Category: Worldwide

When I read the description of Good Joe Bell, which is playing this week at the Toronto International Film Festival, I found myself feeling that little twinge of dread in the back of my head. Based on a true story, the idea of Mark Wahlberg (who I do like as an actor) playing the role of a man who lost his son to suicide, then decides to walk across the country to bring awareness to gay rights and bullying, as something that could, let’s say, go amiss. At least, my concern was this could wind up being a movie that would be filled with rousing speeches and scenes ready-made to be submitted to the Academy Awards nominating committee. What’s remarkable about Good Joe Bell is Wahlberg plays the role in such a nuanced way, by the end of the movie you want that rousing speech. But it never comes.

Over the last five years, the only non-comedy Mark Wahlberg has starred in that wasn’t directed by Peter Berg is 2017’s All the Money in the World. Since 2013, Wahblerg and Berg have teamed up for four films, which started with the blockbuster Lone Survivor, then each after saw diminishing returns in box office and quality. (Though, I still think Wahlberg was terrific in Deepwater Horizon. Look, I get it, they like working together. But it was well past due for Wahlberg to try something different where he’s not just on cruise control. And Wahlberg finds that with Reinaldo Marcus Green’s Good Joe Bell (Wahlberg is also a producer).

Wahlberg plays the title character, as we meet he and his son, Jadin (Reid Miller), walking along the highway in some sort desperate attempt to raise awareness against bullying. I say “desperate” because Joe seems desperate. Even the conversations he has with his son early on in the film are just conversations with himself. Joe’s not delusional – when asked about his son he fully admits his son is dead – but, again, he’s desperate. He doesn’t even seem to know what this walk across the country is even supposed to accomplish, or if he’s doing the right thing being away from his wife and younger son, but he has to do something. People who know the real-life story know this story ends in heartbreak, so it’s not a movie that follows the beats a viewer might be expecting. The movie feels unstructured, but in a way that represents what Joe is going through.

This might be the most understated performance of Wahlberg’s career. I kept waiting for the moment when he’d unleash on someone … the big grandiose speech. Maybe it would be the two men in the diner who make the homophobic slur at something they see on the diner’s television. Maybe it would be the bullies who taunted Jadin to the point he’d take his own life. Maybe it would be himself, for not grasping what his son was going through. But it never comes. Joe just keeps walking – and talking about what happened to his son to anyone who will listen. It’s all the more heartbreaking because the movie (and real-life) doesn’t let Joe have peace. There’s no big moment. It all feels so futile and sad. It’s just a dad who misses his son and nothing he can do will bring him back. This is certainly not a satisfying movie, but it’s not supposed to be.

It’s also not lost on me that Wahlberg is a devout Catholic and, it seems, a fairly conservative guy. At least as much that he’s denounced his own role in what still might be his best film, Boogie Nights. So it is, if nothing else, pretty interesting to see him in a roll where not only is he advocating for gay rights, but he’s putting churches on blast for both being judgmental of the LGBTQ community and the Catholic church specifically for years and years of abuse against young children. On the surface, it just doesn’t seem like a role Wahlberg would even consider. Not that he condones any of this, but my experience with devout Catholics (I come from a Catholic family) is they just don’t like talking about any of this. So I am curious how Wahlberg wound up producing this film and playing this role. Maybe it was an easy decision? Maybe it required some soul searching. But he’s never done anything quite like it. (Though, in Deepwater Horizon, there’s a pretty magnificent scene near the end where Wahlberg just looks emotionally spent and it’s some of the best acting he’s done to that point.) And this is a side of Wahlberg I really like. I hope he explores this side of his persona more and more as he goes on. Good Joe Bell is a huge surprise.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

There’s been a lot of big news lately, but arguably as big as this: On Saturday, Chris Evans seemed to accidentally share a picture of his schlong. Granted, it could have been anyone’s, although most people leaped to the assumption that what they were gendering at was indeed (Captain) America’s penis. While Evans has laid low since the inciting incident, on Monday he finally broke his silence with a pretty great — and pretty useful — Twitter post.

