Remember how there was a whopping 13-year gap between the first and second Avatars? Don’t think James Cameron won’t be able to crank out a bunch more. He already has principal photography for the third one in the can, though it’s still not dropping until next December (unless it gets pushed again). But what of Avatar 4, or Avatar 5? Those probably aren’t seeing the light of day for a good while. But at least if one of its stars can be trusted, it will all be worth the wait.
“It’s going to be amazing. ‘Avatar 3,’ it’s going to be amazing, and ‘Avatar 4’ and ‘5’, it just gets crazy,” Zoe Saldana, who plays Na’vi Neytiri, recently told Collider. She continued:
“It’s true. It really does. [James Cameron has] blown our mind. This is his legacy project. We all thought it was ‘Titanic’ and it turned out that ‘Avatar’ is his legacy. And for us to be a part of something so groundbreaking and trailblazing, it’s like it’s a legacy for us, too. So I’m excited to go back. We go back to work next week, so I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone.”
But why should the Avatars stop with 4 or 5? Cameron, who’s pushing 70, has plans for even more.
“We’re fully written through movie five, and I’ve got ideas for six and seven, although I’ll probably be handing the baton on at that point,” Cameron told People. “Mortality catches up. But I mean, we’re enjoying what we’re doing. We’re loving it. We get to work with great people.”
So perhaps Avatar may continue even without Cameron in the director’s chair. The filmmaker discussed another big issue with the franchise: longtime fans who are a little nonplussed that the guy who helmed two Terminators, one Alien (i.e., Aliens), The Abyss, True Lies, and, of course, Titanic is now living exclusively on Pandora:
“People are always asking us, ‘So why did you just keep working in the same…’ Why did [George] Lucas keep working in the same thing? Why did [Gene] Roddenberry keep working in the same thing? Because when you connect with people, why would you squander that? Why would you start over with something else that might not connect?”
Let’s imagine that Avatar 3 still comes out in 2025, three years after Avatar 2. If Cameron and team stay at that click, 4 won’t come out until 2028, 5 in 2031, 6 in 2034, and 7 in 2037. Cosmic stuff! And Saldana herself is already appalled at how old she’ll be when 5 arrives. And perhaps one of them can be called The Seed Bearer.
Grammys Week is always a chaotic time in Los Angeles. In addition to preparations for the “Biggest Night In Music,” it’s a time when all the producers, managers, writers, publicists, assistants, and A&Rs finally come together in one place to catch up and plot the year ahead at a host of gatherings, from exclusive listening events to rooftop brunches — like The Labels Brunch, hosted by Uproxx and Velcro Records at the Remington in Beverly Hills and produced by Powerhouse Agency.
Taking over the stately penthouse, the Labels Brunch brought together a collection of some of music’s hottest up-and-coming acts for drinks, food, music, casino games, and the premiere of the music video for “To The Grave,” a new single from Polo G with G Herbo and Velcro Records artist HotBlock Jmoe. Also in attendance were rising stars like Backwood Brat, Domani, Fresco Trey, Kalan.FrFr, Journey Montana, MAF Teeski, Smiley, Tyla Yaweh, and YK Osiris, as well as rap pioneers like Too Short and Erick Sermon.
The brunch continued until well after sunset, as guests enjoyed some of LA’s finest catering courtesy of the Goldwing Group and DJ sets provided by Red Cup Nation. Special thanks go to Last Wave Entertainment, August Shore, Happy Dad, Fire, and Don Londres. Check out photos and videos from the Labels Brunch below.
Everybody makes a big deal about Olive Garden’s breadsticks — which I don’t understand because the best table bread side of any big chain restaurant is the famous biscuit at Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ. Part of what makes Lucille’s biscuits so addicting is the sweet cinnamon-y apple butter that they’re served with. If you haven’t had Lucille’s apple butter just imagine creamy whipped butter infused with extra floral sweetness and the slightest hint of spiced apple.
You think butter can’t get any better, and then someone invents apple butter. It’s amazing.
