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The trailer for Sean Anders’ (Daddy’s Home) new holiday musical comedy jumps right out in front of the fact that it’s yet another adaptation of A Christmas Carol. The set up is as old as time (read: 1843), and it’s been made and copied and twisted so many times that even the cranky main character of Spirited gets what’s going on.

Yet there’s a nice little twist here. Or two. First, the whole haunting thing is more of a tradition than a miserly one-off. Second, the ghosts don’t simply exit stage left through a poster bed curtain.

Here’s the official synopsis from Apple TV+:

“Each Christmas Eve, the Ghost of Christmas Present (Will Ferrell) selects one dark soul to be reformed by a visit from three spirits. But this season, he picked the wrong Scrooge. Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds) turns the tables on his ghostly host until Present finds himself reexamining his own past, present and future. For the first time, A Christmas Carol is told from the perspective of the ghosts in this hilarious musical twist on the classic Dickens tale.”

It also looks like the Ghost of Christmas Present has a little earthly tingle for Octavia Spencer’s character.

Add in some modern sarcasm and musical numbers from Benj Pasek and Justin Paul of La La Land fame, and there’s hope that this will be a worthy addition to the Dickens tradition.

It’s a safe bet that a barrel-proof version of already-well-regarded bourbon is sure to be a hit. As the palates among the bourbon community mature, higher proof and stronger flavor profiles are often sought after. That means there are a lot of barrel-proof bourbons hitting shelves at break-neck speeds these days, especially as we plow headfirst into the holiday season. So we thought, “Let’s throw some new bottles of barrel-proof bourbon into a blind taste test and see how they stack up.”

Barrel-proof bourbon is a bit of a muddy category. The idea that “barrel-proof” automatically means “super high proof” is patently incorrect. It can mean anything from 40% ABV (80 proof) to well over 70% ABV (140 proof), which is into Hazmat whiskey territory. Basically, we’re talking about whiskey that is batched, bottled, and then labeled with the mean proof of those barrels/casks. Or, in the case of a single barrel bottling, the proof of that single cask when bottled.

Moreover, “cask-strength” or “barrel-proof” does not mean “full proof.” The latter refers to the proof that the whiskey went into the barrel. So Weller Full Proof is blended to be 114 proof since that’s the proof that that hot juice went into the barrel. 1792 Full Proof, on the other hand, is blended to hit 125 proof in the bottle, and so on. There absolutely are cask-strength or barrel-proof whiskeys that hit the low 80 proofs (and below) simply because that’s how they came out of the barrel after maturation. All of this is to say that “barrel-proof” bourbon whiskey casts a very wide net, ABV-wise.

That makes them a lot of fun because there’s really something for everyone.

Our lineup today is:

• Kentucky Peerless Double Oak
• George T. Stagg Uncut/Unfiltered 2022
• 291 HR Colorado Bourbon Whiskey Aspen Stave Finished
• Oak & Eden Anthro Series Bourbon Whiskey Finished with a Coffee Soaked Oak Spiral
• Nashtucky Special Release Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 8 Years
• Horse Soldier Reserve Barrel Strength Bourbon Whiskey
• Starlight Distillery Carl T. Huber’s Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Pineau des Charentes Barrels
• Redwood Empire Pipe Dream Bourbon Whiskey Cask Strength

Okay, let’s dive in and find you a great barrel-proof bourbon for late fall sippin’!

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months

• 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
• We Blind Tasted Classic Bourbons And Were Shocked By The Winner
• The Best-Known Basic Bottles Of Bourbon, Blind Tasted And Ranked
• The Single Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States

Part 1: The Tasting

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

The nose is beautifully deep with salted butter, old soft leather gloves touched with menthol, soft vanilla beans, and toffee candies dipped in walnuts and dusted with dark chocolate powder. The palate hits on deep yet soft woody spices — allspice berries, star anise, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods — while dark cherry tobacco in an old pine box mingles with salted caramel, black tea leaves, and more of that soft leather. The end mixes dark berries and spiced honey with old porch wood and a moist vanilla white cake with a hint of spiced mint lurking in the background.

