Category: Worldwide

November is the best month for new whiskeys releases of the entire year. There’s a glut that touches on all styles and regions. It’s also the month when the super rare bottles become available, adding to the sparkle of it all. That means it’s time to call out our 25 favorite bottles of whisk(e)y that we think you should track down this month. And let us tell you right off: it’s a hell of a selection.

Before we dive in, I’d be remiss not to point out that some of the whiskeys listed below are going to be hard(ish) to find. There is so much good stuff hitting shelves right now but some of it is very allocated. That means that the rarer stuff is going to be available via state liquor board lotteries, distillery-only, and by sheer blind luck when you walk into a very good liquor store. Otherwise, those higher-end bottles are going to be marked up pretty heavily on the aftermarket. I’ve listed the prices for those particular bottles with “MSRP” instead of “Average Price” because of this.

Essentially, the price of those bottles will vary too wildly depending on where you actually run across them.

Lastly, I didn’t rank these. This is about great whisk(e)y. All of these bottles are worthy of your time and money. But ranking a peated single malt over a sherry-finished rye whiskey doesn’t really mean anything since they’re two different beasts. With all of that in mind, let’s dive in and find you a great whiskey to add to your bar cart this month!

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

291 M Colorado Rye Whiskey Finished with Aspen Wood Staves and Maple Syrup Barrels

ABV: 63.5%

Average Price: $108

The Whiskey:

291 out in Colorado is an award darling distillery and a crowd-pleaser as well. This whiskey is made with shorter aging in new American white oak with treated Aspen staves in that barrel to accelerate the maturation process. That whiskey is then transferred to old 291 barrels that were used to age maple syrup in Wisconsin for Lincoln County Reserve Maple Syrup. Finally, those barrels were batched and bottled at cask strength as-is.

Tasting Notes:

You feel the maple syrup from the first nose with a layered sense of cinnamon toast with fig jam next to mild hints of pancakes on a buttery griddle with rich toffee and singed cedar in the background. The palate is lush and almost thick with a sense of custard-heavy cinnamon toast dusted with nutmeg, powdered sugar, and dark chocolate powder next to some serious ABV warmth that’s spiced with winter spices. The heat lingers through the mid-palate toward a viscous-y end with more of that rich maple syrup next to stacks of french toast, winter spice, and apple fritter.

Bottom Line:

This is pretty hot on the palate. I’d recommend a rock or two to calm it down and really let the flavor notes shine through.

Redwood Empire Pipe Dream Bourbon Whiskey Cask Strength

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.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a soft sense of classic bourbon on the nose with a rich and dark cherry by way of a vanilla pod, light caramel sauce, and pecan waffles with a glug of pancake syrup and a dollop of cinnamon-brown sugar butter next to a whisper of old boot leather. The palate has a soft creamed honey sweetness with a twinge of Cherry Coke next to buttery toffee dipped in crushed roasted almonds with a hint of Mounds Bar and chewy caramel. A good dose of ABV heat kicks up on the mid-palate with a mulled wine spiciness and a touch of sour cherry. The end is nutty and full of dark cherry tobacco just kissed with dark chocolate and dark brown spices.

Bottom Line:

This is simply quintessential bourbon. It’s easy drinking with a big kick that never overpowers. Give it a shot over some rocks or in your next old fashioned.

Nashtucky Special Release Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 8 Years

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.

Tasting Notes:

Old lawn furniture with a hint of dry grass mixes on the nose with salted caramels, figs, dates, and prunes, a mix of wintry spices, a dash of white pepper, and some light stone fruit (think fresh apricot and plum). The palate leans into spiced fig jam with a sense of spiced Christmas cake, burnt sugar, and candied citrus countered by dry sweetgrass braided with cedar bark next to singed wild sage and a hint of strawberry tobacco. The end has a mild sense of warmth next to pear fruit leather and apricot jam with a hint of dark chocolate and dried strawberry tobacco in an old leather pouch.

Bottom Line:

This is really good whiskey. The balance is spot on and this takes you on a journey. It also makes one hell of a Manhattan.

Starlight Distillery Carl T. Huber’s Bottled-In-Bond Indiana Straight Bourbon Whiskey Batch no. B2205

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $60

The Whiskey:

This new release from Huber Farm’s Starlight Distillery (the distillery to know if you’re in the know) is made from their high-corn mash with a sweet mash method (each batch is fresh) in their old copper pot still. The whiskey is barreled in Canton barrels and left to age on the farm for four years before it’s batched (only 20 barrels) and proofed down to 100 proof for bottling.

Tasting Notes:

The nose opens with dark stewed cherries and spiced prune compote next to cinnamon waffles with a hint of maple syrup and dark chocolate chips. The palate is pure silk with notes of Cherry Coke next to clove-studded oranges dipped in dark chocolate with a flake of salt with whispers of apple fritters, eggnog spices, and singed cherry bark with maybe a hint of apple wood in the background. The end has a subtle warmth thanks to wintry mulled wine spices that lead to fresh pipe tobacco kissed with dates and chocolate and packed into an old cedar box for safekeeping.

Bottom Line:

This is a damn near perfect pour of whiskey. It’s also a massively well-hidden gem that you might just be able to find right now. If you do find it, try it neat, on the rocks, and in your favorite cocktail.

Clonakilty Port Cask Finish Irish Whiskey Batch no. 035

ABV: 43.6%

Average Price: $53

The Whiskey:

This fan-favorite whiskey just released its latest batch. The juice in this one is a nine-year-old Irish grain whiskey blended with a classic Irish single malt. The whiskey was then proofed down slightly and re-loaded into Port casks from the famed Douro Valley. Those barrels were stored next to the Atlantic Ocean in Ireland until they were just right.

Tasting Notes:

The nose opens with bright fruit — orange, lime, and lemon zest next to peach skins and juicy apricots — next to light notes of brown spices, raisins, and lightly sweetened oak staves with a hint of must. The palate leans into the stone fruit with a stewed vibe next to dried red chili flakes, cinnamon, cardamom, and a hint of orange chocolate with whispers of lemon-lime soda. The end leans into the dark spices on the finish with a plummy vibe, a hint more of that soft oak, and a final dash of peppercorn.

Bottom Line:

This is a very easy-drinking, crowd-pleasing Irish whiskey. It has depth but remains very accessible. It also makes great cocktails.

Uncle Nearest Rye

ABV: 59.8%

Average Price: $149

The Whiskey:

This brand-new expression from the multi-award-winning Master Blender, Victoria Eady-Butler, is a true traveling whiskey. The whiskey is made up in Canada with 100 percent locally grown rye, according to American straight rye whiskey specifications. That hot juice is then sent to New York where it is barreled and aged for at least four years. Finally, Eady-Butler steps in and selects the honey barrels, and ships them to Tennessee where she blends this whiskey and bottles it as-is.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a hint of fresh sourdough rye bread (the real good stuff you still get in Central Europe) next to a hint of fennel and almost woody black currants with a touch of soft cardamon. The palate leans toward dry wicker and fresh green herbs with a snap of spiciness (almost chive) next to woody cinnamon and allspice berries with a hint of spicy orange chocolate. There’s a hint of salt on the backend with a wonderfully layered dry cedar bark, herbal tobacco note, and a touch of dried nasturtium that ultimately leads to a silky vanilla/cinnamon finish.

Bottom Line:

This is an excellent rye whiskey. I like it over a rock or two or in a Manhattan but it totally works as a neat sipper too.

Filibuster Distillery Bottled-in-Bond Virginia Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 5 Years

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $90

The Whiskey:

This Virginias whiskey is a grain-to-glass experience. The juice is made from locally-grown grains — 70% corn, 20% rye, and 10% malted barley — and local spring water in the Shenandoah Valley. After five years of mellowing in Appalachia, a small bundle of barrels is batched and proofed to 100 proof before bottling.

Tasting Notes:

The nose opens with a waft of old porch wicker next to floral honey, burnt orange, black tea leaves, and a classic sense of woody cherry and vanilla. The palate creams the honey while adding in soft oak and cherry pie filling with a hint of vanilla malt next to mulled wine spices — heavy with star anise, clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon with a pinch of mace or cardamom. The end has a dark chocolate-covered espresso bean vibe that leads to a mild dried cranberry note next to a strawberry-rhubarb-walnut crumble with a scoop of vanilla malted ice cream that finished back at the old porch wicker braided with dark cherry tobacco and dry cedar bark.

Bottom Line:

This is one of the biggest surprises of the recent releases to hit my desk. This is just super solid all around. It’s a nice sipper that works wonders in a high-quality cocktail too.

