Addison Rae’s new album Addison is out now, which begs the question: Is there anything left to this era? The answer is yes, as she’s working on a tour, she revealed on a new episode of Therapuss.
When asked if she’s planning to tour, Rae said with a laugh, “I don’t know! Am I allowed to say that?!” She continued, “There’s definitely plans to tour the album. […] I do really like performing. I don’t know, I think I was always wanting to perform, just in life, I think it’s always been so fun to me to be on stage and convey some sort of feeling to people. I grew up competitively dancing, so…”
She also discussed what it was like making the album and her mindset behind it, saying:
“I didn’t know initially that I wanted to make the entire album with the same people. Because, you know, with my EP and other music that I’ve made, it’s kind of been sessions and sessions and sessions. […] When I made other music and had done other sessions before, it never made full sense to just stay in the same room, because it kind of felt sometimes, like, too stale if you’d stay in the same room with the same people for too long. […] After we made ‘Diet Pepsi,’ we were like, ‘I don’t know, it feels like something really special is happening here.’ And having a room of all girls was something I had never experienced before because I had never really worked with female producers like that.”
Charli XCX has cultivated an image based in part on partying, but what you don’t hear about as much are the after-effects. Fans got a taste of that yesterday (June 11), though, when Lorde gave her an unexpected call.
Lorde was a guest on BBC Radio 1’s Breakfast Show yesterday and host Greg James had her play a game called “Sitting Or Standing,” where Lorde called random people on her phone and tried to guess if they were sitting or standing. She started with Gracie Abrams, who she guessed would be sitting. It was a quick call, with Abrams revealing she was on her feet. After hanging up, though, she told James that she and Abrams talk often, so the phone call wasn’t an out-of-the-blue sort of thing.
Next, she dialed up Chappell Roan, who was standing up (Lorde guessed sitting). Then came Charli, who Lorde speculated would be sitting. She was sort of right: When Charli answered, she revealed that she was laying down and also “so hungover.”
In a different recent Radio 1 interview, Lorde explained how Charli’s Brat inspired her upcoming album Virgin, saying, “Brat coming out really gave me a kick in a lot of ways. It forced me to further define what I was doing because Charli had so masterfully defined everything about Brat and I knew that what I was doing was very distinct to that. When a peer throws the gauntlet down like that, you’re like ‘OK, yeah, we’ve gotta pick it up,’ I’ve spoken to a lot of peers who’ve all had the same feelings. It’s very sick and I’m so grateful to her.”
Brian Wilson died today. He was 82 years old. I have been asked to write a column that sums up his impact on modern music. The problem is that this is impossible. It’s like trying to explain the impact of water or oxygen on modern music. Brian Wilson’s influence is so vast and all-encompassing that mere words cannot do it justice. Perhaps if I wrote 12 perfect songs, collaborated with some of the world’s finest musicians in recording them, and then laid down the most heart-stoppingly beautiful vocals ever over those tracks, I could give Brian Wilson the tribute he deserves.
Instead, I’m going to tell my Brian Wilson story.
It was 2015, and I was assigned to write a profile of John Cusack timed with the release of Love & Mercy, the Brian Wilson biopic. If you haven’t seen it, the film cuts between two different eras — we see the 1960s Brian Wilson, the boy-genius singer, songwriter, record producer and leader of America’s most popular rock band, The Beach Boys. The visionary who made one of the greatest and most famous albums ever, Pet Sounds, and then attempted to complete the greatest and most infamous “lost” record of all-time, Smile. The legend eventually felled by mental health and substance abuse problems in the late ’60s and ’70s, forever cementing him as rock’s greatest “tragedy” story.
That version of Wilson was played by Paul Dano with eerie specificity. He captured Wilson’s unlikely combination of ambition, innocence, brilliance, and fragility. The sense that the man who produced so many incredible, haunting melodies was losing a piece of himself with every hit song. Parts of his soul that he would never get back.
Cusack played a different Brian Wilson. His Brian was from the ’80s, the eccentric middle-aged man under the tutelage of a crackpot therapist, Eugene Landy (played with suitably gonzo bombast by Paul Giamatti). After ballooning in weight during his wilderness years, Landy bullied Wilson into slimming down and putting out his first solo album, 1988’s Brian Wilson. The production was dodgy and the song credits suspiciously listed Landy as a co-writer on five of the 11 tracks. But it did have the song that lent the film its title, an achingly pure plea for kindness and forgiveness that became a kind of personal anthem for an artist cruelly denied both love and mercy for much of his life.