“Now that I have your attention,” Evans posted, followed by two embarrassed emoticons. He then relayed his main message: “VOTE Nov 3rd!!!”

Mind you, technically Evans neither confirmed nor denied the veracity of aforementioned trouser snake. He could very well have simply been caught with pictures of the wang of another. Maybe he’d been watching some pornographic motion picture spectacular, and he’d just happened to pause on an erect monster hog.

In any case, it’s good to see Evans — who’s received tongue-in-cheek comfort from MCU colleague Mark Ruffalo and his very own brother — putting the fracas to good use. What better way to get ahead of a nude picture scandal then by changing the subject to the election that very well may dictate the future of all of our lives? We salute you, and that.

Anyone who expected that Carole Baskin’s maiden episode of Dancing with the Stars would be free of any Tiger King-esque drama were left sorely disappointed. During one of the commercial breaks, an ad played starring the family of Don Lewis, Baskin’s missing former husband. It’s been claimed, notably by Baskin’s arch-nemesis Joe Exotic, that Baskin herself played a hand in his disappearance. And while the ad didn’t explicitly accuse her of foul play, its appearance was certainly meant to be a boss move.

The ad was first reported hours before it aired Monday night, with TMZ breaking the news. Sure enough, in between some huffing by Baskin and others, the commercial played, featuring three of his daughters pleading with the nation, hoping that someone, anyone would come forward with information about their father’s appearance. They were joined by Anne McQueen, Lewis’ former assistant, and the family lawyer, John M. Phillips.

“Don Lewis mysteriously disappeared in 1997. His family deserves answers. They deserve justice,” Phillips told the nation. He added, drawing the line at an outright accusation, “Do you know who did this or if Carole Baskin is involved?” They then mentioned a $100,000 reward and a tip line.

At the time of his disappearance in late August of 1997, Lewis left behind over $5 million in assets. One of the episodes of Tiger King, the Netflix documentary series that took the nation by storm in the early days of the American wing of the pandemic, delves into his vanishing, and features Joe Exotic, aka Joseph Allen Schreibvogel, alleging, without hard evidence, Baskin’s involvement. Baskin has denied the accusations.

(Via TMZ)

Longsuffering Kanye West fans who have patiently awaited the arrival of a followup to 2019’s Jesus Is King just got some bad news: The mercurial producer just said he refuses to release any new music until he’s “done” with his current record contracts. As usual, he made this ominous pronouncement via his new favorite form of communication: His often bewildering Twitter page.

“I’m not putting no more music out till I’m done with my contract with Sony and Universal,” he wrote. Just in case anyone thought he wasn’t being completely serious, he added, “On God … in Jesus name … come and get me.” Kanye has been locked in a contract dispute for some time, alleging his current deal with EMI (under the Universal Music Group) won’t allow him to retire in 2019. In 2020, the two parties apparently reached a settlement, but it seems he still has a bone or two to pick.

Of course, that was only the beginning of his rant, as he was just getting warmed up for the main event: Taking shots at two of his erstwhile proteges, Drake and J. Cole. While he’s been engaged in a passive-aggressive tet-a-tet with the “Laugh Now Cry Later” rapper from Canada, he never did get around to responding to J. Cole, whose fan-favorite single “False Prophets” is widely believed to be a criticism of Kanye’s hard left turn into radical conservatism.

“I need a publicly apology from J Cole and Drake to start with immediately,” he wrote. In his defense, he called himself “Nat Turner,” evoking the leader of an 1831 slave revolt which killed at least 50 white slaveowners before being put down a few days later. “I’m fighting for us,” he insisted, despite every appearance from the last several years to the contrary. Kanye is currently running for President backed by Trump-supporting Republicans using false names on petitions for several states’ ballots. While he and Trump maintain that this isn’t being done to siphon votes from Joe Biden in the 2020 Presidential election, very few people believe them.

Check out Kanye’s latest rant above.