Alberta Premium 2022 Limited Edition Cask Strength Rye

ABV: 63.5%

Average Price: $85

The Whisky:

This year’s Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye is made exclusively with classic Canadian Prairie rye grains grown locally in Alberta. Glacial spring water from the Rocky Mountains is in the mix as well as new white oak barrel aging. Once those barrels hit just the right spot, they’re batched and bottled with no proofing at all.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a bold sense of buttery and dark toffee on the nose with rich and oily vanilla pods, dark blackberry jam, mulled wine spices (star anise, allspice, clove, cinnamon), brandy-soaked raisins and dates, dry Earl Grey tea leaves, and a hint of dark cacao nibs. The palate builds on that with tart black currants dipped in salted dark chocolate next to a hint of espresso cream, and caraway-encrusted sourdough rye bread (the real stuff from Central Europe, not the bullshit rye you get in the Americas) that leads to a huge cinnamon spiciness on the mid-palate. The end rounds off that cinnamon Hot Tamale spiciness with a sweet sense of vanilla white cake bespeckled with dried cranberries and shredded blackberry tobacco.

Bottom Line:

This is, again, delicious. This is also a bottle that you might actually be able to find. I love this stuff on the rocks with just a splash of fizzy mineral water and a dash of Angostura bitters.

Starward Vitalis 15th Anniversary Limited Release Single Malt Australian Whisky

ABV: 52%

Average Price: $150 (pre-order)

The Whiskey:

This brand-new limited edition whisky from Australia’s biggest brand celebrates the 15th anniversary of the distillery. The whisky in this bottle commemorates the brand’s finishing program that made it famous. The whisky was blended from six different barrel types, focusing on tawny port, rum, bourbon, and Apera barrels between 11 and four years old.

Tasting Notes:

The nose opens with rich, buttery toffee candy next to rum raisin, salted dark chocolate bars, grilled pineapple, bruised apricots, and tangerine skins. The palate leans into the raisin vibe with black-tea-soaked dates, stewed prunes, and mashed dried apricot next to tart red currants with a hint of mango skin and savory papaya. That’s all countered by a mid-palate full of toasted coffee beans and creamy mocha latte notes next to a hint of dark and warm spiciness on the back of the finish with a dash of tart berry tobacco.

Bottom Line:

This is a bold whisky that never overpowers any note. It’s welcoming and soft with a deep flavor profile. It’s really just freakin’ good.

Jefferson’s Ocean Aged At Sea New York Edition

ABV: 49%

Average Price: $99

The Whiskey:

This version of Jefferson’s famed Oceans Series sailed through the North Sea, around Europe, along the Atlantic Seaboard, and through the Panama Canal before ending up in New York City. Once there, the whiskey was batched and proofed down with New York City’s famed water (which is unfiltered and from closer to the Catskills).

Tasting Notes:

There’s a nice sense of soft caramel chews on the nose with a dash of cigar tobacco and old humidors next to old leather cloves, burnt orange, and a hint of saline. The palate leans into brash winter spices with spicy and woody cinnamon, fresh nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and a hint of cardamom next to lush crème brûlée with a hint of that cigar vibe. The end stays strong with the spices and tobacco next to a soft vanilla creaminess and slightly salted pasta water finish.

Bottom Line:

This feels like a gimmick. But … who cares if the whiskey is good? This has a nice profile that’s both familiar and unique. It’s a nice balance. And what better whiskey can there be to make a Manhattan than one with New York water?

Sagamore Spirit Reserve Series Sherry Finish 2022

ABV: 53%

Average Price: $79

The Whiskey:

This is Sagamore Spirit’s signature rye whiskey (95/5 rye/malted barley) that’s aged for four long years. That whiskey is then re-barreled into 132-gallon Pedro Ximénez sherry casks for an additional 18-month-long rest. Finally, those barrels are batched, proofed a tad, and bottled.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is a deep mix of old oak staves dipped in a mash of dates, figs, and prunes with cinnamon, black licorice, and clove next to soft leather pouches full of fresh pipe tobacco with a hint of apricot and blackberry in the mix. The palate opens with soft marzipan laced with orange oils and dipped in salted dark chocolate with sticky toffee pudding, minced meat pieces, orange marmalade, and creamy honey. The end leans into the dark and almost bitter dark chocolate with a hint of espresso bean before a mild sense of old oak leads to a nutty and dark orange-forward finish.

Bottom Line:

This is a really tasty whiskey. It’s versatile and satisfying.

Kirkland Signature Single Barrel by Barton 1792 Master Distillers

ABV: 60%

Average Price: $32 (1-liter bottle)

The Whiskey:

This Costco release is sourced from Sazerac’s other Kentucky distillery, Barton 1792 Distillery down in Bardstown, Kentucky. The whiskey in the bottle is very likely the same distillate/barrels as 1792 Full Proof. However, this is proofed down a tiny bit below that at 120 proof instead of 125 proof, adding some nuance to this release.

Tasting Notes:

This is a classic nose full of salted caramel next to dried red chili, Mounds bars, mulled wine spices, and creamy vanilla malt milkshakes with a cherry on top. The palate really leans into the sour mulled wine focusing on star anise, cardamom, allspice, cinnamon, and maybe even some cumin next o brown sugar clumps, creamy eggnog, and a cherry-dark chocolate tobacco vibe with a slightly woody edge. The end into the spiciness and wood with a hint of black potting soil, firewood bark, and warm cinnamon in a cherry-apple hot buttered rum cider.

Bottom Line:

This is probably the best value on this list. It’s a deeply flavored whiskey that doesn’t blow out your palate with those high ABVs. It’s damn good for a budget single barrel liter of booze from Costco.

Knob Creek 18

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $170

The Whiskey:

This limited-edition release celebrates the 30th Anniversary of Knob Creek, which started back in 1992 during the darkest days of bourbon. The juice is Beam’s standard mash bill that’s distilled at a slightly different temperature and treated with a little more care during aging by placing barrels in very specific locations throughout their vast warehouses. After 18 long years, the best of the best barrels are small batched, and just proofed before bottling.

Tasting Notes:

Dark molasses and pecan clusters with salted dark chocolate lead to brown butter, old figs, and salted caramel with a woody sense of cherry and apple bark next to cinnamon-laced cedar sticks with burnt orange. The palate is full of lush vanilla notes next to singed cherry bark, apple-cider-soaked cinnamon sticks, star anise, salted black licorice, and dark chocolate-covered espresso beans with a hint of dried red chili spice turning up the heat on the mid-palate. The end has a floral honey sweetness that balances everything toward orange blossoms and bruised peaches, cherry tobacco, and clove tobacco.

Bottom Line:

This is great whiskey. If you’re a bourbon acolyte, then this is a must-buy right now.

Ardbeg Hypernova

ABV: 51%

Average Price: $215

The Whisky:

This whisky starts with heavily peated malts with phenol levels above 170ppm. Translation: this is a peat monster. From there, mad scientist Dr. Bill Lumsden selected the peatiest of the peaty barrels for a batch and dumped them into Ardbeg’s special tun (mixing vat) for a final rest before adding a little Islay spring water and bottling.

Tasting Notes:

This is massively peated from the jump with freshly lain asphalt mingling with fireplace ash, old Weber grills left out in the rain, and hurricane lamp oil with a burnt wick and maybe some burnt apple chips next to smoldering hickory. The palate opens with burnt cacao nibs and over-roasted espresso beans with a clear peatiness tied to burnt oyster shells and fresh Ace Bandages with a mix of star anise, salted black licorice, clove, and fennel next to Mounds bars. The end has a heavily smoked vibe that’s kind of like smudging some wild sage while boiling heavily roasted coffee on the stove with a sense of an electric-coil burner raging in bright orange underneath the pot.

Bottom Line:

Shifting entirely, this just dropped and is not for the light of heart. This is a true peat monster that’ll be adored by whisky folks seeking out the big phenols. If you’re not ready for that, maybe check out the Oban below.

Angel’s Envy Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in Port Wine Barrels Cask Strength

ABV: 59.9%

MSRP: $229

The Whiskey:

This modern classic is a yearly limited release from the beloved Lousiville distiller. The juice is made from a mix of locally sourced barrels that are finished in Ruby Port casks. The best of the best are hand-selected by Angel’s Envy’s team for as-is batching and bottling with only 14,000 odd bottles making out this year.

