Category: Viral

Calling out the most “overrated” or “overhyped” whiskies (or overrated/overhyped anything for that matter) is a tricky task. We all have the bottles of whisky we love for tradition’s sake alone. Sometimes, these preferences have been passed down generation after generation. To have someone sh*t on something so personal isn’t just annoying, it’s deflating.

That’s not what we’re here to do. Our number one rule is: Like what you like and don’t apologize for that. Our number two rule is: Every palate is different and you have every right in the world to disagree with the whisky writers, judges, and experts. In fact, that’s just another layer of what makes drinking fun — the analysis, the disagreement, and the resulting banter.

This isn’t about talking down to anyone’s choices or even saying that any of these whiskies aren’t finely crafted. This is more about calling out expressions that gobble up more than their share of the spotlight, thereby leaving other wonderful bottles of whisky lingering on the shelf. So trust that we’re not, in any way, telling you not to keep loving these bottles.

In fact, we’ve provided tasting notes and links for buying each expression so that you can judge for yourself and argue with us (in a friendly manner!) in the comments. We’ve also offered alternate options that we like a whole lot more.

Ballantine’s Finest

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $20

The Whisky:

Ballentine’s Finest is a blend of 40 single malt and single grain whiskies from around Scotland. Ballantine’s has been around long enough for it to be called a classic and remains one of the best selling scotches on the planet.

Tasting Notes:

Malts and toffee mingle on the nose with a billow of smoke. The taste really leans into the sweet malts that were clearly peated yet carry a caramel edge. It has a warm, albeit short end.

Bottom Line:

This is cheap and easy-ish drinking but can be astringently smoky and alcohol-forward. Their 12 Year takes off the rougher edges and is only $10 more.

The Famous Grouse

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $24

The Whisky:

The Famous Grouse is an old-school blend that got its start in a Scottish grocery store where grocers often blended their own whiskies to sell. The juice is now a mix of single malts and single grains with a focus on parent company partners Highland Park and The Macallan.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a Christmas cake nose that’s spicy, fruity, and malty and supported by a note of citrus. The palate keeps those notes rolling with an additional whisper of oak. The end is short and creamy with a distant wisp of smoke.

Bottom Line:

This is a solid mixing whisky but rarely used that way. We’d argue that there are more interesting barrel finishings of The Famous Grouse — from the Cask Series — in the same price range that offer deeper flavor profiles.

Dewar’s White Label

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $25

The Whisky:

Dewar’s ranks up there among the biggest selling scotches in the world. The juice in the bottle is a blend of 40 single malts and single grains with a focus on Aberfeldy.

Tasting Notes:

Honey apples with a grassy note open this one up. The sip leans into the honey sweetness with the addition of oak, vanilla, and a touch of spice and smoke. The finish relishes on that honey sweetness as it fades out.

Bottom Line:

This is a perfectly fine blend for mixing. If you’re looking for a sipper though, their longer aged versions get that job done and only cost $10 or so more.

Glenfiddich 12

ABV: 40%
Average Price: $34

The Whisky:

This Speyside single malt is behind every bar and on every liquor store shelf, pretty much worldwide. Glenfiddich ages their whisky is a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks before bottling in their signature three-corner green bottles.

Tasting Notes:

Spicy caramel apples and oak mix with a hint of toffee up top. The sip brings the bourbon vanilla with butterscotch maltiness and more of that apple. There’s a floral note deep in there somewhere that emerges just as the sweet sip fades out rather quickly.

Bottom Line:

This is a perfectly serviceable bottle of booze. However, Glenfiddich is doing much more interesting things now with bourbon and beer barrel finishes at slightly higher price points that deserve a bit more attention in our estimation.

Johnnie Walker White Walker

ABV: 41.7%
Average Price: $40

The Whisky:

This bottle was released back in 2018 to celebrate Game Of Thrones ending its run. The juice is a blend with a focus on Diageo single malts from Cardhu and one of the northernmost Scottish distilleries, Clynelish. The bottle is meant to be frozen, revealing a special logo when cold enough to drink.