This is f*cking delicious. That vanilla cake note at the end was the perfect counterbalance to all the woody and warm spice. Moreover, this didn’t feel hot at all. There was spice and warmth, sure, but it was so well-balanced.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

There’s a warmth to the nose here that mingles with sweet waffles, salted dark chocolate, woody maple syrup, and a mocha-vanilla latte with a whisper of sour cherry, old leather, and mulled wine spiciness rounding things out. The ABVs hit the palate with an immediate buzzing numbness that eventually reveal woody winter spices — cinnamon sticks and clove buds especially — next to an eggnog latte with a heavy roast coffee underneath it and dusted with dark chocolate powder and maybe some dried red chili. The end turns the cherry into syrup-y pie filling with a tobacco spiciness just kissed with that dark chocolate and layers with old cedar bark and more of that ABV buzziness that doesn’t taste like burning but isn’t too far away.

This is hot stuff. It’s good but, wow, this really needs a rock to calm it down a bit.

Taste 3

Tasting Notes:

This opens with a rush of fruitiness that leans into candied citrus rinds, apricots, peaches, and maybe some raisins next to butterscotch candies, a touch of nuttiness, and maybe a little cedar wood. The palate leans into that cedar with a cinnamon stick vibe underneath, a touch of toffee, and more stone fruit with a slightly dried edge. The end is lightly fruity with a dried oak vibe and more of those woody spices.

This was pretty woody and fruity. It’s clearly a crafty bourbon. There wasn’t any real heat, which was nice. But this felt kind of like the hazy IPA of whiskey.

Taste 4

Tasting Notes:

The nose on this one is pretty tannic with bitter wood notes and a plasticky version of black licorice Twizzlers next to a whisper of used drip coffee filters and Hersey’s Kisses. The palate adds a little darkness to the waxy chocolate with a hint of dark coffee (still drip) and a hint of menthol tobacco. The end is short and bitter and those plasticky Twizzlers make a comeback.

This is a pretty hard pass from me. It felt more like a flavored whiskey than a bourbon whiskey.

Taste 5

Tasting Notes:

Old lawn fruits and Christmas cookies mingle on the nose with a beautiful mix of old figs, sticky toffee pudding, plenty of mulled wine spice, apricot jam, and a whisper of white pepper warmth. The palate has a nice warmth to it that leans into the spices in a fig pudding and Christmas cake or gingerbread panel next to dried wild sage and cedar bark with a hint of berry tobacco. The end kicks the warmth up with sweetness via a Hot Tamales candy sensation next to old stewed pear jam next to a hint of salted dark chocolate tobacco in an old leather pouch.

This is really freakin’ good. The way it expresses the ABV warmth via Hot Tamales (or Red Hots depending on what you grew up with) and the spices in sweet and earthy holiday cakes is a masterstroke.

Taste 6

Tasting Notes:

There’s a light sense of oatmeal cookies with plenty of cinnamon, walnuts, and raisins next to lemon pepper, vanilla-honey wafers, mulled wine with a slightly sour note next to dark winter spices, freshly chopped firewood, and a hint of saddle soap on the nose. The palate leans into classic caramel sauce with a Vanilla Coke essence next to spiced apple crumble, gingerbread, orange blossoms, and a touch more of that dry firewood. The end brings back those moist oatmeal cookies with plenty of cinnamon, nuttiness, and dark brown sugar ambiance.

This feels like a pretty classic bourbon with a very slight crafty edge. The barrel-proof was hardly noticeable thanks to a solid flavor profile from top to bottom.

