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Single-barrel expressions of any whiskey are meant to be refined, rewarding, and rare(ish). Single-barrel bourbons are often a brand’s prime example of the best of the best barrels they make. So naturally, it’s supposed to be delicious, high-level stuff. And it usually is.

That rarity and deliciousness mean that single-barrel whiskeys (bourbon or not) aren’t particularly cheap. But I assure you that there are some great single-barrel bourbons out there that won’t break the bank. I’m going to help you find those today — via a blind taste test of single-barrel bourbon whiskeys all under $100.

For this blind tasting, I grabbed eight single-barrel bourbons that I know taste good to find a true winner. They’re all under the $100 price tag. While I bumped right up against that ceiling on a couple of these bottles, I did keep it realistic. What does that mean? Well, a bottle of Blanton’s Single Barrel or E.H. Taylor Single Barrel which have MSRPs (manufacturer’s suggested retail price) of $50-$70 but actually cost the consumer hundreds of dollars more because of the aftermarket are not featured in this tasting. It just didn’t seem fair.

That makes our lineup the following bottles of single-barrel bourbons:

• New Riff Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof
• Southern Star Paragon Single Barrel Cask Strength Wheated Straight Bourbon Whiskey Limited Series
• Baker’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Single Barrel 1007 Proof 8 Years 1 Month
• Russell’s Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Single Barrel
• Shortbarrel Single Barrel Series Kentucky Straight Bourbon
• Barrell Bourbon Single Barrel Cask Strength
• Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select Tennessee Whiskey
• Green River Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Full Proof

After my lovely and very patient lady shuffled, poured, and cataloged these bourbon pours for me, I jumped in a blindly tasted them. After that tasting, I ranked these based on taste alone. Need more specifics? That’s a trifecta of depth, nuance, and overall enjoyment. Let’s jump right in!

• The 100 Best Bourbon Whiskeys From Kentucky, Ranked
• The Absolute Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States
• The ‘Smoothest’ Bourbons Under $100, Blind Tasted And Ranked
• The ‘Smoothest’ Bourbons On The Market, Blind Tasted And Ranked
• The 100 Best Bourbons Under $100 Right Now, Ranked

Part 1 — The Single Barrel Bourbon Blind Tasting

Taste 1

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose is soft, kind of like freshly baked rye bread, with notes of eggnog spices, slick vanilla flan, thin caramel sauce, and hints of spicy orange zest.

Palate: The palate amps everything up as the orange peel becomes candied and attaches to a moist holiday cake, dried cranberry and cherry, more dark spice, a touch of nuttiness, and plenty of that vanilla.

Finish: The end takes its time as the whole thing comes together like a rich and boozy fruit cake as little notes of leather and tobacco spice keep things interesting on the slow fade.

Initial Thoughts:

This is really nice. It was a little warm on the finish, but that’s nitpicking more than anything.

Taste 2

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose presents with a light sense of orchard in full bloom with apple cores and peels next to honeyed walnuts, Graham Crackers, a touch of vanilla cream, and classic notes of spiced oak.

Palate: That honeyed walnut pops on the palate with more of that Graham Cracker graininess next to light notes of vanilla pudding, apple pie, and winter spice barks.

Finish: The end leans into the spice with a warming/buzzing heat next to a rich vanilla softness that just touches on eggnog and pound cake.

Initial Thoughts:

This was very nice too. The graininess gave away a slight craftiness, but it worked with the overall profile.

Taste 3

Tasting Notes:

Nose: The nose leans toward old leather tobacco pouches before hitting a classic cherry vanilla cake vibe accented by green herbs and old sourdough bread crusts with a hint of caraway.

Palate: That cherry vanilla stays moist on the palate as sharp cinnamon, allspice, and clove drive the palate back toward green floral rye dill, caraway, and fennel with a sweet pear candy cider vibe.

Finish: The end holds onto the fruit candy as a rush of soft nutmeg eggnog arrives and is countered by a slow warmth from Hot Tamale candy-laced tobacco.

Initial Thoughts:

This is nice and funky. It’s an outlier for sure but works as a sipper with a nice sweet/hot spicy finish.

Taste 4

Tasting Notes:

Nose: You’re met with creamy depths of vanilla next to pound cake, spicy tobacco, sweet oak, and a clear hit of orange oil.

Palate: That vanilla really amps up as hints of rose water-forward marzipan lead towards cedar, more vanilla, and a dash of Christmas spices.