Over the summer, actor Ray Fisher made public allegations involving abuse he said he experienced while shooting the DCEU ensemble film Justice League. Fisher played Cyborg, and though you’ll be seeing far more of his work in the looming “Snyder Cut,” it was during the extensive reshoots, handled by replacement director Joss Whedon, that some stuff allegedly went down. Since then, Fisher has had some beef with DCEU parent company Warner Bros., but now another League-r has his back: resident Aquaman Jason Momoa.

In a post on Instagram, Momoa claimed Fisher wasn’t the only one who was pushed around on the reshoots. “THIS SHIT HAS TO STOP AND NEEDS TO BE LOOKED AT @ray8fisher AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO EXPERIENCED WHAT HAPPEN UNDER THE WATCH OF @wbpictures NEEDS PROPER INVESTIGATION,” Momoa wrote. He continued:

I just think it’s fucked up that people released a fake Frosty announcement without my permission to try to distract from Ray Fisher speaking up about the shitty way we were treated on Justice League reshoots. Serious stuff went down. It needs to be investigated and people need to be held accountable.

Fisher hasn’t been able to make specific allegations widely known yet, and it appears Momoa is following suit. Earlier in September, Warner Bros. seemed to step up their fight with Fisher, causing him to push back in kind, calling what he saw as their “desperate and scattershot attempt to discredit me.” But now, at least, he’s not alone.

(Via IndieWire)

After back-to-back wins in Games 3 and 4, the L.A. Clippers assumed total control in a best-of-seven clash against the Denver Nuggets. From there, Doc Rivers’ team led by 15 points in the second half of Game 5, only to see the Nuggets rise up to stay alive. Finally, the Clippers led by a whopping 19 points after halftime in Game 6 before succumbing yet again to a Denver team that clicked at just the right time.

In the hours after a second straight collapse, much has been said about the Clippers and their second-half issues but, on the day before Game 7, Rivers spoke to the media on Monday and downplayed any thought of an overarching issue. Rivers said, “there’s no secret like potion that something happened,” before shedding light on some defensive issues. From there, the championship-winning head coach focused on foul issues on the perimeter and, particularly, with Paul George.

“PG can’t get in foul trouble,” Rivers said, via ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. “I think he’s been in foul trouble at least two, maybe three of the games, and at times he’s not even guarding one of your key guys. We’ve just got to keep him on the floor.”

George managed to play 42 minutes in Game 5 and 39 minutes in Game 6, indicating that foul trouble didn’t keep him off the floor for large swaths of time. Still, George has had at least four fouls in three straight games and, if nothing else, it is difficult for a star-level player to fight defensively at the highest level when also worried about foul issues.

Rivers did continue, though, and he expanded beyond George.

“The foul trouble by our guards, they have been very hurtful in this series, and not just the last two games. We’ve got to keep our guards on the floor, because if we don’t, we’ve got to go to lineups defensively that are not desirable.”

Perhaps more so than George, Patrick Beverley is a player to focus on with regard to foul issues. He fouled out in only 18 minutes of court time in Game 6 and, prior to that, Beverley accumulated eight fouls in 50 combined minutes between Games 4 and 5. For good measure, the always high-strung Beverley was ejected after only 15 minutes of play in a Game 2 loss, and he had five personal fouls when he was disqualified.

All told, Rivers is right to point out that there isn’t a magic potion to fix things, nor a solitary issue for the Clippers. Yes, it would be great to keep Beverley on the court, as he is one of the better options against Jamal Murray. It would also be ideal to have George free to play aggressive defense, and there are countless factors in play.

Lineups without George and/or Beverley are defensively flammable, and that should certainly be acknowledged when contributing to back-to-back hiccups against the Nuggets. Still, the Clippers simply must be better defensively on the whole, with L.A. allowing an almost inconceivable 139.4 offensive rating for the Nuggets in the second half of the last two games. That is an unacceptable baseline, regardless of which players are on the floor and how many fouls they are carrying.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on America’s health and economy. There’s no way to take the loss of over 180,000 people and 20 million jobs and spin it into a positive.