Taste 7

Tasting Notes:

The nose opens with a soft sense of sultanas soaked in brandy with an echo of an old cheese cellar with cob-web-strewn oak beams, delicate vanilla wafers with floral honey pressed between them, almond crescent cookies, soft and sweet cinnamon powder, freshly grated nutmeg, and orange and clove stewed marmalade with a hint of savory scone bespeckled with dried currants. The palate builds on the nose with layers of dark berry fruit leather, spiced holiday cakes with dates, allspice, and plenty of almond (and maybe some walnut) next to chestnut chutney cut with orange, pear, sultana, and a good dollop of winter spices with a hint of caramelized dark ale lurking underneath it all. The end is a supple landing in softly spiced and dark fruity bourbon notes by way of a luxurious holiday cake soaked in brandy.

This wins hands down.

It’s just delicious, deep, dark, complex, varied, and … yet … welcoming, familiar, convivial, and easy-drinking enough to really beckon you back for more.

Taste 8

Tasting Notes:

There’s a nice sense of soft leather and dark cherry bark with a velvety vanilla base, plenty of classic bourbon caramel, and a hint of pecan waffles covered in cinnamon butter and maple syrup. The palate has a creamy honey sweetness that leads to Cherry Coke, rich toffee, roasted almond, and Mounds bars. The end leans into woody dark winter spices with a hint of sour cherry, marzipan, and dark cherry tobacco wrapped up with dark chocolate and cinnamon cookies.

This is really nice. Classic. Easy-Drinking.

Part 2: The Ranking

8. Oak & Eden Anthro Series Bourbon Whiskey Finished with a Coffee Soaked Oak Spiral — Taste 4

ABV: 57%

Average Price: $84

The Whiskey:

This new line of whiskeys from Oak & Eden is all about the collaboration between actors, musicians, and artists. In this case, that’s Yellowstone actor Forrie J. Smith. This expression is Oak & Eden’s barrel-proof bourbon whiskey — that’s about four years old and from MGP of Indiana — that’s bottled with an oak spire that’s been infused with coffee.

Bottom Line:

This just didn’t hit for me at all today. It was so bitter and had real flavored whiskey vibes. This is a pretty hard pass for me.

7. 291 HR Colorado Bourbon Whiskey Aspen Stave Finished — Taste 3

ABV: 63%

Average Price: $108

The Whiskey:

291 HR Bourbon is the Colorado distillery’s “High Rye” bourbon. The whiskey was made when a double dose of malted rye was added to the mash. Once distilled, the hot juice was barreled in new oak with aspen wood staves right in the whiskey. In this case, the whiskey was bottled as-is once it hit just the right spot.

Bottom Line:

This was very crafty on the fruity end (it’s not grainy really at all). If you’re looking for a young, fruity bourbon, then this is going to be your jam. I can also see this pairing really well with a fruity hazy IPA.

6. George T. Stagg Uncut/Unfiltered 2022 — Taste 2

ABV: 69.35%

MSRP: $99

The Whiskey:

This year’s return of the Stagg is hewn from whiskey distilled all the way back in 2007 with Kentucky corn, Minnesota rye, and North Dakota barley. The juice was filled into new white oak from Independent Stave from Missouri with a #4 char level (55 seconds). Those barrels were then stored in the famed Warehouse K on the first and fifth floors over 15 years, wherein 75% of the liquid was lost to the angels.

Finally, the barrels were batched and bottled as-is.

Bottom Line:

This was very nice once you got past those ABVs. It’s just a little too hot to really shine. There’s a lot of great stuff going on with this whiskey’s flavor profile, don’t get me wrong. It’s just a little too overpowered for my taste without a rock to calm it down.

5. Horse Soldier Reserve Barrel Strength Bourbon Whiskey — Taste 6

ABV: 60.25%

Average Price: $98

The Whiskey:

The bourbon in this bottle was contract distilled in Ohio at Middlewest (but it’s now being made in Kentucky too). The juice is a wheated bourbon that spent eight years mellowing before bottling. Each barrel was hand-picked before being married into a barrel strength expression that’s bottled as-is.

Bottom Line:

This was a nice whiskey that had a solid balance of warmth and flavor on the palate. Overall, this felt like a great cocktail base that works on the rocks too.

