Bill Lawrence, the former showrunner of Scrubs and Cougar Town, among others, is currently killing it as showrunner of Apple TV’s Ted Lasso, arguably the best new show of 2020 and — along with Mythic Quest — the best reason to subscribe to Apple TV. Lawrence, however, has had a tumultuous history with network television, so he’s probably very happy to be working in an environment with far fewer restrictions, especially now that Ted Lasso has been renewed for two more seasons (and according to Lawrence, Lasso is a planned, three-season TV series).
That freedom did not always exist for Lawrence, and back in his Scrubs days, he had to deal with Standards and Practices, otherwise known as the TV censors. The way that Standards and Practices applies the rules has always been a little inexplicable, but in this week’s episode of the “Fake Doctors, Real Friends” podcast, Lawrence provides an example of one of the more absurd applications.
It involved Scrubs‘ Christmas episode in 2004, “My Rule of Thumb,” and what Standards and Practices did in this episode “drove [Lawrence] insane.” The episode centers on a patient with terminal cancer, and as originally written, Elliot and Carla were “out and about” trying to help the cancer patient deal with the pain by finding her some marijuana (this was before medical marijuana was commonly available). When Lawrence handed the script in, however, Standards and Practices told him they couldn’t air an episode where a “physician and nurse are driving around trying to find someone they can buy pot off of.”
Baffled, Lawrence offered another suggestion, which would both offer an “easy fix” and reveal the “hypocrisy” of Standards and Practices. Instead of having the cancer patient search for weed, “we had the woman who was dying be a virgin and Elliot and Carla go look for a man-whore so she can get laid.” When Lawrence turned that into Standards, they said, they said laughed, said it was funny, and that it “was fine” to air.
“So, even though it’s proven by so many medical studies that” marijuana is effective for patients dealing with the side effects of chemo, “doctors can’t go get a patient who is dying some marijuana, but they can go anywhere to get them a man-whore so she can have sex in a hospital.” TV censorship is weird.
Side note: It’s probably worth tracking down this episode of Scrubs, because it was the one where Kelso introduced his most famous catchphrase: “What has two thumbs and doesn’t give a crap? This guy.”
Dolly Parton’s version of her biggest song, “I Will Always Love You,” performed well on the country charts back in the day. It became an enduring global hit, though, when Whitney Houston recorded her version. Now, Parton thinks that a modern star could do something similar with another classic song of hers from the same period, “Jolene.”
Parton told The Big Issue, “‘Jolene’ has been recorded more than any other song that I have ever written. It has been recorded worldwide over 400 times in lots of different languages, by lots of different bands. The White Stripes did a wonderful job of it, and many other people. But nobody’s ever had a really big hit record on it. I’ve always hoped somebody might do [that] someday, someone like Beyonce.”
In the piece, she also wrote about the song’s background, revealing (as she has before) that it was possibly written on the same day as “I Will Always Love You,” saying, “‘Jolene’ and ‘I Will Always Love You’ were on the same album [1974’s Jolene]. In fact, they came from the same cassette, so it is possible that I wrote those two songs in the same day. ‘Jolene’ is a song about… you know, I’ve got my pride and I’ve got my strength. But when I write a song, I’m vulnerable at those moments. I leave my heart out on my sleeve. I’ve always said I have to leave my heart open in order to receive those kind of songs. I have to feel everything to be a real songwriter. And yes, a lot of my songs are kind of melancholy. Some of them are sad, and some of them are pitiful. And I mean for them to be pitiful, those really sad songs like ‘Little Sparrow’ or ‘Jeannie’s Afraid Of The Dark.’ I have a big imagination and I become whoever I’m writing about. It’s like starring in a movie; I am that character in that song. So when I wrote it, I was ‘Jolene.’”
A fun way to kill 20 minute is to look at the winners for the MTV Movie & TV Awards (formerly MTV Movie Awards) over the years. For instance, did you know Sin City‘s Jessica Alba won “Sexiest Performance” in 2006 over Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo‘s Rob Schneider? Of course you did. But how about the Ham and Cheese Sandwich from Smoke upsetting the Submarine Sandwich With Tomatoes and Provolone from GoldenEye to take home Best Sandwich in a Movie? I’m still outraged. My personal favorite (existing) category, however, is Best Kiss. It’s been around since 1992, when Anna Chlumsky and Macaulay Culkin won for My Girl. Other winners include Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst (Spider-Man), Ashton Sanders and Jharrel Jerome (Moonlight), and Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair (Cruel Intentions).
