The San Antonio Spurs are in Philadelphia on Monday night, which means that for the first time, Victor Wembanyama and Joel Embiid are going to step onto a basketball court against one another. It’s a pretty exciting time, as this marks a matchup between the reigning NBA MVP and the reigning No. 1 pick who has been viewed as a future MVP for quite some time.
For how promising Wembanyama’s rookie year has been, he hasn’t faced anyone quite like Embiid, who has the ability to overpower him in addition to all the other stuff he’s capable of doing on the basketball court. Wembanyama’s coach is ready for the challenge, though, as Gregg Popovich jokingly — well, at least I think it was jokingly — said that he’s ready for his rookie big man to take it to Embiid.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich reveals what Victor Wembanyama’s game plan will be tonight against the reigning MVP:
“We’re gonna hammer his ass,” Popovich said to the assembled media in Philadelphia. “I told Wemby to put your butt right in his stomach, back him down under the rim, and just throw him through the rim. That’s what you can look forward to tonight. Don’t tell Wemby I said that.”
Despite this, Popovich has a pretty sober view of how things will go on the other end of the floor.
Gregg Popovich on how the Spurs intend to guard Joel Embiid tonight:
“I don’t think it matters what we do. I can give you some bullshit if you want.”
The third week of 2024 brought a few underground gems, along with some fun quirks like Lil Dicky’s Dave soundtrack. Unfortunately, yours truly was out sick, so our second roundup of the year is a little delayed — and yet, it’s always on time.
Up front, Gunna reconnects with his favorite producer Turbo, for “Bachelor,” a player anthem with a high-fashion music video:
Meanwhile, another Atlanta standout, Latto, lends a hand to the up-and-coming Anycia for the aggressive “Back Outside“:
And Saweetie had a triumphant coming back, double-dipping with P-Lo for the 49ers-approved “Do It For The Bay,” then dropping the triumphant “Immortal Freestyle.”
Here is the best of hip-hop this week ending January 19, 2024.
Albums/EPs/Mixtapes
Elcamino — Here You Go
Black Soprano Family
Buffalo might be a small town in comparison to its high-profile southern neighbor, but it’s had an outsized impact when it comes to hip-hop. Elcamino, a member of Grisela spin-off clique, Black Soprano Family, has proven to be every bit as prolific and lyrically adroit as his mentor Benny The Butcher, keeping his momentum rolling with this eight-song offering.
Fredo Bang — Yes, I’m Sad
Fredo Bang
I’ve long been a fan of Fredo Bang, who for my money has been criminally overlooked as one of the more deft purveyors of the “pain rap” offshoot of trap music. He’s yet to let me down, and remains consistent here, with support from arguable subgenre pioneer Kevin Gates, NLE Choppa, Rick Ross, and Rob49.
Hus Kingpin & 9th Wonder — The Supergoat
Hus Kingpin
Whatever your feelings about the way the music industry seems to revolve around who you know as much as what you can bring, there’s no denying that the right co-sign can bring the right kind of attention to the right project. Hus Kingpin hadn’t really been on my radar before (what with fiftyleven new rappers coming out on a seemingly daily basis these days) but he certainly lives up to the 9th Wonder beats with thich he’s been blessed. And to be frank, this is some of 9th’s best stuff in years. And Roscoe P. Coldchain is back! There’s a lot to like here, basically.
Lil Dicky — Penith (The DAVE Soundtrack)
Lil Dicky
For as hilarious as the raunchy FX dramedy was throughout its first three seasons, it all hinged on the music justifying Dicky’s outsized ego. The rapper-turned-comedic-mastermind pays off the show’s fans’ patience with a project full of thundering bass, clever punchlines, and surprising heart — just like the series itself. And if you ever wanted to hear the full version of the show’s chuckle-inducing theme song, now you can.
Mick Jenkins — The Patience (Deluxe)
Mick Jenkins
The Chicago rapper dropped his latest back in June 2023, but here, he adds two new tracks and instrumental versions of all the originals.
Singles/Videos
Blxst — “Heart Ain’t Empty”
Keys, bass, and vulnerable lyrics — what more do you need? The West Coast eagle flies high on his latest stripped-down single, raising hopes for a new project sometime soon. With the sky literally grey and raining in Southern California, we could use a little more of Blxst’s sunny vibe to bring back LA’s signature shine..