4. Redwood Empire Pipe Dream Bourbon Whiskey Cask Strength — Taste 8

ABV: 58.4%

Average Price: $70

The Whiskey:

This uncut and unfiltered version of Redwood Empire’s beloved bourbon is a four-grain whiskey built from a blend of California, Kentucky, and Indiana whiskeys. The mash ends up being 74% corn, 20% raw rye, 4.5% malt barley, and a mere 1.5% wheat. The barrels in the final blend range from four to 12 years old with the older stuff coming from the Ohio Valley.

Bottom Line:

This was a classic bourbon with a nice warm middle. I really want to make an old fashioned or whiskey sour with this.

3. Nashtucky Special Release Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 8 Years — Taste 5

ABV: 59.8%

Average Price: $150

The Whiskey:

This whiskey is part of the new line from the famed Nashville Barrel Company. In this case, barrels were filled in Kentucky and then sent down to Nashville to age for eight years, colliding the worlds of Kentucky bourbon with the Tennessee climate. The results are bottled as-is one barrel at a time.

Bottom Line:

This is where we get into the “wow” bottles. This is a very well-made whiskey that has serious refinement and depth. It’s also classic and fun. Lastly, the ABVs don’t overshadow the profile like some whiskeys on this list (ahem, Stagg).

2. Kentucky Peerless Double Oak — Taste 1

ABV: 53.55%

Average Price: $134

The Whiskey:

This whiskey from Kentucky Peerless is around five to six years old and comes from one barrel that lets the grains shine through before it goes into another barrel that lets the oak shine through. That final barrel is bottled at cask strength, as-is, allowing all that beautiful bourbon and oak aging to shine brightly.

Bottom Line:

This is another great whiskey that has a wonderful balance between those higher ABVs and a deep and almost festive flavor profile. It’s exciting and complex while still feeling like something easy to drink and nostalgic.

1. Starlight Distillery Carl T. Huber’s Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Pineau des Charentes Barrels — Taste 7

ABV: 52.05%

Average Price: $79

The Whiskey:

This new whiskey from craft-distilling darling Starlight up in Indiana is a masterpiece of distilling and aging. The juice is made from a high-corn mash with a touch of rye and malted barley in the mix alongside local water. The hot spirit goes into new white oak Canton barrels for about four years before it is refilled into hand-picked Pineau des Charentes casks from France (that’s a light grape-forward fortified wine) for a final maturation.

Bottom Line:

This is delicious. If you can find a bottle, you’ll be in for a real treat that takes extremely well-made bourbon to new heights with subtle and lavish French oak notes.

Part 3: Final Thoughts

Interestingly, the lower-proofed barrel-proof bourbons won the day. There’s a real numbing buzziness that can be a lot to get past on some of the higher-proof bourbons out there, especially when tasted neat. Otherwise, the top six bourbons on this list were all really freaking good, don’t get me wrong. Each one had a nice nuance and a very solid flavor profile.

Still, that Starlight finished in Pineau des Charentes Barrels was such a clear standout. I’m still blubbery about how good that flavor profile is. It sticks with you and there’s always something new when you go back in for another nose and taste. Give it a shot if you can!

Update: Yep. It’s fake. But now, who know? We might get a real one.

The rollout for Drake and 21 Savage’s joint album Her Loss continued today with the pair teasing an NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert on social media. Fans were naturally excited to learn of the possiblity of the unexpected contribution to the legendary series.

However, there’s a catch. This isn’t the first time the duo trolled fans with a buzzy announcement ahead of the album’s release. After teasing a Vogue cover featuring the two of them, they later revealed that it was a promotional zine consisting of a few modified copies of the actual Vogue with photoshopped ads featuring 21 Savage’s tattoos on all the models.

And while a Tiny Desk Concert would certainly be a treat and they would warrant the star treatment, it is a little suspicious that it was announced by Drake and Savage themselves rather than the NPR Music profiles. It would be just like them too; both are known for sort of trolling their fans over the years thanks to their propensity for popping up in all kinds of memes.