Finish: On the finish, a really deep dark chocolate smoothness arrives with a more nutty almond that’s reminiscent of an Almond Joy straight from a special candy shop.

Initial Thoughts:

This is quintessential bourbon.

Taste 5

Tasting Notes:

Nose: There’s a clear sense of fresh orange zest and dark cherry on the nose with a hint of winter spice, old dried prunes, and a hint of black tea.

Palate: The winter spice leads to creamy vanilla and eggnog on the taste as a peach cobbler with fresh vanilla whipped cream leads to warming tobacco spices and hints of old oak.

Finish: Marmalade and leathery dried apricot counter the vanilla creaminess with a light sense of winter spice barks rolled up with soft pipe tobacco leaves and dipped in black cherry soda.

Initial Thoughts:

This is good, classic, and tasty bourbon. It didn’t quite have the depth of some of the other pours though.

Taste 6

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Rummy spice and fruit open the nose with a sense of nutty winter cakes, caramel sauce, and soft kindling with a light whisper of tobacco just kissed with chili chocolate.

Palate: The palate leans into the chili-chocolate vibes with plenty of winter spice barks, rich marzipan, soft vanilla lusciousness, and a good dose of mincemeat pie.

Finish: Stewed plums and dates drive the finish toward sharp spice barks, more tobacco, and a whisper of walnut bread.

Initial Thoughts:

A lot is going on with this pour and I felt like I needed another 30 minutes, some water, and maybe an ice cube to really get into it.

Taste 7

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Bright fruit notes — cherry, apple/pear, peach, banana, mango — pop on the nose with a clear sense of toasted oak, dark cherry jam, apple tobacco, and a hint of molasses.

Palate: That oak is the underpinning for notes of caramel corn, mild winter spice barks, and plenty of oily vanilla beans that are all countered by a soft cherry soda with a whisper of clove.

Finish: The sweet banana fruit is there on the end and marries well to a peppery spice, cherry gum, and mulled wine that amps up as the end draws near with plenty of that toasted wood lingering the longest.

Initial Thoughts:

This is so bright and, dare I say, fun. It’s light and airy at first and then takes a deep dive into ideal bourbon notes. This was a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.

Taste 8

Tasting Notes:

Nose: Cream soda and honeycomb greet you on the nose with a light sense of spiced holiday cakes, vanilla sheet cake, soft-dried chili, and old woody spice.

Palate: The honey and vanilla bond on the palate to create a luscious mouthfeel that leads to balanced notes of sharp dried chili spice, soft worn leather, pipe tobacco, and rich walnut bread with plenty of butter, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.

Finish: The end leans toward the leather and tobacco with a chili-choco vibe that’s accented by soft walnut and even softer vanilla.

Initial Thoughts:

This is a deeply hewn and very exemplary bourbon. This had depth and was still a little fun and playful.

Part 2 — The Single Barrel Bourbon Ranking

8. Shortbarrel Single Barrel Series Kentucky Straight Bourbon — Taste 5

ABV: 62.8%

Average Price: $74

The Whiskey:

These Shortbarrel Single Barrel releases are all over four years old and sourced either from Green River Distilling in Kentucky or MGP in Indiana. In this case, the whiskey was made in Kentucky and bottled in Georgia.

Bottom Line:

This was perfectly good bourbon with a nice profile. The only drawback was the lack of depth. But that can be easily fixed by using this to build a solid whiskey-forward cocktail.

7. Baker’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Single Barrel 1007 Proof 8 Years 1 Month — Taste 3

ABV: 53.5%

Average Price: $59

The Whiskey:

Baker’s is pulled from single barrels in specific warehouses and ricks across the Beam facility in Clermont, Kentucky. The bourbon is always at least seven years old. In this case, it was aged eight years and one month before bottling as-is.

Bottom Line:

This wasn’t the biggest outlier on the list, but it was close. This is an acquired taste bourbon that leans more toward rye whiskey notes than classic bourbon ones. That said, if you’re in the mood for something different that’s also really tasty, this is the bottle to grab.

6. New Riff Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof — Taste 1

ABV: 54.25%

Average Price: $58

The Whiskey:

The juice in the bottle is New Riff’s standard bourbon mash of 65% corn, 30% rye, and 5% malted barley. The spirit is aged for at least four years before they’re bottled individually without cutting or filtration.

