Music’s biggest night took place Sunday, February 4 with the 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Now, fans have the opportunity to take home a piece of the famed event.
Longtime GRAMMY Awards partner Mastercard is using this year’s campaign to shine a light on the environment and the Priceless Planet Coalition (PPC), a forest restoration program with the goal of restoring 100 million trees. Music fans are 1.5 times more likely to take action to help the environment, making the GRAMMY Awards the perfect opportunity to raise awareness.
“Through our GRAMMY Awards campaign, we’ve created an opportunity for our brand, our partners and consumers to come together over shared values, to participate during a moment when we can celebrate our passion for music and our commitment to make meaningful investments to preserve the environment,” says Rustom Dastoor, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Communications, North America at Mastercard.
The campaign kicked off with an inspired self-guided multi-sensory tour at the GRAMMY House presented by Mastercard, where people journeyed through their passion of music and educational experience about Mastercard’s longstanding commitment to tree restoration. Then, this year’s most-nominated GRAMMY artist and a passionate voice for the environment, SZA, led the charge with the debut performance of her new song, Saturn.
Mastercard’s partners are also joining the mission by encouraging people all over the country to participate; Lyft and Sirius XM are both offering ways for consumers to get involved in the Priceless Planet Coalition. To learn more about how you can support these efforts, visit mastercard.com/forceofnature.
While fashion is always a highlight of any GRAMMY Awards event, SZA’s outfit worn during her performance of Saturn was designed to make a statement; made of tree seeds to help spread awareness. Fans can even comment ‘🌱’ and tag a friend on Mastercard’s designated post of SZA’s GRAMMY House performance for a chance to win a tree seed from the performance outfit*.
“SZA has a personal passion for sustainability – not just in forest restoration but in the clothes she wears and the platforms and partners she aligns herself with. It was important to us to partner with someone who is not only showing up big at the GRAMMY Awards – as the most GRAMMY-nominated artist this year – but also showing up big for the environment,” says Dastoor.
Due to factors like factory farming, logging, and urban growth, the Earth is losing trees at an alarming rate. According to Earth.org, approximately 10 million hectares of trees are lost each year.
Forests regulate the air we breathe and are highly effective in moderating greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, tropical forests provide up to 30% of the global action needed to stop climate change.
“Planting trees can help improve everything – from air quality to economic opportunity to mental health – and everybody deserves these benefits,” SZA said in a press release about her previous environmental activism.
Guided by Conservation International and World Resources Institute, the PPC employs science-based best practices for the selection, implementation, and long-term monitoring of their restoration efforts.
In addition to their goal to restore 100 million trees, the PPC also works to regrow forests in geographies that represent the greatest global need. This includes areas with the greatest potential for positive impacts on climate, with community and biodiversity goals being prioritized as they set out to restore forestland across the globe.
To learn more about the Priceless Planet Coalition or how you could get involved in forest restoration, visit mastercard.com/forceofnature.
* Additional Sweepstakes Details: No Purch. Nec. Void in Quebec and where prohibited. Mastercard cardholders before 2/4/24, who are U.S. & Canada res 18+ at time/date of entry. Ends 2/10/24. Winners/ARV: $30 USD each. Entry must include a “seedling” emoji and tag a friend. Canadian winners must answer a time-limited skill-testing math question. Odds of winning depend on the total number of entries received. Rules: priceless.com/forceofnature
It had been rumored that Tracy Chapman might be making an appearance at the Grammys this year, after Luke Combs’ country version of her iconic song “Fast Car” earned a grammy nomination.
Combs’ rendition of the late 80s classic, which won him Song of the Year at 2023 Country Music Awards, has been met with both great praise and great criticism.
Many applauded Combs for giving the tune a major resurgence and even bringing it to a whole new audience. At the same time, some took umbrage with the fact that Combs’ version had placed higher on the Billboard Hot 100 charts than Chapman’s original and argued that it was a symptom of long-endured racism within the country music genre.
Chapman eventually came out of her private life to endorse Combs’ cover, saying, “I’m happy for Luke and his success and grateful that new fans have found and embraced ‘Fast Car.’”
Which brings us to the opening half hour of the Grammy 2024 Awards, where both Chapman and Combs appeared on stage in matching all-black outfits to perform a moving duet. This made for a landmark appearance for Chapman, who hadn’t performed publicly in several years.
As they sang, audiences mouthed the words and clapped along. Some songs really do have the power to bring folks of all walks of life together.
Watch:
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“Fast Car” has struck a chord with listeners since that seemingly fateful night at Wembley Stadium in 1988, when a few technical difficulties led Chapman to performing it as a backup plan, unwittingly stepping into musical history. Fans love the folk anthem for its raw simplicity and vivid depiction of yearning, brought to life by Chapman’s one-of-a-kind voice.