Tasting Notes:

This opens with a deep sense of blackberry jam over a Southern biscuit with plenty of brown butter, vanilla sauce, and apple fruit leather with a dash of cinnamon, allspice, and star anise next to a whisper of cherry cream soda and orange-chocolate tobacco packed into a cedar box. The palate is soft and supple with a brandy butter vibe next to mince meat pie with powdered sugar icing, meaty dates, black tea, and rich Black Forest cake. The end subtly meanders through shaved dark chocolate and stewed cherry, eventually landing on a vanilla-laced tobacco leaf rolled up with apple-cider-soaked cinnamon sticks and old wicker canes.

Bottom Line:

This was just delicious and really feels like a holiday vibe whiskey.

George T. Stagg Bourbon (BTAC 2022)

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.

Tasting Notes:

This whiskey is hot. Your nose is met with buttery pecan waffles loaded with dark salted chocolate chips and dripping with maple syrup that feels expensive next to darkly roasted espresso beans, singed vanilla husks, and dried sour cherries next to a medley of holiday spices. The palate leans into those spices with a clear sense of sharp cinnamon, old clove buds, allspice berries, and whole nutmeg bulbs next to a hint of star anise and maybe some cardamom before that darkly roasted coffee jumps back in with a deeply stewed cherry in a dark treacle syrup before the ABVs buzz hard on the mid-palate. The end amps up the woodiness with the spices and adds in a sense of old cedar bark, dark chocolate nibs, and a cherry-tobacco buzziness.

Bottom Line:

It’s back! Rejoice, taters! This year’s George T. Stagg BTAC is an ABV monster. You’ll definitely need a rock to calm it down. If you don’t, you’re lying.

Octomore 13.3

ABV: 61.1%

Average Price: $215

The Whisky:

This brand-new limited edition Octomore from Bruichladdich is all about Islay. The whisky is made from heavily peated malts grown on the island (most malts are shipping in from the mainland) back in 2015. In 2016, the whisky was distilled right by the sea at Bruichladdich and then loaded into first-fill, ex-American whiskey casks and second-fill European oak casks from the Rivesaltes region of France and the Ribera del Duero region of Spain. After five years, the casks were vatted and then bottled completely as-is.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is a subtle mix of salted caramel with sweet caramel malts, apricot jam, gingerbread, and a touch of nasturtium with a whisper of smoked apples and pears before the ashen peat starts sneaking in. The palate opens with smoked brown sugar next to rich marzipan with a hint of Almond Joy next to Kiwi boot wax, orange marmalade, dried roses, lemon pepper, and a hint of oyster liquor. The end has a caramel maltiness that’s just kissed with sea salt and potpourri cut with mild dark spices and more of that marzipan, finishing on a light fruit soda vibe.

Bottom Line:

This whisky kicks around in the peat bog for a while but then layers in some seriously delectable notes. I like the complexity of this one. It takes you somewhere and feels fresh and old at the same time.

Chicken Cock Chanticleer Cognac Barrel Finish Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

ABV: 56%

MSRP: $499

The Whisky:

This is the second major holiday release from Chicken Cock. This year’s super rare whiskey is made from a classic mash of 70% corn, 21% rye, and 9% malted barley. That whiskey was aged for an undisclosed amount of years before it was re-barreled into 32 French cognac barrels. Those 32 barrels were then batched, proofed, and bottled as-is for this release.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is supple and full of creamed honey, moist marzipan, peaches and cream ice cream with a hint of waffle cone, and fresh plums dashed with clove and star anise. The palate leans into the plums with a spiced cake vibe next to rich Black Forest Cake, candied dates, rum-raisin, and banana bread with plenty of butter, cinnamon, and walnut with a twist of fresh orange zest. The end embraces the orange and adds in salted dark chocolate tobacco with a hint of brown butter, pecan shells, and cedar boughs.

Bottom Line:

This is subtle and delicious. It’s pricy but we’ll never see this bottle again.

Cardhu 16-Year-Old 2022 Diageo Single Malt Special Releases Collection

ABV: 58%

Average Price: $179

The Whisky:

This Speyside unpeated malt was aged in refill and re-charred American oak bourbon barrels for 16 years. That whisky was then refilled into Jamaican pot still rum-seasoned casks for a final rest before vatting and bottling as-is.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a definite sense of aura of funky rumminess with a hint of barrel char and grilled tropical fruits with plenty of brown spices — clove, allspice, nutmeg — surrounded by creamy lemon meringue pie, mango lassi, and freshly washed sheets flapping in the summer breeze (it’s wildly engaging and kind of weird but I love it). The palate has a rummy toffee syrup mood with spiced rum cocktails cut with banana bread, walnuts, and brown butter with a hint of brandy-soaked oak staves. The end has a light black pepperiness with more of that rummy barrel funk and soft and sweet (not acidic) tropical fruit.

Bottom Line:

This is a brilliant unpeated malt. It’s devilishly simple with a truly great flavor profile. It’s fruity and fresh and embracing. If you add a rock or a little water, it’ll really bloom in the glass with deeper fruit and creamy flavor notes.

Willett Distillery Kiamichi A Family Reunion Whiskey Aged 5 Years

ABV: 54%

Average Price: $149

The Whiskey:

This whiskey from the new Kings of Leon’s collaboration is their entry point to the trio of bottles released this year. The juice is a 12-barrel blend a mix of two Willett rye mash bills that were aged in both char 5 oak (a very heavy alligator char) and 24-month cured oak from Hoffmeister Cooperage. Those extremely rare barrels were then batched and just kissed with water and then bottled in only 2,780 bottles.

Tasting Notes:

Wow! This nose is gorgeous with subtle notes of tart cherries tossed with flakes of salt next to dark plum jam laced with soft cinnamon, ground clove, and nutmeg, vanilla pound cake with poppy seeds, red and orange nasturtiums, floral honey, and salted cashews. The taste is fruity but moves more toward pineapple cores, peach skins, and lemon pith next to a soft dry sweetgrass braid twisted up with wild sage and cedar bark with notes of pine-infused honey, old black tea leaves, and cinnamon sticks that have just been singed on the mid-palate. The end is lush and beautifully layered with real sourdough rye crusts, honey-dipped Graham Crackers, dark chocolate-dipped sour cherries, and a hint of walnut bread with plenty of wintry spices and butter.

Bottom Line:

This is one of my favorite whiskeys of the year.

Oban 10-Year-Old 2022 Diageo Single Malt Special Releases Collection

ABV: 57.1%

Average Price: $109

The Whisky:

This lightly peated Highland whisky from the tiny Oban Distillery is rendered from refill and new American oak barrels. That whisky is vatted and then refilled into Amontillado-seasoned casks for a final rest before batching and bottling as-is.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a lithe sense of lemon/lime saltwater taffy wrapped in white wax paper with a hint of lime leaves and wild sage next to salted smoked lemons and tangerines with a hint of really good and cloudy extra virgin olive oil speckled with smoked sea salt and freshly cracked red peppercorns. The palate is silken and full of layers of smoked grapes, smoked plums, and salted chili pepper candies with a fleeting sense of violet and lavender creaminess tied to a lush vanilla underbelly. The end has a mild woody chili pepper spiciness that’s dry and leads to a limber finish with warmth, lightly caramelized malts, and smoked apricot jam with brandy cream.

Bottom Line:

This might well be the best of the new Special Releases from Diageo. It’s just haunting and mesmerizing. There’s nothing quite like it yet it transports you straight to Oban (if you’ve been there).

Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 15 Years Old 2022 Release

ABV: 53.5%

MSRP: $119

The Whiskey:

This is where the “Pappy Van Winkle” line starts in earnest. The juice in this expression is pulled from barrels that are at least 15 years old. Once batched, the whiskey is just touched with water to bring it down to a sturdy 107-proof.

Tasting Notes:

The nose opens with freshly fried sourdough fritters dusted with ground almonds, sharp cinnamon, cloves, orange zest, burnt sugars, and maple frosting with a hint of old vanilla pods next to soft figs. The palate leans into rich toffee with a sense of minced meat pies covered in powdered sugar frosting right next to sticky toffee pudding with salted caramel, orange zest, and tons of brown wintry spice countered by a moment of sour mulled red wine cut with dark maple syrup. The end has a soft cedar vibe that leads to vanilla and dark cherry tobacco leaves and a hint of pine next to old white moss.

Bottom Line:

This is the best new release from the Pappy line this year. The 15-year-old just hit right and clear this time around. You’ll get the hype immediately about Pappy the moment you raise this to your senses. Plus, these are hitting shelves this month, so you might get lucky.

