskey is then cut down to a manageable 90-proof and bottled.

Bottom Line:

This was a nice departure that felt classic in its own way. That said, this feels like it’d be a great cocktail candidate for sours or smashes.

10. Maker’s Mark Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 10

ABV: 45%

Average Price: $24

The Whisky:

This is Maker’s signature expression made with Red winter wheat and aged seasoned Ozark oak for six to seven years. This expression’s whiskey is then sourced from only 150 barrels (making this a “small batch”). Those barrels are then blended and proofed with Kentucky limestone water before bottling and dipping in their iconic red wax.

Bottom Line:

This had a nice, unique profile that stood out. The end was a tad thin, but mixing this into a Manhattan would easily patch that over.

9. Kirkland Signature Small Batch by Barton 1792 Master Distillers Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 1

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $19 (1 liter)

The Whiskey:

This is the entry point to Costco’s new lineup of Kentucky Bourbons (along with a Bottled-in-Bond and Single Barrel release). The whiskey in the bottle is from Sazerac’s Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown with a mash bill of 74% corn, 18% rye, and 8% malted barley. That juice is left to age for four to five years before being blended, proofed, and bottled for Costco.

Bottom Line:

This was pretty damn good. I can almost see sipping this in a glass of rocks, but it really shines as a cocktail base.

8. Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 19

ABV: 45.2%

Average Price: $30

The Whiskey:

The mash bill on this bourbon is mid-range rye heavy with 18% of the grain in the bill for support. Triple distilling in pot stills (like Irish whiskey) and blending with column-distilled whiskey is utilized. The bourbon then rests for six to seven years — taking time to mature before barrels are pulled for blending, proofing, and bottling.

Bottom Line:

Again, this was pretty damn good but felt like a quintessential cocktail base more than anything else. Plus, it just felt classic from top to bottom.

7. J.T.S. Brown Bottled In Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 17

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $13

The Whiskey:

This is a quality whiskey from Heaven Hill’s expansive bourbon mash bill (78% corn, 12% malted barley, and 10% rye). That means this is the same base juice as Elijah Craig, Evan Williams, several Parker’s Heritages, and Henry McKenna. It’s a bottled-in-bond, meaning it’s from similar stocks to their iconic Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond and a few other whiskeys on this list.

Bottom Line:

This one really popped with a purely classic bourbon profile that had some nice depth. I can see sipping this over ice or in an old fashioned.

6. Elijah Craig Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 16

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $25

The Whiskey:

This is Elijah Craig’s entry-point bottle. The mash is corn-focused, with more malted barley than rye. The whiskey is then rendered from “small batches” of barrels to create this proofed-down version of the iconic brand.

Bottom Line:

This was a nice, solid, and classic bourbon. No notes!

That said, I’d lean more toward Manhattans and old fashioneds than sipping on its own.

5. Benchmark Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 5

ABV: 45%

Average Price: $19

The Whiskey:

The bourbon in this bottle is a standard “small batch” though there’s not a whole lot of information on what that entails, exactly. What we do know is that the base juice comes from Buffalo Trace’s Mash Bill #1, which is the same base as Eagle Rare, E.H. Taylor, Stagg, and Buffalo Trace Bourbon.

Bottom Line:

This really started leaning into “I could see sipping this neat territory.” That said, this felt like a classic utility bourbon that can work however you want to use it.

4. Wild Turkey 101 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 15

ABV: 50.5%

Average Price: $19

The Whiskey:

A lot of Wild Turkey’s character comes from the hard and deep char they use on their oak barrels. 101 starts with a high-rye mash bill that leans into the wood and aging, having spent six years in the cask. A little of that soft Kentucky limestone water is added to cool it down a bit before bottling.

Bottom Line:

This was bold and distinct with a great balance of flavors. I wanted to pour some over some ice and just go from there.

3. Weller The Original Wheated Bourbon Special Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 4

ABV: 45%

Average Price: $24

The Whiskey:

This is a classic wheated bourbon from Buffalo Trace, which doesn’t publish any of its mash bills. Educated guesses put the wheat percentage of these mash bills at around 16 to 18%, which is pretty average. The age of the barrels on this blend is also unknown. Overall, we know this is a classic wheated bourbon, and … that’s about it.