If you’re familiar with this wonderful culinary creation, you’ve no doubt wanted to bring that buttery goodness home with you. Unfortunately, Lucille’s doesn’t sell a retail version of the apple butter (they don’t realize they’d essentially be printing money), and unlike Olive Garden’s alfredo sauce, an official recipe doesn’t exist online.
Luckily, TikTok’s got our back! A TikTok user by the name of Moribyan with 4.9 followers and an eCookbook, seems to have cracked the recipe. The video, which has been viewed over 200k times, doesn’t claim to be a copycat recipe but rather inspired by Lucille’s apple butter. That said, we’ve never seen a recipe online that captures the look of the real thing so accurately, so we’re willing to bet this is just as good if not better.
The result looks so good you can almost taste it through the screen! Think of all the things you can put this butter on that aren’t biscuits — baked potatoes, pancakes, a bagel, cornbread, or hell, get weird with it and use it as a potato chip dip. The possibilities are endless.
The last time Nancy Mace made headlines, she was demonstrating to the nation that she completely missed the point of The Scarlet Letter. Since then, the South Carolina congresswoman has reportedly turned over her entire D.C. staff amid allegations that Mace is “delusional” and runs a “toxic” workplace.
According to a new report, all but one of Mace’s staffers quit the congresswoman’s office. The lone staffer who didn’t quit, Dan Hanlon, was fired on December 1. He’s now running against Mace in her own district.
More broadly, these staffers described Mace’s office as grueling and thankless. She created a “demoralizing environment for staff,” as one of her other former senior employees put it.
Multiple former employees specifically complained about Mace’s propensity to ensure everyone was working all the time. Even on Good Friday, when some staff just wanted to take an hour off to go to Mass in the late afternoon, Mace wouldn’t have it, two former senior staffers said. (The House was adjourned at the time.)
“For Mace it was all about control,” one of the previously mentioned former staffers said. “She didn’t see the staff as people but as property.”
Many of the former staff members also left after they witnessed Mace’s new chief of staff, Lori Khatod, calling the Capitol Police on Hanlon, who had came to the office to return his keys a few days after being fired. Khatod had allegedly tried to clear the employees out by telling them to leave early, but when they stayed, they witnessed her trying to have Khatod arrested.
“At that moment, I felt the most unsafe I ever had on the Hill, when I realized she was using the Capitol Police to intimidate staff,” a former staffer told The Daily Beast.
Recently we named In-N-Out the best fast food restaurant in America, and there are several reasons for that (you can read more about why here). A testament to the quality and popularity of In-N-Out is that once a restaurant location has opened, it doesn’t close… with the exception of two restaurants — a restaurant that will be closing in a month in Oakland for safety concerns, and the original In-N-Out location.
Yes, it’s heartbreaking, but the OG In-N-Out doesn’t exist anymore, and if you stood in the place the restaurant once was, you’d likely have to dodge oncoming traffic because that original location was demolished in the late ‘50s to make way for California Interstate 10, one of the most congested freeways in all of Los Angeles (If you know, you know).
Luckily, a replica restaurant was erected near the original location of Francisquito and Garvey in Baldwin Park, California, now known as the In-N-Out Museum. The museum is a charming little replica of the original restaurant, and by restaurant, we mean 100 square-foot shack. It’s not an operable In-N-Out but a cute photo opportunity for your socials and a time capsule of its era.
If pretending you’re at In-N-Out makes you hungry, don’t worry, there is a full-size In-N-Out down the street which is also home to the In-N-Out University — a campus that In-N-Out sends its managers to for additional training. And while that sounds like the nerdiest sh*t on the planet, it must be working because In-N-Out consistently has some of the best service of any fast food restaurant on earth.
Maybe every fast food restaurant needs a university?
If you want to visit the In-N-Out Museum, head to 13752 Francisquito Ave, Baldwin Park, CA 91706, but please note that the operating hours are incredibly tight. Be sure to arrive Thursday-Sunday between 11 AM and 2 PM, unless you want to look at the In-N-Out Museum through a fence.
Check out some photos from the In-N-Out Museum below.