Tasting Notes:

Grain and smoke hit your first but there’s a metallic nature to the nose. There’s a bit of tart apple next to a hint of spice. The smoke is dialed way back and comes with a whisper of vanilla.

Bottom Line:

Look, this is a gimmick. Also, freezing the whisky really mutes any flavors that might be there. In the end, there are plenty of other Johnnie Walkers you can drink for the same price that eschews the gimmick and, frankly, doesn’t need to be frozen to drink.

Even if you want to stick with the GoT theme, Diageo has an entire line of killer single malts that trump this bottle.

Ardbeg Wee Beastie

ABV: 47.4%
Average Price: $50

The Whisky:

Islay’s Ardbeg is a smoky single malt classic. Their new 2020 release, Wee Beastie, is a five-year-old whisky that was aged in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks before marrying and bottling.

Tasting Notes:

This is a hot and smoky whisky. The peat and alcohol warmth is very present on the nose and in the palate. Orchard fruit and vanilla try and peek through the smoky heat. The sip hints at fatty smoked bacon with a slight seaside brininess as it fades back into a big cloud of peaty smoke.

Bottom Line:

This is a brand new expression so it got a lot of hype this year. We think it got more than it deserved. Ardbeg 10 is a classic and this bottle (plus the five extra years that the 10 enjoys in the barrel) makes it clear why.

Highland Park 12

ABV: 43%
Average Price: $56

The Whisky:

A perennial best-seller, the Orkney Island’s Highland Park sort of bridges sweet and smoky scotches. Their 12 Year is matured exclusively in ex-sherry casks, with one-fifth of these being first-fill sherry.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is sweet, grassy, smoky, tart, floral, and full of vanilla. Those notes carry on without a clear focus on any one aspect, except maybe the honey sweetness. The end is swift with a nod to lemon, peat, and fruit.

Bottom Line:

The lack of focus on this dram knocks it down a few pegs in our book. Also, there are tighter single malts in the 12-year range that cost less (see Glenfiddich above). That all being said, Highland Park has a very wide range of whiskies with higher agings and various finishing techniques that we prefer.

Laphroaig 10

ABV: 43%
Average Price: $58

The Whisky:

Laphroaig is another classic Islay peat-monster distillery. This juice is designed to capture the brine of the sea and marry it to the deep peaty smoke of the malts.

Tasting Notes:

It should come as no surprise that hefty billows of peaty smoke greet you. The oily sip edges towards pears, plaster, vanilla, and a hint of toffee sweetness. The end has a nice spicy warmth with vanilla as the smoke completely surrounds your senses in a murky cloud.

Bottom Line:

Again, we’re not saying this is crap whisky. It’s just a bit pricy for an entry-point whisky that’s best used as a mixer and not a sipper. However, if you’re a peat-seeker, this might be exactly your jam.

Aberlour A’Bunadh

ABV: 59.6%
Average Price: $102

The Whisky:

Aberlour is one of those distilleries you either know about and adore or have never heard of. Their A’Bunadh — which means “original” in Scottish Gaelic — is an unadulterated version of their whisky which is bottled at cask strength. It’s become one of the most sought-after single malts for single malt hunters (which doesn’t help the price of this on the shelf).

Tasting Notes:

Christmas cake cut with plenty of spicy orange zest and nutty sherry notes great you. The sip delivers on those notes with the addition of dark cherries, dark chocolate, and a good dose of oak. The end amps up the spice, chocolate, and oak as it fades at a fairly easy pace.

Bottom Line:

This is a fine sipper but actually works better as a mixer, especially for whiskey sours. For us, $100 for a mixer feels like a bit much. Still, this is a fine whiskey… just one that we really wish we could pay $50 for.

The Dalmore 18

ABV: 43%
Average Price: $230

The Whisky:

The Dalmore is an interesting Highland distillery. Like most of the distilleries around Scotland, it’s very old and distinguished. Their 18 Year is a juice that’s aged for 14 years in ex-bourbon and then transferred to sherry casks that are made especially for The Dalmore in Spain.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a sense of that bourbon vanilla next to orange zest and dark chocolate on the nose. The palate carries on with the dark chocolate and orange, adding in notes of bitter coffee and potpourri florals next to a hint of black licorice. The sip has an earthy spiciness and sweet syrup finish.

