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Accessibility in the whiskey world is a pie with three very different shaped pieces. The first and biggest section — the one that most of us know best — is made up of the easy (and reasonably easy) to find bottles of scotch, bourbon, rye, Irish, and other assorted whisk(e)y styles. Bottles that are available at every liquor store, grocer, and bottle shop in the country. The second section represents the expressions that are a little harder to find, but definitely not impossible — available in limited quantities, at specialty shops, and (often) released on seasonal schedules. The last slice is the smallest. The hard-to-find bottles that you either have luck into finding, pay extra for, or get the chance to purchase because you know the owner of the place selling them.

These rarer bottles are often dubbed “unicorn bottles” when discovered in the wild (liquor stores). In some cases, you need to win a lottery just to be given the right to purchase them. If you miss out, you’re looking at serious markups on the aftermarket. But even with their frustrating levels of scarcity, these bottles are often deemed worth lusting for by aficinados.

Why? Because they’re just that good.

We ask 12 bartenders to tell us their favorite hard-to-find bottles of whiskey on the market. Some picked expressions they’ve tried and others called out bottles they’re still chasing — proof that even the folks slinging the stuff can’t get their mitts on some of this juice.

Weller Full Proof

Gavin Humes, bartender at Scratch|Bar & Kitchen in Encino, California

There are a ton that fit this question, but for now, I’m trying to get my hands on a Weller Full Proof Bourbon. It’s a nice wheated bourbon, which is something I’ve been looking to add to my collection. Weller has historically made whiskey that’s been among the best, and this “full proof” bourbon is just right for sipping on one large rock.

It’s got the classic characteristics of a wheated bourbon — where the sweetness and almost nutty quality emphasize the vanilla and caramel with a touch of dried fruits.

Red Spot

Samantha Casuga, head bartender of The Dead Rabbit in New York City

Red Spot. I have a natural affinity towards Irish whiskeys (obviously) and have always loved single pot stills. When Red Spot came to our bar, we were so excited to try it. This is a 15-year-old Irish pot still whiskey finished in a combination of American bourbon casks, Spanish oloroso sherry butts, and marsala wine barrels.

Many complex flavors and just a great reminder of the power Irish whiskey has.

Yamazaki 12

Deena Sayers, bartender at Common Ground in New York City

Yamazaki is hands down my favorite whiskey producer as well as the hardest to find. The signature 12 Year is in high demand due to its incredible number of layers that all blend into one beautiful masterpiece. From butter, honey, and vanilla, that transform into an orange and cranberry sweetness, with a crisp clean finish and subtle smoke that will keep you wanting more.

Angel’s Envy Finished in Japanese Mizunara Oak

Gabe Urrutia, USBG bartender in Miami

Right now, I am chasing Angel’s Envy Kentucky Straight Bourbon finished in Japanese Mizunara Oak casks. It was created in celebration of their Founder’s Day on August 19th, the 10th anniversary of the first port barrel filled by Angel’s Envy, so they’ve decided to release this beauty. It has some crazy tropical notes as well as mocha and wood. It’s quite complex because of the blend of 4 and 9-year-old whiskies.

Only 1,200 bottles will be released with a first release at the distillery, then at select retailers in Kentucky. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s making its way out of bourbon country.

Red Breast 27

Jane Danger, beverage director at Mother of Pearl in New York City

Red Breast 27 is luxury in a glass. Aged in a few of my favorite ex-barrels, bourbon, and sherry, for 26 years. Then finished for the last year in Ruby Port barrels. If the deep garnet color isn’t a dead giveaway for the flavor you are in for the aromas of walnuts, deep berry, thyme, and toffee. Once you get a sip the holiday cheer surrounds you — sweet red wine, sugar plum, vanilla, custard — instead of a burn from alcohol there is white pepper and chili spice. In the end, there is Irish wood spice to remind you this is a whiskey.