However, if there are any lessons we can take from past tragedies, it’s the importance of finding some rays of hope to illuminate our way through the darkness.

Earlier in the spring, there was a significant drop in pollution, giving us a glimpse into what a cleaner world might look like. For many, the lockdown was an opportunity to spend more time with their immediate families and pay more attention to what really matters.

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A lot of people saved money during quarantine by avoiding huge bar tabs and expensive vacations.

Let’s face it, the quarantine was also a great excuse to avoid seeing the family members and acquaintances we normally dread.

All in all, a new poll finds that two-thirds of Americans say quarantine actually made them a better person.

The poll of 2,000 Americans over age 21 looked at the positive changes we’ve made and lessons learned from the past few months. It found that lockdown helped a majority of people re-prioritize their lives for the better.

The poll was conducted by Coravin and OnePoll.

Some respondents say that the quarantine gave them the time and flexibility to engage in new hobbies. Thirty-five percent of respondents say they hope to continue these hobbies after quarantine is over.,

The change in professional behaviors over the past few months inspired 27% of Americans to pursue a better work-life balance coming out of quarantine.

Being apart from those we are close to also gave people a new appreciation for their friends and families. Going forward, 46% want to spend more quality time with loved ones, and 38% plan to create more meaningful relationships.

“Quarantine has given us unprecedented time to explore and try new things both personally and with our loved ones,” Coravin CEO Chris Ladd said. “It’s forced us to be creative in how we remain connected when we are physically distant. And it’s created an environment where virtual events like wine tastings have flourished, introducing a broader audience to experiences they might not have had in person. We expect these new approaches to last well after ‘normal’ returns.”

Being stuck in lockdown for months on end made many of us long for life’s simple pleasures that we previously took for granted.

Here’s a list of the top things people no longer take for granted according to the survey.

Spending quality time in person with family or friends 52.28%

Hugs 41.23%

Traveling to new destinations 32.53%

A relaxing walk in the park 31.99%

Shopping in a store 31.73%

A date night at a restaurant 31.39%

Extended family gatherings 30.86%

Attending events in person 28.92%

Stopping for a cup of coffee on my way to work 25.90%

Meeting new people 25.70%

Weekly coffee dates with friends 24.36

Post-work happy hour 23.69%

Chatting with co-workers during lunch 23.56%

Having a quiet weekend at home be out of the ordinary 22.96%

An afternoon at the beach 22.36%

Sending my children off to school in the morning 21.49%

Attending sporting events 21.22%

Wandering through a bookstore 20.68%

Watching my kids’ sporting events 18.14%

Hitting the gym 17.54%

Dropping my kids off at playdates 16.06%

Unfortunately, it appears as though the United States will be on lockdown for the foreseeable future. But that gives us the opportunity to work on self-improvement and foster an attitude of gratitude and appreciation.

A great way to get started on self-improvement during lockdown is to make a list of the hobbies we’d like to get into or skills we’d like to learn. A list can also be helpful to remember the things that we’ve missed during lockdown so we can enjoy life when it lifts.

It sounds like a ridiculous, sensationalist headline, but it’s real. In Cheshire County, New Hampshire, a transsexual, anarchist Satanist has won the GOP nomination for county sheriff. Aria DiMezzo, who refers to herself as a “She-Male” and whose campaign motto was “F*** the Police,” ran as a Republican in the primary. Though she ran unopposed on the ballot, according to Fox News, she anticipated that she would lose to a write-in candidate. Instead, 4,211 voters filled in the bubble next to her name, making her the official Republican candidate for county sheriff.

DiMezzo is clear about why she ran—to show how “clueless the average voter is” and to prove that “the system is utterly and hopelessly broken”—stances that her win only serves to reinforce.

In a blog post published on Friday, DiMezzo explained how she had never tried to hide who she was and that anyone could have looked her up to see what she was about, in addition to pointing out that those who are angry with her have no one to blame but themselves:

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“None of it is a secret. I couldn’t possibly have been more upfront about who I am, or my position on things. Did none of you pay attention to the election two years ago, when I criticized Eli Rivera for not going far enough with his sanctuary policy? Did none of you remember the six foot tall tranny who ran for sheriff and then city council?