“Looking back 20 years ago… A kiss. Between two young actresses. On screen. In a mainstream teen movie. In 2000,” Blair wrote on Instagram ahead of Sunday’s MTV Movie and TV Awards: Greatest of All Time special. “It was a sweet and delicious kiss for my character, Cecile. And she wanted more. And I must say it was a really good kiss. What feels so delicious to me now is how it isn’t shocking in 2020. It stands for a shift in thinking.” She also reunited with Michelle Gellar to give the kiss a 2020 update.
It’s no surprise that Rudy Giuliani, who has been on a whirlwind Trump campaign “Strike Force” tour, tested positive for the coronavirus. However, the timing of said positive status is somewhat surprising, given that it’s going down two weeks after his hair-dye meltdown at an event where his son, Andrew, attended and tested positive the next day. Nonetheless, it turns out that Giuliani really is positive now, and no one knows when he was infected, but there’s a good chance that he was exposed (and possibly contagious) during a public hearing in Michigan. This would be the same “election fraud” hearing in which he apparently passed gas, and it’s also the same one where a wild wine lady made it even weirder. It’s all a blur, right?
At this Michigan hearing, Rudy asked a witness (who was sitting next to him) to remove her mask. Here’s a video clip, courtesy of Fox 17’s Aaron Parseghian on Twitter. Rudy asks the woman if she would be “comfortable” removing her mask while testifying, “so that people could hear you more clearly.” Spoiler alert: she was not comfortable doing so and pushed back.
Here’s Rudy Giuliani in Lansing Wednesday asking one of his witnesses if they were comfortable taking off their mask while testifying…she wasn’t.
As The Independent reveals, this woman has been identified as Jessy Jacob, a city clerk’s office worker. Jessy was Giuliani’s first witness at the hearing, which was jam-packed at the Anderson House Office Building (a state government building, unlike the Hyatt venue of last week’s Arizona hearing) in Lansing, Michigan. Rudy spoke at this hearing for over three hours while, you know, not wearing a freaking mask.
In some respects, Dionne Warwick could be considered old-fashioned. For example, Warwick (who turns 80 years old on December 12) doesn’t get why artists today have the word “The” in their stage names or intentionally spell words wrong, and she spent part of her weeknd (intentional misspelling) going after some of the most famous offenders (all in good fun, of course).
Her first target was Chance The Rapper, at whom she tweeted, “Hi, @chancetherapper. If you are very obviously a rapper why did you put it in your stage name? I cannot stop thinking about this.” She added in another tweet, “I am now Dionne the Singer,” before continuing with some praise for Chance: “‘Holy’ by Justin the Bieber @justinbieber and @chancetherapper is one of my favorite songs right now.”
Hi, @chancetherapper. If you are very obviously a rapper why did you put it in your stage name? I cannot stop thinking about this.
Chance was beside himself after Warwick’s tweets, replying, “Sorry I’m still freaking out that u know who I am. This is amazing!” He added, “I will be whatever you wanna call me Ms Warwick. God bless you.” Warwick responded, “Of course I know you. You’re THE rapper. Let’s rap together. I’ll message you.”
Sorry I’m still freaking out that u know who I am. This is amazing!
After the Chance encounter, she moved on to her next target, tweeting, “If you have ‘The’ in your name i’m coming for you. I need answers today.” She then called out The Weeknd, tweeting, “The Weeknd is next. Why? It’s not even spelled correctly? @theweeknd.” Like Chance, The Weeknd responded by indicating that he was thrilled by the interaction, writing, “I just got roasted by Dionne Warwick and I feel honored! You just made my day.”
If you have “The” in your name i’m coming for you. I need answers today.
Warwick concluded this saga by confirming what most people already suspected: That her criticisms weren’t meant to be hostile. She tweeted, “It’s all in good fun. Of course I am just kidding. Those talented young men were good sports & very respectful! Enjoy your Sunday. Stay kind.”
It’s all in good fun. Of course I am just kidding. Those talented young men were good sports & very respectful! Enjoy your Sunday. Stay kind.