Bottom Line:

This is another solid bourbon. Sip it neat, pour it over ice, or mix a cocktail with it. You won’t be disappointed. The only reason that it’s a little lower on this ranking is that it was a tad warm on the mid-palate and finish — basically, it was asking for ice.

5. Southern Star Paragon Single Barrel Cask Strength Wheated Straight Bourbon Whiskey Limited Series — Taste 2

ABV: 54.9%

Average Price: $99

The Whiskey:

Southern Star Paragon has been racking up the awards over the last couple of years. This new limited edition bottle (just released in October 2023) is a single-barrel version of their beloved whiskey. The wheated bourbon (70% corn, 16% wheat, and 14% malted barley) was left to age for just over five years before a single barrel was chosen and bottled 100% as-is at barrel proof. The whiskey was then branded to commemorate the Carolina Panthers’ 2003 NFC Championship NFL run — their hometown heroes.

Bottom Line:

I mean, if you’re a fan of the Carolina Panthers, this is a no-brainer buy. I would argue though that this is also a no-brainer to give you a taste of the great work Southern Distilling is doing down in North Carolina right now. This is a very good bourbon after all.

4. Barrell Bourbon Single Barrel Cask Strength — Taste 6

ABV: 53.42%

Average Price: $99

The Whiskey:

This single-barrel pick from ReserveBar is a very unique bourbon. The whiskey in the bottle is made from 99% corn and 1% rye Indiana bourbon. The team at ReserveBar picked one special eight-year-old barrel of that whiskey and bottled it 100% as-is at cask strength.

Bottom Line:

This is an excellent whiskey that goes deep. Almost too deep, maybe. The whiskey just keeps giving you flavor notes from classic to new to deep to light and so on. If you’re looking for a bit of homework and palate extending, give this one a try.

3. Russell’s Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Single Barrel — Taste 4

ABV: 55%

Average Price: $84

The Whiskey:

Jimmy and Eddie Russell — Wild Turkey’s Master Distillers — hand-select these barrels from their vast warehouses for just the right bourbon flavor. The bourbon is bottled with a touch of water added to highlight the beauty of Wild Turkey’s multi-generational whiskey-making prowess.

Bottom Line:

This is the bottle to buy if you’re looking for a stone-cold classic bottle of bourbon that hits every single note perfectly. Pour this over some rocks or build it into your favorite whiskey-forward cocktail and you’ll be all set.

2. Green River Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Full Proof — Taste 8

ABV: 59.5%

Average Price: $59

The Whiskey:

The latest addition to the core Green River lineup is a doozy. The Kentucky whiskey is a rye-forward single-barrel bourbon. The mash bill is 70% Kentucky-grown corn with 21% rye and 9% malted barley. That whiskey rests for at least five years before water is added to bring the proof back down to entry proof, hence “full proof”. The whiskey is then bottled directly from the barrel as-is.

Bottom Line:

This pour went beyond the classic and offered a little bit more depth to help it stand out from the crowd. That said, this still feels like a perfect mid-week sipper or solid cocktail base for your favorite cocktail more than anything else. It’s the perfect balance of straightforward yet deep.

1. Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select Tennessee Whiskey — Taste 7

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $65

The Whiskey:

This single-barrel product from Jack Daniel’s was first introduced in 1997. The whiskey is hand-selected (usually by retailers, bars, and restaurants) from barrels on the upper floors of Jack’s vast rickhouses. The whisky is bottled at a slightly higher proof to allow the nuance of the single-barrel whiskey to shine.

Bottom Line:

As I mentioned above, this was a ray of sunshine. It’s so bright and fun while still delivering a truly deep and ideal profile. It’s complex but in a playful way. It’s deep and you never get lost in it. It’s just really nice sipping whiskey.

Part 3 — Final Thoughts on the Single Barrel Bourbons

Look, all of these whiskeys are very drinkable and very good. They all offer something different though. I would go back through and find the tasting notes that really speak to your palate and then find that bottle. Then I’d go through and find the tasting notes that challenge your palate and try that whiskey too!

Also… and I hope you do trust me on this — get a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select. It’s just ~fun~ while also offering serious depth. And yes, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey is bourbon.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have high hopes for the 2023-24 season. That’s in large part due to Anthony Edwards’ continued leap into superstardom, alongside Karl-Anthony Towns being actually healthy and in good spirits coming into the season. However, to achieve their goals of being a top-6 squad in the West this year, they’ll need more than just good seasons from their top stars.