I would never mix this, but a slice of blue cheese or Irish cheddar on the side would be sublime.

Glenfiddich Winter Storm

Sebastien Derbomez, brand advocacy manager at William Grant & Sons

Try to get your hands on Glenfiddich Winter Storm Icewine Cask finish 21 Year Old. It’s wonderful on the nose and has soft sweet notes of candied fruit and Turkish delight. Pair this single malt whisky with your favorite cheesecake! You’ll thank me later.

Elmer T. Lee

Jonathan Stanyard, bartender at Feast in Kirkland, Washington

It may not be the absolute hardest to find, but for what it is worth, the Elmer T. Lee bourbon from Buffalo Trace is epic. This juice is everything a bourbon should be. Oak, caramel, grain, and spice fill your nose and transfer to the palate as you savor it.

Evan Williams 23

Hayden Miller, head bartender at Bodega Taqueria y Tequila in Miami

Evan Williams 23. A bourbon past the age statement generally sought out for my palate, this is just fantastic to sip. Rich age flavors of smoke and wood are complemented by a sweeter finish that is accentuated by the higher proof and subtle heat.

Pappy Van Winkle

Brooks Cloud, founder and managing partner of Proof Old Fashioned Cocktail Syrup in Decatur, Georgia

The unicorn of whiskey has to be the Pappy Van Winkle. It’s probably my favorite liquid in the world — next to Proof, of course.

William Larue Weller

Stefan Huebner, co-owner and head mixologist at Dot Dot Dot in Charlotte, North Carolina

William Larue Weller. It’s an amazing bottle of whiskey, part of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. It’s a once-a-year release with very low availability. It has big vanilla, oak, and robust leather/tobacco flavors, making it the perfect whiskey to sip while you’re sitting by the fireplace.

Blanton’s

Robert Gleim, managing partner at Bamboo Willie’s Beachside Bar in Pensacola, Florida

Blanton’s is hard to find. When you see it at your favorite place, order a glass. Its depth of citrus, rich flavors, and warming spices make it an awesome tasting bourbon. Put it in your collection at home.

Weller 12

Jon Bacon, bartender at FireLake Grill House and Cocktail Bar in Bloomington, Minnesota

It’s annoying how Weller 12 Year Kentucky Bourbon has become a poorly kept secret. For years I was able to pick up a bottle in October for around $30, now it doesn’t even hit shelves, but goes right to the secondary markets for around $350.

It’s incredibly smooth and well-balanced… from what I remember.

As much as Juicy J is known for his work, both as a solo artist and with his Three 6 Mafia collective, the Memphis native is also a phenomenal producer, which plenty of classic records to his name. One of those is UGK and Outkast’s “Int’l Players Anthem,” and in a recent interview with HipHopDX, Juicy J revealed that Three 6 Mafia was supposed to appear on the classic record. The Stay Trippy rapper talked about being replaced on the song, saying, “I was like, ‘Man, God dang,’ because, see, what was crazy, me and Paul did a verse on it at first.” He then detailed how and why the label blocked Three 6 Mafia’s original verse.

“The label had denied the clearance. I was like, ‘What the f*ck? Why you all didn’t let me know?’ Man I was ready to go up there and f*cking cause hell at that label,” he said. “Who the hell authorized that? I was like, ‘Who would authorize something dumb like that?’” He added, “But anyway, so then they put Outkast on it and I didn’t even know.” After hearing the news, Juicy J approached UGK about getting Three 6 Mafia back on the song, but, of course, the attempt failed.

“I was like, ‘What happened to our verses?’ [UGK] were like, ‘Man, they didn’t clear y’all, man. So we put Outkast on it.’ I was like, ‘F*ck! Put our verses back on it,” Juicy J said. “André 3000 and muthaf*cking Big Boi, like legendary — I was like ‘Man,’ I called that label — I ain’t even going to tell you all the sh*t I said. I was so f*cking mad.”