This comes a few days after Warwick shouted out Taylor Swift, who, like Chance and The Weeknd, was also happy to receive some attention from the legend.
It’s a question that has haunted mankind since John Q. Pringles popped his first can: What does the Pringles guy look like below the neck?
His face is familiar — the mustache, the Tobias-esque hair — but his body remains a salty mystery. This topic consumes Last Week Tonight host John Oliver, in particular, who asked in a recent episode, “Is he tall or short? Does he have a lot of body hair, or is he completely smooth? When will he be able to tell me what his nipples look like? Are you talking hours, or are you talking days?” I can answer one of those (like Carlos Santana ft. Rob Thomas, he’s smooth), but as for the rest, Last Week Tonight returned on Sunday for a web exclusive clip where Oliver showed off the Pringles Guy fan art he’s received since making his non-Adam Driver obsession public, including this beauty.
HBO
“Hot Daddy Pring” is not official, though. That’s why Oliver wants to hear from Pringles itself. “Why is Pringles dodging our question here?” he wondered. “We’re truly not asking for a lot. We’ve seen a ton of excellent, excellent Pringles bods; we just need to know which one is canon.” Oliver knows so much useless information about Pringles, including that the mascot is named Julius Pringles, but “not the one thing I really want to know, which is: What is Julius Pringles working with from the neck down?” It’s probably this.
Christopher Osburn has spent the past fifteen years in search of “the best” — or at least his very favorite — sips of whisk(e)y on earth. He’s enjoyed more drams than his doctor would dare feel comfortable with, traveled to over 20 countries testing local spirits, visited more than 50 distilleries around the globe, and amassed a collection of bottles that occupies his entire basement (and infuriates his wife).
In this series, he cracks open his worn “tasting diary” and shares its contents with the masses.
Picking favorites is tricky. As you gain more and more experience, your tastes shift. Everything becomes subjective. Perceptions are filtered through your imperfect memory and reshaped by nostalgia. Once you hit your mid-20s, even shouting out your most beloved movie or song is tough.
Don’t worry, I’m still going to do it. Ranking whiskeys is the gig, after all. In fact, I’m picking my thirty favorite bourbons, then ranking them. But it should be noted: Though one bottle will be slotted 30th and one will take the highly coveted top spot, I enjoy all of these expressions. Some for personal, sentimental reasons and some because they’re just flat out tasty.
As you might expect, you’ll find some of the big boys of the bourbon world represented (Jim Beam, Wild Turkey, Buffalo Trace, etc.). But there are also some lesser-known brands and even a few not from Kentucky (gasp!). I’m also more than a little influenced by price, making sure to keep a solid number of entry-level expressions in play. Don’t worry, snobs, the expensive drams get shine, too.
Check my picks below and let me know how much you hate my list (and therefore everything else about me) in the comments.
This small-batch, estate-bottled bourbon comes from Willett. It’s double-distilled and aged for ten years. It’s complex, rich, and mellow. It also happens to be surprisingly cheap, at around $35. A bargain bottle that belongs in your liquor cabinet.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find hints of fresh mint, charred oak, and buttery caramel. The first sip is filled with dried cherries, molasses, creamy vanilla, and toasted wood. The finish is long, warming, and ends with a final flourish of salted caramel.
Produced since 1946, this is a true throwback bourbon. This 80-proof whiskey is as consistently good as it is ridiculously affordable. It’s the kind of bourbon you’ll want to tell your friends about. Buy a bottle (or three) and stock up your liquor cabinet for the impending holidays and beyond.
Tasting Notes:
If you take a whiff or two, you’ll find scents of caramel corn, sugar cookies, and subtle sweet cinnamon spice. The first sip brings you flavors of sticky toffee pudding, sweet corn, candied orange peel, and spicy rye. The finish is long, lingering, and ends with a nice final hint of caramelized sugar.
Even though most bourbon expressions are made in Kentucky, it doesn’t need to be made in the Blue Grass State. The folks at Wyoming Whiskey know this better than most. Their flagship, small-batch bourbon has won so many awards that even the most ardent Kentucky loyalist would be charmed by it.