Bottom Line:

This is a big swing, but there’s almost too much going on here. The dried florals, licorice, chocolate, and syrup just don’t vibe. And for this price? You can snag The Dalmore 12 instead. It’s a bit more dialed even though it’s younger and far cheaper.

Terence Crawford stepped into the ring on Saturday night atop the pound-for-pound list for the first time in his career, and the WBO welterweight champ put both his belt and his P4P title on the line against Kell Brook. Brook, a former champion, was hoping to spoil Crawford’s celebration of his new position atop the pound-for-pound list by landing a big shot, and through three rounds he looked to be doing well, peppering Crawford with jabs and straight right hands that had even caused a little swelling around the champ’s right eye.

However, in the third round, Crawford stepped up his aggression after a slow start as he is wont to do, and with a quick flurry and a timely jab that knocked Brook through the ropes, he flipped the fight. After referee Tony Weeks allowed Brook to continue, Crawford pounced and quickly ended things with another combination that caused Weeks to step in and end it.

After the knockout, you could see Brook in his corner asking his trainers “what happened?” as Crawford’s swift and sudden onslaught had the former champ effectively out on his feet.

It was the kind of performance we’ve come to expect from Crawford who, after the fight, was joined by Top Rank promoter Bob Arum to discuss his future as they called out IBF and WBC champ Errol Spence Jr. for dodging Crawford, while Crawford continues to push for a Manny Pacquiao fight, which Arum says he thinks they can get done for 2021 somewhere in the Middle East (one would expect that to be Dubai).

The Pac-12 has a bit of a reputation. Every week, a game will kick off at like 11 p.m. EST, and for some reason, it ends up being completely bonkers. It is not written in the Constitution or the Bible or anything, and yet it seems like there is a bargain that both teams feel obliged to uphold, and goodness gracious, is it beautiful.

Saturday night’s #Pac12AfterDark tilt featured the Oregon State Beavers heading to Seattle to take on Washington. The first drive of the game decided to set the bar awfully high for the rest of the game — Washington got the ball first and had a pretty unremarkable eight-play sequence that ended up with a fourth-and-6 at the Oregon State 40, so they decided to send out the punt team.

What happened next is nothing short of magnificent. Behold!

I agree with CFBONFOX’s assessment of “Oh no. Oh no. Oh no no no no no.” Why did he punt that? Why did no one fall on it? Why did any of this happen? The answer can only be summed up thusly: Pac-12 After Dark calls on the most insane things in college football to happen every single time. As a result, the Beavers went up, 7-0, before their offense could ever step on the field.

Not everyone likes Lane Kiffin all that much, a fact that no one is more aware of than Kiffin himself. Love him or hate him, though, he at least deserves credit for trying to be entertaining — he really likes to get jokes off, particularly at the expense of old boss Nick Saban, and his teams tend to play an exciting brand of football that makes his games a joy to watch.

The latest example of this came on Saturday evening during Ole Miss’ high-scoring affair against South Carolina. With the Rebels trailing in the fourth quarter and the ball deep in their own territory, signal caller Matt Corral dropped back and let one fly, connecting with Elijah Moore for a a 91-yard score and wait was that a clipboard?

As it turns out, a different shot shows that Kiffin did, indeed, let his clipboard fly in the air in celebration of his quarterback going deep.

The fact that Kiffin knew that was going for six right away is nothing new — he did that when he was at Alabama as their offensive coordinator — and the sprint while ripping off his headset was fun, too. But goodness, dude let that clipboard fly. We missed it on the replay, but I hope it did not land on anyone.

As delicate a subject as it may be, Jeopardy! needs a new host in the wake of Alex Trebek’s death. And at least one person oddsmakers believe has a chance to follow the late Trebek’s lead at least seems interested in the job.