Finesse2Tymes — “Fat Boy” Feat. Rick Ross
Finesse2Tymes is growing in stature and secures one of rap’s most coveted co-signers in Rick Ross. Appropriately titled, “Fat Boy” is straightforward rags-to-riches retrospective, highlighted by the tightly-coiled rhymes of Ross and Finesse’s verses and a beat with plenty room to breathe.
Fivio Foreign — “Same 24” Feat. Meek Mill
Switching up his usual style, Fivio swerves into the reflective lane, tapping into a soulful, spacious beat to convey his motivational but logically dubious assertion that you can do it if he did it. Meek Mill provides the perfect complement to the message as one of rap’s foremost motivational speakers.
Shrugging off the seemingly sketpical reception from his boom-bap-preferring hardcore, Joey comes back from his latest hiatus with a silky slow burner, opting for a smooth ode to the lady in his life over the beats-and-bars approach you might expect from him. For the most part, it works — and if it feeds the other half of his fanbase (don’t forget the man’s a model for reason), all the better.
Max — “Say Less” Feat. Duckwrth
Okay, fine. This isn’t technically a hip-hop song. But I’ll be damned if I pass up a chance to put more people up on Duckwrth — especially when he’s at his genre-bending best like he is here.
Sauce Walka — “I’m Him”
The Houston rapper goes a slightly different direction than he has in the past, driven by Daringer, whose gritty production actually provides the perfect counterpoint to Walka’s usual exciteable flow.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
It’s up for debate whether Norm Macdonald was the best host of SNL’s Weekend Update, but he was at least the most eccentric. He brought his anarchic style of anti-comedy to a gig whose topical jokes can get a bit Jay Leno-y. He made a running gag out of randomly mentioning Frank Stallone. But what if Macdonald never got the job? What if they went with one of the other frontrunners, Bill Maher?
Per The Daily Beast, SNL writer Jim Downey joined fellow alum Al Franken on the latter’s podcast, where he revealed that when the show was looking to replace departing Weekend Udpate anchor Kevin Nealon, the future Real Time host’s name was in the running. So was Franken, who had been mostly working behind the scenes at that point. But Maher had the “backing” of agent Bernie Brillstein, who also repped SNL honcho Lorne Michaels as well as other cast members at the time.
Macdonald’s name, Downey said, “emerged late,” but before then it was between Franken and Maher. But once Franken was out of the running, remembered Downey, “then I was like, can it please be Norm Macdonald and not Bill Maher?”
Michaels went with Macdonald, though he was only behind the desk for three seasons; Michaels fired both Macdonald and Downey for too frequently slamming O.J. Simpson, a pal of NBC exec Don Ohlmeyer.
As for Maher, he had already started hosting the early, Comedy Central iteration of Politically Incorrect, which moved to ABC in 1997. But imagine if Maher had been stuck behind a desk rather than yakking it up with people he didn’t always agree with, like, recently, Oliver Stone.
Could this be the source of the apparent beef between Macdonald and Maher? Not long before his death, Macdonald shredded him in a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, saying, “I find him completely unfunny. Like, maybe the unfunniest person I’ve ever encountered that’s called a comedian.” Dang.
Per Variety, on Monday the festival unveiled Sasquatch Sunset. It stars Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough. Thing is, they’re not playing humans. They’re done up to look like the titular mythical creatures. Clearly it’s not your typical sasquatch picture:
The film, which has zero dialogue or narration but plenty of grunts, captures an immersive, “true” depiction of the daily life of the Sasquatch. That apparently involves sex, masturbation, vomiting, flatulence and plenty of other gory acts that aren’t fit to print.
It appears the movie goes pretty far:
One scene, involving bodily fluids spouting out of every — and we mean every — orifice of the female Bigfoot, played to raucous applause in the room. Less than 15 minutes into the film, one moviegoer announced, to nobody in particular, “This is the weirdest movie ever.”
Not everyone was so captivated. Some in the audience reportedly got squeamish during certain extreme scenes, covering their face when things got bloody.
Sasquatch Sunset is the latest from directors David and Nathan Zellner, whose previous credits include Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, in which Oscar-nominated actress Rinko Kikuchi plays a Japanese woman who becomes obsessed with the Coen brothers movie Fargo and journeys to Minnesota, convinced the money Steve Buscemi’s character buries in the film is real. Sounds like they topped that one in terms of out-there-ness.