Bottom Line:

This had some serious depth while still feeling approachable. I can see mixing this into any cocktail.

2. 1792 Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 7

ABV: 46.85%

Average Price: $29

The Whiskey:

This whiskey from Barton 1792 Distillery is a no-age-statement release made in “small batches.” The mash is unknown, but Sazerac mentions that it’s a “high rye” mash bill, which could mean anything. The whiskey is batched from select barrels and then proofed down and bottled as-is.

Bottom Line:

This had a lot of nuance to it while still feeling quintessential as bourbon. I think I’d probably mix with it more but I can see sipping this over some rocks too.

1. Jim Beam Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 9

ABV: 54%

Average Price: $24

The Whiskey:

Each of these Jim Beam bottlings is pulled from single barrels that hit just the right spot of taste, texture, and drinkability, according to the master distillers at Beam. That means this whiskey is pulled from less than 1% of all barrels in Beam’s warehouses, making this a very special bottle at a bafflingly affordable price.

Bottom Line:

This had the best and deepest flavor profile by far. It clearly works as a slow sipper but would pop as a Manhattan or Sazerac base too.

Part 3: Final Thoughts

The thrust of this blind taste test shows that there are a lot of perfectly good bourbons between $15 and $25. There are legitimate winners that truly taste good and deliver classic bourbon vibes.

I would say, you can grab any of the top 10 bourbons on this list and you’ll be set.

After getting roasted on a global scale by Shakira in “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53,” her ex Gerard Piqué is going public with his new girlfriend. On Wednesday (January 25), the former soccer player posted a photo with Clara Chía Marti for the first time.

After 12 years together, Shakira and Piqué announced that they were separating. Piqué was reportedly caught cheating on Shakira with Marti, which led to the couple’s split. Earlier this month, Shakira teamed up with Bizarrap to release “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” In the diss track, she called out Piqué and Marti by name through clever word puns in Spanish. Shakira also likened their relationship as downgrading to a Twingo car and Casio watch.

After a few months of being spotted together, Piqué finally made his relationship with Marti Instagram-official. He posted a photo with her and surprisingly didn’t turn off or limit the comments. In a between a few comments wishing the couple well, many of Shakira’s fans have commented with her lyrics from “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” One person commented, “Bruh you really did replace a Rolex with a Casio.” Another person wrote in Spanish, “Clara-mente (clearly) you both are no longer hiding it.”

Earlier this week, Shakira and Bizarrap debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53.” The song marked Shakira’s first time appearing in the top 10 of the chart in 15 years; In 2007, “Beautiful Liar,” her duet with Beyoncé, reached No. 3 on the Hot 100 chart.

The caveat, as always, is this is a list of movies that were my favorite of what I actually saw at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023, up to the point that I’m writing this. In fact, I’m still going to be watching movies after I turn this in, so by the time you’re reading this, I may not even agree with this list any longer. Though, if that happens, I’ll probably come back to update this list. Maybe. Anyway, enough with all this, here are the best movies I saw during the 2023 version of the Sundance Film Festival:

Rotting in the Sun

Strangely, not a lot of people are talking about this one or, as far as I can tell, even saw it. To be fair, director Sebastián Silva’s latest entry is kind of hard to explain without giving key plot points away. So just reading a synopsis, it doesn’t sound too particularly interesting. Sebastián Silva plays himself and he’s sad. He’s spending time at the beach to try to rejuvenate himself when he meets influencer Jordan Firstman, who Silva finds annoying. Firstman wants to do a project together, Silva has little interest until a pitch meeting when the studio executives are really into that idea. Anyway, something really drastic and sudden happens about halfway through this movie that came as a legitimate shock and completely changes what this movie even is and who the main characters are. Put it this way, there have been a few people I’ve told about this movie and the only time they sounded interested in seeing it was after I told them exactly what happens in the scenes I just sort of described. That’s kind of the problem this movie will have, saying the actual plot of this movie also kind of spoils it.

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

I wrote a whole thing about this here so I won’t rehash the whole thing. But what makes this great is how Fox announces up front that a movie just about his life with Parkinson’s Disease would be “boring” and, instead, we get this rip-roaring ride of what it was like to be the busiest and hottest actor on the planet.