And even though there’s no replacing her original hit, the collaboration with Combs has led to some amazing genre-busting breakthroughs. Back in November of 2023, Chapman also reached No. 1 on Billboard‘s Country Songwriters chart and won song of the year for “Fast Car,” making her the first Black woman to win a Country Music Association award.
Then a mere moments after Chapman’s Grammy performance with Combs, “Fast Car” shot to No. 1 on iTunes Top Songs. Her debut album from 1988, titled “Tracy Chapman,” also shot to No. 1.
Art is subjective, but it stands to reason that a work of art can be considered great if it continues moving people time and time again. Chapman’s art certainly has this kind of staying power, and it’s wonderful anytime that achievement gets recognition.
If you were to look at Megan Montgomery’s Instagram account, you’d see a beautiful, smiling woman in the prime of her life, her youth and fitness the envy of women the world over. You’d even see some photos of her with her husband (#datenight), with comments saying things like “Aww, gorgeous couple!”
But beneath her picture-perfect feed was the story of a woman in an abusive relationship with her husband—one that would start with his arrest shortly after they got married, and end 10 months later with him shooting her to death in a parking lot.
In a Facebook post, one of the people who was out with Megan the night of her murder detailed how her estranged husband had come to their table, put his hand on her neck and shoulder, and escorted her out of the building.
She went with him willingly, but anyone familiar with abusive relationships knows that “willingly” is a subjective term. He had reportedly threatened mass violence before. Perhaps she was trying to protect the people she was with. Perhaps staying felt more dangerous to her than going with him.
The couple reportedly had a volatile relationship from the start, and at one point both had restraining orders against the other. Regardless, she was killed by the man who had claimed to love her, an ex-cop who had been arrested for domestic violence and had been bailed out multiple times prior to that evening.
Feminist News wrote the gist of Megan’s story on Facebook, sharing photos from the couple’s wedding to illustrate how invisible domestic violence can be to those outside of it. “THIS is the face of domestic violence,” they wrote.
But what was perhaps most striking about the post was the deluge of comments from women describing their own experiences with domestic violence. Comment after comment explaining how a partner always made them think the abuse was their fault, how restraining orders were repeatedly violated, how they were charmed and loved into questioning whether the verbal abuse or physical violence was really that bad. Story after story of how they didn’t see it coming, how slowly and insidiously it escalated, how terrifying it was to try to leave.
Those of us who have not been in abusive relationships don’t always understand why people don’t leave them. But the dynamics of abuse—the emotional manipulation, the gaslighting, the self-esteem destruction, the fear and shame—are well documented.
Unfortunately, those dynamics can prove deadly. Domestic violence murders have been on the rise in recent years, going up 19% between 2014 and 2017. And sadly, our justice system does not protect domestic violence survivors as well as it should.
Part of the challenge of prosecuting in domestic violence cases is that victims are not always willing to cooperate, either out of fear or shame or embarrassment, or unhealthy loyalty. According to some estimates, domestic violence victims recant their testimony up to 70% of the time. That’s why some are pushing for evidence-based prosecution without requiring victim testimony, much like we try murder cases.
But some, like University of Maryland law professor Leah Goodmark, argue that pushing for more law enforcement hasn’t proven to reduce domestic violence rates. Addressing issues of poverty, childhood trauma, attitudes toward gender equality, and other risk factors for domestic violence may be more effective by stopping violence before it starts.
While abuse happens to both men and women, women are more likely to be victims and much more likely to be murdered by a partner. Thankfully, there are many resources for domestic violence survivors to seek help, whether you’re trying to determine if your relationship is abusive or trying to figure out if, when, and how to leave. The National Domestic Violence Hotline (www.thehotline.org or call 1−800−799−7233) has a wealth of information on domestic violence and what to do about it. The website even has a live chat where you can get your questions answered and receive assistance making a safety plan for you and your family.
If you are afraid of your partner or other loved one, there’s something wrong. No one should live in fear of the people who are supposed to love them the most.
Matthew McConaughey’s upcoming Yellowstone spinoff seems to have hit a little bump in the road, and even though he is still attached to the project, we might be waiting a while to see him on the ranch. So, in the meantime, McConaughey is going back to his humble beginnings by lending his acting talents to a country music video. Maybe you didn’t know that McConaughey starred as the titular Walkaway Joe in Trisha Yearwood’s 1992 depressing country ballad “Walkaway Joe,” but now you do! Context is important here. This has been a long time coming, and he’s ready for it.
McConaughey stars in Zach Bryan’s video for “Nine Ball” as a father who teaches his son how to play pool in a local dive bar in between shotgunning beers. The son grows up, but the father still spends his nights starting bar fights with the locals. Maybe he is just getting ready for his Yellowstone debut by taking on such a complex family role!