The film’s structure is intended to give Wilson’s story a redemptive arc, from the glory and pain of his artistic prime to the “comeback” of his middle and later years, when he met and married his second wife, Melinda Ledbetter. And that mostly matched the reality of Wilson’s life. The reclusive figure who retired from touring in his early 20s after suffering a nervous breakdown became something of a road dog in his later years. Suddenly, if you wanted to see Brian Wilson in person, you could. And he was backed by an amazing and supportive group of musicians who played his music as well as anybody ever did, The Beach Boys included. In 2004, he even managed to finally finish Smile, and it turned out incredibly (even shockingly) well.
But there was always a sadness about Brian Wilson. So much sadness. And it was that sadness which drew me to his music as a teenager in the ’90s. “Sometimes I feel very sad,” he sings in one of his greatest songs. But it was more than sometimes. I was sad and Brian was sad, but Brian could make our sadness sound like an opera. He turned depressive introspection into an art form.
It might be strange to imagine a 16-year-old in the era of grunge and gangsta rap huddling up with headphones and playing “Til I Die,” “Caroline, No,” or “The Warmth Of The Sun” on repeat. But The Beach Boys had a renaissance in the ’90s. I had actually liked them before that. My first concert ever was The Beach Boys at Milwaukee’s Marcus Amphitheater in 1987, when I was 9 years old. I don’t know if Brian Wilson was there, but I’m pretty sure John Stamos was. They were, at the time, known as the Full House band, due to Stamos’ friendship with Mike Love and their occasional appearances on the ABC sitcom.
This was not, exactly, a cool reputation. But that started to change in the early ’90s when the best Beach Boys albums — the ones released between Pet Sounds and 1977’s Love You, though I’m a big enough fan to stump for a few albums to the left and the right of those signposts — were reissued. In high school, I bought the Good Vibrations boxed set, which contained a disc with 10 songs from Smile, my introduction to that glorious corner of Brian Wilson’s work. My favorite track (and probably my favorite Wilson composition overall) was the piano demo version of “Surf’s Up,” a song that later was repurposed and refurbished (without Brian’s input or consent) as the title track for The Beach Boys’ great 1971 album.
But I always preferred the piano demo. Unlike most Brian Wilson classics, there are no production flourishes on that record. No grand orchestrations anchored by Carol Kaye’s probing bass and Hal Blaine’s Wagnerian drums. It was just Brian, his remarkable tenor, Van Dyke Parks’ fantastically impenetrable lyrics, and a suite of melodies so sweet and striking they are destined to linger in your heart and mind from the moment you hear them.
A lot of people were listening to those records, and a good number of them were musicians. In indie and alternative rock, “records that emulate Brian Wilson” practically became its own subgenre. Flaming Lips took their shot with The Soft Bulletin. Wilco did it with Summerteeth and (to a lesser degree) Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Elliott Smith applied serious Beach Boys overtones to albums like XO and Figure 8. Fiona Apple put her own spin on Wilson’s grandiose production style on her early records. The Elephant 6 collective was almost entirely predicated on trying to will a modern version of Pet Sounds or Smile into existence. And one of those bands, Neutral Milk Hotel, pretty much pulled that off with In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, right down to leader Jeff Mangum’s subsequent Brian Wilson-esque retreat from the world.
Some bands drew inspiration from the pre-Pet Sounds era. Weezer’s “Blue Album” was among the decade’s most influential examples of taking Beach Boys-style songs and adding heavier guitars. The semi-jokey argument that Pet Sounds is the first emo album might actually be better applied to a song like “In My Room,” which sounds more like an emo song while expressing core emo themes. (It’s dark, I’m alone, I’m trying not to be afraid, etc.) But Wilson’s reach extended into all sorts of genres, including pop-punk (Blink-182), electronic music (Air, The Avalanches), freak folk (Animal Collective), shoegaze (My Bloody Valentine), and so much more. So, so, so much more. I couldn’t possibly list every artist who owes him a debt here. His music is like that one Jenga piece where if you remove it, it sends the totality of modern music crashing down.