There’s a sequence in Action Jackson – the 1988 movie giving Carl Weathers the opportunity to lead his own franchise in the making that never happened – in which the title character, Action Jackson, played by Weathers, is trying to chase down a cab that had just tried to kill Action Jackson and Patrice Dellaplane, played by Sharon Stone. At this point in the movie, Action Jackson had not shown any particular superhero skills or supernatural powers, but now here he is, running just as fast, or faster, than a speeding cab. Action Jackson finally jumps onto the cab’s roof and punches out the windshield, causing the would-be assassin to hit the brakes, sending Action Jackson flying off ahead onto the pavement. Now at this point, the assassin has a gun and can just shoot Action Jackson, but Action Jackson calls him a chicken, resulting in the cab careening at Action Jackson at full speed. Oh, but, Action Jackson jumps over the cab and does a flip in mid-air that so stuns the assassin that he crashes his cab into a building. Action Jackson will live to see another day.
Up until that scene, we heard a lot of stories about Jericho “Action” Jackson’s prominence for, well, “action.” But, you see, Action Jackson had been demoted and benched for tearing a criminal’s arm off. When Action Jackson’s captain (Bill Duke, being awesome) brings this up, Action Jackson replies, “He had a spare.” But this isn’t just any criminal, Action Jackson tore the arm off of local prominent Detroit auto manufacturer Peter Dellaplane’s (Craig T. Nelson) son. And for reasons that make absolutely no sense, Action Jackson is designated to be the police department’s representative at the hilariously titled “Businessman’s Man of the Year Award,” where Dellaplane is receiving the highest award. When the two have words, it’s obvious Action Jackson does not like Dellaplane because he’s a crook. Dellaplane does not like Action Jackson because Action Jackson tore his son’s arm off. This movie is hilarious.
Considering the outpouring of love toward Weathers after the announcement of his passing on Friday, it’s unusual his biggest movie as the outright star of the film doesn’t have much of a footprint today, if any. When I posted on Twitter/X on Friday that we were watching it, it seemed evident most people had never seen it. I finally posted a clip of the scene I described in the opening paragraph, which actually convinced a few people to give it a shot. And to be fair, I am also a person who kind of forgot about this movie. I hadn’t seen it since theaters and I remember it being a fraught experience. Action Jackson is now one of those hilariously over-the-top violent movies that feels endearing in a, “They sure don’t make ’em like that anymore,” way that wasn’t as endearing back then. It was one of those situations where my parents were on an outing with their couple friends, John and Carol, in a city called Osage Beach, Missouri, near Lake of the Ozark. (You know, the show made famous by the Netflix series, Ozark.) So they could sneak away and get cocktails (at least I assume), they left me and John and Carol’s two daughters at the local theater at the only movie that was playing was Action Jackson. The way I remember it, I was 13 and having a great time, but the younger daughter who was maybe eight years old certainly was not. “Hey, let’s just dump these three kids off at the movies at the extremely R-rated movie.” The ’80s, what a time! (On Friday night I texted the older daughter, who I still somehow know a little bit, and asked if she remembered this. Not surprisingly, she had no idea what I was talking about. Apparently, seeing Action Jackson was not as important to her as it was for me.
Anyway … the plot of Action Jackson centers on Peter Dellaplane having auto union reps murdered and Action Jackson tries to stop him with the help of Dellaplane’s mistress, Sydney Ash (Vanity). I’ll be honest, I was a little worried about rewatching this movie after so long. Weathers’ death is so heartbreaking (gosh he’s been so good in Star Wars) that I didn’t want to watch something that wasn’t a fun time. Of course, Action Jackson got terrible reviews at the time, but most of the movies like this got terrible reviews at the time.
Actually, the only downbeat to the whole thing was there are not, somehow, five Action Jackson movies. It made money! You can’t tell me they couldn’t have, at the very least, made a few direct-to-video sequels? Nope. This is it. I swear, if there were ten Action Jackson movies I’d watch them all this week. But there’s only one, and if you like cool, hilarious, violent action movies starring Carl Weathers, you should watch it. (Of course, being from 1988 there are always a couple moments that wouldn’t fly today.)