With that being said, even if they aren’t really doing a Tiny Desk, it likely won’t dampen the enthusiasm for their upcoming album. Her Loss is due on Friday, November 4.

Hollywood has a history of making dueling projects about the same thing. In the late ‘90s, animated bug movies were (apparently!) all the rage, so we got both Antz and A Bug’s Life. Around the same time there was Deep Impact (about an asteroid heading towards Earth) and, two months later, Armageddon (ditto). We almost got two movies about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, one a miniseries, the other a movie. But the former got done first, and it was so good that the star of the latter has decided there doesn’t need to be another.

The New York Times reporter Kyle Buchanan had a chat with Jennifer Lawrence, who was all set to reteam with her Don’t Look Up director Adam McKay for an adaptation of the book Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley. Earlier this year, Lawrence was all gung ho about playing the black turtleneck-loving, low-speaking Holmes. But now, having seen Amanda Seyfried nail it in her Emmy-winning turn in Hulu’s The Dropout, Lawrence is basically, like, what’s the point.

“I thought she was terrific,” Lawrence confessed. “I was like, ‘Yeah, we don’t need to redo that.’ She did it.”

So now she’s out. It’s not as though she didn’t put in the effort. “I tried on a hundred outfits for this and ended up just looking like Steve Jobs. Or Amanda Seyfried,” Lawrence cracked.

It’s not yet known if McKay feels the same way and will abandon ship, or if he’ll simply find someone else who could top or at least equal Seyfried.

Earlier this year, Holmes was found guilty of four of the 11 charges of fraud and conspiracy for claims she made to investors of Theranos, her much-hyped — and much-failed — blood-testing company. Among the claims she had made was that she had developed cutting-edge technology that could run hundreds of tests with just a few drops of blood. Spoiler: That wasn’t true. One of her victims, incidentally, was Trump-era Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who got swindled out of millions.

(Via NYT‘s Kyle Buchanan)

Long before Pixar’s “UP,” adults and children alike imagined what it would feel like to be carried away by a bunch of helium balloons. How many balloons would it take to actually lift a person off the ground?

Scientists have made those calculations, of course, but now the average person can personally experience what it’s like to fly by helium. All it takes is 60 euros, a reasonable tolerance of heights and a trip to Écausseville, France.

The small town in the Normandy region of northwestern France is home to the Aéroplume, a helium-filled blimp that allows adults and children over 7 years of age to live the dream of helium balloon flight.

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The Aéroplume holds just one person, who gets attached to the balloon with a harness. It also includes wings you can flap to move around using just the strength of your arms.

Unfortunately, you can’t fly away into the clouds like the house in “UP,” as the Aéroplume is housed indoors in an old military hangar that was used to hold a blimp. Within that space, flyers can flap their wings and move around at 5 to 8 km/h (around 3 to 8 mph), experiencing flight in a way that few humans ever have.

YouTube star Tom Scott shared his experience trying out the Aéroplume and his childlike joy is delightful to watch.

More than 10,000 flights and zero accidents? Impressive.

The 60 euro cost gets you 30 minutes in the hangar, with 20 minutes of actual flight time and 10 minutes for lift and steering instruction and for getting in and out of the harness.

If you find yourself in France, consider adding the Aéroplume to your itinerary and make all your childhood flying dreams come true.

ESPN’s NBA studio analyst crew will be getting a fresh perspective from one of the best coaches in all of basketball this year, as Becky Hammon was announced as the four-letter’s latest hire at the ESPNW Summit, making her debut next month.

Hammon is fresh off a WNBA championship winning season with the Las Vegas Aces in her first year as a head coach in the WNBA, where she opened up the talented Aces offensively by encouraging more three-pointers, which brought out the best in players like Kelsey Plum, and created more space for A’ja Wilson to take home another MVP award. In the playoffs, her after timeout play prowess was on full display, as the Aces were nearly unstoppable in late game situations when they had a chance to draw something up in the huddle.