Levar Burton, a TV legend in his own right after hosting Reading Rainbow and appearing on Star Trek, has become the subject of a fan petition to make him the new host of the show following Trebek’s death as a result of pancreatic cancer on Sunday. The 80-year-old host was likely nearing the end of his career before his Stage IV cancer diagnosis in 2019, so Jeopardy! would likely have had some replacements in mind. But a significant amount of fans want Burton hosting, and as we’ve seen with the Reading Rainbow revival, there’s a groundswell of folks online that really likes him.

A Change.org petition about his candidacy for replacing Trebek popped up online this week, and thousands of people quickly signed on.

Between hosting 21 seasons of the educational Reading Rainbow, playing the brainiac engineer Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: the Next Generation, and filling the roll of Kunta Kinte in the ever important mini-series Roots, LeVar Burton has inspired and shaped the minds of several generations of trivia-loving nerds. This petition is to show Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and producers Mike Richards and Harry Friedman just how much love the public has for Burton, and how much we’d all love to see him as the next host of Jeopardy!

Burton himself also shared the petition, saying he’s “flattered” people think he should fill Trebek’s place on the legendary Jeopardy! stage.

“Even if nothing comes from it, I can’t tell how much how I appreciate all y’alls love and support,” Burton wrote on Twitter. We know Jeopardy! has new episodes with Trebek hosting scheduled to air until Christmas Day, and the show’s future past that remains uncertain with Trebek now gone and an ever-intensifying pandemic threatening to shut production down even if it has a host. But we know a lot of people are hoping Burton gets the call, and he certainly doesn’t sound like he’d say no if if that call came.

The past week has been a grueling week for the hip-hop community in Dallas, Texas after they suffered the loss of up and coming rapper Mo3, who called the southern city his home. And just days after his death, another shooting occurred in the city which this time around involved Boosie Badazz.

TMZ reported Saturday that the famed rapper was shot in the leg while he sat in a sprinter van at a strip mall called Big T’s Plaza in Dallas. As the rapper stopped by the strip mall, someone opened fire on his sprinter van, with one bullet apparently hitting Boosie in the leg just below his knee. The suspects ran from the scene and the Baton Rouge act was taken to the hospital and treated for his gunshot wound.

Dallas PD tells us … officers responded to reports of an armed encounter Saturday, where the callers stated someone had been shot but then fled in a private vehicle. We’re told when the cops showed up at the scene, there was nobody around and no signs of a crime being committed.

Sources close to TMZ say the rapper is doing well and recovering from his injuries. Initial reports of the incident said the rapper was not injured in the shooting but TMZ reportedly confirmed that he was indeed injured. The shooting comes just a day after Boosie stopped by a venue to honor Mo3, whom he was close with and even collaborated with for their Badazz MO3 mixtape.

Mo3 was also shot in Dallas earlier this week on November 11 after an armed individual pulled up beside him northbound on a Robert L. Thornton Freeway in Dallas and stepped out of his vehicle to approach the rapper. Mo3 exited his vehicle and began running southbound on the freeway when he was shot in the back of the head. He, unfortunately, died as a result of the shooting.

(via TMZ)

The world could always use a little bit more kindness, and when it comes to the Canadian music scene, the band Arkells always seems to deliver. Fellow Canadian Jamal Murray is the latest beneficiary of that kindness after the band’s lead singer, Max Kerman, gifted the Denver Nuggets superstar the new console that’s been in high demand on launch week.

As the band shared on its TikTok and later Twitter account, Murray had his wisdom teeth taken out and was searching for a console to play games on, most notably an enhanced edition of NBA 2K21. Somehow, the members of the band each ended up with one, and Kerman apparently decided to pay it forward and give it to someone who would actually put it to good use.

The length the band went to make it happen in a pandemic is actually pretty impressive, and the level of trust Kerman put in a random rideshare driver to make the delivery is notable. He sent the PS5 in an Uber from Toronto to Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, a good 110 kilometers (just over an hour’s drive on a good day) away. Both Murray’s and the band’s stories have more videos about the exchange, and it’s a fairly wholesome endeavor all around: the driver said he’d call Kerman when he made it to Kitchener and everything.

It’s worth noting that Kerman is a huge Toronto Raptors fan, not a Nuggets fan. But Canadian basketball sticks up for its own kind here. You must now, per my editor’s request, watch Raptors head coach Nick Nurse play “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” — a standard often covered in Arkells live sets — with the band last summer after Toronto won its first NBA title.