Rye Lane

Raine Allen-Miller’s Rye Lane is so hopelessly sweet and charming it’s impossible to resist. Dom (David Jonsson) has just gone through a breakup when he meets Yas (Vivian Oparah) and the two set out on a whimsical, day-long adventure through the streets of London. It’s a movie that is so filled with life and love and wears its heart on its sleeve. Most of the plot is dedicated to retrieving Yas’s copy of A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory from her ex’s apartment, but he’s changed the locks. So off on an adventure to find someone who would have a new spare key they go. It’s one of those days that could never be planned, yet remember forever. I really hope people get a chance to see this one.

Fair Play

Here’s another one I already wrote a whole thing about. It’s a throwback movie to something that feels like an early-90s sexy thriller, only with a lot to say about gender dynamics at the workplace. The problem is, being a throwback to a ’90s movie, well, they don’t play those movies in theaters anymore. So it’s not a surprise Netflix picked this one up.

Theater Camp

This movie reminded me a lot of Meatballs, only with theater kids. There’s a rival camp for rich kids and there’s a charming, goofy guy in charge who deep down really wants to help these kids. (It’s weird that Ivan Reitman’s Meatballs kind of has a reputation of being a teen sex comedy and, having rewatched it recently, it’s not that at all.) Though, unlike Meatballs, Theater Camp is filmed mockumentary-style. The head of the camp, Joan (Amy Sedaris), suffers a seizure and is now in the hospital and is in a coma. Her dimwitted son who knows nothing about theater is put in charge as the camp counselors Amos (Ben Platt) and Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon) decide to stage an original production dedicated to Joan’s life and they only have a few weeks to prepare. All the while, the bank is trying to foreclose the camp and the “rich kid” cap wants to buy their land. Anyway, this is by far the funniest movie I saw at Sundance.

You Hurt My Feelings

Nicole Holofcener’s You Hurt My Feelings reunites the director with Julia Louis-Dreyfus in what is a really good premise for a movie: what happens when an author finds out her husband secretly doesn’t like her new book? All along, Don (Tobias Menzies) has been supportive, but one day Beth accidentally overhears a private conversation when he reveals his true feelings about the new book. (Beth’s agent isn’t a fan either, so she’s having trouble getting it published so she has to know it’s maybe not her best work.) Is this a betrayal? These are the things Beth now has to figure out in the movie that truly captures the insecurities of anyone who types out words for a living, then have them judged by anyone who wants to have an opinion.

Scrapper

I watched this one on a late recommendation and I’m really glad I did. (Also, thank you, 84-minute running time.) Georgie (Lola Campbell) is a 12-year-old girl who recently lost her mother, but lives alone, telling adults she has an uncle staying with her, but the truth is she is caring for herself and doing an okay job at it. Okay, sure, she has to steal a bike now and then for money, but she has to do what she has to do. One day, a nitwit named Jason (Harris Dickinson) shows up at her door, a man who she hasn’t seen in so long she doesn’t realize it’s her own father. Neither seem particularly thrilled with the idea of being together, but over the course of the film the two begin a bond as we gradually find out why Jason is even there in the first place. This is a nice movie.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

Between top-secret government documents popping in the homes of former presidents and vice presidents alike and Republican congresspeople spending nearly a week trying to elect a Speaker of the House, it’s safe to say that all is not well in GOP Land. Don’t believe us? Well, how about this: a new poll shows that Mike Lindell — yes, the same guy who hawks his crappy infomercial pillows on TV — is leading current RNC chair Ronna McDaniel in a poll to determine who the next leader of the Republican party should be.

As Newsweek reports, the Rasmussen poll has Lindell leading the race for RNC Chair with 30 percent of the vote, while McDaniel — the incumbent — has the support of just 15 percent of those surveyed. Trump attorney Harmeet Dhillon trails the Pillow King by 10 points with 20 percent of the vote, while 15 percent didn’t support any one of the three candidates. (Just over 20 percent were undecided.)