One of the players the Wolves are particularly high on is Jaden McDaniels, who had a tremendous 2022-23 season, emerging as one of the NBA’s best wing defenders before missing the playoffs with a broken hand after punching a wall at the end of the regular season. On offense, McDaniels became a reliable knockdown shooter as well (39.8 percent from three), and his ability to space the floor and provide high-end defense is something every team in the league is looking for. As such, on Monday, the Timberwolves agreed to a hefty contract extension to keep him in Minnesota long-term, inking him to a 5-year, $136 million deal.

That’s a big contract, but for a Wolves team without a lot of options to add high level talent from the outside, they have to lock up their best players when they can. With McDaniels signed, they now have four players making $30+ million, which will put plenty of pressure on the Wolves to be a contender in the West this season, as they’re set to hit the luxury tax for the first time in two decades next year. You can bet ownership will want the team to be in the hunt for a top-4 spot in the West, which is a very difficult level to reach given the talent throughout the conference.

With Bodies now streaming on Netflix, murder mystery fans have been enthralled by the new series starring Stephen Graham that follows four detectives in the past, present, and future who somehow find themselves staring at the same dead body.

After bingeing all eight episodes, the big question is will there be a Season 2 of Bodies? Well, there’s some good news and bad news on that front. The good news is that creator Paul Tomalin got to tell the complete story he wanted to tell while tackling the adaptation of the Si Spencer graphic novel. The bad news is that Bodies is officially a limited series and will not have a second season.

“I grew up in the ’80s with movies. I fell in love with endings,” Tomalin explained at a preview Q&A for the series via Dexerto. “Obviously what TV represents as writers is a mental objective that you can go into, but there’s also such a thrill in being focused. Quite often you’re watching a show like ‘How many series? Oh, Christ!’ You have to have a really stinking cold to be able to catch up.”

“So this is a one-and-done,” Tomalin said. “It’s eight steps, like an eight-hour movie. We leave you hopefully spinning and reeling at 5am when you need to go to work the next day. It’s a binge, and I love it because there’s a certainty. Sometimes you can feel things dragging out, and this one never runs on fumes.”

Here’s the official synopsis:

In present-day London, Detective Sergeant Shahara Hasan encounters a suspicious teen during a protest. Realizing he’s armed, she chases him through the city’s alleyways until she’s stopped in her tracks: He’s pointing his gun right at her, and a naked body lies motionless beside him. When the teen flees, Shahara realizes she didn’t hear his gun go off. As she investigates the man’s death, her journey toward the truth parallels three other investigations across multiple timelines — each of them involving different detectives but the same victim. As the four detectives attempt to solve the case, they unravel a mystery that could put hundreds of thousands of lives at stake.

Bodies is now available for streaming on Netflix.

(Via Dexerto)

Not long after its mid-October debut, I Woke Up A Vampire started climbing the Netflix charts. Naturally, fans of the series are curious as to whether the teen action-comedy will have a Season 2.

Starring Kaileen Chang as Carmie, a young girl who wakes up on her 13th birthday with strange new abilities and a rapidly growing list of enemies because of them, I Woke Up A Vampire hasn’t been greenlit for a second season as of this writing. However, the show has only been available for streaming since October 17. Should it continue to bring in viewers, Netflix will most likely renew the vampire series from creator Tommy Lynch.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Strange things start happening to Carmie the second she turns 13, but even her die-hard loyal best friend Kev (Ceci) is initially a little skeptical of her dream of being turned into a vampling and her stories of talking dogs. That is, until he witnesses her kick a giant garbage can off a curb, across the street, and all the way up into a tree. Kev’s learned enough from reading comic books to know what vamplings are — and how dangerous it can be for them. He warns Carmie that people who gain superpowers also tend to gain enemies — and she’d better watch out.

I Woke Up A Vampire is available for Streaming on Netflix.

Big Mouth, Netflix’s long-running animated show about the horrors of going to middle school in Westchester, New York, just premiered its seventh season on the streamer. The show, which stars Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Jessi Klein, Jason Mantzoukas, Fred Armisen, and Maya Rudolph, will get one more season before we have to say goodbye to a bunch of pimply teens and their imaginary monster friends. Everything has to end sooner or later! Even the ghost of Duke Ellington.