Zooming out even wider, Brian Wilson with Pet Sounds invented the concept of the auteur-driven album that attempts to break new ground while fearlessly ignoring commercial concerns. Believe it or not, there weren’t really records like that — not in a pop context, anyway — before Brian dared to do it. (When you’re considered a primary influence on Sgt. Pepper’s, you have truly achieved “elemental” status.) Even artists who aren’t directly influenced by Brian Wilson — or even people who have never knowingly listened to his music — have been shaped by Pet Sounds. When Radiohead made OK Computer, they were shaped by Pet Sounds. When Kanye West made My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, he was shaped by Pet Sounds. When Beyoncé made Lemonade, she was shaped by Pet Sounds. Which means you and I and every other music fan have also been shaped by Pet Sounds.
Back to Cusack: The plan was to interview him in the basement of Metro, a well-known rock club in Cusack’s hometown of Chicago. And, I was told, Brian Wilson was going to be with him. I was beside myself. I was going to meet and interview Brian Wilson? I felt immediate anxiety. For one thing, Wilson was known as a difficult interview. His memory was faulty and his answers were often short and nonsensical. (Like the time he called the Eddie Murphy comedy Norbithis favorite movie of all time.) What was amazing is that he was probably the most accessible rock icon of his generation. If you wanted to interview Brian Wilson, there was a good chance you could do it. And then you might regret it.
At the same time, I could not believe that I was going to meet Brian Wilson. It didn’t seem real. I had seen him the night before at a screening for Love & Mercy, where he appeared for a short (and awkward) Q&A. Upon his arrival on stage, he was immediately greeted with a standing ovation. I’m sure Brian Wilson provoked this kind of reaction wherever he went. People applauded for all the wonderful music he had given the world. They applauded because they empathized with his troubled past. And they applauded because he was Brian Wilson, American monument. Seeing Brian Wilson, talking to Brian Wilson, shaking Brian Wilson’s hand — it was like somehow encountering Mark Twain or Abraham Lincoln in the wild. Only those guys never wrote “God Only Knows.”
Suddenly there I was, sitting on a barstool next to Lloyd Dobler and the modern-day Mozart. What do you say to these people? I decided to talk about “Surf’s Up.” I told Brian how much I loved that song. How I used to listen to it when I felt alone and rejected and how his music had shepherded me through all that hurt. How I can’t believe someone actually wrote that song, because it seems like one of those properties that magically appears to prove that God is real.
“I wrote that in 1964!” Wilson exclaimed.
I nodded my head and ruled against a fact-check. We chatted for a bit more about the film, and the surreal feeling started to fade. Brian Wilson really was just a person. He woke up in the morning, brushed his teeth, ate his breakfast, and tried to make it through another day like the rest of us. He was more fragile and innocent than ambitious and brilliant. His life was hard, and his life was unfair, but it was his. And, in his endless generosity, he shared it with the world.
“Thanks for the interview, man,” he said, suddenly, extending his hand. We had talked for about 10 minutes. Then Brian Wilson got up, walked away, and was gone.
If Coachella is the place to spot celebrities, Governors Ball is where music fans go to soak up the vibes. The atmosphere, the attitude, the gritty, vibrant, unmistakably New York energy that even hours-long storm delays can’t damper – that’s what sets the festival, which just celebrated its 15th year, apart from the rest of the summer circuit. Here, the mood and the music take the spotlight, and it’s the artists – rising indie hopefuls, punk rock icons, pop princesses, and weirdo-rap savants – that set the tone, urging fans to ignore the heat, the rain, and the mud in exchange for a once-in-a-lifetime experience that outlives the gram.
We caught up with a handful of the coolest acts to grace the Gov Ball stages this past weekend, capturing a bit of their magic with a backstage portrait session that gives fans a hint of what it takes to hype the “city that never sleeps” crowd. Whether it’s Conan Gray donning a Sailor Moon fit and staging a mini-musical for an awed crowd or Mannequin Pussy stoking a bit of anarchy with their rebellious strain of rock, the story starts here.
From hip-hop duo Joey Valence & Brae to English pop siblings Wasia Project, here are some exclusive looks at how Gov Ball’s most exciting artists embraced their “made it” moment.