As Katherine Fung wrote for Newsweek:

Although Lindell is among the three candidates, McDaniel and Dhillon have emerged as the key candidates. McDaniel has already received an endorsement from more than 100 RNC members, but Dhillon told Politico that she still thinks she has an “excellent chance” of pulling an upset, and the outlet estimated that she could wrangle about 60 votes from McDaniel.

Ultimately, it’s not up to Republican voters to name the RNC chair, but a smaller committee composed of several Republican leaders. They will meet today to name the new (or returning) chair.

(Via Newsweek)

Cue the creepy intro music because Netflix has started filming their reality show modeled after 2021’s breakout Korean thriller, Squid Game.

Aptly named Squid Game: The Challenge, the 10-episode reality competition series was announced in the summer of 2022 as a “massive social experiment” that would build upon the show’s unexpected success. Dubbed the “biggest reality competition series ever,” Squid Game: The Challenge will feature 456 contestants competing for a prize of $4.56 million by playing some of the most famous Korean childrens’ games featured in the show — as well as some new games fans have yet to see.

Obviously, the stakes are a bit lower this time around. No one’s getting killed off for failing to stop when a giant mechanical doll yells “Red Light,” but we’ve already seen reports that a few contestants needed medical assistance thanks to freezing temps while filming games on studio lots around the U.K. So, bodily harm isn’t completely off the table.

Before we completely ignore the anti-capitalist messaging of director Hwang Dong-hyuk’s masterpiece in favor of a sanitized American reality show that ironically proves its point about humanity’s worst impulses, let’s break down the games the competition series will be asking people to win for our entertainment.

Red Light, Green Light

This was the first group-play game introduced in the show and it sounds like it will be the first competitions event we see play out on the reality series. Reports contestants (that frostbite) needing medical intervention during play happened during a particularly cold couple of days earlier this month. The game is fairly simple: as a clock counts down, contestants must run across a vast, open field to cross a finish line on the other side. When the watcher — in the show, an oversized robotic doll with laser-focused vision — yells green light with their back to contestants, that’s when you move. When red light is called and the watcher swivels back around, you freeze. In the original game, if the doll caught any sign of movement once red light was called, you died. On the reality show, you just get kicked out of the competition. This game culled half of the contestants on the drama series, which is why it’s likely to be the first competition our real-life gamers must play. Netflix needs to cut the unusually large group down, and fast, before the rest of the games are introduced.

Dalgona

In episode three’s “The Man with the Umbrella,” contestants were forced to play a deadly game of Dalgona, which is actually an innocent-enough Korean children’s game with a tasty reward at the end. Dalgona is a honeycomb-type candy made from sugar and baking soda. It’s got a toffe-like consistency which makes it perfect for carving intricate shapes. The goal of the game is to carve out a predetermined shape — on the show it was a circle, a triangle, a star, or an umbrella — without cracking the candy. This competition is likely to be another one fans see early on in the reality series simply because it’s decievingly difficult and will probably mark the end of the road for plenty of gamers.

Tug O’ War

Again, no one is falling to their death like they did in the show’s version of this strength vs. strategy competition but we expect the reality show will up the stakes to make a very common outdoor activity entertaining to watch on TV. Tug o’ war is exactly what it sounds like — two teams take up opposite sides on a long piece of thick rope. The goal is to tug a flag tied in the middle of said rope across your own finish line. On the show, some teams made the mistake of thinking brawn was the only way to win the challenge, but everyone who lost was pulled over a cliff, falling to their death while the winning team looked on horrified and more than a little relieved.

Marbles

This is another nonthreatening form of play that quickly became sinister thanks to the Squid Game treatment. We expect to see this later in the reality series competition as contestants are dwindled down and the stakes become higher simply because we’ll have competitors we’re rooting for at this point. Each player is given a set of 10 marbles and the option of playing any game of their choice. The objective: to win all of your opponent’s marbles before time runs out.

The Glass Stepping Stone Bridge

Squid Game took a favorite childhood pasttime and turned it into a nightmare with this late-in-the-series competition. Completing a round of hopscotch is easy enough, but the show made things infinitely more dangerous by forcing players to traverse a glass bridge with tempered and weak tiles that could give way any moment and plummet them to their death. The goal was to figure out which tiles would hold your weight and avoid the ones that would shatter immediately using the other team’s parallel bridge as your guide. We’ll stick to the sidewalk, even though we doubt the reality show’s version will.