Juicy J concluded that the reason Three 6 Mafia was blocked from the track was due to a combination of the industry, “politics,” and the Memphis group’s success at the time. Despite his frustrations, Juicy J made sure to show love to Outkast.

“Don’t get me wrong. You know, me and Paul produced the beat. So I ain’t tripping, but I wanted to have my verse on that song,” he said. “You know what I’m saying? But yeah, it’s definitely one of the all-time favorite — all-time greats. Look, man, we’ve done a lot, though. We done change the game, man.” He added, “A lot of stuff just sound like our stuff now, man, which I love but I ain’t going to lie. It’s cool, man.”

(via HipHopDX)

Outgoing president Donald Trump clearly doesn’t want to go anywhere. He’s spent the last six weeks desperately contesting the election he clearly lost to Joe Biden, filling the courts and his once-easily hacked Twitter feed with baseless claims of voter fraud. None of it has worked, and a new report from CNN paints a chaotic picture of the about-to-be-reshuffled White House, with sources claiming the former reality star has even floated the idea of just not leaving.

Mind you, the report claims that, when he speaks about refusing to vacate 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., he’s been “walked down from that ledge.” How often this happens and how permanently he’s been “walked down” go unmentioned. One adviser seems to be cautiously optimistic. “He’s throwing a f*cking temper tantrum,” they said. “He’s going to leave. He’s just lashing out.”

Of course, after four years it’s abundantly clear that Trump doesn’t joke, that he hates losing, and that he will try anything to get his way, including eroding faith in the electoral process. (A staggering number of Republicans still believe the 2020 election was rigged, despite the repeated and repeated lack of evidence.) He’s also possibly going to come under a lot of financial and legal duress once he’s no longer shielded by the office of the presidency.

In other words, there’s a chance Trump could bolt himself to his tiny desk on January 20 and not leave. Thing is, him being forcibly dragged out of the White House is something a number of his critics would love to see.

Many said the Secret Service — who he’s repeatedly put in harm’s way, sometimes for nothing more than a drive-by photo op — would gladly do it, too.

Others wonedered if it could be televised.

Trump has shown no public signs of conceding, and in fact has raised a jaw-dropping amount of money from supporters for his efforts to challenge the election — a tiny fraction of which has actually gone to, well, challenging the election. (Again, he owes a ton of money once he’s no longer President of the United States.) Still, maybe that TV channel will wind up being the thing that belatedly gets him to hand over the reins. Clearly, though, many would prefer a spectacle.

(Via CNN)

Mulatto is one of the names on a long list of female rappers — among them Chika and Flo Milli — who’ve made a big splash this year. The Atlanta native made her mainstream entrance with “Muwop,” her collaboration with Gucci Mane. Her rise continued with Queen Of Da Souf, her official debut album. She added another accomplishment to a prolific year, recording a verse on YFN Lucci’s “Wet,” which now has a video.

It finds YFN Lucci and Mulatto in a pool, with Lucci leading the way with a verse of his own. After spending a few intimate moments with a woman in a sauna, he hands the mic off to Mulatto, who brings things inside to a massage room, rapping her verse as she gets a few knots loosened in her back. In addition to YFN Lucci and Mulatto’s appearance in the video, comedian Desi Banks also shows up, appearing alongside a group of women for what looks like a meditation session before he joining Mulatto to get his own massage.

You can watch the “Wet” remix video above.

Queen of Da Souf (Extended Version) is out now via Streamcut/RCA. Get it here.

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

On Wednesday, actor Leonard Roberts penned a lengthy and disturbing article on Variety, in which he detailed alleged friction while acting in the mid-aughts superhero show Heroes, resulting in his role being greatly reduced and his character unceremoniously killed off. Among those who made his experiences unpleasant, he said, was co-star Ali Larter, who played his character’s wife and who, he claimed, treated him differently than she did other screen partners. Mere hours later, Larter has responded, saying Roberts’ account left her “heartbroken.”