Eagle Rare 17-Year-Old Bourbon (BTAC 2022)

ABV: 50.5%

MSRP: $99

The Whiskey:

Back in the spring of 2005, a humble bourbon was made with Kentucky distiller’s corn, Minnesota rye, and North Dakota barley. That hot juice was then filled into new white oak from Independent Stave from Missouri with a #4 char level (55 seconds) and stacked in Buffalo Trace’s warehouses H, K, and L on floors one and four. It was left alone for 17 years, which allowed 70% of the whiskey to be lost to the angels. In 2022, the barrels were batched and the bourbon was proofed down to 101 proof and was bottled as-is.

Tasting Notes:

The nose subtly draws you in with soft pipe tobacco that feels fresh and vibrant next to dried sour cherries dipped in salted dark chocolate and rolled in vanilla seeds and vanilla-laced streusel with a good dose of woody maple syrup with this fleeting hint of red brick, moldy cellar beams, and soft and sandy cellar dirt floor. Old maple trees dripping with sap lead to a rich salted caramel candy vibe next to rich vanilla pound cake topped with a creamy dark chocolate frosting and bespeckled with orange zest, dried cranberries bits, and crushed espresso beans. The mid-palate takes on a woody spiciness with a whisper of apple bark that informs a spiced Christmas cake full of soft cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, mace, and maybe some anise and dried dark fruits with creamy eggnog baseline next to old Whether’s Originals wrapped up in dry tobacco leaves and stacked in a musty pine box for safekeeping.

Bottom Line:

This is a perfect bourbon.

The Last Drop Signature Blend No. 28 A Blend Of Kentucky Straight Whiskeys

ABV: 60.7%

MSRP: $3,999

The Whiskey:

This blend is from Buffalo Trace’s Master Blender Drew Mayville, who’s been at the distillery since 2004. Mayville created this blend by sampling bourbons and ryes from the rarest and sometimes oldest barrels of whiskey in Buffalo Trace’s vast and numerous warehouses. While the exact details of the final blend are unknown, we do that the whiskeys in this blend are some of the rarest that the distillery had on its ricks. And since it is a blend of bourbon and rye whiskey, this is technically a “blended straight whiskey.”

Tasting Notes:

The nose on this feels like the dark red brick and black mold with the old rickhouse beams, dirt floors, sour mash fermenters, and green grass with fall leaves crunching under feet at Buffalo Trace Distillery. It then deepens into sticky toffee pudding, old dried-up figs, black-tea-soaked dates, burnt orange, cinnamon sticks, dried ancho chilis, firewood pitch, and a creamy underbelly of vanilla and toffee. The palate warms with an ABV buzz that leads to soft vanilla cream with tart but dark berries floating next to orange zest and salted caramel. There’s a sense of old boot leather and Kiwi boot cream next to waxy cacao nibs, cherry cream soda, pecan and dark chocolate clusters, pistachios, and roasted root veg — think caramelized parsnips and carrots next to a Yorkshire pudding. The end becomes a luxuriously soft and creamy sip of stewed black cherries with anise and clove next to holly bushes and fir needles with a little bunch of spices — cinnamon sticks, star anise, dried rose, a stick of pine, dried orange peel — tied with an old waxy piece of twine.

Bottom Line:

This is amazing. Truly a one-of-a-kind whiskey everyone should at least get to try once in their lifetime.

Michter’s Limited Release Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 20 Years Old 2022 Release

ABV: 57.1%

MSRP: $1,000

The Whiskey:

Master Distiller Dan McKee personally selects these (at least) 20-year-old barrels from their rickhouses based on, well, excellence. The bourbon is bottled as-is with no cutting with water.

Tasting Notes:

Imagine a nose full of dark and sweet cherries smothered in rummy molasses with a touch of dried roses, roasted almonds, and cedar bark all leading towards the soft — almost wet — tobacco leaves with a hint of dry apple and pear next to lush vanilla and wintry mulled wine spices. The palate doesn’t veer too far from those notes while adding in a touch of burnt ends from vanilla pods with a light clove spice that leans more towards that tobacco than woody cinnamon sticks and star anise next to a hint of dried sage and fleeting, almost spicy mint with a touch of singed marshmallow. The finish really embraces the cherry but more towards the stem and seed as the nuttiness leans into moist marzipan, orange oils, and chewy fresh tobacco with a hint of leather and cedar.

Bottom Line:

This is one of the absolute best bourbons money can buy … right now. You might actually be able to find one of these too (if you’re in the right region).

With so many tours going on this fall, some musicians decided to dress up for their performances at the end of October. That includes Harry Styles, who’s been promoting his album Harry’s House with an expansive tour that featured a special date for Halloween. It is of course referred to as Harryween, and it took place at the Forum in Los Angeles.

For this event, the “As it Was” singer dressed up as Danny Zuko from Grease and covered “Hopelessly Devoted To You.” He honored the late Olivia Newton-John with photos of her on the stage and a performance of her duet with John Travolta, “You’re the One That I Want,” done with his bandmates.

Harryween was a major deal, so much so that two fans posted early on in October that they were camping out for almost an entire month for the show. “Hey everyone!” said the fan named Ally, while her friend Arli sat in a lawn chair. “Just want to let you know, we have started camping out for the Harryween show.” Fans in the comments were questioning whether or not the video was actually real — camping culture has only intensified with the rise of TikTok, but so have jokes.

Watch Styles’ rendition of “Hopelessly Devoted To You” above.

It’s a sneaker that needs no introduction, one that launched 40 years ago and still remains quite possibly Nike’s most beloved and best-selling silhouette. It stands the test of time and solidified itself as a streetwear staple before streetwear was even a thing. So it’s safe to say it’s not going anywhere.

We’re talking about the mighty Air Force 1. Designed by Bruce Kilgore (who also designed the Air Jordan 2 with Peter Moore) and released in 1982, the AF-1 was Nike’s first real shot at making a basketball shoe worthy of the court.

It seems hard to believe, but prior to the AF-1, Nike’s main focus was running shoes. With the AF-1, the brand was attempting to create something explicitly made for court performance, and with its new Nike Air technology and Kilgore’s unconventional (at the time) design, the AF-1 was that shoe. Grab a pair of your AF-1s (we know you have at least one), flip them around and take a look at the outsole, that swirling crop-circle-esque traction pattern doesn’t look like much today, but at the time it represented something brand new.

Kilgore ditched the traditional herringbone traction pattern of Nike sneakers for something that worked with the constant pivoting and fast action needed by modern players, coupled with the NIKE AIR technology — a flexible airbag that provided a slight spring in the step — Nike had one of the first sneakers that actively attempted to compliment and enhance a player’s on-court performance. Sure, just about every basketball sneaker does that these days… but it all started here!

In celebration of Nike’s greatest (non-MJ) silhouette, we’re naming all the best colorways to ever hit the Air Force 1. Let’s dive in! And to check out El-P from Run the Jewels getting a pair of custom AF-1s, watch his episode of Uproxx’s Fresh Pair with Just Blaze and Katty Customs, below.

Air Force 1 High — White/Silver, 1983

The low-top AF-1 is the sneaker’s most popular form but early on in the sneaker’s lineage, the high was all that was offered and the sneaker still looks great with that higher profile and ankle strap. One of the strongest early colorways was this white and silver makeup which features a leather upper with a metallic swoosh and a matching outsole. This sneaker dropped after the initial run of AF-1 colorways and the sneaker was briefly discontinued the following year before its relaunch in 1986. Is the White/Silver to blame?

We’re going to guess “no.” If anything, this sneaker probably kept the silhouette in the public consciousness which is why it’s been given several re-releases since its initial drop.

The sneaker was last re-released in 2015 with a women’s size exclusive dropping holiday season of last year. Even though we’re only a year out I think this sneaker is deserving of a full-size run re-release in 2023. Who is going to argue with that?

Find a pair at GOAT.

Air Force 1 — White/White, 1995

It’s hard to believe that the most iconic colorway of the AF-1 didn’t drop until more than a decade into its production. The low top white on white AF-1 is what probably comes to mind when you think about the shoe and many would argue that the silhouette never looked better than this.

We agree that the leather upper in all white with a matching white swoosh is the ultimate form of this sneaker. If sneakerheads everywhere had to choose a single color for this shoe to be released in for the foreseeable future, it would be without a doubt a crisp pair of white-on-white AF-1s. The look of a perfect pair is probably single-handedly keeping the sneaker-cleaning business alive. I’m all for sneakers with wear and tear, but this AF-1 deserves to look as clean and crispy as possible at all times.