The actor has been in limbo ever since it was announced he would lead a new Yellowstone spinoff, but behind-the-scenes drama seems to have halted the momentum. Just last month, Life and Style reported that the actor was getting frustrated at the process. “Matthew can’t book movie work that is going to potentially overlap with the show,” an insider said. “But he still doesn’t have clarity on when exactly this job would even start. He wants to make the deal — it’s become this incredibly drawn-out process.” They added, “No deal has ever taken this long for Matthew. Especially after he won his Oscar, getting folks to meet his asking price has been a breeze.” All that fame and power and he still wasn’t asked to appear in Magic Mike’s Last Dance. It’s interesting.
For now, it looks like we might have to settle for McConaughey starring in a string of random music videos until he gets some answers. Or he can hop on a T-Mobile campaign. Whatever keeps him busy…except for his cult-adjacent seminars. We haven’t forgotten about those.
Taylor Swift‘s record-breaking The Eras Tour has been on a break since late November. Too bad nothing interesting has happened to her since then… other than winning the Grammy for Album of the Year for a record fourth time and her boyfriend Travis Kelce going to the Super Bowl (also for the fourth time — it was karmically meant to be). Oh yeah, and she’s releasing a new album.
Swift announced that her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, is coming out on April 19. That comes during a gap in her schedule: after finishing up a multi-night residency at the National Stadium in Kallang, Singapore, on March 9, Swift doesn’t have another show until May 9 in Paris, France.
We’ll find out then whether The Tortured Poets Department gets an “era” set like all of her other albums, except for her self-titled debut.
Swift shared the cover of The Tortured Poets Department (Full House fans should be happy) after wining Best Pop Vocal Album during Sunday’s Grammys. She also posted a photo of a handwritten note that reads, “And so I enter into evidence / My tarnished coat of arms / My muses, acquired like bruises / My talismans and charms / The tick, tick, tick of love bombs / My veins of pitch-black ink / All’s fair in love and poetry…” She signed it with, “Sincerely, The Chairman of the Tortured Poets Department.”
You can see the complete dates for The Eras Tour here.
Nikki Haley made a random appearance on Saturday Night Live over the weekend where the Republican presidential candidate was bizarrely given a chance to paper over her problematic comments about the civil war while appearing in the opening sketch with host Ayo Edebiri. Haley’s cameo sparked strong reactions on social media, and now, at least one SNL cast member is making it known that the former South Carolina governor wasn’t entirely welcomed even if she is trying to take down Trump.
In a new Instagram post shared on Monday morning, SNL cast member Bowen Yang shared a photo of the flowers and note that was left for Haley in the SNL green room. The note read, “Amb. Haley, Welcome to Studio 8H! From, Lorne + Everyone at SNL.” In the caption of the photo, Yang wrote “everyone! :)” which seemingly implied that the sentiment wasn’t entirely true.
While the Instagram post is still up, Yang has disabled comments and the embed feature. The pushback marks a seemingly rough patch for the SNL star. Last week, Yang visibly stood far away from Dave Chappelle after the comedian randomly crashed the closing of Dakota Johnson’s episode. This week, the Haley incident not only happened, but SNL made an even more controversial move by announcing Shane Gillis as the next host.
Gillis was hired in the same incoming group as Yang, but never made it to his first episode. The comedian was fired after a series of homophobic and anti-Asian remarks were brought to light ending his SNL career before it even began. Inexplicably, Gillis is now returning as host, and no one seems to know why it’s happening.
As Twitter user LoLo Vanz noted, it almost seems like SNL is trying to force Yang out.
Dave Chappelle one week, Shane Gillis the next, it’s like they want Bowen Yang to quit https://t.co/HRA3vk7LvD
Below is everything we know about Usher’s new album Coming Home so far.
Release Date
Coming Home is out 2/9 via Mega/Gamma. Find more information here.
Tracklist
1. “Coming Home” with Burna Boy
2. “Good Good” with Summer Walker and 21 Savage
3. “A-Town Girl” with Latto
4. “Cold Blooded” with The Dream
5. “Kissing Strangers”
6. “Keep On Dancin’”
7. “Risk It All” with H.E.R.
8. “Bop”
9. “Stone Kold Freak”
10. “Ruin” with Pheelz
11. “BIG”
12. “On The Side”
13. “I Am The Party”
14. “I Love U”
15. “Please U”
16. “Luckiest Man”
17. “Margiela”
18. “Room In A Room”
19. “One Of Them Ones”
20. “Standing Next To You (Remix)” with Jung Kook
Singles
So far, Usher has released two singles: “Good Good” featuring 21 Savage and Summer Walker and “Ruin” featuring Pheelz.