Hozier was at Governors Ball this past weekend, but he wasn’t quite himself. As NME notes, he told the crowd he was feeling under the weather, and at times, that could be heard in his vocal performance. It turns out he’s not out of the woods yet and will be taking some time off to recover.
In a post shared on social media on June 9, Hozier explains:
“Due to illness my upcoming performances originally scheduled for Tuesday, June 10 at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, NJ and Thursday, June 12 at Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in Ridgedale, MO are being rescheduled. The Camden show will now take place on July 15, and the Ridgedale show will take place on July 22.
All previously purchased tickets will be honored for the new dates. Ticket holders will receive additional information via email.
I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding.
My performance at Bonnaroo on June 15 will proceed as planned. Much love.”
Check out Hozier’s upcoming tour dates below.
Hozier’s 2025 Tour Dates
06/15 — Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo 2025
06/18 — Columbus, OH @ Historic Crew Stadium
06/20 — Milwaukee, WI @ American Family Insurance Amphitheater
06/23 — Boston, MA @ Fenway Park
06/24 — Boston, MA @ Fenway Park
06/30 — Casper, WY @ Ford Wyoming Center
07/02 — Billings, MT @ First Interstate Arena
07/04-05 — Missoula, MT @ Zootown Music Festival 2025
07/08 — London, Canada @ Rock the Park 2025
07/10 — Québec, Canada @ Festival d’été de Québec 2025
07/11 — Ottawa, Canada @ Ottawa Bluesfest 2025
07/13 — Canandaigua, NY @ CMAC Performing Arts Center
07/15 — Camden, NJ @ Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
07/18 — Saint Paul, MN @ Minnesota Yacht Club Festival 2025
07/20 — Commerce City, CO @ Dick’s Sporting Goods Park
07/22 — Ridgedale, MO @ Thunder Ridge Nature’s Arena
07/24 — Tinley Park, IL @ Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
07/25 — Tinley Park, IL @ Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
07/27 — Fargo, ND @ Fargodome
08/01 — West Valley City, UT @ Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre
08/02 — West Valley City, UT @ Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre
08/07 — Stateline, NV @ Lake Tahoe Amphitheatre at Caesars Republic
08/08 — Stateline, NV @ Lake Tahoe Amphitheatre at Caesars Republic
08/10 — San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands 2025
08/12 — Portland, OR @ Moda Center
08/14 — Seattle, WA @ T-Mobile Park
08/22 — Reading, United Kingdom @ Reading Festival 2025
08/23 — Leeds, United Kingdom @ Leeds Festival 2025
08/29 — Stradbally, Ireland @ Electric Picnic 2025
08/31 — München, Germany @ Superbloom Festival 2025
09/10 — Toronto, Canada @ Rogers Stadium
09/13 — Asbury Park, New Jersey @ Sea.Hear.Now 2025
09/14 — Cavendish, Canada @ Sommo Festival 2025
09/16 — Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
09/17 — Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
09/19 — Hershey, PA @ Hersheypark Stadium
09/21 — St. Augustine, FL @ Sing Out Loud Festival 2025
09/23 — New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center
09/27 — Dana Point, CA @ Ohana Festival 2025
09/28 — Bridgeport, CT @ Soundside Music Festival
10/03 — Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Music Festival 2025
10/05 — Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile Arena
10/07 — Phoenix, AZ @ Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
10/10 — Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Music Festival 2025
10/14 — Mexico City, Mexico @ Palacio de los Deportes
Petey USA is a month out from the release of his new album, The Yips, his second release for Capitol Records. Before that, though, he has a new single, “Breathing The Same Air.”
On the narrative track, Petey tells the story of a night out with a friend and having trouble communicating, singing, “And know that my only intention is to be there when you call me / Sometimes breathing the same air has gotta be enough.”
Petey previously said of the album, “The album’s about going through a period where just nothing’s clicking, so you go to a bar where everyone can collect themselves and get drunk. […] I don’t want to get into the toxic part of masculinity, but I also want to avoid the other side of it that weaponizes therapy-talk. I’m just singing about being there for your friends.”
Watch the “Breathing The Same Air” video above, and find Petey’s upcoming tour dates below.