Tasting Notes:
The first aroma that fills your senses is that toasted vanilla beans. This is followed by subtle wildflowers and brown sugar. The first sip emphasizes hints of sweet cream, spicy cinnamon, cloves, and sweet caramel. The finish is long, slightly warm, and ends with a combination of caramel candy and cinnamon spice.
What begins as fully matured Maker’s Mark becomes something totally different when seared French oak staves are added to the barrel and the juice is aged for one more season.
The result is a bolder, more pronounced bourbon with extra caramel and vanilla sweetness.
Tasting Notes:
Take a deep draw of this bourbon before sipping and you’ll be met with sweet caramel, charred oak, and toasted vanilla. Flavors of English toffee, creamy vanilla, and spicy cinnamon dance on your palate. The finish is long, mellow, and ends in even more caramelized sugar.
This three-grain bourbon from FEW in Illinois is made with corn, rye, and barley. It’s prepared in small batches and aged in charred oak casks. The result is a complex, flavorful whiskey that will make you rethink any biases you have again bourbon made outside of the Bluegrass State.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find hints of spicy rye, sweet vanilla, sugary nuts, and buttery caramel. Take a sip and you’ll find flavors of sticky toffee, cloves, licorice, and brown sugar. The finish is long, very warm, and ends with a final kick of peppery spice.
Buffalo Trace is the flagship (and bargain-priced) whiskey for the distillery of the same name. It’s made from corn, barley, and rye, and aged in new, charred, American oak casks. It’s known for its smooth, rich, easy-drinking flavor.
Tasting Notes:
If you spend time nosing this whiskey, you’ll find aromas of chocolate, toasted wood, and caramel. The first sip brings you flavors of buttery vanilla, walnuts, sweet toffee, and subtle rye spice. The finish is long, mellow, and ends with a final mouthful of creamy caramel.
If you’re not open-minded, you might wonder why a whiskey like Wild Turkey 101 belongs on this list. Well… it’s my list. And if you ask me, not every enjoyable bourbon is $150. This is a high rye bourbon aged in extra-charred barrels and bottled at barrel proof. It’s bold, rich, and perfect for sipping or mixing.
Plus just look at the price!
Tasting Notes:
For such high rye, high proof whiskey, the nose is rather mellow with hints of caramel corn, sweet cinnamon, and subtle cracked black pepper. The first sip is filled with charred oak, toasted vanilla beans, brown sugar, and buttery caramel. The finish is long, robust, and ends with a final kick of peppery spice.
A bourbon produced by the Willett Distillery, this is made in small batches and bottled at a robust 114.3 proof. It comes in a no-frills bottle and is shrouded in a bit of mystery. But that doesn’t stop it from being one of the most underrated bourbons on the market.
If you spot it in the wild, buy it.
Tasting Notes:
The complex nose is full of hints of maple sugar, dried cherries, and rich leather. The palate is velvety sweet, with notes of cooking spices, toasted walnuts, caramelized sugar, and subtle pepper. The finish is medium, warm, and ends with a final kick of white pepper.
22.) Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel (September 2020)
ABV: 47%
Price: $49.99
The Story:
You can’t go wrong with any whiskeys from Elijah Craig. But one of its newest releases is one of its best. Toasted Barrel dropped in the fall. It’s the brand’s award-winning small-batch bourbon that’s given a second maturation in proprietary toasted new American oak casks. The result is a more mellowed, sweet, caramel-filled bourbon.
Tasting Notes:
Give this whiskey a proper nosing before diving in to take a sip. You’ll find aromas of charred oak, toasted marshmallows, and caramelized sugar. The first sip is filled with spicy cinnamon, cracked black pepper, sweet vanilla, brown sugar, and just a hint of campfire smoke. The finish is warming, long, and ends with a nice flourish of spice.
On top of being a fantastic, well-rounded, high-proof whiskey, Old Grand-Dad Bonded is surprisingly cheap. Perfect for sipping or mixing into an old fashioned or whiskey sour, let’s hope the folks at Jim Beam never wise up and realize they could be charging a lot more for this bottle.
Tasting Notes:
Your nose will be treated to the delightful fragrances of candied orange peels, robust cinnamon spice, and sweet vanilla. On the palate, you’ll find hints of peppery rye, charred wood, sweet caramel corn, and brown sugar. The finish is medium in length, full of heat, and ends with a nice combination of sweet and spicy.