Features
In addition to Usher’s fellow Atlantans 21 Savage, Latto, Summer Walker, and The-Dream, Usher worked with Nigerian superstar Burna Boy, Grammy-winning singer H.E.R., Afropop singer-songwriter Pheelz, and K-pop vanguard Jung Kook on Coming Home
Dove Cameron and Måneskin singer Damiano David have a lot in common! They’re both up-and-coming singers in their mid-to-late 20s, and most notably, it appears they are in a relationship with each other.
Are Dove Cameron And Måneskin’s Damiano David Dating?
It certainly looks like it: The two attended Clive Davis’ Grammy Gala together on February 3, and there, they walked the red carpet and kissed for the cameras. As People notes, they were later seen holding hands inside the gala.
The two have been rumored to be an item for a few months now. In September 2023, Cameron was spotted at Måneskin’s Madison Square Garden concert (again according to People). Shortly after, she was seen at another of the band’s shows in Brazil. In November, Cameron and David were photographed kissing on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
This apparent relationship follows an incident this summer when a video of David kissing a mystery woman went viral on TikTok, while he was supposedly dating longterm girlfriend Giorgia Soleri. In his apology, though, David claimed he and Soleri had broken up before the video was shot.
Meanwhile, both Cameron and Måneskin had new projects last year, with Alchemical: Volume 1 and Rush!, respectively.
(SPOILER WARNING: Obviously, we will be chit-chatting about the Mr. & Mrs. Smith season finale below.)
Donald Glover decided that he felt like redoing Mr. & Mrs. Smith as a TV series, and boy, did he ever do the job. The first season of eight episodes, however, did leave viewers dangling because that season finale was anything but clear cut. As showrunner and co-creator Francesca Sloane told Hollywood Reporter, she and Glover both hope that they can continue telling the story of his John and Maya Erskine’s Jane, but there’s one slight issue: what happened in that finale, really?
As viewers are aware, Wagner Moura and Parker Posey’s Super High Risk John and Jane showed up to assassinate Glover and Erskine’s High Risk John and Jane after they’d screwed up too many missions (under the disappointed judgment of “HiHi”). From there, we learned that that jungle mission was actually a hit on another failed John, and we could infer that the first scene of the series, featuring a hit on Alexander Skarsgård and Eiza González‘s John and Jane, was likely carried out by Posey’s Jane as well. From there, Glover’s John suffers a possibly mortal wound, and Erskine’s Jane takes out the eye of Moura’s John.
Posey pursues Glover and Erskine to their safe room, and eventually, Erskine decides to open the door and attempt to kill Posey’s character, but all we see is a flash of gunfire from outside a window. The season then ended, and we have no idea who lived and who died.
As it turns out, Francesca Sloane doesn’t know whether, and the season was written so that everything could feel like a complete story, if the show doesn’t get renewed. However, there’s also an “in” to another season if Amazon pulls the trigger, and perhaps John and Jane got out alive (and could both level up or totally go rogue?). So the question is this: will Jeff Bezos and Friends give viewers a second season? We shall see.
Amazon’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith full first season is currently streaming.
To that end, I’m calling out 20 bottles of bourbon that clock in just under $70 and all rule. The bottles listed below are all winners and will scratch any bourbon itch out there. That all said, I did rank these bourbons, since a few near the end are unassailably great whiskeys that transcend the category.
It’s also worth noting that these prices are the current prices in Louisville, Kentucky (mostly via retailers like Total Wine). Your region may have slightly different prices than those listed below. Regardless, find the whiskey on this list that speaks to you, and go with it! Let’s dive in!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
This craft whiskey from Ohio is made with a mash bill of 65% corn, 30% rye, and 5% malted barley. The barrels aged a minimum of six years before batching, proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Butterscotch leads the nose on this sip as ginger snaps mingle with rich and sharp toffee candies next to a touch of vanilla, pepper, and cherry lurking underneath everything.
Palate: The taste amps up the creaminess of the vanilla and the butteriness of the toffee, as a slight marzipan flourish arrives with a thin layer of freshly cracked black pepper and salted black licorice.
Finish: That pepper marries to the ginger as the heat levels off and fades out leading towards a finish with more of the vanilla and dry wood than anything else.
Bottom Line:
This is a super solid small batch to have on hand. There’s a classic bourbon foundation that supports a deep and vibrant profile. Overall, this works wonders in any whiskey-forward cocktail or as an everyday sipper over some rocks.