The most recent re-release of this perfect colorway dropped in 2018 and updated the design with a full-grain leather upper. They are still on the aftermarket for fairly reasonable prices.

Find a pair at GOAT.

Air Force 1 Mid — Independence Day, 1997

Probably the only mid-top Jordan to make our list, the Independence Day is too much of a fully realized concept not to earn a spot here. The shoe is named after the aircraft that shuttles the President around, so making the sneaker red, white and blue is a no-brainer. It’s maybe the only other shoe aside from a Nike Cortez that looks good in this tired and overplayed color combination.

The Independence Day features a white leather upper with shimmering blue paneling and a small red jeweled swoosh with a matching embroidered swoosh at the mid-ankle strap. There is a sleekness to this speaker that speaks to its late ’90s release date. Now the general public prefers oversized wrap-around Swooshes, but there is something about the way the three-dimensional jeweled swoosh looks on a mid-top AF-1 that just looks right.

The most recent release of this shoe dropped in April of this year. Why didn’t it release on Independence Day? Our guess is it would’ve been a little too on the nose, and considering this is a red, white, and blue AF-1, it’s already dangerously close to being cheesy.

Pick up a pair at GOAT.

Air Force 1 — Cocoa Snake, 2001

With the AF-1 the general consensus is the simpler the better, but then you see a design like the Cocoa Snake and it makes you question that. The Cocoa Snake is a bit more flashy than your typical AF-1 but it’s undeniably fresh.

Featuring a white leather base with snakeskin paneling on the heel and toe wrap with a black swoosh, heel tab, and outsole, the Cocoa Snake plays on the classic colorways of the AF-1 (black and white) but elevates it just a touch with faux snakeskin, resulting in a sneaker that rides the line between casual and luxury footwear. This sneaker is way past its prime to really exist on the aftermarket, but luckily Complex dropped a pair in 2018 as a Complexcon exclusive that is still readily available on aftermarket sites.

Pick up a pair at GOAT.

Air Force 1 — Linen, 2001

The AF-1 White/White may be the most iconic colorway of the sneaker, but the Linen is hands down a fan favorite. Just look at this thing! It features a leather upper in beige and sports a pastel pink swoosh with a pink outsole. It’s far from the first sneaker to be accented in pink tones, but it single-handedly started a sneaker trend of accenting in bright pinks and is almost always a hit, whether it shows up on an SB Dunk or a Jordan. Thank the Linen for popularizing the trend and ending the drab days of dark-colored kicks.

The Linen was originally released as a Japanese exclusive but has since come stateside with a 2016 re-release via Kith as part of Art Basel Miami. I think we’re due for another re-release and I’m willing to bet a lot of sneakerheads would second that!

Pick up a pair at GOAT.

Air Force 1 — Wheat Mocha, 2001

Another Japanese exclusive, the Wheat Mocha featured a workwear-inspired design (long before workwear became popular in the States) and sported an ultra-smooth nubuck upper in tan with chocolate brown accents and a translucent gum midsole. Japan has always had a deep appreciation for streetwear, and the country has been rewarded with easily the best Air Force 1 drops of all time.

The Wheat Mocha is unique in that it looks like something that could fit on the construction site (it’s not steel-toed, so don’t do that) as well as at any sort of fancy function, making it one of the most versatile designs the AF-1 has ever had. Nike has since released a high-top version of the sneaker but it looks best in its original low-top form.

Find a pair at GOAT.

Air Force 1 — Courir, 2002

As we mentioned before, when it comes to the AF-1 simpler just looks better and the Courir proves it. Featuring a black leather upper with a white midsole and swoosh, the AF-1 Courir is a near-perfect design, and what really puts it over the top is that gum outsole adding another point of contrast that perfectly compliments the white and black makeup. Three strong colors is all an AF-1 needs to look great.

The sneaker was originally released as a Europe exclusive and remains one of the hardest pairs to find. It looks like anyone who has a pair wants to hold on to them.

Find a pair at GOAT.

Air Force 1 — HTM 1, 2002

Made by the design collective of Hiroshi Fujiwara, Tinker Hatfield, and Mark Parker (known collectively as HTM) this AF-1 is easily one of the top five colorways that have ever graced this silhouette. The HTM 1 features a stark black softened leather upper with white contrast stitching, HTM branding, and was released with custom hang tags and a special box. The original HTM concept was to combine unexpected colors and materials and I’d say the HTM 1 doesn’t really satisfy that concept. That doesn’t necessarily matter though, because the sneakers look great regardless and were put together by three absolute legends.

As dope as the design is, this sneaker was dropped in an incredibly limited capacity making it one of the rarest AF-1s to ever hit the market. Like the Linen, this is long overdue for a re-release.

Find a pair at GOAT.

Stash x Nike Air Force 1 High, 2003

Made in collaboration with NYC graffiti artist Stash, this AF-1 which dropped in 2003 is one of the finest high-top iterations of the sneaker to date. The fact that it came out nearly a decade ago is ridiculous.

Featuring mesh panels over a cotton and leather upper, Stash’ AF-1 featured reflective spray can nozzle patterning across the panels with a suede Swoosh and a translucent outsole. The sneakers dropped in a special red suitcase in a limited run of just 1,000 distributed between the cities of New York, London, and Tokyo. Tokyo received the lion’s share of the sneaker with 500 pairs sent to the city while London and New York received only 250 each.

On the aftermarket, prices for this nearly 10-year-old shoe are still in the thousands, which isn’t prohibitively expensive for a collector’s item, but good luck finding a pair in your size. To date, Stash has dropped a few more renditions of the AF-1 but none look quite as good as this drop.

Find a pair at GOAT.

Air Force 1 — Mark Smith Laser, 2003

Created by famed Nike designer Mark Smith, this laser-etched AF-1 features a tan leather upper with brown laces and a swirling design atop a pure white midsole. This might be a controversial statement but I think this is one of the few designs that feels better to look at than wear, it looks like it belongs under a museum display case, not strapped to someone’s feet.

The sneaker is alternatively known as the ‘Cashmere Laser,’ which I never understood because this sneaker features absolutely no cashmere whatsoever. The cashmere in question is in reference to the beige colorway used on the upper. Don’t be scared Nike, give us an actual cashmere AF-1 — we’ll wear it!

Find a pair at GOAT.

Air Force 1 — Sakura Ueno, 2005

The Sakura Ueno is yet another Japanese-exclusive AF-1 that fills us with envy. Featuring an off-white suede upper with bright pink accents and laser-etched cherry blossoms, and embroidered details, the Sakura features simple color blocking and an elegant design. Embroidered Ueno branding adorns the hill which is a reference to Japan’s Ueno Park, a popular spot that is home to thousands of cherry blossom trees and serves as the main location of Japan’s cherry blossom festival.

If you compare the laser etching on this sneaker to the Mark Smith design, you’ll find that it’s much more tastefully done here. I’m not sure why the sneaker world was obsessed with laser etching in the ‘00s, but the Sakura actually makes the case for why it works.

Find a pair at GOAT.

Undefeated x Nike Air Force 1 — Entourage, 2005

Made specifically for the HBO television show Entourage this sneaker of the same name features a beautiful university blue on white leather upper and was designed by LA sneaker boutique Undefeated. This sneaker dropped at a time when the idea of sneakerheads first started to slip into the mainstream thanks in part to an episode of Entourage in which Turtle hunts down a pair of coveted Blue Fukijama Air Force 1s.

Who is Fukijama? Nobody, it’s a fictional character… but it sure sounded real. A rich dude’s fried named Turtle hunting town a pair of sneakers designed by a mononym artist from Japan? You could make a whole series out of that!

The sneaker makes reference to both LA and Queens, the adopted and original home of Entourage’s Turtle and feathers laser etching on the back panels with a black patent leather swoosh. What did I say about this era and laser etching? The sneakerheads of the ’00s went absolutely nuts for it. This pair of sneakers still exists on aftermarket sites today for a prohibitively expensive price.

Find a pair at Sotheby’s.

Air Force 1 — Savage Beast, 2009

Released as a Halloween exclusive, the Savage Beast is one of the wildest AF-1 designs in the sneaker’s history and is maybe the best Halloween sneaker of all time. Featuring an orange pony hair upper, lace jewels, with a frayed canvas Swoosh, the Savage Beast exudes crunchy hippie vibes and was undoubtedly a direct influence on the Grateful Dead Dunks that were released over a decade later.