Knob Creek is one of Jim Beam’s Small Batch Bourbons (along with Baker’s, Booker’s, and Basil Hayden’s). From 1992 until 2016, Knob Creek had an age statement of 9-years. It was removed because the brand said they could no longer guarantee every batch would be at least 9 years old, due to a lower inventory.
In 2020, the classic, 9-year small-batch returned to shelves and, as you can see, I like it.
Tasting Notes:
This whiskey’s nose is extremely complex with hints of cinnamon sugar, caramelized sugar, sweet vanilla, and subtle rye spice. The first sip will fill your palate with hints of dried orange peels, caramel, honey, and more spicy cinnamon. The finish is medium in length, warming, and ends with a nice combination of sweet and spice.
Booker’s is a bold and brash bourbon. It’s one of Jim Beam’s small-batch bourbons and it’s known for its unfiltered, uncut, robust flavor. This expression was aged between six and eight years and bottled between 120 and 130 proof. Yet it remains surprisingly smooth and sippable.
A truly unique bottle that belongs in your liquor cabinet.
Tasting Notes:
After the first whiff, you’ll realize why this whiskey has such a bold reputation. Charred oak, rich leather, and salted caramel are very prevalent. With the first sip, your tongue will mingle with flavors like toffee, clover honey, and spicy cinnamon. The finish is long, very warm, and ends with more charred oak and a kick of spicy rye.
Just like Noah’s Mill, Rowan’s Creek is shrouded in mystery. It’s labeled as being bottled by Rowan’s Creek Distillery, but it’s assumed that it’s actually owned by Willett and sourced from another distillery (maybe MGP). It’s bold, high proof, made in small batches, and completely refined and nuanced.
Tasting Notes:
The nose has hints of cinnamon, buttery caramel, and a subtle herbal backbone. The palate is filled with caramelized sugar, sweet vanilla, and just a hint of spicy black pepper. The finish is long, mellow, and ends with a nice final kick of that spicy rye.
Named for the Volstead Act of 1920, which began Prohibition in the US, Old Forester 1920 is a throwback to a bygone era. To pay tribute to those days, Old Forester bottles its 1920 expression at a robust 115 proof. It’s also designed to have a similar flavor profile as those made a century ago this year.
The result is a bold, rich, complex whiskey worth savoring.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find hints of cocoa powder, spicy cinnamon, dried cherries, and charred oak. The first sip will bring you hints of almond cookies, caramelized sugar, butterscotch, and subtle spice. The finish is long, warming, and ends with a nice, lingering sweet vanilla flavor.
This award-winning, high-rye bourbon sits at a robust 100 proof. It was aged in new, charred American oak barrels for a minimum of 7-9 years. The result is an extremely well-rounded, complex whiskey that’s a bargain for just under $50.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is spicy, with hints of clove and cinnamon tempered by sweet vanilla and maple candy. On the sip, you’ll find buttery caramel, dried orange peel, milk chocolate, and just a hint of peppery rye spice. The finish is long, full of pleasing heat, and ends with some white pepper heat.
If you’ve never tried Jefferson’s Bourbon because you think the whole “aged at sea” thing is simply a gimmick, now’s the time to get over your hang ups. This is a great bourbon, trust me on that. Especially the cask strength expression.
This bottle is a blend of small-batch bourbons that were put on a ship and crossed the equator four times while visiting five continents. It’s seen the world, man.
Tasting Notes:
If you take time to nose this bottle, your nostrils will be filled with the aromas of toasted marshmallows, candied orange peels, spicy cinnamon, and sweet vanilla. The first sip is heavy on the toffee candy, dark chocolate, cinnamon buns, and brown sugar. The finish is medium in length and ends with a nice burst of herbal flavors.
While this bourbon carries no age statement, it’s believed to be at least 12 years old. It’s a single barrel bourbon that uses Buffalo Trace’s #2 mash bill (the same higher rye mash used in Blanton’s and Ancient Age) and is named for former Buffalo Trace Master Distiller Elmer T. Lee.
Tasting Notes:
The nose on this expression is full of classic bourbon flavors like baking spices, dried leather, spicy cinnamon, and caramelized sugar. The first sip brings hints of clover honey, buttery vanilla, shortbread cookies, and dried fruits. The finish is long, full of gradually warming heat, and ends with a nice jolt of rye.