Petey USA’s 2025 Tour Dates
07/09 — Chicago, IL @ Metro *
07/11 — Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg *
07/15 — West Hollywood, CA @ The Troubadour *
07/25 — Columbia, MD @ Chrysalis at Merriweather Park #
07/26 — Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony Summer Stage #
07/27 — LaFayette, NY @ Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards #
08/29 — Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
08/30 — Huntington, WV @ Joan C. Edwards Stadium ^
* The Yips album release show
# supporting Rainbow Kitten Surprise
^ supporting Zach Bryan
The Yips is out 7/11 via Capitol Records. Find more information here.
With a storied history dating back to 1888, and currently ten and soon to be twenty total grain recipes in its arsenal, the brand boasts an enviable breadth of flavors and an unparalleled legacy to its credit. With all of that to its name, Four Roses is perhaps most beloved for the way it’s able to deliver so many unique flavor experiences under its barrel proof single barrel series. The success of those offerings has since led to the brand releasing a tasting kit with 10 miniature bottles, one of each recipe currently in its repertoire, so that fans can experience them all without having to search high and low for their barrel strength equivalents (the bourbon in the tasting kit is notably proofed down to 52% ABV).
Aside from its 10 recipes, made up of five yeast strains and two mash bills, Four Roses is also notable for having some of Kentucky’s only single-story rickhouses. With barrels maturing on only six different tiers, there’s less, albeit still discernible, differentiation from one tier to the next. It might seem like a limiting factor, but Four Roses fans will tell you just how much the flavors can vary from recipe to recipe and tier to tier, with many of them staking their claim on a single set of variables and sticking to it in their purchasing habits.
The good thing is that for those who are less interested in the minutiae, and simply want the best bourbon available without having to think about it, Master Distiller Brent Elliott has taken out the guess work with award-winning blends like Four Roses Small Batch Select, and the brand’s premium offering, Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon. The former is a regular release that’s matured for 6-7 years, hits shelves at about $60, and combines a blend of six recipes — OBSV, OBSK, OBSF, OESV, OESK, and OESF. The latter is a highly allocated annual release with a blend that changes each year and is designed to showcase those diminutive rickhouses’ most outstanding barrels.
With that background out of the way, you may be asking yourself one final question: What’s the best bourbon Four Roses makes? I’ve tasted them all, and I’ve rounded up and ranked them all for you.
Here is every bottle of Four Roses Bourbon, ranked from good to great!
Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon blends four of the brand’s recipes: OBSK, OESK, OBSO, and OESO, to create one product. The whiskeys are aged for six to seven years before being blended, cut with soft Kentucky water, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on Four Roses Small Batch bourbon opens with a nice, inviting wave of honey, torched orange peel, and apricots, before revealing a hint of black pepper spice. There are some slightly sour notes, with red berries featuring prominently in this regard, and some clove and nutmeg in the mix as well.
Palate: Once on the palate, this whiskey is all red berries (think ripe raspberries), and salted caramel. On a second sip, there’s a bit of red apple flavor to go with faint citrus tones, a splash of dilute honey, and youthful oak. Some sweetgrass notes, allspice, and sage start creeping in as it transitions to the finish.
Finish: The finish on this whiskey is fairly succinct, but it features a balanced, dialed-down display of the bourbon’s most prominent notes. That means reserved honey, apple chips, and allspice are the last partygoers on your palate.
Bottom Line:
Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon is a damn good pour that does a great job of exemplifying both the quality of the distillery’s base liquid, and the blending prowess of their team, led by Master Distiller Brent Elliott. While I tend to spring for the brand’s single-barrel expression, which sits just a few bucks above $40, when it comes to the budget-friendly options in their portfolio, this one delivers a smooth drinking experience.
Four Roses Bourbon, the oft-overlooked entry-level offering from Four Roses, features a blend of all ten recipes that the distillery is famous for. Little-known fact: Four Roses regularly utilizes slightly older bourbon in these blends, which is part of the reason they eschew an age statement. It’s also part of the reason that this remarkably consistent expression is so damn good.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on Four Roses Bourbon begins with a touch of honeysuckle, the floral aspect of rosewater, and stone fruits like white peach and Golden Delicious apples.
Palate: On the palate, this whiskey is surprisingly spry, as the lean mouthfeel allows notes of black tea, white peach, and honey to coast over your tongue. A touch of vanilla and black pepper spice can be found as each sip transitions from midpalate to the finish, which adds a bit of nuance to the generally light flavor profile.
Finish: On the finish is where the sweet notes make their final stamp, with honey and vanilla leading the way as this pour succinctly falls off the palate.