Roberts wrote that Larter was distant and cold with him, and that she made dramatic changes in what was supposed to be an intimate scene between their characters. He later learned that she had no such concerns with such scenes with another actor, who’s white, leading him to wonder if race had been a factor. He implied that she was partly responsible for his character being written off the show in the beginning of Season 2.

Larter began trending soon after the Variety article went live, and she soon issued a statement to TVLine, expressing horror at what Roberts had gone through though claiming that none of what she is accused of doing was intentional:

“I am deeply saddened to hear about Leonard Roberts’ experience on Heroes and I am heartbroken reading his perception of our relationship, which absolutely doesn’t match my memory nor experience on the show. I respect Leonard as an artist and I applaud him or anyone using their voice and platform. I am truly sorry for any role I may have played in his painful experience during that time and I wish him and his family the very best.”

Roberts’ Variety piece was corroborated by 10 other people either involved with Heroes or who had knowledge of the experiences in question. Larter had also been contacted, but she wouldn’t make any on-the-record statements. Heroes ran for four seasons starting in 2006, and its creator, Tim Kring, said his goal was to “cast the most diverse show on television.”

(Via TVLine)

It’s been a particularly tough year for small businesses. Because of the ongoing pandemic, local businesses around the country are struggling to make ends meet, and thousands have been forced to shut their doors for good. But with the COVID-19 vaccine now entering wide distribution, the hope is that life will get back to normal in the coming year and boost an economy that has suffered major setbacks.

The NBA and its players, of course, have been active as usual in supporting local causes in their hometowns and elsewhere through the NBA Cares program, as well as individual efforts from players who donate their time and money to help boost business in their community via various outreach programs and initiatives.

Cavs center Larry Nance Jr., who is as committed as anyone to using his platform for positive change, is helping prop up Cleveland-area businesses through a creative new idea to spotlight their goods and services by wearing their apparel to home games this season and giving them a shout-out on social media.

pic.twitter.com/FNOpEYcLVE

— Larry Nance Jr (@Larrydn22) December 16, 2020

Nance is asking fans to send him clothing from local businesses that he will wear to games and then donate to local homeless shelters. He will also auction off his game-worn jersey and match the sale price, with the proceeds going to local businesses. It’s an innovative way to get fans involved and keep money funneling into local restaurants, retailers, and manufacturers, particularly during when it’s become so much more convenient to rely on big-box stores for so many of our everyday needs.

The ‘80s sitcom Night Court is beloved that 30 Rock dedicated an entire episode to stage an episode that never aired because it had been cancelled. Somehow it’s taken another 12 years for this to happen: According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show is being revived. It’s not being remade, mind you. It’s getting a sequel, following the next generation (or is it the one after that?) of employees at, well, a night court, located in eccentric-heavy Manhattan.

The third season 30 Rock episode in question only brought back three cast members: Harry Anderson, Markie Post, and Charlie Robinson, who played judge, public defender, and court clerk over the show’s nine seasons. Anderson passed away in 2018, but the revival will — so far, anyway — only bring back John Larroquette, whose turn as pompous prosecutor Dan Fielding made him a star. Larroquette wouldn’t be the lead, mind you. The revival’s plot, as per THR:

The sequel would center on Abby Stone, daughter of the original’s central character, Judge Harry Stone (played by the late Harry Anderson). She has followed in her father’s footsteps and presides over the night shift of an arraignment court in Manhattan and the assorted characters who populate it, including former prosecutor Dan Fielding.

Night Court ran from 1984 to 1992, and its creator, Reinhold Weege, had previously been a writer on the classic ’70s police precinct comedy Barney Miller, which too focused on the day-to-day of New York City law enforcement. (Barney Miller has been cited as the most realistic police show ever made, depicting the job as unsexy and often dull. Same with Night Court, though it was far more willing to go full-tilt wacky.) As of this writing, the show isn’t available on any of the major streamers — not even Peacock, the one for NBC, where it aired. But trust us, it was funny.