The eighth season will debut sometime next year, though Netflix has yet to announce a release date. Season seven dropped last week.

With its upcoming eighth and final season, the show becomes Netflix’s longest-running scripted series. This is why it’s so beneficial that the series is animated, so the tweens can just keep going through puberty throughout the rest of the series without the risk of aging out of it since they are all voiced by real-life adults. By season eight of Stranger Things, those kids would be in their early thirties trying to brace for Y2K. It just makes more sense.

Even though we are saying goodbye to the gang next year, Big Mouth‘s spinoff series Human Resources has two full seasons up now on Netflix if you’re looking for some hormone monsters to hang out with in the meantime.

(Via Tudum)

Dreamville Festival will return in 2024, as J. Cole and Dreamville announced the dates for next year’s event, along with sharing some presale information.

The festival is returning to Raleigh, North Carolina on April 6 and 7, 2024. More info will presumably be shared as the date gets closer.

Dreamville Festival is entering its fourth year after officially launching in 2019, when it was rescheduled due to Hurricane Florence. Mother Nature’s beef with J. Cole carried over into 2020, nixing the second edition, which was pushed back into 2022 to allow more time to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dreamville’s 2022 comeback festival was headlined by Lil Baby, with performances from Kehlani, DJ Drama accompanied by Lil Wayne, Jeezy, and T.I., Blxst, Ja Rule and Ashanti, Moneybagg Yo, Larry June, Wizkid, Wale, and T-Pain. Meanwhile, this year’s festival saw J. Cole and Drake play a tandem headlining set, with Usher headlining the first day, and Lil Durk, City Girls, Sean Paul, Jessie Reyez, Key Glock, Summer Walker, GloRilla, Waka Flocka Flame, Mario, Ayra Starr, Baby Tate, and Burna Boy all performing throughout the weekend in addition to the Dreamville roster.

Drake and J. Cole’s set kicked off an impressive run of 2023 live guest appearances from J. Cole, who popped up at shows with Drake tour stop in Montreal, 50 Cent’s Final Lap Tour, and 6lack’s Since I Have A Lover Tour stop in LA.

When Bradley Beal hit the trade market this summer, the Miami Heat were his first choice and, for many, were the expected landing spot for the former All-Star guard — given he has a no-trade clause in his contract, he could dictate even more than most stars where he ended up going.

Instead, the Phoenix Suns swooped in and traded Chris Paul to Washington for Beal — with Paul ultimately ending up in Golden State in a trade to bring Jordan Poole to the Wizards. It was a rather surprising trade, with Phoenix going all-in on a new star trio, and as Beal explained recently, the Suns emerging as the No. 1 destination caught him by surprise as well. In the first installment of a diary he’s doing this season for Andscape with Marc Spears, Beal explained how he had an “eye-opening” experience after getting told by the Heat they “can’t do it” in regards to trading for him, and how the Suns emerged as the favorite just by pursuing him so aggressively.

So, my initial favorite was Miami. And so, we call Miami. [Miami president] Pat [Riley] says well I’ll go talk to [owner] Micky [Arison] and figure it out. So he goes, talks to Micky, we go, we hear back [New York] Knicks, Sacramento, Brooklyn a little bit, and then it was Milwaukee and it was one more big team … And that was kind of one of the most difficult things about every trade and every team. And I respect and love every team, but a lot of them just couldn’t do it because the money was just so high.

And with our new CBA [collective bargaining agreement] and the luxury tax, a lot of owners just was like, ‘We don’t want to get hit over the head with that.’ And that’s a respectable decision. If I was the ownership and I’m pouring in billions of dollars, I want to make sure we’re getting a championship out of it too. So, out of nowhere I get a call and it’s Mat Ishbia in Phoenix. I’m like, ‘Y’all about to trade Book? How is that going to happen? How is that going to work?’ That didn’t even cross my mind of going to Phoenix. And sure enough, they just kept pressing and pressing and I’m nudging my agent.

I’m like, ‘OK, what’s Miami doing? Dragging feet.’ And eventually it came to a point to where Miami said they just can’t do it. But it was an eye-opener for sure. And that’s why I said I went into everything kind of open-minded and with an open slate. And out of nowhere here comes a dark horse in Phoenix and their aggressiveness pushed me over the top. Milwaukee was very close in the running as well, but they were going to make some moves that I didn’t necessarily like in the trade, too. So, I guess that’s the beauty of having a no-trade clause. You get to have a little bit of say-so in the deal. But in the end, man, it ultimately just felt like Phoenix picked me.