Will wearing a pair make you look like a Muppet? Yes, but who doesn’t love the Muppets? The fuzzy design was actually meant to be a reference to the Looney Tunes character Gossamer which makes it one of the most obscure sneaker references of all time. Who asked for a Gossamer-inspired sneaker? Why Gossamer and not, you know, Bugs?

It’s a sneaker that inspires so many questions and that’s part of what makes it great.

Pick up a pair at GOAT.

CLOT x Nike Air Force 1 — 1World, 2009

Made in collaboration with Hong Kong-based label CLOT in celebration of Chinese New Year, this AF-1 features a bright red upper with etchings throughout with black laces and a matching black swoosh over a translucent midsole.

The sneaker was released with a special hexagonal box reminiscent of Chinese candy boxes. The design has seen all sorts of color variations since this initial drop, including a Rose Gold, Blue, and White Silk iteration. All of those are great but nothing really beats the original in its bright vibrant red. We don’t know for sure if this sneaker inspired the Yeezy Red Octobers but at the time it was one of the only sneakers to rock this vibrant red colorway.

Find a pair at StockX.

Off-White x Nike Air Force 1 — The Ten, 2017

Released as part of Virgil Abloh’s legendary ‘The Ten’ collection, the Off-White AF-1 was an attempt to reconstruct the design of one of the most legendary sneakers of all time, and whether you’re a fan or not, it definitely worked. This feels like an AF-1 and like something totally new at the same time. Featuring a translucent multi-fabric upper over a translucent midsole, a design style Abloh dubbed “ghosting,” this Off-White rendition served as the perfect deconstruction of the original design and was one of 10 sneakers that inspired the deconstructionist sneaker movement.

The Swoosh features a cross stitch swoosh outline, classic Abloh ‘Air’ and ‘shoelaces’ quotes at the midsole and laces, production detail text on the inner shoe and that iconic orange Off-White tab hanging off the Swoosh. It’s one of the few designs of the sneaker that looks radically different but still works.

Find a pair at GOAT.

Supreme x Comme des Garçons SHIRT x Nike — Air Force 1, 2018

Supreme has made a lot of AF-1s, and for the most part, they’re all just fine — good designs that don’t really offer anything new. But this three-way collaboration between Supreme, CDG, and Nike is something else. Featuring a textured black leather upper with a white split swoosh and midsole, this sneaker takes a gimmick (split swooshes) and actually makes it work.

It’s a sneaker that attempts and succeeds at having things both ways, it features a classic black and white colorway, with a small change-up that manages to make the old look new. The back heel has Supreme and CDG branding in a simple minimalist font that doesn’t distract the eye but still reminds onlookers of its heritage.

Find a pair at GOAT.

Off-White x Nike Air Force 1 — MCA, 2019

Released to coincide with Virgil Abloh’s exhibit at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art, this sneaker was a MOCA exclusive that combined some of Nike’s most beloved colors into a single shoe. The main base of the sneaker is done up in University Blue with a silver metallic swoosh that pays tribute to an early AF-1, with a University Red tab in place of the Off-White usual Orange.

The tag on this sneaker is offset and while it’s not nearly as deconstructed as ‘The Ten,” it does still have some remnants of that original design, like the cross-stitched Swoosh, the text on the laces, and those ridiculous zip ties that are attached to every Off-White collaboration. The sneaker looks best without the zip tie in our opinion.

Find a pair at GOAT.

Travis Scott x Nike Air Force 1 — Cactus Jack, 2019

It’s far from the best Travis Scott Nike collaboration, but the Cactus Jack AF-1 is a modern classic in both the Air Force 1 and Cactus Jack lineage. Featuring a graphic and busy canvas upper with two different swoosh colors (brown on the outer, black on the inner), the Cactus Jack features a gum sole, green stitching along the midsole, Cactus Jack branding, and a corduroy zip-up lace shroud.

Can we do without the lace shroud? Absolutely, and luckily, it’s removable! For a while this was one of the best Cactus Jack sneakers but since its release Travis Scott has given us many more, particularly focusing on Jordan silhouettes. We get that the Jordans are hot, but here is to hoping the Cactus Jack brand spends a little more time on the non-Jordan silhouettes in Nike’s roster.

Find a pair at GOAT.

Off White x Nike Air Force 1 — Lemonade, 2021

LeBron James rocked this pair of Off-White AF-1s at the pre-game tunnel during 2021’s NBA All-Star Game, the Lemonade couldn’t look more different than Abloh’s first AF-1. Featuring a loud mustard yellow colorway with a silver Swoosh outlined in contrast stitching, the Lemonade sports a foam tongue with woven tags.

Aside from the silver swoosh and the black production notes on the outer panels, this entire sneaker from the outsole to midsole, to upper, to tongue and laces, is one color. You’d think that would only work in an all-white or all-black colorway, leave it to Abloh to crush expectations and assumptions.

Stüssy x Nike Air Force 1 — Black/White, 2022

Nike has been showing a lot of love to the high-top and mid-rise Jordan this year which makes us wonder if we’re about to enter a phase where the higher profile AF-1s take precedence over the low-top. For some people, that’ll never be the case, but for new sneakerheads on the scene who have no allegiance towards the low-top design, anything could happen!

This sneaker was made in collaboration with Southern California skatewear brand Stüssy and featured an all-leather upper with a white base and black paneling. Stüssy’s sloppy logo is a trademark of the brand, but they smartly decided to keep it simple here with an all-caps rendition embroidered on the mid-foot strap with simple ‘SS’ emblems at the heel.

It was released alongside an accompanying apparel collection and together with this sneaker, it’s the most exciting collaboration Stüssy has dropped in years.

Pick up a pair at GOAT.

For the last two years, Fox News has had to thread a very specific needle. On one hand, they don’t want to enrage former president Donald Trump by admitting that he lost re-election in 2020. On the other, they don’t want to get sued, again. It must be exhausting! Every now and then they piss the big guy off big time, as happened when a correspondent straight-up reminded viewers that Biden won.

That person was Marie Harf, a rare liberal commentator on the network, who used her time on The Faulkner Focus to speculate about the 2024 presidential election. “There’s a lot of bedwetting that goes on in the media and Democratic circles every four years about who our nominee is going to be,” Harf said. “Joe Biden beat Donald Trump pretty handily in 2020. And if Donald Trump runs again I believe that Joe Biden can win again.”

There were probably a number of MAGA heads who blew their gasket at that one, especially because Harf dropped it so casually. But few were as irate as Trump himself.

“Fox News treats ‘TRUMP’ every bit as badly as they did in 2015, before I later won the Election,” Trump railed on his rinky-dink Twitter clone, writing, as he sometimes does, in the third person, though also in all-caps and quotation mark. He continued:

“Fox was brutal then, and not too good now. This lightweight failure in the Obama Administration, Fox News Contributer Marie Harf, is allowed to say anything she wants, without rebuttal – and others likewise. I beat Crooked Hillary Clinton, and then beat Biden by much more. Fox is afraid to say what REALLY happened in that farce of an Election – IT WAS RIGGED AND STOLLEN. Get tough Republicans!!!” [all sic]

Not only is Trump refusing to move on from something that happened two years ago, but he’s reportedly planning to sow more chaos over the midterm elections — at least if GOP candidates don’t win. Anyway, fasten your seatbelts, it’s gonna be a bumpy couple weeks/months/years.

(Via Mediaite)

For the last few years, alumni of the Harry Potter films have had to do a tricky dance. On one hand, some of them owe their careers to the world created by author J.K. Rowling. On the other, they feel the need to distance themselves from her loud anti-trans beliefs. Among those is Daniel Radcliffe, who penned an open letter about Rowling at the height of the backlash against her. Now, as Rowling has refused to back down, he’s reiterated that stance.

“The reason I felt very, very much as though I needed to say something when I did was because, particularly since finishing ‘Potter,’ I’ve met so many queer and trans kids and young people who had a huge amount of identification with Potter on that,” Radcliffe told IndieWire in a recent interview. “And so seeing them hurt on that day I was like, I wanted them to know that not everybody in the franchise felt that way. And that was really important.”

Radcliffe’s letter ran on the site for the Trevor Project, which runs the largest suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ+ youth. “Transgender women are women,” Radcliffe wrote. “Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I.”

In the new interview, Radcliffe reflected on writing that letter. “It was really important as I’ve worked with the Trevor Project for more than 10 years, and so I don’t think I would’ve been able to look myself in the mirror had I not said anything,” he said. “But it’s not mine to guess what’s going on in someone else’s head.”