Hammon arrived in Vegas after a number of years on the bench with Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, and will bring plenty of unique insight from being both a former player and a coach to ESPN’s studio crew. Her ability to break down action and provide the coaching perspective will be a welcome addition to ESPN’s NBA programming, and it’s a good job by the network to identify an opportunity to make their coverage of the league better.

Monthly rising talent showcase TheBasement returned this Tuesday (November 1) after its June show with a stacked lineup of newcomers for fans to check out at Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in Los Angeles. The show, which previously featured GoGo Morrow, who’s now on tour with Flo Milli, and KenTheMan, an emerging talent from the Houston rap scene who recently appeared in BET’s Hip-Hop Awards Cypher.

This month, the lineup included rising stars like Farrah Fawx, Lola Brooke, Marzz, Rini, and LA native Zoe Osama. There’s more information on each below.

Farrah Fawx

Hailing from Virginia, Fawx combines upbeat dance music with brassy rap. “I’m from Virginia so ‘Dollar Bamboos’ is me paying homage to the sounds I grew up inspired by, specifically Timbaland and Missy Elliott,” she explains. “I wanted to create something that was absurd, but also just a feel good song.”

Lola Brooke

Lola Brooke is a brash Brooklyn native who has embraced the drill sound and delivers her bars with a conversational but forceful tone that ups the energy to unique levels. “‘Don’t Play With It’ is a call to action,” she says. “If you’re feeling overlooked, this the one for you. How I was feeling , listening to a lot of music out of Detroit, and the beat by Dizzy Banko inspired it. I want all my gators to know they shouldn’t be playing with you!”

Marzz

21-year-old Louisville singer Marzz has been garnering attention for her 2021 single “Countless Times.” The song, she says, “represents the courage, self-love, and accountability to love yourself and put your first but still love them form a distance and learn to grow with or without them.

Rini

“My latest single ‘Haunt Me’ definitely represents a different side of me that I haven’t fully expressed in my previous music,” says the Australian-born R&B singer, who previously appeared on UPROXX Sessions. “From the producers/writers I got to work with on this track, to the music video concept, ‘Haunt Me’ highlights the growth and experimentation in my artistry coming into my next project. I want to bring fans along my journey as I continue to develop myself with my music, and I hope this gets people excited about what is to come.”

Zoe Osama

Zoe Osama feels “Underrated” now, but if he has his way, that won’t be the case for long. Of his first TheBasement performance, he’s “excited to showcase my art and talent. ‘Underrated’ is the hottest song in LA all 2022 and I’m excited to be given the opportunity to rock out with y’all and showcase my skills and art.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Mau y Ricky released a new live video for their latest hit “Llorar y Llorar” on Monday (October 31). The Venezuelan superstars surprised an audience in Mexico City with a pop-up performance featuring local singer Carin León.

Mau y Ricky are the sons of Argentine pop icon Ricardo Montaner. Since breaking out in 2018 with “Mi Mala,” the brothers have become stars in their own right. In the past few years, they have collaborated with artists like Karol G, Becky G, and Leslie Grace. “Llorar y Llorar” marks their first song in the regional Mexican music genre with León.

Mau y Ricky first released “Llorar y Llorar” back in May. Their heart-wrenching duet with León has become one of their biggest hits. On Spotify, the song has amassed over 58 million streams. The original music video that features them in a bar León has over 49 million views on YouTube.

Back in July, Mau y Ricky did an impromptu performance of the song in Mexico City. The duo showed up announced to Alameda Central Park with a live band and León. As soon as Mau y Ricky started playing the song, the park became flooded with people trying to catch a glimpse of their performance. They finally released the video of that moving performance to YouTube for the world to enjoy.

“Llorar y Llorar” will be included in Mau y Ricky’s upcoming project Desgenerados. They will also appear in the upcoming Disney+ docuseries The Montaners alongside their father Ricardo and their brother-in-law, Colombian singer Camilo. The five-part series will start streaming on Disney+ on November 9.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are off to a hot start to the 2022-23 season, riding a 5-game winning streak since losing their opener in Toronto that has them in second in the East through two weeks of the season.