The name ‘Full Proof’ might seem a little confusing as this expression isn’t barrel proof. It’s 125 proof and carries no age statement. But internet sleuths believe that it’s around eight-years-old. Honestly, we don’t care about age statements when the juice is this good.
It’s well balanced and filled with a nice amount of peppery rye spice. (I’m noticing that rye is a common thread in this list. Never really picked up on that before!)
Tasting Notes:
Enjoy a nosing before your first sip. You’ll enjoy aromas of peppery rye, toasted oak, creamy vanilla, and salted caramel. Take a sip and you’ll get flavors of caramelized sugar, espresso beans, rich leather, and cracked black pepper. The finish is long, warming, and filled with hints of brown sugar and spicy cinnamon.
You might not think about Texas when you think of bourbon, but the folks at Garrison Brothers are making some pretty amazing stuff. One of their best is the flagship Cowboy Bourbon. It’s bottled at cask strength and uncut and non-charcoal filtered to create a bold, burly whiskey that gives off serious Lone Star State energy.
Tasting Notes:
Take a whiff of this epic bourbon and scents of toasted tobacco, espresso beans, sweet caramel, and vanilla will fill your nostrils. The first sip is loaded with dried fruits, sugar cane sweetness, toasted marshmallows, and honey. The finish is long, warming, and ends in a nice mix of caramel sweetness and peppery spice.
You can’t go wrong with any offering from Woodford Reserve, but its Double Oaked Bourbon is one of its best. It’s twice-barreled (hence the name). The first is a regular charred oak cask and the second is a “deeply” toasted and charred barrel.
The result is a softer, sweeter, more well-rounded whiskey.
Tasting Notes:
Take time to nose this whiskey and you’ll find hints of toasted marshmallow, dried cherries, clover honey, and caramel. When you taste it, expect almonds, Christmas spices, creamy vanilla, and caramel apples. The finish is velvety, mellow, and ends with a nice “Kentucky hug.”
This 90-proof bourbon has received countless awards and for good reason. Aged for ten years in charred American oak barrels at Buffalo Trace, this one uses the distillery’s #1 mash bill — believed to be low rye and high wheat. If you can find it at cost, you’re looking at one of the best bargains on the market.
If not, it’s still probably worth the price.
Tasting Notes:
The first scents you’ll notice are those of candied fruits, sweet honey, and rich toffee. The palate features nutty sweetness, rich leather, toasted oak, and creamy vanilla. The finish is long, full of pleasing heat, and ends with a nice final hint of cinnamon.
Back in 2019, Henry McKenna Single Barrel won “Best in Show Whiskey” at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. This led to its addition to the whiskey hype train and made a $30 bottle one of the hardest to find on the market. But just because it became wildly popular, that doesn’t mean McKenna Single Barrel is already overhyped. I’ll happily hop on the bandwagon for a dram this good.
Aged for ten years and bottled in bond, this 100-proof bourbon is worth all of the accolades it’s received.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is filled with sweet caramel, mouth-watering vanilla, and subtle cinnamon. The first sip brings charred oak, spicy rye, brown sugar, and clover honey. The finish is spicy, warming, and ends with a nice pleasing hit of caramelized sugar.
Michter’s is well-known for making some pretty great bourbons (and ryes). One of its best is its 10-year-old bourbon. This single barrel bourbon is made in limited quantities and aged in fire-charred American oak barrels for a decade. The result is a bold, rich whiskey, filled with caramel and vanilla.
Tasting Notes:
Give this whiskey the nosing it deserves, and you’ll be treated to aromas of toasted wood, vanilla beans, and cocoa powder. The first sip yields sweet cinnamon, candied orange peels, buttery toffee, and chocolate cake. The finish is medium in length, warming, and ends with a nice hit of black pepper.
Batch 009 is one of the most sought-after Barrell expressions in the county, for a variety of reasons. It’s the oldest (aged for 13 years) and lowest proof (still pretty high, at 112.1 proof). It’s also a very unique whiskey, having spent time aging in both Tennessee and Kentucky.
Tasting Notes:
Give this bourbon a quality nosing before your first sip. You’ll find aromas of candied orange peels, caramelized sugar, almond cookies, and molasses. Sip it to find sweet butter cookies, brown sugar, and subtle, spicy cinnamon. The finish is long, warming, and ends with a nice mix of tangy citrus and sweet caramel.