This new(ish) expression from Heaven Hill uses classic Elijah Craig Small Batch and finishes it in another barrel. The aged six- to eight-year-old whiskey is transferred to new toasted oak barrels for a spell so that the whiskey can really capture more of that oakiness.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Naturally, you get a woodiness on the nose that teeters between soft cedar and sweet almost fruity hardwoods with a hint of caramel sweetness as a counterpoint on the bold nose.
Palate: That caramel has an orange chocolate edge with hints of clove, cinnamon, and white pepper lurking in the background of the palate.
Finish: On the end, the spices dry out (think cinnamon sticks or spice barks), the sweetness subsides, and you’re left with a touch of that soft cedar and some well-warmed senses.
Bottom Line:
This is a nicely balanced sweet treat that captures the dryness of a well-made toasted oak finish. You get that Kentucky sweetness with a lot of spice. In the end, I’d lean towards using this in whiskey-forward cocktails primarily — especially if you’re looking for a woody spicy kick.
This Louisville whiskey is made with a “double malted” mash bill. The recipe calls for 70% corn, 25% malted German rye, and 5% malted barley. The hot juice goes into the barrels at a lower entry proof and rests for just over three years in toasted and charred Kelvin barrels (from the Louisville cooperage that many consider the best in the game). Only 15 of those barrels go into the final batch.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This nose is classic bourbon with deep and dark cherry, burnt orange, old vanilla pods, and a hint of licorice layered into cream soda with a sprig of fresh mint.
Palate: There’s a sense of fancy Almond Joy next to clove-studded orange candies, vanilla cake with caramel frosting, and a light mint tobacco in a cedar humidor with a twinge of leather.
Finish: The cedar, dark cherry, singe orange, and bold woody spice all pop in the finish and fade slowly away, leaving you with a well-rounded “bourbon” experience.
Bottom Line:
This is quintessential Kentucky bourbon with real depth. While this works as a great sipper over a big rock, it really shines brightest in an old fashioned.
17. Milam & Greene Very Small Batch Straight Bourbon Whiskey Batch 1.2
This whiskey is from Master Blender Heather Greene, who picked 75 barrels for the blend. The blend is a mix of contract-distilled Kentucky whiskey with Tennessee whiskey rounding out the mix. The batched barrels were vatted in a 1,000-gallon tank before being re-barrelled into French oak for a final rest.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is light but runs deep with walnuts, vanilla flowers, soft custard cut with nutmeg and clove, and a light sense of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Palate: The palate is like walking through a fruit orchard in full bloom with a hint of wet black tea next to buttermilk biscuits dripping with butter and honey.
Finish: The finish gets slightly dry with a sense of dry and barky winter spices, dried red berries, and apple chips next to a light sense of brandy-soaked oak staves.
Bottom Line:
This is a lovely and light(ish) bourbon that’s perfect for warm-weather sipping. Pour this over a few rocks, add a floral or botanical garnish, and you’ll be set for a soft and supple sipping experience.
16. Leopold Bros. Bottled-In-Bond Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This Colorado crafty whiskey gets a lot of attention from bourbon drinkers in the know. The mash is made from 64% corn, 21% malted barley, and 15% Abruzzi Heritage Rye, which Master Distiller Todd Leopold malted at his malting house at the distillery in Denver. That mash ran through a classic pot still before it was barreled and left to rest for five years.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The floral and spicy nature of that Abruzzi rye comes out on the nose with a touch of candied apples, sweet porridge, Quik chocolate milk powder, and the faintest hint of sourdough rye with a light smear of salted butter.
Palate: The taste leans into stewed pears with nutmeg and clove spices leading the way as Almond Roca and green peppercorns jostle for space on your palate.
Finish: The end mellows out as that spice fades towards an eggnog vibe with a creamy vanilla underbelly and a final touch of that floral rye and a hint of pear.
Bottom Line:
This is a whiskey-maker’s whiskey. It’s complex and unique in all the right ways with a serious depth that goes far beyond the ordinary. Take your time with this one and it’ll reward you — and then try it in your favorite cocktail.
15. New Riff High Note Series: Bohemian Wheat Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 8-Year-Old
This late 2023 release from New Riff is all about the wheat. The whiskey is made with 65% non-GMO corn, 18% Bohemian floor-malted wheat, 10% unmalted wheat, and 7% dark wheat. The whiskey was then small batched and bottled 100% as-is to highlight the work that the wood and wheated bourbon underwent over years of resting on the Ohio River.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose feels like walking into an old bread bakery in Central Europe early in the morning before hitting this note of freshly fried apple fritters and old-fashioned doughnuts, a touch of prune, plum, and date, and a good dose of soft winter spice.
Palate: The palate is dry but full of sourdough bread crusts, Graham Crackers, and Fig Newtons with a touch of huckleberry jam, dry sweetgrass braided with smudging sage, and a touch of straw bale before the woody spice kicks in with a cinnamon bark focus.