They have done so despite the absence of their All-Star point guard, Darius Garland, who left that opening night loss against the Raptors after being poked in the eye by Gary Trent Jr., suffering a laceration on his eyelid. Garland recently returned to the practice floor, but the team has been able to lean on their new backcourt star in Donovan Mitchell to lead the charge on their winning streak.

On Wednesday, the Cavs will have their All-Star duo back together when they face the Celtics in a big early season showdown between two of the East’s best.

That’s obviously good news for the Cavs, as Garland made the leap last year into bonafide stardom and having a player of that caliber on the floor is always helpful. It also is important for Garland and Mitchell to get as many reps early in the season together as possible considering the Cavs have designs on a deep playoff run, and to do that they’ll need those two to continue gaining comfort sharing the floor together.

Fast food brands can make some bone-headed mistakes sometimes. Whether we’re talking about Taco Bell ditching the Mexican Pizza only to bring it back or McDonald’s releasing a menu of hacks that you have to self-assemble (thereby negating the need for a special menu), sometimes fast food brands make moves that defy logic. On one hand, we get it, fast food brands need to continue to innovate to hold the attention of a hungry public that is flush with options, which is easier said than done. But fast food fans aren’t dumb, we’ll get excited for a Megan Thee Stallion Popeyes team-up if it results in a new version of the sandwich, and we’ll let Wendy’s ditch Vanilla Frostys to give us a flavor we’ve never tasted, but when a fast food brand tries to innovate without actually doing anything new (looking at you McDonald’s) it’s very easy to see through.

This brings us to Papa John’s new Shaq-A-Roni pizza.

A pizza brand teaming up with Shaquille O’Neal is a great idea — people love Shaq and there are a lot of opportunities to play on his fun-loving personality and immense size to offer something special and unique, like a fully-loaded pizza with all the toppings. But the Shaq-A-Roni isn’t that.

Described by Papa Johns as “an extra-large pizza made with Papa John’s fresh, never frozen, six-ingredient dough, covered with extra pepperoni and extra cheese, baked to perfection and cut into eight Shaq-sized slices,” the Shaq-A-Roni is simply an extra large pepperoni pizza. It’s not any bigger than Papa John’s regular extra large crust, both measure at 16-inches, there aren’t any more or fewer slices in this pie, and while there does (maybe!) seem to be more cheese and pepperoni than is typical, it’s not in an amount that you’ll actually notice.

But there has got to be more than to this pie right? We ordered a Shaq-A-Roni to find out.

Tasting Notes:

Turns out no, there isn’t any more to this pizza.

It doesn’t have a special box. It doesn’t look any different than a normal extra-large pepperoni from Papa John’s. It’s just a regular ass pizza.

On the bright side, between now and December 25th Papa Johns will donate $1 for every Shaq-A-Roni sold to the Papa John’s Foundation, which supports organizations working to provide hunger relief, reduce food waste, and provide grants to local organizations, which is dope, but also a little puzzling, considering Papa John’s isn’t sending money to some other charity, they’re sending it to their own.

Meaning they could totally do without you buying a Shaq-A-Roni… the whole thing just seems like a real missed opportunity. The pizza itself is delicious, of course it is, it’s a f*cking pepperoni pizza! But we bought it to review it, so here we go: Papa John’s dough is spongey and chewy with a hint of sweetness to it and a really nice mouthfeel.

The pepperoni has a nice level of spice which compliments the bright pizza sauce and creamy mozzarella. The slices are perfectly foldable, and it’s the ideal pizza for sharing with a group of people. All in all, it makes for a great option from Papa John’s.

The Bottom Line:

It’s a delicious pepperoni pizza, but we can’t help but think it could be so much more with the smallest amount of effort.

Find your nearest Papa John’s here.