Bottom Line:
Four Roses Bourbon is one of the best easy-going bourbons that money can buy, and it’s one I regularly keep on hand for the hotter summer months. While it’s a fairly straightforward whiskey when enjoyed neat, follow this tip for summer sipping: pop it in the freezer and pour heartily when you need a refreshing drink that’s a tad bit stronger than water. It’s as smooth as silk, and that approachability puts it a hair above Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon for me.
Four Roses’ OBSF recipe is said to have “delicate rye and mint” with high-rye mashbill B combined with the herbal tones from yeast strain F. The OBSF recipe was one of the components in Four Roses’ award-winning 2017 Al Young 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Small Batch.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Surprisingly vegetal with dark chocolate, allspice, and lavender showing up in a major way. Herbal tea and spearmint are definitely at the core of this recipe, but there are certainly some interesting accents, allspice chief among them, that help to elevate the nose of this whiskey.
Palate: Maple candy, honey, black pepper, and a surprising vegetal aspect reminiscent of radicchio come through. Talk about interesting. On another sip, the vegetal note identifies itself more overtly as mintiness, and the mouthfeel is warming without being overwhelming.
Finish: More minty flavors with a touch of clove, caramel, and barrel char begin to blossom on the finish. It has a medium length that works well with the overall flavor profile.
Bottom Line:
While the flavors in this OBSF expression aren’t as harmonious as I would like, several impressive notes work well on their own. OBSF is one of those recipes that distinctly knows what it is and does well to take you to its preferred destination from nose to palate and through the finish. It isn’t my favorite recipe, but it is consistent.
This bottle, a single-barrel version of Four Roses’ OBSV recipe (learn about all of their recipes here), is an absolutely classic bourbon. The brand describes the OBSV recipe as having a delicate, fruit-forward yeast and a high-rye mash bill.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nosing notes are resplendent with red berries as the aroma of raspberries and black cherries leap out of the glass, along with a touch of sage, singed mint, Brazil nuts, and blood oranges. This is one expressive and inviting nose.
Palate: On the palate, those flavors continue to develop as the blood orange fuses with black cherries, and they’re joined by black pepper spice, singed mint, sage, and even a bit of cedar at midpalate. The juxtaposition of citrus, sweetness, woodsiness, and baking spice might seem like a cacophony of flavors, but they all come together harmoniously.
Finish: The finish is where the baking spice slightly wins out over the fruit-forward notes as it lingers with medium length on the tongue, sizzling the tip and leaving bits of bright cherry and Valencia orange meat on the back end.
Bottom Line:
Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon is packed with flavor but still maintains an approachability and sweetness that will make it appealing to connoisseurs and novices alike. Furthermore, it has a berry-forward flavor profile that absolutely shines when enjoyed neat, but it still lands at a price point that makes it fair game for mixing in cocktails.
Take a close look at Four Roses’ OESK recipe, high in corn with the “slight spice” yeast strain, because it is a sight to see. Want some proof? 12 of the last 14 Limited Edition Small Batch expressions have featured OESK in the blend.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Clove and nutmeg lead the way with this alluring nose while toffee can be found at the periphery flittering through the air. One word that comes to mind? Versatile. This OESK plays a lot of the traditional “bourbon aroma” hits and accents them with a slightly herbal tone and some gentle oak.
Palate: Mellow baking spices come tumbling over the tongue at first with a lot of red apple, and candied ginger flowing soon thereafter. The mouthfeel on this OESK recipe is a bit quotidian, but the punch of flavor that it packs with each sip is formidable, and the freshness of the fruit notes in particular is worth savoring.
Finish: Features like white pepper, fresh Granny Smith apples, rich vanilla, and clove can be found on the finish of OESK. The baking spice is truly what punches through the most, leaving a slight tingling sensation behind.
Bottom Line:
Sure, all ten Four Roses recipes display some of the brand’s core elements, but OESK is definitely one of the more middle-of-the-road expressions, and that’s meant in a good way. OESK is a winner in that it displays many of the hallmark mellow spices that Four Roses is known for, as well as more classic bourbon notes like caramel, oak, and chocolate.