Finish: The end leans into the woody spices with a touch of clove, allspice, and nutmeg before sweetgrass and bread crusts take over with a hint of buttery cream.
Bottom Line:
This new drop from New Riff is all about taking bourbon to new places. This does that in spades while still delivering a beautifully nuanced profile that’ll feel comforting and palate-expanding at the same time.
The whiskey in the bottle is a cask-strength blend of whiskeys from Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. This whiskey is all about the blending process that Stellum (part of Barrell Spirit Company) employs to make this special and award-winning bourbon. The process is a sort of hybrid reverse solera technique where the blend gets more whiskey to keep the proof high and the blend consistent in flavor as the batch is drained off.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is a holiday cake with fatty nuts next to woody spice barks — think anise, clove, and cinnamon — with a nice dose of dried red fruits and honey-dipped over-ripe Granny Smith apples.
Palate: The palate edges away from the spice towards a powdered sugar sweetness with a hint of dry vanilla. Then a counterpoint bursts onto the scene with a hit of spicy, dried chili pepper flakes next to blackberry pie with a nice dose of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Finish: The end lingers for just the right amount of time as the spice fades back towards the honeyed sweetness and a final touch of vanilla tobacco buzz lands in the back of the throat.
Bottom Line:
This is just excellent bourbon, especially if you’re looking to batch a Manhattan, Sarerac, or old fashioned.
13. Bardstown Bourbon Fusion Series #8 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This whiskey is a masterful blend from the team out at Bardstown Bourbon Company. The whiskey in the bottle is a mix of two four-year-old bourbons (both high rye) from BBCo with a sourced 12-year-old Kentucky bourbon with a lower-rye content. Once those barrels are married, the whiskey is proofed and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Honey stands out on the nose next to tart apples leaning toward apple cores or seeds, supported by classic notes of vanilla pods, caramel, and light oak.
Palate: That apple becomes slightly stewed and spicy with the caramel lending sweetness as a hint of walnuts arrives with a buttery crust vibe that’s very apple pie.
Finish: The end is slightly oaky but sweet in the way that cherry-flavored pipe tobacco is.
Bottom Line:
This is a honeyed and fruity-forward bourbon that feels like a bridge toward bolder unpeated single malts from Scotland. The complexity makes this an excellent simple cocktail base for your favorite whiskey-forward concoctions.
12. Luca Mariano Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Single Barrel
This whiskey marries Italian-American heritage with bourbon in Kentucky’s horse country. The whiskey is a contract-distilled high-rye bourbon that spends six years resting in new American oak. That whiskey is then just barely touched with local water before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose feels like walking through a peach orchard on a sunny day with blossoming honey suckles wrapped around cinnamon sticks in your hand.
Palate: The taste builds on that spiced honey with a mild root beer vibe next to overripe peach, a touch of vanilla cream, and a whisper of fresh mint.
Finish: The finish stays fairly mellow with creamy honey and mild spices blending with a soft touch of vanilla/mint tobacco warmth.
Bottom Line:
This is a really solid sipper, especially over a single rock. Drink it during or after a big family meal for the best rewards from the bourbon’s profile.
The first Larceny Barrel Proof release of 2024 is a classic. The whiskey in the bottle is a blend of six- to eight-year-old bourbons from the wheated bourbon barrels at Heaven Hill. Those barrels were batched and then went into the bottle 100% as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This feels warm on the nose with a sense of cinnamon toast, pecan waffles covered in maple syrup, and buttery vanilla paste with a hint of prune and maybe some dates swimming in mulled wine with a whisper of dark fruity brandy.
Palate: Rummy syrup with a deep sense of Nutella spread over a toasted brioche drives the palate toward fig jam, sticky toffee pudding, and a dark caramel cut with burnt orange and salt flakes on the mid-palate.
Finish: That caramel gets so dark that it turns into cinnamon-laced dark chocolate with a touch of allspice and clove before a dry sense of old oak staves wrapped in tobacco round out the hot and dry end.
Bottom Line:
2024’s first Larceny Barrel Proof is a great whiskey that’ll deliver beyond the ordinary with a deep and classic profile. It does have a dessert vibe, so lean on pouring this one as a digestif after a big meal.
This new(ish) limited edition single-barrel Ezra Brooks is a classic bourbon. The whiskey is aged for at least five years before it’s charcoal filtered, batched, and then bottled at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Orange creamsicles and nut cake drive the nose with a soft vanilla malt shake, honey cookies, and touches of cinnamon powder.
Palate: The cinnamon and nut cake pop on the palate as dark chocolate oranges and gingerbread drive the taste toward spiced cake and hot chocolate.