If you talk to whiskey fans, you’ll get a ton of opinions on Blanton’s. While many love it, they all say it’s not priced right. But just because the price might be a little inflated, that doesn’t change the fact that this ten to twelve-year-old bourbon is extremely well-made and nuanced.
Hell, it practically made my top five.
Tasting Notes:
If you give this a nosing, you’ll be treated to scents of sticky toffee, vanilla beans, and cinnamon. The first sip is full of candied orange peel, sweet honey, velvety caramel, and brown sugar. The finish is long, warming, and ends with caramelized sugar and just the tiniest hint of spice.
Bourbon aficionados love cask strength whiskeys and Angel’s Envy makes one of the best. It’s port-wine cask finished and a limited release, with less than 18,000 bottles available. But it’s finally available nationwide which makes it at least slightly easier to find.
The retail price is around $200, so expect to pay a lot more for the aftermarket. But again, this is a special dram. If you can afford it, pay whatever you have to.
Tasting Notes:
Give this whiskey a nice nosing and your senses will be treated to hints of caramelized sugar, charred wood, dried cherries, and subtle cinnamon spice. The first sip rolls deep with salted caramel, candied orange peel, sweet vanilla, and spicy cinnamon flavors. The finish is long, full of warmth, and ends on a current of brown sugar.
In 2019, Widow Jane dropped a limited release of its rarest and oldest bourbons. The blended bourbons are a minimum of 14 years. After aging, this expression was finished in 8-year, air seasoned American oak barrels. This created a unique, rich, mellow whiskey that’s so good, you’ll eagerly await the new release (dropping soon).
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find hints of toasted oak, subtle mint, sweet caramel, and spicy cinnamon. The palate shifts gears, with flavors of creamy vanilla, dark chocolate, butterscotch, and subtle cracked pepper. The finish is long, very warm, and ends in hints of dried fruits, cover honey, and more cinnamon.
Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr is known as one of the founding fathers of the bourbon industry. Hand-selected barrels make up this small batch bourbon that’s known for its velvety, smooth flavor profile well suited for slow sipping.
Tasting Notes:
Maple syrup, spicy cinnamon, and charred oak greet you on the nose. The first sip is filled with fall spices, caramel apples, brown sugar, and sweet anise. The finish is lingering, soft, and ends with a wave of warm pepper.
This is the second whiskey named for George T. Stagg (one of the founders of the distillery now called Buffalo Trace). The first is uncut, unfiltered, and aged for 15 years. This second expression, Stagg, Jr, is the same uncut and unfiltered bourbon, but it was aged for just about a decade.
In all honesty, that’s enough time to rach perfection. This whiskey is smooth, refined, and highly sippable.
Tasting Notes:
Make sure to give this hard-to-find bourbon a proper nosing. You’ll find charred oak, leather, and brown sugar. The first sip morphs those notes into salted caramel, clover honey, toasted wood, and rich milk chocolate. The finish is long, warming, and ends with a nice hint of maple sugar and spicy cinnamon.
While Pappy Van Winkle is almost impossible to find, unless you’re willing to pay a ridiculous sum, W.L. Weller 12 (known as the “poor man’s Pappy”) is slightly easier to track down (and much cheaper). Like Pappy, this 12-year-old bourbon is wheated, soft, and extremely mellow.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is filled with dried orange peel, creamy vanilla, and subtle cinnamon spice. The first sip has flavors of rich maple syrup, sweet caramel, cooking spices, and candied fruits. The finish is long, full of warmth, and ends with more maple sugar candy and cinnamon.
Adam Sandler is enjoying a sweet spot in his career right now, having earned serious Oscar talk with last year’s unbearably intense Uncut Gems. He wound up snubbed, but he did nab a number of other awards, and he got the best reviews of his career. (Mind you, he’s been doing stellar serious work outside of Happy Madison since Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love, back in 2002.) Meanwhile, Drew Barrymore — Sandler’s costar in three rom-coms — recently launched her first daytime talk show. So since both are trying new things, maybe it’s time for them to team back up for another movie.