So there’s almost a sequel. There’s a 1990 movie called Dangerous Passion with Weathers and Billy Dee Williams that, in parts of Europe, was marketed as Action Jackson 2, even though it has nothing to do with Action Jackson. While reading about Dangerous Passion, it says Weathers plays “a security expert” named Kyle Western. Enough said, I immediately bought a used DVD off Amazon.
Cobra Kai‘s sixth season is currently filming, and Billy Zabka has the fighting moves to prove it. Whenever show time arrives, we might see some slight surprises from returning cast members, but speaking of which, will the originating dojo baddie be back as well?
As devotees remember, the fifth season ended with ultimate karate villain Terry Silver being carted off by law enforcement. Almost simultaneously, John Kreese (who had been framed by Silver) had decided that he had enough and busted out of prison after faking a grievous injury. He couldn’t wait another moment for possible exoneration, but that wouldn’t be as dramatic, so yes, Kreese stole a doctor’s uniform and headed outta there.
Is Kreese going to be in the wind, or will we see him back in the Valley again?
Wait, should Kreese return? Hell yeah:
Netflix
This week, the show released a video montage-message from the cast, and yup, actor Martin Kove is practicing his moves again. Also, he has a sword. Uh oh. “A message to the most badass fans out there: We’re thrilled to be back in production, filming the biggest, baddest and final season of Cobra Kai!” read a Netflix tweet. “See you in the dojo.”
A message to the most badass fans out there: We’re thrilled to be back in production, filming the biggest, baddest and final season of Cobra Kai! See you in the dojo. pic.twitter.com/xncNd181xM
Now, it’s time to wonder whether Jacob Bertrand will receive his wish of Hawk going to the dark side again with his old sensei. Be honest: you wouldn’t be mad if that happened.
Cobra Kai will return for its final season, ideally in 2024.
Prince Harry is rushing back to the UK to be with his father after news of King Charles’ cancer diagnosis broke on Monday.
According to The Telegraph, the Duke of Sussex will board a flight tonight to be with his family as the royals decide next steps regarding the king’s treatment and fitness to rule. While Charles’ health scare came as a shock to the public, The Guardian reports that he “personally informed both of his sons” as well as his three siblings before alerting the press. Just one month earlier, King Charles shared he’d undergone a corrective procedure for an enlarged prostate which resulted in a short hospital stay. Sources say the cancer diagnosis is not related to that resolved health problem which has led some to worry that his cancer diagnosis is even more serious than first suspected.
According to a statement from Buckingham Palace, Charles’ doctors have advised him to “postpone public-facing duties” while he undergoes outpatient treatment from his country home in Sandringham.
“The King is grateful to his medical team for their swift intervention, which was made possible thanks to his recent hospital procedure,” the statement read. “He remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible. His Majesty has chosen to share his diagnosis to prevent speculation and in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer.”
While Harry will be flying in to support his father’s recovery, Meghan and their two children will be staying home. The couple has been estranged from the British Royals for the past few years, with tensions between Harry and his brother, Prince William, reaching a boiling point after the release of Harry’s memoir, Spare. While the siblings are rumored to no longer be on speaking terms, Harry’s made efforts to rekindle his relationship with his father recently and there’s hope amongst close some that his readiness to be by the king’s side during such a difficult time will mend some rifts between the two.
As we inch nearer to $100 per bottle in the Scotch whisky aisle, we also inch nearer to the magnificent bottles. At this point in the journey, we’re talking about whiskies that cost between $70 and $80. We’re entering a true sweet spot where great whiskies abound. Peated malt bombs, unique finishes, cask strength eye-openers, and subtle unpeated malts are all over this price point.
Below, I’m calling out 10 Scotch whiskies that all fall under $80 per bottle and all rock. These whiskies are very varied and offer a wide range of profiles. As mixed as the group is, I did rank these — as some are just a little deeper than others. To be clear, they’re all still winners.