Finish: The spice starts to mount on the finish with a hot end that’s very woody and spicy with an almost bitter dark chocolate vibe.
Bottom Line:
This is just good all-around bourbon. It’s great however you want to sip it.
9. Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 1910 Old Fine Whisky
Back in 1910, there was a fire at Old Forester which stopped bottling. Whiskies that were ready had to be re-barreled while everything was rebuilt. This created a great bourbon that’s being replicated in the modern day. To do this, Old Forester is re-barreling bourbon for a second maturation before blending, proofing, and bottling, making this their “double oaked” bourbon.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Stone fruit drives the nose with hints of apricot and maybe plum next to sweet and soft cedar and black tea-infused dates on the nose.
Palate: On the palate, those dates become a rich and spicy sticky toffee pudding with a thick brandy butter topping next to a hint of oatmeal raisin cookies cut with cherry syrup.
Finish: The sweetness of the mid-palate gives way to a dark chocolate feel with a flake of salt, a hint of masa, and plenty of wintry spice leading back to that dark cherry with tobacco dryness at the very end.
Bottom Line:
This is a big Kentucky cherry bomb with deep spice and nuance. You can easily sip this over a rock or two or pour it into your favorite cocktail. Either way, you’ll be in for a treat.
8. Pursuit United Straight Blended Bourbon Whiskey
This bourbon is a vatted from 40 total barrels from three different states. While the team at Pursuit United doesn’t release the Tennessee distillery name, we know the whiskeys from Kentucky and New York are from Bardstown Bourbon Company and Finger Lakes Distilling, respectively.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a rush of cedar next to Christmas spices steeped in sweet red wine.
Palate: That sweetness tends to lean into fresh honey with a touch of caramel and maybe a little dark chocolate on the end. The taste holds onto the honeyed sweetness with burnt sugars, light cedar, chocolate tobacco leaves, and a hint of orange oils.
Finish: That orange is what builds and powers the finish to its silken end, concluding with an orange-choco vibe and a very soft landing.
Bottom Line:
This is a great entry point into the wider world of Pursuit’s whiskeys (their special barrel finishes are stellar). This is a great choice if you’re batching whiskey-forward cocktails or are just looking for a no-nonsense sipper for easy afternoon pours.
This new bourbon from Woodinville up in Seattle, Washington, is a crafty dream with a very unique finish. After about five years of aging, the bourbon is re-barreled into Ginjinha barrels (a Portuguese liqueur made with sour cherries) for another maturation run. Finally, those barrels are batched, proofed, and bottled for this limited run.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a clear sense of sweet grits cut with molasses, honey, and salted butter that gives way to blackberries soaked in rum on the nose with a light sense of spiced cookies.
Palate: The sweet porridge continues on the palate as dark cherry jam mingles with spiced winter cakes, fallow orchards, fall leaves, and a light moment of soft woody cherry bark that’s just smoldering.
Finish: A touch of cinnamon bark drives the finish toward more of that smoldering cherry wood, mulled wine, and soft notes of blackberry pie covered in malted vanilla cream sauce.
Bottom Line:
This is another bourbon that goes far beyond the ordinary to deliver something special … and delicious. Drink it however you like to drink your whiskey. It won’t let you down.
6. Penelope Barrel Strength Blend of Straight Bourbon Whiskeys Aged 9 Years
This blended bourbon is a masterful lesson in the power of blending. The three bourbons in the blend create a four-grain bourbon via their mash bills. The final blend is comprised of 44% 10-year-old Indiana bourbon, 46% nine-year-old Indiana bourbon, and 10% nine-year-old Kentucky bourbon. Once batched, the whiskey is bottled 100% as-is at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: You get a sense of dry cornmeal on the nose next to apple crumble, plenty of wintry spice, a hint of mulled wine, wet brown sugar, and a thin layer of wet yet sweet cedar.
Palate: A hint of brandy-soaked cherries arrives on the palate with a dusting of dark chocolate powder next to more apple pie filling, spice, and buttery crust alongside a sweet, toffee-heavy mid-palate.
Finish: The end arrives with a dry wicker vibe, cherry tobacco chewiness, and a hint of that dark chocolate.
Bottom Line:
This is a great Penelope to grab for any collection. It’s deep, fun, and delivers. You cannot go wrong pouring it over a big piece of ice or into your favorite cocktail.
5. Noah’s Mill Small Batch Genuine Bourbon Whiskey
This is the bigger and bolder sibling of Willett’s Rowan’s Creek Bourbon. It’s the same whiskey — a no-age-statement bourbon that’s made from four to 15-year-old barrels — that’s barely proofed down with local Kentucky water before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Maple syrup-covered walnuts greet you with a sense of dark dried cherries and a hint of rose water next to old leather books and holiday spices.