It’s interesting hearing that he wasn’t sold on Milwaukee’s plan to get him, and one wonders if that was going to involve trading Holiday as well or if it was a different move that would’ve brought Beal to the Bucks. It’s also fair to wonder if Miami didn’t want to trade for Beal because they still had eyes on Lillard (who had yet to formally issue his trade request), who ultimately ended up in Milwaukee in part because Beal decided Phoenix was going to be a better situation. Beal also notes that he wasn’t sure how the Suns were going to make a trade for him work without moving Booker, but once he learned they could make it happen he was in.

The domino effect of the guard trade market this summer is absolutely fascinating, and I’m sure in hindsight Heat fans would probably like the organization to go back and make a Beal deal happen. Instead, he’s now in Phoenix where he, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant have eyes on a championship, but have plenty of work to do to get on the same page and reach their full potential.

Britney Spears’ The Woman In Me memoir doesn’t even officially release until Tuesday (October 24), but excerpts have already spawned numerous headlines — from shaving her head in 2007 to romances with Justin Timberlake and Colin Farrell. Most of those pre-release headlines upset Spears, but her audition for the classic 2004 romantic film The Notebook feels like harmless territory.

On Monday morning (October 23), The Daily Mail published Spears’ never-before-seen audition tape. The clip shows a young Spears reading lines as a young Allie, whom Rachel McAdams ended up portraying, opposite Ryan Gosling, who played a young Noah. About 45 seconds in, Spears begins crying but impressively powers through her lines.

The Daily Mail obtained the tape from casting director Matthew Barry. The audition took place in Los Angeles on August 18, 2002.

“Britney wasn’t just good — she was phenomenal,” Barry told the UK publication. “It was a tough decision. Britney blew us all away. Our jaws were on the floor. I was blown away. Absolutely blown away. She brought her A-game that day.”

On October 17, People published an excerpt from The Woman In Me — her first of two books? — in which Spears reflected on her first film, 2002’s Crossroads, and her The Notebook audition. Spears wrote about how the Crossroads experience “wasn’t easy for me.” She continued, “My problem wasn’t with anyone involved in the production but with what acting did to my mind. I think I started Method acting — only I didn’t know how to break out of my character. I really became this other person.”

That directly correlated with her audition for Allie and The Notebook, as she wrote, “That was pretty much the beginning and end of my acting career, and I was relieved. The Notebook casting came down to me and Rachel McAdams, and even though it would have been fun to reconnect with Ryan Gosling after our time on the Mickey Mouse Club, I’m glad I didn’t do it.”

The Woman In Me is out 10/24 via Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster. Find more information here.

They say there’s truth in comedy. I don’t know who “they” is, but they don’t sound very funny. They make a good point, though. I used to joke that I owe an admittedly alarming amount of my happiness to whoever (I’ll call them, let’s say, “Moe”) decided The Simpsons reruns should air at 6 and 6:30 p.m. on my local Fox affiliate growing up. Watching back-to-back episodes while my mom and I ate dinner, basking in television’s warm glowing warming glow (shout out to the old-school Uproxx fans), are how I became obsessed with TV, and The Simpsons in particular. If it wasn’t for “Moe,” I might have had a different career, and I definitely wouldn’t have ended up at my favorite real-life bar recreated to look like my favorite fictional bar from my favorite TV show last week.

If you’re ever in Austin, Texas, make sure to visit Nickel City. Especially in October, when the dank-free bar is turned into Moe’s Tavern for the Halloween season. The attention to detail this year is Universal Studios-level. Some of my favorite deep cuts included: a Mr. Sparkle neon sign; boxes of Krusty’s Non Narkotik Kough Syrup throughout the bar; an Absolut Krusty bottle; a jar of pickled eggs by the bartenders; a door marked “NOT Killer Whales storage”; and a Nuke the Whales poster. Gotta nuke something.

The extensive food and drink menu did the thing more themed restaurants should do, which is that every item was a Simpsons reference. There was no lazy “Homer’s burger.” Nickel City was making Malk Punch and the Flaming Moe (no Flaming Homer, sadly), while the outdoor food truck Delray Cafe was serving the Frying Dutchman and the Clogger.