During the post-film Q&A, cast and crew opened up about the sex scenes, which Keough said she was “excited” to discuss.
“We rehearsed our sex scenes, and they have it on video,” she revealed.
David Zellner added, “We used a trash can as a stand-in.”
Hopefully it won’t be long till the rest of the world gets to see the farting Bigfoot movie.
The Hill is the latest title to quietly land on Netflix and become an unexpected hit, which is the new normal on the streamer. The movie, which was released in theaters in 2023, is sitting comfortably at the No. 2 spot on the Netflix Top 10, right behind 2016’s Tarzan. Who wouldn’t want to sit behind Alexander Skarsgard anyway?
Colin Ford stars in The Hill as a young boy who dreams of playing baseball, despite his debilitating degenerative spinal disease. He is discouraged from playing the game by his father, Pastor Hill, played by noted baseball lover Dennis Quaid.
The film is based on the real-life story of Rickey Hill, who defied the odds by playing minor league baseball despite his condition, and his father’s disapproval. Hill was very supportive of the film and getting his story out there. “There is no such thing as no in my book. I hope [people watching this] take the fact that even though they told me my disease was going to end me, I wasn’t going to accept that. I said I’m not accepting no, and I didn’t. I said I would play (pro ball) until every tire went flat,” he told The Athletic in 2023.
Not only is The Hill a real story, but Rickey Hill is still out there being his best self and promoting his own “wellness box” of gummies and hemp cream. This is the real American pastime.
A few months ago, the other currently running adaptation based upon Robert Kirkman’s comics, Invincible, went on a mid-season hiatus from its usual second-season slot on Amazon Prime. The audience was left wondering if the show would return in 2024, and we had a hunch that this would happen following — but hopefully not too long after — Amazon’s launch of their new Prime Video ads on January 29.
Sure enough, Steven Yeun’s title character is on his way back to possibly overcome the imperialistic Viltrumite empire and also deal with all those father issues. His identity is no longer unknown to his foes, but we’ll see how he confronts these obstacles on March 14.
From there, viewers can expect four more episodes before the wait for the third season shall begin.
In case you’d like to know more about Amazon Prime’s ad-free plan, the streaming service has preregistration available with a monthly price of $2.99. If you choose to take that plunge, then you’ll know that Homelander’s next obscene deed and any forthcoming scenes featuring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine as married assassins won’t be interrupted. Or you can hang and wait and change your mind about the commercials at any time.
The really good news, of course, is that Invincible is almost back. Until then, the first season and half of the second season is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime.
The Butcher comin’ … Benny The Butcher, that is. The Buffalo rapper has been gearing up to release his first solo major-label album Everybody Can’t Go for the last few months, and this Friday (January 26), it officially arrives. The album is Benny’s fourth solo full-length album and just the latest in a list of dozens of projects including mixtapes, EPs, collaborations, and albums with his former group, Griselda.
Everybody Can’t Go is intended to be his most accessible project since 2020’s Burden Of Proof, which was produced entirely by Hit-Boy and featured Big Sean, Conway the Machine, Dom Kennedy, Freddie Gibbs, Lil Wayne, Queen Naija, Rick Ross and Westside Gunn. Burden Of Proof debuted at No. 27 on the Billboard 200 chart and with the new album once again featuring heavy input from Hit-Boy and high-profile collabs with the likes of Lil Wayne, it’s clear that Benny is aiming to have as much or greater impact for his first-ever album distributed by Def Jam.
Here’s everything we know about Everybody Can’t Go.
Release Date
Everybody Can’t Go is due on January 26, 2024, through 5 to 50 and Def Jam Recordings.
Tracklist
The tracklist for Everybody Can’t Go has not been released yet.
Singles
Benny kicked off the promotion for Everybody Can’t Go in November 2023 with “Big Dog” featuring Lil Wayne. Since then, he’s released two more singles: “One Foot In” with Stove God Cooks and “Bron.”
Features
While the features have not yet been announced, Lil Wayne and Stove God Cooks were confirmed thanks to the previously released singles, while production is being contributed by both Hit-Boy and The Alchemist.