You could have easily looked at a sample ballot prior to the election, and you could have simply looked up the candidates in a search engine. By doing so, you, like the good citizen in Rindge, would probably have been appalled, and probably wouldn’t have voted for me. I wouldn’t have begrudged you for that. I was, after all, rather upfront about it. I went into it expecting that I would lose the primary to a write-in candidate, because I didn’t think that so many voters were just… completely and totally oblivious about who they are voting for.

Because the fact is that you didn’t bother. You trusted the system. You trusted the establishment. You trusted the party. You felt safe. You were sure that there must be some mechanisms in place to prevent from occurring exactly what just occurred. Your anger is misplaced if you direct it at me. Please listen. Your anger is with the system that has lied to you. Your anger is with the system that convinced you to believe in it, trust in it, and have faith in it, when it is completely and utterly broken.

More than 4,000 people went into the voting booth on September 8 this week, and they all filled in the circle by my name despite knowing absolutely nothing about the person they were nominating to the most powerful law enforcement position in the county. That’s a level of recklessness of which any decent human being should be ashamed.”

Regardless of how you feel about DiMezzo, her message, or her methods, she’s absolutely right about one thing—voters too often go to the polls woefully uninformed, especially when it comes to local politics. Local elected officials are the ones who generally have the most direct impact on our daily lives, and it’s our responsibility as citizens to learn about the people running for these positions.

DiMezzo isn’t lying when she says her stance wasn’t a secret. Six days before the election, she posted a horribly offensive meme about the police on her Twitter account, reminding people to vote for her.

And interestingly, people did. Here’s the breakdown of votes by town in the county.

There was apparently one person who did realize that DiMezzo was not exactly what the Republican party had in mind for county sheriff, and who organized a write-in campaign. It still wasn’t enough even in that one town to outnumber the votes DiMezzo received, but she praised that person for trying to spread the word.

“For those of you who actually did research, thank you. I’m not being snide. I’m glad that someone bothered to actually look at to whom they were handing power over theirs and other people’s lives. Sadly, you number in the minority. The write-in campaign in Rindge was exceedingly well done–a testament to the power of grassroots, decentralized communication–yet it saddens me that it was even necessary. One person did their research prior to the election, and he spread what he found everywhere. Good on him. That is a person I respect. But those people who learned of me because of this person should have already known. They didn’t, though. Because they trusted the party. They trusted the system. The system, they thought, surely would never let them down.

I’m running for sheriff because I oppose that very system, and the sheriff has the most hands-on ability in Cheshire County to oppose that system. The system that let you down by allowing me–the freaking transsexual Satanist anarchist–be your sheriff candidate is the same system I’m attacking. I’m sorry, and I know it hurts to hear, but that system is a lie. The entire thing is a lie. It’s broken from beginning to end, and my existence as your sheriff candidate is merely how this reality was thrown into your face.”

Even though this was a local election, it should be a wake-up call for all of us to really examine the system. Even if we’re not anarchists opposing the system like DiMezzo, we should at least understand it and invest in it fully if we agree with it. The passive approach to civic engagement has real consequences. DiMezzo made her point with the Republican ticket, but an unopposed candidate on a Democraft primary ticket doesn’t automatically make them an ideal candidate.

We often focus on getting out the vote, but people also need to know who and what they are voting for. That’s the whole point of DiMezzo’s run for sheriff, and even if we don’t agree with her on everything, we should all humbly heed the red flag she has raised.

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I’ve written about it in the past, but I’d be remiss if we didn’t mention it again here: for many drinkers, scotch — especially single malt scotch — seems too fancy. Inaccessible. Distilled just for the rich and those in need of an expensive hobby. Drink snobs.

But if you still hold those perceptions, you’re mostly wrong. While there are high-quality, well-aged offerings that you (and even I) will likely never taste, the contemporary scotch world is completely inclusive and full of reasonably priced, gateway bottles perfect for novices. There are even plenty of single malts that you can likely afford (and are worth a small splurge).