Four Roses’ high corn mashbill meets their rich fruit yeast for this recipe. OESO is a component in Four Roses Bourbon and Small Batch bourbon but it also made an appearance in the Jim Rutledge 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Single Barrel back in 2007.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Floral notes kick things off with rye spice and peanut brittle floating in soon after. As some slight smoke introduces itself there’s also a touch of dark chocolate which draws you in for deeper inhalation. Once you take that deep breath, more aromas like herbal tea and even some slight paprika will be there to greet you with open arms.
Palate: Herbal tea and black pepper blast off on the palate with a lot of sweet, bright maraschino cherry flavors and a touch of honey. This is one for the sweet-toothers but the herbal tea notes are joined by a touch of menthol at midpalate which is a refreshing break in the middle of all those sugary notes.
Finish: A few dashes of black pepper, cinnamon, apple chips, and gentle tannic tones form a ring around the sweet notes from the palate. With only a moderate length, it’s impressive that these new notes, and the addition of fresh clove, really put a bow on every sip, providing the perfect climax to OESO’s nuanced flavor profile.
Bottom Line:
OESO’s bright cherry notes really send this pour into the stratosphere but on your journey to outer space, it offers plenty of stars to see along the way. Peanut brittle, herbal tea, and menthol notes all make stunning appearances and the restrained finish allows the perfect amount of time for all of those disparate parts to pull themselves together and reach their full potential.
Four Roses Small Batch Select uses six of the brand’s ten recipes (OBSV, OBSK, OBSF, OESV, OESK, and OESF) for a unique blend concocted by Master Distiller Brent Elliott and ages the liquid for six to seven years before batching, lightly proofing, and bottling it all up.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: On the nose, Four Roses Small Batch Select offers cola nut, bright red cherries, black pepper, nutmeg, and clove with some oak and caramel tones following behind those initial top notes. It’s robust and inviting, with a lovely baking spice presence that displays a ton of balance.
Palate: Four Roses Small Batch Select hits the palate with a full-bodied richness that coats your tongue and sends you mining your taste buds to discover the flavor of jammy cherries, nutmeg, black pepper, and honeyed black tea. The texture would count as its defining quality if it weren’t for the impressive balance of the flavors ever-so-slightly outperforming the viscous mouthfeel.
Finish: The lingering finish is where you’ll find vanilla extract, raspberries, brown sugar, and a light mint note, which reminds you that this is a robust Four Roses bourbon.
Bottom Line:
Four Roses Small Batch Select is such a great option to buy in this price range. Because it tends to get overlooked when folks are shopping for bottles under $50 and passed over for pricier bottles when they’re feeling spendier, it’s possible you’ve overlooked one of the very best bourbons in Four Roses’ entire lineup. That needs to change today.
Four Roses Single Barrel, offered at Barrel Proof, is one of the single-barrel bourbon world’s best offerings. Not only does Four Roses make all ten of its recipes available in the single-barrel program, but by offering them at an undiluted strength, it showcases their distillate in its purest form every time. This particular single barrel is a nine-year and ten-month version of the OESV recipe.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Juicy orange rinds, bright red cherries, and sweet brown sugar aromas come flying out of the glass with this delicious bourbon freshly poured. There’s also a touch of sage, vanilla frosting, and tobacco leaf to be found.
Palate: Brown sugar and red currants are the most immediately available flavors to download once you take a first sip of this single-barrel bourbon. The dense oak introduces some clove and mellow black pepper baking spice notes, as well as grips the palate and pushes towards the finish.
Finish: The finish is mellow and lingering, with figs and cherries fusing with juicy orange notes and barrel char before pulsing off your palate.
Bottom Line:
No matter the recipe, Four Roses Single Barrel Barrel Proof Bourbon is an exemplar of the single-barrel format, though we do have our favorites. There’s a case to be made that this is Four Roses bourbon in its purest form, and if that’s a notion you subscribe to, then you definitely would agree that this is one of the best bourbons available today.
1. Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon 2024
Four Roses’ highly anticipated Limited Edition Small Batch for 2024 has finally been announced, and we were able to get a first taste of it. For this year’s release, Master Distiller Brent Elliott opted to blend three of Four Roses’ ten bourbon recipes with a 12-year-old OBSV, 15-year-old OESK, 16-year-old OESF, and more OBSV, this time at 20 years old, to create the final product.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is initially floral with ripe apples, butterscotch, and butter pecan ice cream. Faint bits of dark chocolate, star anise, and tobacco leaf help to round out the beautiful bouquet of aromas.