When it comes to price, Scotch whisky can vary pretty dramatically depending on which part of the country you’re in. These prices are set for Louisville, Kentucky via local retailers. Let’s dive in!
Bruichladdich has a lot of fun with peated whisky. This expression keeps the peat phenols in the mid-range, leaning high. The casking is a mix of first and second-fill bourbon barrels and second-fill French wine barrels. That utilization of second-fill oak means there’s a very light touch of wood on this peated whisky.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Imagine a dark chocolate orange drizzled in salted caramel and served on a wet leaf of seaweed on the nose.
Palate: The smoke kicks in on the palate with those wet seaweed leaves thrown on a smoldering pile of pine to create a massive billow of smoke everywhere, as hints of buttery white wine and strawberry jam-covered scones linger in the background.
Finish: The finish leans into the bready nature of the scones with a dry straw edge that’s followed by a mouthful of seaweed-heavy grey smoke.
Bottom Line:
This is not for the faint of heart. There’s some serious peat here. That said, if you can get beyond the peatiness (add some ice), you’ll be in for a subtle and dessert-forward treat as a sipper.
This unpeated malt from Orkney starts its life on a barrel-shaped Lomond wash still. This still from the 1950s is super rare and only a few are left in operation. The whisky then spends an undisclosed amount of years mellowing in barrels from Tennessee and Kentucky. Those barrels are then vatted and proofed all the way down to 40% before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Old apple skins and floral honey lead the way on the nose with a hint of sour cream and roasted almond with a thin line of salt.
Palate: The taste has a slight damp straw funk to it as more honey smooths out the mid-palate with notes of dry anise and licorice leading to a touch of lemon pepper spice.
Finish: The finish has a note of old oak stave next to a lemon creaminess and that honey sweetness with a fair amount of that proofing water calming everything down.
Bottom Line:
This is a spicy and citrus-forward sipper that also works wonders in citrus-forward cocktails. If you’re into the dark and dank spice funk with an acidic vibe, this is going to be your jam.
8. Dalwhinnie Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 15 Years
This entry-point bottle to the wider world of Dalwhinnie is a hell of an easy drinker. The whisky is aged in Scotland’s oldest distillery, making the maturation process a severe one. The juice spends 15 years hiding in those barrels as the temperatures dip well below freezing across all those winters, which stops the maturation process, well, cold.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Imagine a bowl of pear and apple peels sitting next to an open jar of floral summer honey on the nose.
Palate: Dots of citrus oils mingle with that honey as a smooth vanilla character arrives on the back of sweet brown bread bespeckled with smoked walnuts.
Finish: The nuts, sweet bread, and floral honey all converge on the finish as they slowly fade towards a final billow of sweet smoke at the back of your mouth.
Bottom Line:
This is the subtlest peated malt on the list. Hell, you might not even notice those soft phenols at first glance/sip. This is soft and honeyed with even softer fruits, creating a supple sip of delicate whisky for the senses.
Compass Box is one of the most interesting blenders/bottlers working today. This expression is the perfect example of the craft of whisky blending with six masterfully married peaty barrels coming together, focusing on Caol Ila and Laphroaig. A touch of Highland malt is added to bring in hints of dark spice to balance all that Islay peat.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is peaty but not ridiculously so, thanks to the subtlety of the Caol Ila in the mix.
Palate: There’s a really rich and sweet apple/pear vibe that cuts through the earthy peat while a vanilla cream brings about a velvet mouthfeel.
Finish: The smoke returns but is tied to the fruit — like a bushel of smoked apples, pears, and apricots next to a touch of ashy smoke — on the finish.
Bottom Line:
This delivers what it promises when it comes to peat. You have to ease into this one if you’re not initiated into the peat world yet. Use water or ice to slowly build your palate with this whisky. You’ll be rewarded with a great sipper or cocktail base if you do.