To fight single malt scotch stigmas, I decided to make a list (including tasting notes) of my personal favorite bottles for beginners. I even included two smoky offerings from Islay, in case you’re ready to get your peat on.

Dalwhinnie 15

ABV: 43%

Distillery: Dalwhinnie

Price: $69.99

The Story:

There’s a reason whisky expert Jim Murray gave this bottle a score of 95 in his Whisky Bible. It’s an amazing value whisky. This award-winning Highland whisky is part of Diageo’s Classic Malts range. It’s renowned for its smooth, mellow, easy to drink aspects.

Even if you’ve never purchased Scotch before, this bottle belongs on your shelf. It’s a perfect introduction to single malt whisky.

Tasting Notes:

Like with any whisky, you should start with the nose. Right away, you’re met with dried orange peel, crisp apple, and caramel sweetness. The first sip, while velvety, yields hints of toasted vanilla, subtle oak, and a hint of smoke. The finish is long and filled with nutty flavors along with butterscotch, toffee, and just a wisp of peppery spice.

Bottom Line:

If you’re willing to pay around $70 dollars, you’ll have a bottle that will not only be a gateway into single malts, but also a bottle you’ll return to time and again.

The Balvenie Double Wood 12

ABV: 40%

Distillery: The Balvenie

Price: $64.99

The Story:

First introduced in 1993, The Balvenie Double Wood 12 gets its name because it’s literally aged in two different woods. First, it’s matured for a minimum of 12 years in ex-bourbon casks before being aged another nine months in ex-Oloroso sherry butts. It then spends another four months in an oak tun to help the flavors to meld together.

Tasting Notes:

The result of all of that hard work is noticeable from the first nose. The very first aroma detected is the sweet sherry scent. This is followed by more well-known Scotch flavors like vanilla, butterscotch, and pepper. The sip brings forth more sherry, cinnamon, dried fruits, and caramel. The finish is long, warming, dry, and subtly spicy.

Bottom Line:

If you’re looking for a whisky that is both delicate and full of flavor, you’ll want to spend a long time sipping a glass of this truly memorable juice.

Glenmorangie The Original 10 Year

ABV: 43%

Distillery: Glenmorangie

Price: $39.99

The Story:

When it comes beginner bottles that you’ll keep purchasing, it’s really tough to beat Glenmorangie The Original 10 Year. The distillery’s flagship bottle, “The Original” is a ten-year-old single malt made in the tallest stills in Scotland. The distillate is then matured in ex-bourbon barrels to create a complex, well-balanced spirit worthy of any whisky collection from beginner to expert.

Tasting Notes:

Right away, you’re met with aromas of honey, vanilla, sticky toffee pudding, and just a hint of citrus zest. The first sip is exceptionally mellow with hints of cinnamon, dried fruits, caramel, and toasted oak. The finish is long, pleasing, and filled with honeysuckle, caramel, and just a tiny hint of dried orange peel at the end.

Bottom Line:

The price is right for this offering. So right that you shouldn’t feel bad mixing it into a cocktail if you don’t want to sip it straight.

Auchentoshan American Oak

ABV: 41%

Distillery: Auchentoshan

Price: $37.99

The Story:

You might have a hard time spelling Auchentoshan and that’s okay. All you need to do is drink it. The best gateway offering from this Lowlands distillery (fairly close to Glasgow) is this triple distilled single malt aged (with no age statement) in American oak barrels that formerly held bourbon.

First introduced in 2014, this expression has become go-to for whisky novices hoping to find a way into the Scotch world.

Tasting Notes:

Before taking a sip, this whisky deserves a long nosing. You’ll be met with hints of orange zest, spicy cinnamon, toasted wood, and subtle spices. The sip delivers flavors of vanilla, maple covered pancakes, rich caramel, and dried orange peel. The finish is mellow, long-lasting, and full of more vanilla sweetness and just a tiny bit of peppery spice.