Squid Game

The final competition for which the show was named might also mark the last event played on the upcoming reality series. Also known as Ojingeo, Squid Game takes place on a playing field drawn to resemble, well, a squid. There are two circles, one at the top and one at the bottom, with a triangle and a square intersected both, respectively. The show saw the final two contestants play this game which meant they had to modify the rules a bit because normally, Ojingeo is played in teams. That might be a clue that more than one person will have the opportunity to take home the reality competition’s massive cash prize. During normal play, there is a defense group that is allowed to operate within the squid, and an offense group that can only move outside of the lines, while hopping on one foot. If an offensive player manages to get inside the squid, they can move on two feet.

The objective is simple: the defense group tries to push offensive players out while offensive players try to touch the head of the squid with one foot.

We expect more games will be added to the reality competition but at least you know a bit of the chaos in store when Squid Game becomes … real.

Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge does not have a premiere date as of yet.

The whiskey sour is one of the most iconic cocktails in the whole game. The elixir is a mix of fresh lemon juice, whiskey, sugar, and egg white that pops on the palate and hits you deep in your soul. It’s refreshing, boozy, sharp — the perfect cocktail to end “Dry January” with.

Why now? Why this?

The whiskey sour has a bold flavor profile that’ll reawaken your palate. That’s especially important if you’ve been abstaining from booze this month. More importantly, it’s just a good goddamn cocktail that has remained popular for centuries. It deserves our respect and that, in turn, means always using an egg white. Always.

Okay, enough preamble. After this long first month of 2023, we all need a drink. Let’s get shaking!

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Whiskey Sour

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz. bourbon
• 1 oz. fresh lemon juice (strained of all pulp)
• 0.5 oz. demerara sugar syrup
• 1 dash of Angostura Bitters
• 1 egg white
• Cherry
• Ice

All of these ingredients are easily findable at any good liquor store. I’m using Weller Special Reserve for the base, but any solid bourbon in the $20-$40 range will do.

What You’ll Need:

• Coupe, Nick and Nora, or small rocks glass
• Cocktail shaker
• Cocktail strainer
• Jigger
• Fruit peeler
• Hand juicer
• Cocktail stick

Method:

• Prechill the glass in the freezer.
• Add the bourbon, lemon juice, syrup, bitter, and egg white, to a cocktail shaker. Affix the lid and shake vigorously for about 15 seconds (hold the lid tight as a vacuum seal will not form thanks to there being no ice in the shaker).
• Open the shaker, add a big handful of ice and reshake the cocktail for about 15 to 20 seconds or until the shaker is ice-cold to touch.
• Strain the cocktail into the prechilled glass, making sure to shake out all the foam.
• Add a cherry for garnish and serve.

Bottom Line:

The beauty of this drink is in its texture. It’s so silky smooth. It’s like drinking meringue with a sharp cut of sweet lemon drops cut with spicy and vanilla-forward bourbon. It all just comes together so nicely.

Overall, I can see mixing these up two at a time for the rest of the weekend. They’re that good, refreshing, and invigorating. And all that citrus, bitters, and bourbon go a long way to reawakening your palate after a long January slumber.

Gerard Butler’s career continues to churn away in action mode, and that includes the improbably ripping Plane, which delivers upon its concept, alright. Drew Barrymore happens to be a huge Gerard Butler fan, so when he recently appeared on her show, they journeyed back into his Phantom of the Opera days as well as his era playing romcom heartthrobs.

That time period happened to include P.S. I Love You, the 2007 Richard LaGravenese film that delivered upon every romcom cliché out there, as one does. Hilary Swank gets romanced by Harry Connick Jr. and a then-unknown Jeffrey Dean Morgan, but before that happens, her character gets married to an Irish dude who’s played by Butler with his Scottish brogue hanging out. He’s the perfect husband, so much so that he plans ahead for death by scheduling a series of letters from the grave. It’s sweet but also morbid, especially in retrospect.