Through Rowling has never apologized for her beliefs — quite the contrary — she hasn’t been ghosted by Warner Bros. Discovery, which produces and distributes films in the Harry Potter-verse. Over the summer, they even announced they remained happy to work with her.

Radcliffe, meanwhile, has moved on, with no interest in returning to the role that made him a household name. Instead, he’s doing what he wants, namely playing Weird “Al” Yankovic.

(Via IndieWire)

It’s easy to feel a small amount of smug superiority over how batshit some of the folks are that Jordan Klepper talks with in his regular forays outside various MAGA rallies and hootnannies for The Daily Show and specials like tonight’s Jordan Klepper Fingers The Midterms: America Unfollows Democracy (which airs at 11:30 on Comedy Central), but that isn’t the point of the exercise.

Oh sure, laugh to keep from crying, but not so much that you miss the message. As he said to me last week, he’s just reflecting the world back to us, something that puts the onus rightly on all of us to be moved by and realize what we’re seeing, not just assume that there are grown-ups who will stop the inmates from taking over the asylum. Because, as should be clear, the grown-ups are on the ballot next week and it doesn’t seem like they’re cruising to victory.

We spoke with Klepper about those odds, what might come next for American democracy, and the shock, exhaustion, curiosity, and quest for understanding that seems to color the world of these specials.

I feel like every time we do this I’m checking on you. Are you okay? Has anyone spit on you? Have you been made to cry because you’ve been called a cuck? But, this time, I mean I care, but, I kind of need you to make me feel better.

Oh?

How do you feel about the midterms and the state of democracy as someone who has been on the ground or driven into the ground?

Yeah, you came to the wrong guy. Making you feel good about the state of the world? I just reflect it, you do with it what you will.

Scream, run, cry.

Get you excited enough to vote? I think that, probably, one excursion out in the sun, doing your civic duty, that might be the best I can give you. Let’s see. This is a consequential midterm and it had us curious: election denialism, it’s on the ballot for 60% of Americans. What does that look like? And, frankly, it looks pretty intimidating and it sticks. We started out having a conversation about whether you accepted the last election and then we stumbled into having conversations about, “Will you accept this next election?” And, it feels like, that answer’s already been written. Most of the people we talk to will not. And so, you can already see the cancerous effect of this kind of conversation to the point where, “Oh, if you don’t get what you want, there’s a much easier way than accepting defeat. Just don’t accept defeat.” And, I see that happening across the country right now. Who wins and loses? I don’t know but, I do think democracy is probably not on the winning side of it all.

Have you lost the ability to be shocked by any of this at this point?

It’s hard to shock me. You will surprise me. A man told me that Joe Biden was executed at Guantanamo Bay and that James Woods is playing Joe Biden with a voice box. That surprised me. Didn’t see that one coming.

Because you don’t think James Woods has the range?

[Laughs] You’re right. I’ve seen him recently, he can’t pull that off.

In the special, you explore the possible consequences of election denialism and the term Civil War comes up. How realistic is that? I think you and I have joked about a couple of times previously about it and it seems like it keeps tiptoeing closer and closer.

It keeps getting closer to closer. I sat down with Rep. Adam Kinzinger, and he didn’t dance around it. In fact, he says, “I used to not want to talk but I think it’s important we do.” Yeah, it is a possibility. We’ve talked a little bit about this before, it’s a misunderstanding of what that might actually look like. And, I don’t have any magic ball here but, looking at something like what happened in Northern Ireland with The Troubles, I could see violence, I could see things happening in the streets, very localized frustrations. When you don’t have a trust in the democratic institution, and when you don’t have a shared reality or bedrock information source to come from, I think that puts everybody in a very precarious place.

So, we’re going to have a midterm election where there’s a lot of people who deny the results and they think that people who are in office are not legitimate. We are set up to have an election where we vote for somebody and then we have electors chosen by somebody else who is not choosing what the state chose. Those are dangerous places for a country to be in.

That feels like the most dangerous place, that happening, and also the most realistic possibility.

We thought that there were protections in the American experiment through the bureaucracy and the redundancy of some of its positions. But now you have the Secretary of State position being very important to, not only this election but, what’s going to happen in 2024. And, if you can get enough people out there who put somebody in there who believes, “I’m going to put my allegiance to this party over my allegiance to this country,” which, used to be a shocking opinion and, now, it’s almost a requirement for one half of the political spectrum right now. Well, that’s going to put us in a really scary place in 2024.

It feels kind of like closing time. It feels like the last call, sort of.

So much of what we had faith in is a general, good-natured desire to put the country first, which is the great irony around “America first” is it’s calling out the initial bullshit of what we all expected was actually the case in reality is like, “Oh no, you just gave away the game,” and you see it now. You also have a party that is losing its electoral base and so they’re fighting harder than ever to shore up the ways to win elections. And you’re like, “Oh really? Oh, shit. The Secretary of State can just do that? That seems like a flaw.” “Oh wow, if we got this many people, we do the lines here. Oh, they can do that? Well, that also seems like a flaw.” Yeah, it turns out those founders, those slave owners, didn’t have it all figured out.

(Laughs) Well, how much of the sort of ideology of “no fucks given because no consequences felt” thing comes from an awareness of where the media is. I like to use the analogy that it’s almost like Jurassic Park when the dinosaurs realized the fence wasn’t working. That’s what it feels like.

I like the Jurassic Park analogy. I think you have a political class who realize they can turn off the fences whenever they want and there is no consequence. And then, you have an electorate that is just getting bad information. And, we look at the media diet and it’s showbiz. And so we keep thinking that news is something that is a social utility, a public utility, that we’re always going to get the best version of it instead of, it’s showbiz and you’re going to get the thing that could sell the most McDonald’s hamburgers. You’re going to get the thing that can make Elon Musk’s Twitter more profitable.

So, what do we get? We have a bunch of people who are consuming the most entertaining pieces of information they can. And the one people who had control over the switch, just were taught you don’t actually have to be fair with the switch. You can kind of do whatever you want. And the founders didn’t see that coming. They didn’t know about this social media and they also didn’t know that there’s a bunch of people who want to hold on to power and are so afraid of being called a sore loser that they’re willing to burn it down just to keep that job.

We’ve seen, especially on the left, just a reflexive eye roll to any kind of New York Times, “Let’s go to a diner and find out what Trump voters think,” kind of thing. Do you ever worry that you’re going to get kind of sucked up into the gears of something like that because you are putting a microphone in the faces of Trump voters to find out what they think? Even if, obviously, there’s a little bit of a different focus.

Sure. Well, I think, for me, it’s always curiosity. I think we are definitely heading to our own echo chambers in a way where we only want to hear what we want to hear, but we live in a democracy where we all vote on things and they have consequences and we’re seeing that take place with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. We’re seeing that take place with climate change, with all sorts of things. And so, even though we might lose, we might get frustrated at hearing what the other side has to say, we are affected by it. I do think that will continue to be a curiosity and an interest and it’s important for us to look into it and to see what are the beliefs that are being held. And not just from a cynical point of view. Hopefully, it’ll come from a point of view where maybe there’s a little bit of understanding where they come from. You’re not always getting that there, but I think checking in as to what your neighbors are thinking at least is helpful from the point of view of at least you know what they’re stockpiling.

(Laughs) I haven’t seen the special yet, but I know there’s a focus group element where you ask people what they’ll bring to a Civil War. So what do you specifically bring to the table for a civil war? What’s your skill set?

(Laugh) I think satire.

Oh yeah, that’s going to go real well for you.

I think I’m going to be loading my satirical gun on that battlefield and, I really think, as long as quips and insights can really do the deed in a civil war, I should be fine. Somebody once said you can’t dress a wound with a joke, but I’m going to really put that to a test.

Last question, delicately trying to weave this in. Obviously, your name has come up with Trevor leaving, not asking about that directly but, I’m just curious about what your approach is to being in the rumor mill and having your name come up. How does that work with ego?

That is such a hilariously delicate way of putting this.

(Laughs) Thank you, I try. It was like a Faberge egg of a question. But do you pay it any attention?

I can’t say I dive too deep into it because I’ve been through this before and there’s going to be a million people with insights that don’t really affect your life so you just keep on doing your thing. For me, I’ve still got a job to do with The Daily Show. I’m still going out. I think that midterms are super important. So, I think that’s where I put my head. I love The Daily Show. I was a fan of Craig Kilborn. I got brought on by Jon Stewart and I worked with Trevor Noah and so I have a lot of pride in that institution and hope for the next steps within it. And so, I’m flattered to be a part of any kind of conversation, but I got a job to do and my goal is to make The Daily Show great right now. And then, we’ll see what happens next.