Bottom Line:

Another bargain bottle, this is the kind of offering we try to keep to ourselves for fear that the price will rise and we won’t be able to afford it anymore.

Caol Ila 12

ABV: 43%

Distillery: Caol Ila

Price: $65.99

The Story:

When it comes to Islay malts, you’ve probably heard a lot about the likes of Lagavulin, Bruichladdich, and Laphroaig. But it’s actually Caol Ila that produces the most of any of the iconic distilleries. From Gaelic, the name roughly translates to “sound of Islay” and if you want to get into Islay whiskies, look no further than its 12-year-old.

Launched in 2002, this bottle is light, mellow, and has right the right amount of smoke for a peat novice.

Tasting Notes:

You’ll notice how complex this whisky is from the first nose. Aromas of tobacco, Christmas spices, peat smoke, and sweet caramel are right up front. A sip brings more smoke, sugary vanilla, and dried orange peel to the table. The finish is long, pleasantly warm, smoky, and touched by light peppery spice.

Bottom Line:

When it comes to gateway peat-smoked whiskies, it’s hard to beat the complexities of this single malt. Perfect in a penicillin cocktail, but even better in a Glencairn class with a few drops of water to open it up.

Ardbeg Uigeadail

ABV: 54.2%

Distillery: Ardbeg

Price: $82.99

The Story:

Another name you’ll have trouble spelling, Ardbeg Uigeadail is another great gateway into the world of smoky whiskies. In 2009, Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible named this expression the “World Whisky of the Year’ and for good reason. Named for the loch Ardbeg uses as its water source, this introduction to peat-smoking is matured in a combination of ex-bourbon casks and sherry butts.

Tasting Notes:

Like most Islay whiskies, your nose is met with a hit of smoke right off the bat. But that leads to brown sugar, leather, and dried fruits. From the first sip, you’ll be met with rich honey, dark, toasted caramel sweetness, and cinnamon — all covered with a blanket of rich smoke. The finish is long, warming, and a mix of toffee, caramel, and cigar smoke.

Bottom Line:

This well-balanced whisky is full of smoke, but it’s more than just a smoke bomb. It’s complex and full of other flavors that you’ll become acquainted with if you take the time to sip it slowly with just a splash of water.

A study published on Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy found that Venus’ clouds contain phosphine which may be evidence of alien life.

Phosphone is an extremely flammable, corrosive gas also found on Earth that’s produced by anaerobic bacteria and humans in labs.

The study’s authors haven’t verified the origins of the gas but the sources they’ve investigated haven’t been able to explain the amount of gas they discovered.

“We really went through all possible pathways that could produce phosphine on a rocky planet,” Janusz Petkowski, an author of the new study, told MIT News. “If this is not life, then our understanding of rocky planets is severely lacking.”

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Should the study reveal life it would be one of the most important discoveries in human history. It would also validate a hypothesis posited decades ago by astrophysicist and the original host of TV’s, “Cosmos,” Carl Sagan.

In the ’60s he authored two scientific papers outlining the possibility of life on Venus. He wrote that the planet’s surface was too hot to support life but, “while the surface conditions of Venus make the hypothesis of life there implausible, the clouds of Venus are a different story altogether.”

In 1967, Sagan and Harold Morowitz, a molecular biophysicist at Yale, posited that there could be a livable layer in Venus’ clouds.

Here’s Sagan describing the possibility of life in Venus’ cloud layer back in 1963.

Life on Venus by Carl Sagan (1963)

www.youtube.com

“Measurements with radio telescopes show, that there is a region on Venus where temperatures are greater than 600 degrees Fahrenheit,” Sagan says. “It is just possible, that the hot region exists at a high altitude, in the ionosphere of Venus.”

“The surface temperature could then be, almost Earth-like and life as we know it could exist there,” Sagan continues. “However, it is more likely that if there is life on Venus it is probably the type we cannot now imagine.”

Upworthy readers may be familiar with another prediction Sagan made right before his death in 1996. On “Charlie Rose” he said that due to a lack of scientific skepticism America runs the risk of being taken over by a “charlatan” political leader