At the 5:45 mark above, Butler reveals that an on-set event also grew grim because he “almost killed” Swank. This happened during the scene of the movie that sticks out for me most: Gerry (which was actually the character’s name) danced in shamrock boxers while wearing suspenders. You can watch the scene on YouTube, but also, things got unintentionally violent, as Butler (at the 5:45 mark above) told Barrymore:

“You know the scene where I’m dancing and I [am wearing] suspenders? I shot that scene for a day and a half, and I had to dance like an idiot in the suspenders. At one point, the clip, which was a crocodile clip, got stuck in the television as I’m crawling towards her, and she’s right in front of me, laughing hysterically. The camera people had these plastic fronts to protect themselves from this crocodile because I had to ping it, and it would go [flying] past my face. I’m crawling towards the bed, it gets stuck, it releases, flies over my head, hits her in the head, slashes her head.

Not fantastic. Butler further revealed, “I mean, I cut her open….She had to get taken to the hospital. I’m just sitting there in my boxer shorts and my boots and a pair of socks, and I just started crying.” That was quite a year for Butler, who also starred in 300 while roaring and wearing a loincloth. Yet it appears that Swank healed up in time for the P.S. I Love You premiere, from the looks of the below photo. Memories!

(Via Variety)

The animated band Gorillaz has been rolling out their new album Cracker Island since last year when they released the Tame Impala-featuring, first single “New Gold.” Since then, they’ve released a slew of singles including the title track, which features Thundercat, as a trickle of new information has come out.

Fans have been impatiently waiting for more from the cartoon band since 2020 when they last dropped a full-length release: the web series companion Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez. That project also featured a strange and chaotic rollout consisting of “episodes” that found the Gorillaz wrapped up in yet another bizarre string of misadventures culminating in the album’s release.

This time around, things are a bit more traditional, but no less wacky, as 2-D (who did an interview with Uproxx last year), Murdoc, Noodle, and Russel prepare to drop their eighth studio album, Cracker Island. Check out all the release info below.

Release Date

Cracker Island is out on 2/24/2023 via Parlophone. Pre-save it here.

Tracklist

1. “Cracker Island” Feat. Thundercat
2. “Oil” Feat. Stevie Nicks
3. “The Tired Influencer”
4. “Tarantula”
5. “Silent Running” Feat. Adeleye Omotayo
6. “New Gold” Feat. Tame Impala and Bootie Brown
7. “Baby Queen”
8. “Tormenta” Feat. Bad Bunny
9. “Skinny Ape”
10. “Possession Island” Feat. Beck

Features

Despite a stripped-down tracklist compared to many of their projects, the ‘Rillaz still have a rather impressive collection of collaborators on their latest, including frequently featured Humanz Choir member Adeleye Omotayo, Latin star Bad Bunny, alt-rocker Beck, LA alt-rap vet Bootie Brown,, legendary singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks, psych-rock project Tame Impala, and jazz futurist Thundercat.

Artwork

Singles

Singles for the album have so far included “Cracker Island”; “Skinny Ape“; “New Gold” featuring Tame Impala and Bootie Brown; “Baby Queen“; and “Silent Running” featuring Adeleye Omotayo.

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

Concertgoers have been going through a lot lately — from getting scammed trying to see Bad Bunny to being unable to snag Taylor Swift tickets because Ticketmaster was unprepared. Somehow it keeps getting worse.

In Auckland, New Zealand on Friday night (January 27), fans were ready to see Elton John on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour when the show was canceled just a few minutes before it was supposed to start because of intense floods. The city received an entire summer’s worth of rain in one day, causing many to lose power, the airport to close, the city’s mayor to declare a state of emergency, and 40,000 fans at Mt Smart Stadium to be left disappointed by the unfortunate timing. They were informed of the cancelation at 7:15 p.m. local time, while John was set to take the stage at 7:30.

An attendee told Sky News: “I’m furious. It was raining heavily on the way to the stadium and I kept checking for announcements but nothing came, despite puddles being up to my ankles.” They added, “After the gig was called off, hundreds of people queued in the downpours for the shuttle buses and I saw some people chant for Elton in the hope he’d come on — but it was like a literal river there.”