There were also cardboard cutouts of various characters (the disco ball hanging above Disco Stu was a nice touch), Simpsons episodes playing on the TV, a Simpsons arcade (featuring that iconic Lisa quote: “Embrace nothingness”), a chalkboard gag, 40s turned into Duff Beer; and, at least last Thursday and Friday, an actual Simpsons writer.

Bill Oakley co-wrote some of the best episodes of the show, including “Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy” (which had a resurgence in popularity this year thanks to Barbie), “Sideshow Bob Roberts,” and the two–part “Who Shot Mr. Burns” cliffhanger, along with Josh Weinstein. The pair — who would go on to create the cult favorite Mission Hill — were also the showrunners for seasons seven and eight, meaning they’re the comedy geniuses who oversaw “Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily,” “22 Short Films About Springfield” (Oakley wrote the heavily memed “Steamed Hams” segment), and “You Only Move Twice.”

There’s a good chance that something he wrote has become part of your everyday vocabulary. Oakley was at Nickel City to talk to Simpsons fans, who patiently waited in line to have their posters signed or gush about how much The Simpsons (or Mission Hill, or the food-focused Steamed Hams Society) meant to them.

I was one of those neeeeerrrrdddsssss. I met up with Oakley the next day at Top Notch (as made famous by Dazed and Confused), fully intending to officially interview him. Instead, I turned into Chris Farley talking to Paul McCartney. “You remember when you wrote the episode where the Simpsons go to Australia? That was awesome.” I pulled it together enough to ask what else he planned to do in Texas. Oakley replied he was going to see one of the world’s largest collections of McDonald’s merchandise. “The most amazing tour since my secret tour of Area 51!” he wrote on X following the visit. We all have our own obsessions that we geek out about. To the people at Nickel City, it was The Simpsons; to Oakley, it was Garfield Happy Meal toys.

I realize that not everyone will be able to visit this particular pop culture Halloween makeover, but if there’s one near you, please go. They’re a blast. I talked to multiple strangers, something I would normally actively avoid in a bar, because I knew we had something in common: a love of The Simpsons.

Bill Oakley is a big reason for that — him, and “Moe.”

After The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon said au revoir until Season 2, the franchise’s first spinoff is back in motion for its final reanimation, and the Season 8B trailer teased several reunions like Victor Strand and (somehow) Troy. The trailer also suggested that Madison could still — maybe? — reunite with her daughter, Alicia, before the show ends.

There are shades of “should we trust….?” going on with both Victor and Troy, but the latter would be the character most likely to f*ck with Madison because, well, let’s just simplify things by mentioning that Victor and Madison go back in a good way, whereas Troy and Madison do not. Also, Troy can’t be thrilled with being left for dead, so he definitely still has an axe to grind with Madison, and he delivered some “news” about Alicia. She was, of course, last seen with her feverish character choosing to leave her companions at the end of Season 7.

On this week’s FTWD episode, Troy presented Alicia’s prosthetic arm as “evidence” that he killed the fan-favorite character and left her to roam as a reanimated corpse — a fate even worse than death. Yet can Troy’s word be trusted? Here’s what co-showrunner Ian Goldberg told Entertainment Weekly:

“Well, it’s complicated because he does have her arm. That’s definitely Alicia’s arm. At the same time, Troy has not always proven himself to be the most trustworthy character, so we’ll have to see in these final few episodes what the truth is of what happened. But we will be exploring that further, and we will be answering exactly how he got that arm.”

Additionally, Comic Book spoke with both Goldberg and co-showrunner Andrew Chambliss, and here’s how that shook out:

“Whether Troy is telling the truth is something that you’re just going to have to watch the rest of the season to find out,” Goldberg told ComicBook. Added Chambliss: “We will definitely find out whether or not Troy’s story is true, and what actually went down between Troy and Alicia.”

So, who to believe? It really doesn’t seem likely that Alicia could survive a walker bite, amputate her own arm, sustain fevers and radiation poisoning (possibly a key combination, if June’s previous hunch on a virus cure is to believed), and all that, only to be taken out by Troy. That would be an outcome that spits in the face of Alycia Debnam-Carey’s character. Speaking of which, Debnam-Carey presumably left the series to work on other projects like The Lost Flowers Of Alice Hart and Saint X. One would think, however, that she could squeeze in a quick finale appearance, especially since Goldberg was so adamant about the full-circle outcomes for main characters. We shall see!

AMC’s Fear The Walking Episodes airs on Sunday nights.