6. Bruichladdich Bere Barley 2013 Aged 10 Years Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
This year’s Bere Barley 2013 is a 10-year-old malt made from very specific Scottish grains. The ancient varietal of barley is grown specifically for this whisky and is long fermented to highlight fruity and floral notes in the end whisky, which is aged in ex-bourbon barrels right on the sea in Islay.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Candied oranges and peach pie drive the nose toward a sense of malted pound cake with plenty of vanilla, poppies, and streusel next to creamed lemon curd, old fudge, and a whisper of marzipan with some pear brandy.
Palate: Malty barley biscuits greet you on the plate with plenty of wet brown sugar, Cream of Wheat cut with butter and pancake syrup, and apricot jam next to soft honeydew, more candied orange, and a sense of toasted coconut next to brandy-soaked marzipan with a hint of rose water.
Finish: A hint of milk chocolate arrives late with vanilla custard over fresh mago, more toasted coconut, rose water, and candied orange marzipan dipped in creamed honey with a whisper of lavender.
Bottom Line:
This is a modern classic malt with a deep sense of fruit, nuts, and creamed honey. There’s so much more going on than that though. So take your time, add water, retrace your steps, and really dive into the depths here.
5. Torabhaig Single Malt Scotch Whisky Allt Gleann
The Torabhaig Distillery is the new kid on the block on the Isle of Skye. This whisky is made from heavily peated malts and blended to highlight the seaside vibe of that northern island. The whisky was made back in 2018 from two bespoke barley varieties. It then went into first-fill and re-fill ex-bourbon casks before a touch of water for proofing and bottling as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this one is subtly maritime with a hint of sea spray on cold grey rocks mingling with soft nutmeg, lemon and vanilla-laced shortbread, oyster shells, and a hint of burnt ends from a slow-smoked pork butt.
Palate: The palate leans into smoked salmon skins with a thick line of belly fat still attached as woody spices and dried apple skins lead to a sweet fruit throughline.
Finish: The finish has a hint of fennel and rye next to more sea spray, pepperiness, and a minor note of red fruit.
Bottom Line:
This is a great whisky to break out when you fire up the backyard smoker. It’ll pair perfectly with slow-smoked ribs, pork butt, and brisket.
4. Talisker Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 10 Years
This is one of the most awarded single malts ever. The juice is matured in ex-bourbon casks in Talisker’s warehouse which is literally feet away from the sea. The subtly peated malts take on a real seaside feel as those years tick past, creating a whisky that will not disappoint.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with this soft sense of pitted orchard fruits next to a thin line of beach campfire smoke far off in the distance with a hint of minerality and bright spiced malts.
Palate: The palate has a hint of an oyster shell that leads to dried pears and apricots with a hint of warmth and spice malt next to dry sweetgrass.
Finish: The end is full of lightly smoked plums with a touch of cardamom and cinnamon next to sea salt and a final whiff of that beach campfire way down the beach somewhere.
Bottom Line:
This is an excellent gateway pour into the world of subtly peated malt. It’s the perfect pairing whisky for seafood feasts and mixing great Scotch cocktails. You cannot miss when pouring this one into your glass.
3. Oban West Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 14 Years
This is a great gateway to both Oban and Scotch, in general, to have on hand. The whisky is classically made and then matured in the Oban storehouses for 14 long years — all within a stone’s throw of the sea. The whisky barrels are then blended and proofed by Oban’s tiny distillery team (only seven people work there) before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Citrus, salt, and a whisper of briny peat smoke open this one up on the nose as this sense of dry orchard fruits at the end of fall mingle with soft honey drizzled over spiced malted crackers with a hint of smoked orange saltwater taffy lurking in the background.
Palate: That smoked citrus carries on as a foundation for mild winter spices as a note of honeycomb, hints of fresh pears, and plummy dried fruits with a fatty nuttiness mingle on the palate.
Finish: The oaky spice and extremely mild peat smoke meet at the end with a slight malty sweetness, old pear, and the faintest whisper of dried seaweed.
Bottom Line:
This is another pretty much perfect pour of subtly peated malt. This is the peated whisky that might get you hooked once and for all on the softly peated stuff from Scotland … it’s that good.