Unfortunately, there has been no news yet of a rescheduled show, but hopefully the fans will finally get to see him in the future.

This article originally appeared on 01.27.20

From 1940 to 1945, an estimated 1.3 million people were deported to Auschwitz, the largest complex of Nazi concentration camps. More than four out of five of those people—at least 1.1 million people—were murdered there.

On January 27, 1945, Soviet forces liberated the final prisoners from these camps—7,000 people, most of whom were sick or dying. Those of us with a decent public education are familiar with at least a few names of Nazi extermination facilities—Auschwitz, Dachau, Bergen-Belsen—but these are merely a few of the thousands (yes, thousands) of concentration camps, sub camps, and ghettos spread across Europe where Jews and other targets of Hitler’s regime were persecuted, tortured, and killed by the millions.

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The scale of the atrocity is unfathomable. Like slavery, the Holocaust is a piece of history where the more you learn the more horrifying it becomes. The inhumane depravity of the perpetrators and the gut-wrenching suffering of the victims defies description. It almost becomes too much for the mind and heart to take in, but it’s vital that we push through that resistance.

The liberation of the Nazi camps marked the end of Hitler’s attempt at ethnic cleansing, and the beginning of humanity’s awareness about how such a heinous chapter in human history took place. The farther we get from that chapter, the more important it is to focus on the lessons it taught us, lest we ignore the signs of history repeating itself.

Lesson 1: Unspeakable evil can be institutionalized on a massive scale

Perhaps the most jarring thing about the Holocaust is how systematized it was. We’re not talking about humans slaying other humans in a fit of rage or a small number of twisted individuals torturing people in a basement someplace—this was a structured, calculated, disciplined, and meticulously planned and carried out effort to exterminate masses of people. The Nazi regime built a well-oiled killing machine the size of half a continent, and it worked exactly as intended. We often cite the number of people killed, but the number of people who partook in the systematic torture and destruction of millions of people is just as harrowing.

It has now come out that Allied forces knew about the mass killing of Jews as early as 1942—three years before the end of the war. And obviously, there were reports from individuals of what was happening from the very beginning. People often ask why more wasn’t done earlier on if people knew, and there are undoubtedly political reasons for that. But we also have the benefit of hindsight in asking that question. I can imagine most people simply disbelieving what was actually taking place because it sounds so utterly unbelievable.

The lesson here is that we have to question our tendency to disbelieve things that sound too horrible to be true. We have evidence that the worst things imaginable on a scale that seems unfathomable are totally plausible.

Lesson 2: Atrocity can happen right under our noses as we go about our daily lives

One thing that struck me as I was reading about the liberation of Auschwitz is that it was a mere 37 miles from Krakow, one of the largest cities in Poland. This camp where an average of 500 people a day were killed, where bodies were piled up like corded wood, where men, women, and children were herded into gas chambers—and it was not that far from a major population center.

And that was just one set of camps. We now know that there were thousands of locations where the Nazis carried out their “final solution,” and it’s not like they always did it way out in the middle of nowhere. A New York Times report on how many more camps there were than scholars originally thought describes what was happening to Jews and marginalized people as the average person went about their daily lives:

“The documented camps include not only ‘killing centers’ but also thousands of forced labor camps, where prisoners manufactured war supplies; prisoner-of-war camps; sites euphemistically named ‘care’ centers, where pregnant women were forced to have abortions or their babies were killed after birth; and brothels, where women were coerced into having sex with German military personnel.”

Whether or not the average person knew the full extent of what was happening is unclear. But surely there were reports. And we know how the average person responds to reports, even today in our own country.

How many news stories have we seen of abuses and inhumane conditions inside U.S. immigrant detention camps? What is our reaction when the United Nations human rights chief visits our detention facilities and comes away “appalled”? It’s a natural tendency to assume things simply can’t be that bad—that’s undoubtedly what millions of Germans thought as well when stories leaked through the propaganda.

Lesson 3: Propaganda works incredibly well

Propaganda has always been a part of governance, as leaders try to sway the general populace to support whatever they are doing. But the Nazis perfected the art and science of propaganda, shamelessly playing on people’s prejudices and fears and flooding the public with mountains of it.