Palate: The butterscotch and apple note really pops on the palate off the bat. The whiskey is well-rounded with a mellow black pepper baking spice tone to go with a more pronounced helping of cinnamon bark, pecans, and brown sugar. The range of flavors reminds me a lot of fried apple pie with a splash of citrus zest. The mouthfeel is medium-bodied and enhances the depth of the flavors without becoming an attraction unto itself.
Finish: The finish has a mature oak backbone with the additional flavor of caramel chews and Fuji apple skin. It’s medium-length, but that brevity really works, urging your focus on the next sip rather than your last.
Bottom Line:
If you want evidence that 2024 was the best year for bourbon releases in recent memory, look no further than this bottle here. Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch is annually considered one of the stars of the fall-release schedule and its consistently high quality is indicative of why. In another year, this could’ve easily been the best or, at worst, second-best bourbon of the year, which goes to show how thin the margin was between each of the expressions on 2024’s “Best Bourbons Of The Year” list.
When it comes to the best bottle of Four Roses in all of the land, there’s no topping this annual delight.
Relationships have gotten more complicated than ever in modern times. Kehlani‘s new single, “Folded,” reflects one of the ways that’s taken place, demanding commitment from a wishy-washy lover — one way or another. Although she invites them to “come pick up your clothes,” which she’s folded up for them, she also needs them to leave the door open and depart as soon as possible, before she’s the one who “folds” and falls for their temptation again.
The Oakland singer released two projects in 2024, her fourth studio album, Crash and the mixtape While We Wait 2. The former was nominated for Best Progressive R&B Album at the 67th Grammy Awards. In a recent interview, Kehlani downplayed the effect of the nomination, saying, “I wanna say — and this is in the most respectful and grateful way — that it hasn’t changed anything. These things shouldn’t shape your perception of your art as an artist. They should just confirm that you’re getting better at telling your story.”
“Folded” is the singer’s first new single since releasing While We Wait 2, but she has attracted plenty of headlines for her stances on current events lately. Perhaps the release of the single is her way of reclaiming the narrative to get folks to talk about her music rather than any manufactured controversies.
It’s been less than a year since Sabrina Carpenter released her latest album, Short N’ Sweet, which came out in August 2024. But, it has seemed recently that the gears of a new era are already turning. She released a new single, “Manchild,” last week, and it looks like it might debut at No. 1. Now, we know we definitely are in a new era: Today (June 11), she announced Man’s Best Friend, a new album set for release on August 29.
On social media, Carpenter shared the cover art, a relatively lo-fi photo of herself in a black dress, on her hands and knees, as a figure standing above her holds a handful of her hair.
There’s no announced tracklist yet, but a press release confirms “Manchild” will be on the album.
Carpenter hinted at the new project in a February interview with Vogue, saying, “I start every year, just trying to go away and write. Because I feel like I have a lot to say at the end of a year. I’m just kind of tucked away right now. It’s half writing and half relaxation, if that’s something I can even accomplish.”
Check out the Man’s Best Friend cover art below.
Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend Album Cover Artwork
Island Records
Man’s Best Friend is out 8/29 via Island Records. Find more information here.
Sound Check returns with another new episode this week, this time putting Ab-Soul to the test. The West Coast rapper recorded this one ahead of the Red Bull Spiral Freestyle that set the rap internet abuzz, earning some of the attention he insisted his last mixtape, Soul Burger, should have gotten. As usual, host Jeremy Hecht puts some tough choices in front of Soulo, making him choose between songs from Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z and Nas, Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix, Eminem and Lupe Fiasco, and even Erykah Badu and Duke Ellington.
Here’s how it works: Jeremy plays two songs for the guest artist, who has to choose one and explain their choice, giving Jeremy a chance to learn their musical taste. Jeremy then has to guess the artist’s life anthem, the song they’d take to a desert island, which the guest wrote down earlier on a piece of paper. Our production team has also given him a decoy song, and Jeremy has to guess which is correct based on what he’s learned in the previous rounds.
Watch Ab-Soul take on the Sound Check challenge above. New episodes of Sound Check drop every Wednesday at noon ET / 9 PM PT on Uproxx’s YouTube.
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