That was a pretty delicate answer, too.

Boy. I don’t know. (Laughs)

It just rubs off. That was good. I think we got it.

Do you know who’s getting it? Have you heard?

I don’t, but I’ve talked to you. I’ve talked to Roy. I just talked to Hassan a couple of weeks ago. I’m trying to keep all my bases covered.

Okay, Roy and Hassan. were they as delicate as I was?

I didn’t ask Hassan about it, but Roy answered it really well. It was more about work-life balance with the Roy question. I was delicate there, too. I’m pretty good at this.

I’ll take it.

Always a pleasure. I look forward to the next time. You need to add some stuff to those shelves, man.

I just moved, this is sad. Embarrassing.

Yeah, a little bit. Next time I hope to see some baubles.

Some Emmys, that’s what we need.

(Laughs) There you go. Absolutely. Get some advice from Trevor. Trevor was like an absolute pioneer in the shelf game with the at-home shows.

I think yours is better. You know what, his leans more toward corporate shtick. I mean yours feels lived in. You don’t have to give Trevor too much credit. He’s on the way out. That wasn’t his shit. (Laugh) That clearly looks like your stuff. Are those DVDs? Are we still watching DVDs?

No, those are Star Wars VHS. Those are the original trilogy that’s in my bunker just in case. So, that way, I don’t have to watch any of the extra digital effects. I don’t have a VCR, but I have the VHS.

If there’s a civil war, we’re not getting our streaming. So get your VHS back, Princess Bride and double down.

Yeah. I’m going to have to use them as trade in the new apocalypse, basically. No walking Jabba in these, this is the uncut, good stuff.

(Laughs) Well, good luck with that. I think that’s as good a plan as ever.

‘Jordan Klepper Fingers The Midterms: America Unfollows Democracy’ debuts November 1 at 11:30PM ET on Comedy Central and on Paramount+ the next day.

In what could have been the latest instance of a celebrity feud beginning firmly in the “let them fight” side of the drama spectrum, James Corden and Ricky Gervais were briefly at odds over a joke plagiarism scandal that was somewhat squashed by a Twitter apology.

It’s the latest drama for Corden, the Late Late Show host who was the talk of the food and beverage industry when he was abruptly banned from a fancy restaurant until he kind of apologized for some bad behavior. And Gervais, well, he’s absolutely interested in some joke policing these days, even if other comedians aren’t exactly taking his word as law anyway.

In this case, however, Gervais did seem to have a reason to be upset. As Variety noted, the drama stems from a Halloween night episode of the Late Late Show, where Corden made a joke about Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition that sounds extremely similar to a joke Gervais made years earlier during a stand-up special.

“When you see Elon Musk talk about Twitter he does this thing where he goes, ‘Well, it’s the town square,’” Corden said (via Insider). “But it isn’t. Because if someone puts up a poster in a town square that says ‘guitar lessons available,’ you don’t get people in the town going ‘I don’t want to play the guitar! I want to play the piano, you piece of shit!’”

“That sign wasn’t for you, it was for someone else,” Corden added. “You don’t have to get mad!”

As some have put together on Twitter, the jokes do play out almost identically, save for a few words dropped or added.

As Variety noted, in a now-deleted tweet, Gervais sarcastically said that the “bit about the town square advert for guitar lessons is brilliant.” But that tweet was likely deleted because Corden worked fairly quickly to (kind of) make amends. Given that the evidence here is pretty damning, Corden took to his show’s Twitter to offer a mea culpa and credit Gervais for the “brilliant” joke.

“Inadvertently told a brilliant Ricky Gervais joke on the show last night, obviously not knowing it came from him,” Corden said. “It’s brilliant, because it’s a Ricky Gervais joke. You can watch all Ricky’s excellent specials on Netflix.”

By this morning, Gervais himself seemed a bit more understanding of the mix-up, (sarcastically?) blaming someone in the writer’s room for borrowing his joke and repackaging it in the context of Twitter’s new owner.

All in all, it’s impossible to know every joke ever told, of course, but when something as blatant as this happens it’s clear that someone made a big mistake.

And speaking of Ricky Gervais jokes, here is one!

[via Variety]

There are a few really good things about HBO shows. For one, the episodes can be really long because they don’t have to revolve around those silly little ad breaks. Another perk is that there is a ton of cursing and nobody can do anything about it! Finally, and most importantly (depending on who you ask) HBO has a notoriously lax nudity policy, which allows for really great creative freedom! And also allows for your screen to be filled to the brim with butts. That’s television, baby!

If you tuned into the new season of The White Lotus, you must have noticed that they have been really leaning into the nudity aspect of it all. In the first episode, Theo James’ character is fully nude in front of Aubrey Plaza’s character Harper (who is not his wife, for the record). This set up a tense dynamic that will no doubt get even more complex as the season goes on.

James said that there was actually a lot more nudity that didn’t make the cut. “The initial version we shot was way too much. So, we did a more subtle version. They toned it [down].” James told Entertainment Tonight. Just imagine what the original scenes must have looked like. Probably something like this.

Still, James’ scene made waves online, with many viewers focused on his…swimsuit!! Or lack thereof!

Maybe if everyone brought this energy to The Time Traveler’s Wife then we could have gotten a second season!!

The White Lotus airs Sundays at 9 pm on HBO. Please proceed with caution.

As legend has it, The Watcher letters (and harassment) stopped after the terrorized family left the building. Ryan Murphy recently adapted the based-on-real-life story for Netflix, and although some vocal viewers were disappointed at the lack of a concrete ending, that aspect of the show matches up to what happened in real life. Or rather, it matches what didn’t happen, given that even though the show toys with hypotheticals, no one actually determined the identity of The Watcher.

The show is remains worth a watch, but there’s a new wrinkle because the real-life mystery has actually been fueled by how the harassment simply evaporated. The Broadusses/Brannocks relocated and apparently went back to a peaceful life, and the newest owners of 657 Boulevard (as detailed by The Cut’s followup reporting to their original article) seemed to have no further issues. And barring “a confession or a DNA match,” it looked like this story would fade into the pop cultural annals of history.

Not so fast, though? The New York Post reports (while claiming to have viewed new police records) that the house’s current owners have called police dozens of times, including for unknown reasons. It’s very mysterious:

The current owners of 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey — the property otherwise known as the real-life home from “The Watcher” series — have made 58 calls to police since they moved in back in July 2019, The Post can report.

The Post notes that the Westfield Police relayed a lack of developments (or “threatening communications”) for the new owners as of October 2021. However, if the new report is to be believed, there have been calls made for several reasons, including a medical call but also the owners feeling “spooked by something” along with concerns of possible burglary-related activity and tripped alarms in the basement. However, the police reports remain under wraps, and no new activity has been confirmed by other sources. So, take this with a grain of salt, but it sure makes the O.G. story seem spookier.

(Via New York Post)

WandaVision‘s Agatha spinoff just added an up and coming Netflix star. Heartstopper‘s Joe Locke has reportedly joined the cast of Agatha: Coven of Chaos, which will focus on Kathryn Hahn’s character following her first encounter with Elizabeth Olsen’s now fully-powered Scarlet Witch.

As always, details around Locke’s character are being closely guarded, but that hasn’t stopped fan theories from running rampant with a stab at his identity. Via The Wrap:

Online speculation has suggested he could be playing an older version of Billy, one of the kids that Wanda had in Westview (she also spent much of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” trying to get back to them). Besides Locke and Hahn, Emma Caulfield Ford has also been confirmed to return to the series, playing her “WandaVision” character Dottie.

Locke playing Billy Maximoff (or Wiccan as he’s more commonly known in the comics) would track as the collection of Disney+ originals have been slowly building a Young Avengers team in the background. However, how Billy could even exist in the current MCU will be an interesting mystery considering he was revealed to be a manifestation of Wanda’s magic and imagination in the WandaVision series finale. (In other words, not real.)

That said, alternate versions of Billy and his brother Tommy were shown in the Doctor Strange sequel, and the MCU is currently embroiled in what’s known as “The Multiverse Saga.” There’s also another option: Online reports are saying that Sacha Baron Cohen has been cast as Mephisto and will appear in the Agatha spinoff. His dark magic could also provide an avenue to bring Wanda’s children into the current MCU’s reality.

Or the kid could just… show up. Sometimes it’s best not to overthink it.

(Via The Wrap)