Palate: The taste holds onto those notes while adding in a stewed plum depth with a whisper of caramel apple and orange oils.
Finish: The vanilla and sweet oak kick in late with a rich depth and well-rounded lightness to the sip fade towards lush cherry tobacco, soft leather, and winter spice matrix tied to prunes and dates.
Bottom Line:
This is the most silky and nuanced bourbon on the list. It’s gentle. But it still delivers a massive depth and profile that’ll touch on everything you want from a premium bourbon.
4. Copper & Kings Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in American Apple Brandy Barrels
Copper & Kings have spent years perfecting their Kentucky brandy in Louisville. Now, they’re perfecting brandy-finished Kentucky bourbon. The whiskey in the bottle is a sourced blend of five-, 10-, and 15-year-old bourbons that once batched were re-barreled into Copper & Kings’ own apple brandy barrels. After a year of resting in those brandy barrels, the whiskey was barely touched with water and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Cranberry sauce and caramel candies drive the nose toward old tobacco rolled up with cedar and sage and packed into an old cedar box next to hints of fall leaves and fallow apple orchards.
Palate: The palate opens with a lush and leathery dried apricot next to a moment of grapefruit pith, more cranberry sauce, and plenty of winter spice before honey and chocolate arrive with a dark cherry fruit leatheriness.
Finish: Toffee-dipped tart apples lead to warm and spiced apple cider on the finish with a nice sense of dark chocolate-covered caramels and soft vanilla cream.
Bottom Line:
Delicious. Period.
3. Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barrel Proof Tennessee Whiskey
Where Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select is cut with soft limestone water to bring it down to proof, this expression comes straight from the barrel. These barrels are all hand-selected from the vast Jack Daniel’s rickhouses. What’s left from the angel’s share then goes straight into the bottle. That means the ABVs and tasting notes for this bottle will vary ever so slightly depending on which bottle you snag.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Expect a nose full of rich vanilla, salted caramel, and toasted oak next to a rush of cherry-spiked spice layered into fruity dark tobacco.
Palate: The sip will have a mix of vanilla, oak, and rich wintry spices with a nice dose of bright red fruits and a texture that’s more velvet than liquid.
Finish: The end holds onto that vibe as the mild spice, toasted oak, rich vanilla, and almost maple syrup sweetness slowly fade across your senses, leaving you with chewy cherry tobacco stuffed into an old cedar box.
Bottom Line:
This is another excellent after-dinner sipping bourbon. It goes down so easily and will deliver those after-dinner dessert vibes in all the right ways.
2. Maker’s Mark Limited Release BEP Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Finished With 10 Virgin Oak Staves
This is the final chapter of this series Maker’s Mark “Wood Finish Series” before the next set starts dropping. The whiskey in the bottle is made from classic Maker’s that’s batched at Barrel Entry Proof (BEP), which is 110-proof (the average bourbon goes into the barrel at 125-proof) and then finished with ten bespoke wooden staves inside the barrel, all made from new (or “virgin”) oak.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Roasted vanilla beans and pan-toasted winter spices (nutmeg, clove, allspice, and cinnamon) mingle with lush and butter caramel sauce, brown-sugar rock candy, and a whisper of old wicker furniture with a hint of pipe tobacco.
Palate: That brown-sugar sweetness drives the palate toward woody and warm winter spices with a creamy eggnog edge next to vanilla sheet cake sprinkled with toffee chards and dried orchard fruits.
Finish: The end dries out a tad as the spices ramp up toward a holiday cake made with plenty of vanilla, brown sugar, buttercream, and toasted woody spices before being kissed with fresh pipe tobacco that was left in a cedar box for a spell.
Bottom Line:
This is a stellar version of Maker’s Mark. It sips so well while delivering an iconic profile of wheated bourbon.
Jimmy Russell hand selects eight to nine-year-old barrels from his warehouses for their individual taste and quality. Those barrels are then cut down ever-so-slightly to 101 proof and bottled one at a time with their barrel number and warehouse location right on the bottle.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with classic vibes from top to bottom thanks to rich vanilla smoothness, wintry spices, a hint of cedar, and a mix of sour cherry and tart apple with a slight lawn furniture earthiness.
Palate: The palate stays very classic with old boot leather next to dry cedar bark, a layer of rich marzipan cut with orange oils and covered in dark chocolate, and a distant hint of nasturtiums suspended in fresh honey.
Finish: The end finishes with a good hint of spiced cherry tobacco and old leather next to mild nuttiness, bitter chocolate, and soft vanilla cake frosted with cinnamon and cherry.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the best Kentucky bourbons out there. This single-barrel masterpiece is everything that you could possibly want from a sipping whiskey. Buy a case.
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