(Via THR)

Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin’s Hanukkah Sessions reached the one-week mark on Wednesday and for the seventh installment in the series, the duo decided to take on The Knack’s song “Frustrated.” The track comes from the Los Angeles-based band’s 1979 debut album, Get The Knack, which was one of that year’s best-selling releases and even held down the No. 1 spot on the albums chart for five straight weeks.

The duo spoke wrote the song in the YouTube description. “Tonight we’re featuring 4 nice Jewish boys whose biggest hit was a song about a nice Jewish girl… “My Shalom-a” or something like that,” the description read, referencing the band’s lone No. 1 single. “We’re huge fans of New Wave (as well as the “old wave” that came after Moses parted the Red Sea)…so we were psyched to get to cover one of our favorites…The Knack!”

Grohl and Kurstin’s cover of “Frustrated” comes the day after they took on Elastica’s “Connection.” Past covers have included The Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage,” Drake’s “Hotline Bling,” Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen,” Peaches’ “F*ck The Pain Away,” and Bob Dylan’s “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35.” Thursday’s cover will also be the duo’s last Hanukkah session as it is the final day of the Jewish holiday.

In addition to The Knack cover, Grohl also reconnected with his Foo Fighters band to cover Chuck Berry’s classic Christmas record, “Run Rudolph Run.”

You can listen to the cover in the video above.

When it comes to the most iconic duos in recent NBA history, a lot of names come to mind. There’s Jordan and Pippen, Stockton and Malone, Shaq and Kobe, Steph and Klay. But one pairing that arguably doesn’t get enough attention these days is the Sonics’ one-two punch of Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp.

Long before there was Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, Payton and Kemp were connecting for highlight-reel jams on a nightly basis up in the original Lob City of the Pacific Northwest during the mid-90s. Though their championship hopes were dashed by the Bulls juggernaut of that era, like so many other greats, they left an indelible mark on the league.

They connected once again on Wednesday night for a sit-down special on NBA TV, “Reign Man & the Glove,” during which they took a trip down memory lane, but also spent some quality time looking at some of today’s rising stars, particularly the stark similarities between Kemp’s game and sophomore sensation Zion Williamson.

“I think a guy that reminds me more of you is Zion Williamson.” @GaryPayton looks at the similarities of @Zionwilliamson and @sk40_reignman. pic.twitter.com/nQti3YRfap

— NBA TV (@NBATV) December 17, 2020

It turns out to be a pretty apt comparison, given their explosiveness around the room and a quick first step to blow by defenders when operating out of the high post. Zion, of course, is just starting to scratch the surface of his abilities, and his second season is going to be fascinating to watch with all the changes around the Pelicans organization in the offseason.

For nearly two decades Tom Rinaldi has handled some of ESPN’s biggest interviews and feature stories, having joined the network in 2002 from CNN/SI. However, he will reportedly be departing ESPN for Fox Sports in the near future, according to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post.

Tom Rinaldi, one of ESPN’s top on-air reporters, is leaving for Fox, where he is expected to be featured across all of its major events from the Super Bowl to the World Series to the World Cup and college football, according to sources.

Rinaldi’s probably best known for his feature stories on College Gameday, as well as his golf coverage — Marchand notes he got the first sitdown interview with Tiger Woods following his infamous car crash in 2010 — and will apparently spread his wings at Fox to their biggest events, adding the NFL, MLB, and soccer to his repertoire.

The legendary reporter is maybe best known for his incredible ability to get interview subjects emotional, as tears are a regular reaction to watching a Rinaldi interview, but he is just generally a spectacular reporter and interviewer. Per Marchand, Rinaldi’s departure is not part of ESPN’s recent layoffs but a move he’s making on his own, and Fox Sports is certainly getting one of the biggest names in the reporting business to add to their big event coverage.