Hermann Goering, one of Hitler’s top political and military figures, explained in an interview late in his life that such manipulation of the masses isn’t even that hard.

“The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders,” he said. “That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”

Terrifyingly true, isn’t it? This is why we have to stay vigilant in the face of fear-mongering rhetoric coming from our leaders. When an entire religion or nationality or ethnic group is painted as “dangerous” or “criminal” or “terrorists,” we have to recognize that we are being exposed to the same propaganda used to convince Germans that the Nazis were just trying to protect them. Safety and security are powerful human desires that make it easy to justify horrible acts.

Hitler was also great at playing the victim. While marching through Europe, conquering countries and rounding up millions of innocent people to exterminate, he claimed that Germany was the one under attack. Blatant anti-Semitic rhetoric surely fired up Hitler’s core supporters, but the message to the average German was that this was all being done in the name of protecting the homeland, rather than a quest for a world-dominating master race.

Lesson 4: Most of us are in greater danger of committing a holocaust than being a victim of one

I had to pause when this realization hit me one day. As fairly average white American, I am in the majority in my country. And as strange as it is to say, that means I have more in common with the Germans who either committed heinous acts or capitulated to the Nazis than I do with the Jews and other targets of the Nazi party. That isn’t to say that I would easily go along with mass genocide, but who’s to say that I could fully resist the combination of systematic dehumanization, propaganda, and terrorism that led to the Holocaust? We all like to think we’d be the brave heroes hiding the Anne Franks of the world in our secret cupboards, but the truth is we don’t really know what we would have done.

Check out what this Army Captain who helped liberate a Nazi camp said about his bafflement at what the Germans, “a cultured people” allowed to happen:

“I had studied German literature while an undergraduate at Harvard College. I knew about the culture of the German people and I could not, could not really believe that this was happening in this day and age; that in the twentieth century a cultured people like the Germans would undertake something like this. It was just beyond our imagination… – Captain (Dr.) Philip Leif – 3rd Auxiliary Surgical Group, First Army

Some say that we can gauge what we would have done by examining what we’re doing right now, and perhaps they are right. Are we speaking out against our government’s cruel family separations that traumatize innocent children? Do we justify travel bans from entire countries because we trust that it’s simply our leadership trying to keep us safe? Do we buy into the “Muslims are terrorists” and “undocumented immigrants are criminals” rhetoric?

While it’s wise to be wary of comparing current events to the Holocaust, it’s also wise to recognize that the Holocaust didn’t start with gas chambers. It started with “othering,” scapegoating, and fear-mongering. We have to be watchful not only for signs of atrocity, but for the signs leading up to it.

Lesson 5: Teaching full and accurate history matters

There are people who deny that the Holocaust even happened, which is mind-boggling. But there are far more people who are ignorant to the true horrors of it. Reading first-hand accounts of both the people who survived the camps and those who liberated them is perhaps the best way to begin to grasp the scope of what happened.

One small example is Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower’s attempt to describe what he saw when he visited Ohrdruf, a sub-camp of Buchenwald:

“The things I saw beggar description. While I was touring the camp I encountered three men who had been inmates and by one ruse or another had made their escape. I interviewed them through an interpreter. The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty and bestiality were so overpowering as to leave me a bit sick. In one room, where they were piled up twenty or thirty naked men, killed by starvation, George Patton would not even enter. He said that he would get sick if he did so. I made the visit deliberately, in order to be in a position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to ‘propaganda.'”

And of course, the most important narratives to read and try to digest are the accounts of those who survived the camps. Today, 200 survivors of Auschwitz gathered to commemorate the 75th anniversary of its liberation. They warned about the rise in anti-Semitism in the world and how we must not let prejudice and hatred fester. Imagine having to make such a warning seven decades after watching family and friends being slaughtered in front of you.

Let’s use this anniversary as an opportunity to dive deeper into what circumstances and environment enabled millions of people to be killed by one country’s leadership. Let’s learn the lessons the Holocaust has to teach us about human nature and our place in the creation of history. And let’s make darn sure we do everything in our power to fend off the forces that threaten to lead us down a similarly perilous path.