The two reunited, virtually, for Sunday’s MTV Movie & TV Awards’ Greatest of All Time edition, where they won a special lifetime achievement award for GOAT Dynamic Duo. They first paired for The Wedding Singer, back in 1998, then again six years later for 50 First Dates. It took another decade for them to reunite for Blended. While that one wasn’t their finest work, they have great chemistry together — she’s the rare performer who can calm him down while he inspires her to be even goofier than usual. And upon receiving an award for their efforts, they wondered if they shouldn’t go for a fourth project together.
It takes two to receive the Dynamic Duo honor at the #MTVAwards: Greatest of All Time!
“It was so much fun to make a movie with you in every of the last three decades,” Barrymore told Sandler, who replied, “It’s 2020, so you know what that means.” Barrymore responded by saying, “Everything sucks?”
She wasn’t wrong, Sandler told her, but he had another idea. “It’s a new decade so we get to make another movie together,” Sandler said. Barrymore was game, but advised that they “wait until we find something amazing.” She added, “It has to be special.”
You hear that, Safdie Brothers? Or Paul Thomas Anderson? Or maybe Noah Baumbach, who got an excellent turn from him in 2017’s The Meyerowitz Stories. Or maybe they just need a Happy Madison go-to like Happy Gilmore auteur Dennis Dugan.
You can watch Sandler and Barrymore reunite over webcam in the tweet embedded above.
Meek posted an Instagram story of himself giving $20 to kids selling water in the streets, and as fans pointed out, with a car worth around $400,000, decked out in jewelry, the move comes off incredibly cheap. Gy the time children are hustling something like water bottles in the streets, it’s likely they really could use help from someone like Meek, who is in a much better position when it comes to money.
Meek Mill is driving around Atlanta in a 400k car, Saw a few kids hustling waters and gave them 20 dollars and told them to split it. 6-8 kids splitting 20 dollars.
The kids rightfully feel a little slighted that he only gave $20 and told them to “split it.” They ask for more but are turned down. Now, this is a video that Meek posted himself, clearly not thinking he did anything wrong, but people on social media had other thoughts. For a well-off rapper to ask six kids to split a $20 bill — working out to maybe $3 per kid — does feel a little cruel and unusual, particularly during one of the worst financial crises in American history. Reactions from fans and onlookers who thought the move was pretty gauche immediately began to trend, and Meek is now getting dragged for the post.
.@MeekMill you’re the main one screaming “give back to the community,” but your frugal ass wanna give young boys who look like you only $20 while flexing in a luxury car w/ expensive jewelry. You’re a joke. And the epitome of performative activism. https://t.co/H9HAyJNtnI
Nigga Meek Mill, stopped in Atlanta saw some kids hustling waters, decided to pull out his camera and record himself handing 6-8 kids a $20 bill to split. I have never seen such stupidity.
Imagine being a kid & seeing Meek Mill in his car as you’re selling waters, thinking he’s about to hook you up, & instead he gives $20 to split between 6 people. pic.twitter.com/A0zNgWRiP2
The 2020 election process saw two men become stars — NBC News’ Steve Kornacki and CNN’s John King — who were tasked with spending seemingly endless hours at the touchscreen to break down the county by county results as counts continued to roll in for the better part of a week after election night.
Kornacki’s performance became such a sensation that khaki sales at the Gap actually saw an uptick, with the clothing store donating 500 pairs of khakis to those in need in his name. NBC also decided to take advantage of his rise to stardom in helping with probabilities and the predictive science of projections by bringing him into the sports world this week for a halftime segment on Sunday Night Football, in which he broke down exactly how the playoff picture in the NFC and AFC had changed after Sunday’s action. For someone who isn’t known as a sports guy, his segment was arguably more informative than most anything you’ll see on a studio show.
How have playoff probabilities changed after today’s games?
The man is a magician with the touchscreen, and while this wasn’t as difficult as hopping from county to county, he still moved through the playoff picture with ease and broke down how teams had moved up and down and why the projection model from PFF had their percentages where — such as Baltimore still being at 47 percent despite a 6-5 record because of the ease of their schedule remaining. For someone that spends most all of their time in the political world, Kornacki’s jump to sports was pretty impressive and, honestly, segments like these that pack a bunch of information into two minutes to offer a full update on the playoff picture each week might not be the worst idea to keep going forward for NBC.
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