2. The GlenDronach Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Cask Strength Batch no. 12
Last year’s batch from Dr. Rachel Barrie at The GlenDronach is all about long aging. The whisky is left to mellow in Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks from Andalucía, Spain. The age statement is on the bottle, but the blends tend to lean over a decade. The final mix is then bottled at cask strength to really highlight that Spanish oak.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Scoops of decadent dark chocolate powder draw you in with a hint of espresso cream, burnt orange, and marzipan with a moist sticky toffee pudding vibe next to a faint whisper of dried rose.
Palate: The palate is lush with a roasted and rich espresso bean vibe with salted dark chocolate, chinotto orange, and more rich and moist marzipan with a dash of ginger candy dipped in clove and allspice tea.
Finish: There’s a rich vanilla underbelly that smooths everything out on the end with a sense of rum raisin and faint bourbon cherry tobacco layered with soft cedar and mocha lattes.
Bottom Line:
This is a phenomenal whisky. It’s a wonderful bridge between the bold worlds of Kentucky bourbon, sweet and spicy Spanish sherry, and unpeated Highland malts. Pour it neat, taste it, add water, and do it all over again. You’ll always find something new and delicious to enjoy. Or use this to make an amazing cocktail.
1. Johnnie Walker Green Label Blended Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 15 Years
Johnnie Walker’s Green Label is a solidly crafted whisky that highlights Diageo’s fine stable of distilleries across Scotland. The whisky is a pure malt or blended malt, meaning that only single malt whisky is in the mix (no grain whisky). In this case, the primary whiskies are a minimum of 15 years old, from Talisker, Caol Ila, Cragganmore, and Linkwood.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Soft notes of cedar dance with hints of black pepper, vanilla pods, and bright fruit — think red berries, fresh pear, and nectarines — with a wisp of singed green grass in the background.
Palate: The palate delivers on that soft cedar woodiness while edging towards a spice-laden tropical fruit brightness with grilled peaches covered in salted caramel, honey malt biscuits, and bitter yet sweet marmalade with a dash of winter spiciness.
Finish: The finish is dialed in with hints of soft cedar bark, singed wild sage, bark-forward winter spice, and stewed stonefruit leading toward a briny billow of smoke at the very end.
Bottom Line:
This is the best sipper and cocktail base on the list kind of by far. This whisky is excellent, varied, and delicious from top to bottom. This is a “just buy a case” whisky.
Mike Vrabel won’t coach in the NFL next season. A little less than a month ago, the Tennessee Titans fired Vrabel after six seasons, and it was assumed that he’d be one of the hottest names on the coaching market. And then, jobs started getting filled left and right, with Vrabel repeatedly getting passed up for someone else.
It was a bit of a surprise, as the consensus seemed to be that Vrabel helped the Titans punch above their weight for years before missing out on the playoffs the last two seasons. But ultimately, the dominoes fell in such a way that he’s going to spend the 2024 season either chilling at home or picking up a coordinator role, and according to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, there’s at least one NFL executive who believes Vrabel being a big fella cost him a job.
“You know, I had a GM at the Senior Bowl who mentioned to me Vrabel’s physical build,” Russini said on the latest edition of The Athletic Football Show. “That he’s a very large human being and can be very intimidating to people in an organization that are going to be part of these decisions. And that is a factor. Which, I laughed, I said, ‘Stop, that’s not something that’s real. Who cares what someone physically looks like?’ And he said, ‘I’m just telling you, I’ve been in rooms and somebody’s physical presence can make a presence.’”
Russini did float the possibility of Vrabel spending this year as a defensive coordinator somewhere, and mentioned there might be interest there. Vrabel, of course, was an All-Pro linebacker with the New England Patriots, and Wikipedia tells me that he comes in at about 6’4 and 261 points, which is objectively a huge person. However, football is a sport filled with gigantic people, so if you want someone who played the game to coach your team, in all likelihood they are going to be a physically imposing human being. As such, if you’re a football team that believes in having a coach who is gigantic, I have very good news about a coach who is available.
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Samir Hussein 