In other news, Arkells put out an album of live songs along with a new track, “Quitting You,” earlier this year. They’re also releasing another, called “Pub Crawl” that they actually gave to a certain set of Canadian (and Western New York) bars and restaurants early in an effort to get fans to order takeout from businesses that may be struggling during a pandemic. If they order food for pickup and ask nicely, they get to hear it early.

Those good Canadian boys, always looking out for everyone else.

Agents of chaos, rejoice, because two of gaming’s most whimsically frantic games are teaming up for a new collaboration. Untitled Goose Game, the 2019 indie release in which you are a silly goose that raises hell, and Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, which came out earlier this year and puts gamers through several levels of chaos en route to crowning a champion, are coming together for a new partnership that will bring the former to the latter.

Fall Guys announced the news on its Twitter account. Those who play the game will be able to acquire a collection of skins inspired by Untitled Goose Game, and eventually a honk emote that will come with a corresponding sound effect will make its way into the game. It’s going to be a little tricky for gamers to acquire UGG gear, though, as the available head and butt will both cost five crowns. It’s a hefty price for some: in order to get a crown in Fall Guys, you must win a game.

The news of the two games teaming up comes a little more than a month after Fall Guys unveiled its second season for gamers. While it hasn’t started to get to the Fortnite level of having gigantic partnerships with every major thing under the sun, there have been other games to receive this honor. And according to Game Informer, this won’t be the only time Untitled Goose Game gear will be available, as groundskeeper and boy with glasses attire will become available once the goose top and bottom is out of the game.

It has been a while since I have been punched in the face, but I do remember that it hurts really hard. Despite this, people who are professional fighters in a number of different sports — boxing, mixed martial arts, etc. — are quite good at getting punched in the face and not collapsing into a puddle immediately.

Still, sometimes, punches connect a little too cleanly, and we end up getting some pretty spectacular knockouts as a result. An example of this came on Friday evening when Uly Diaz fought Donelei Benedetto at Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 14. Diaz knocked out Bendetto so fast with a right hook that I should probably just stop talking and drop in the video, so here you go.

It was such an impressive knockout that UFC star Yoel Romero jumped out of his seat and did a whole bunch of NSFW screaming over Diaz giving Benedetto a two piece and a biscuit.

At three seconds, it was the fastest knockout in the promotion’s history, and Diaz was pretty stoked about what he accomplished, which is not a surprise, because this is insane.

This is not quite as explosive as Jorge Masvidal’s famous flying knee knockout of Ben Askren, but this is one heck of a way to end a fight right after the opening bell.

Westside Gunn has had an absolute monster year in 2020. The Buffalo rapper has released not one, not two, but three albums in 2020 thanks to his Pray For Paris, Flygod Is An Awesome God II, and Who Made The Sunshine drops. Despite the success he’s had this year, Gunn may enter 2021 as a “free agent” as the rapper revealed he is no longer signed to Shady Records on Saturday.

The news came during an appearance on the Joe Budden Podcast where he simply said, “I’m off Shady,” when he was asked about his label situation. He added, “I’m actually a free agent.”

The announcement came after Gunn laughed off Eminem’s poor promotion of his Who Made The Sunshine album. After a fan noticed that Eminem posted The Alchemist’s The Food Villain project — which is not a Shady release — to Instagram without doing the same for Westside’s album, the fan said, “No post of @westsidegunn album that’s in your own label? Lol wtf.” The Buffalo rapper caught wind of the comment and replied with a series of laughing and shushing emojis.

After revealing the news, the hosts on the Joe Budden Podcast asked the rapper if he felt like the label fell short of their goal for him, but he opted to stay tight-lipped on the details. “I’m not no pillow talking type of n****,” Westside said. “That’s how I move. … It’s like saying me and [Benny The Butcher] or Conway or Conway or Benny or whoever, we may have a disagreement the world will never know about it. It’s just going to be brothers and cousins. It’s the same way with business.”

You can watch the full Joe Budden Podcast episode with Westside Gunn above.