Artwork
Benny The Butcher
Tour
Although Benny has not yet announced a tour for Everybody Can’t Go, he will presumably perform tracks from it on his Thank God I Made It tour, running from April 20 – May 25. You can see the dates below.
The 2024 Newport Folk Festival lineup isn’t out yet, but the fest has a history of delivering. Last year’s edition, for example, featured Lana Del Rey, Noah Kahan, Maggie Rogers, My Morning Jacket, Angel Olsen, Bartees Strange, Turnpike Troubadours, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Jon Batiste, and others.
What we do know, though, is that the fest is going down from July 26 to 28 at Rhode Island’s Fort Adams State Park. We also know how to score tickets.
How To Buy Tickets For The 2024 Newport Folk Festival
The general on-sale starts on February 1 at 1 p.m. ET, via DICE. As for pricing, there are multiple tiers, and they are:
3-Day General Admission Pass: $286.34 (includes fees)
2-Day General Admission Pass: $224.54 (includes fees)
Single Day Ticket: $116.39 (includes fees)
3-Day Parking: $84.64 (includes fees)
2-Day Parking: $55.62 (includes fees)
Single Day Parking: $30.90 (includes fees)
Children 10 years old and younger can go for free with a ticketed adult, with a limit of two kids per adult. Find more information about tickets here.
If you’re thinking about trying to score tickets via resellers, festival organizers note in a press release, “Newport Folk Festival encourages fans not to purchase tickets you see on the secondary market, or from any individual or corporate resellers claiming to have tickets before they have officially gone on sale to the public. Those speculative listings are not real tickets that the seller actually owns. Only purchase from official Newport Folk sources during the official on sale or waitlist. All Newport Folk tickets are mobile from our ticketing partner DICE.”
There is nothing like a show or movie getting a second wind after being added on Netflix years to decades after its initial release. We saw it all happen first-hand when Suits became the big hit show of the summer despite ending over five years ago, and now the series might get another round. It just goes to show that just because nobody wants to watch or discuss your movie and/or TV show at first, it can always get another shot when it auto-plays on Netflix.
Queenpinsis the latest title that has been climbing the Netflix Top 10 movie list. The film, which was first released in 2021, landed on the streamer this month, and now the Kristen Bell-led comedy is getting momentum. The movie stars Bell as a homemaker who hatches a plan to sell coupons online. As it turns out, Queenpins is based on a very real and very quirky true story.
In 2012, three Arizona women were arrested after selling and being in possession of millions of dollars worth of fake coupons. The women were using the fake coupons to make millions, according to Phoenix police, who, at the time, said, “The opulence and the money was the equivalent of drug cartel-type of stuff. That’s the type of money they had,” Police told KPHO at the time.
Police found $2 million worth of assets from the women’s homes, including almost $250k, almost two dozen guns, and a 40-foot speedboat. Too bad it could not help them speed away from the law, as the ladies were caught after years of deceit, with ringleader Robin Ramirez serving 3 years in prison and $5 million in fines.
You can watch the plot play out in Queenpins, now on Netflix.
There are some amazing bourbons priced between $40 and $50. And I don’t just mean “solid.” I’m talking about “always in the bar cart for the rest of your life”-type sippers landing at this price point.
That’s not to say that there isn’t value in older and more expensive bourbons, of course. There certainly is — often a lot of value. But if you really wanted to, you could stop here and have a pretty good selection of bourbons to choose from for the rest of your days. Part of that is that bourbon gets very good between six and 12 years old — that’s the main age range most of these bourbons fall under. Also, corn is pretty freaking cheap in America.
Below, I’ve called out 25 bottles of bourbon that are readily available at the liquor store (all of these bourbons are at these prices at Total Wine in Louisville, Kentucky). And before tax, they’re going to cost you just under $50. It’s a great price for a bottle of great whiskey.
Let’s dive right in!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
This four-grain bourbon is all about the farm-to-glass experience. The juice is made from a mash with Bloody Butcher corn — a sweeter red corn used by Indigenous Americans throughout the Midwest and South for millennia — grown right outside the still house on an expansive Kentucky farm. The red corn is mixed with malted rye, wheat, and barley in the mash and aged for an undisclosed amount of time before proofing and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is like your grandmother’s garden on a berry-picking day on the nose with huge notes of rhododendrons and wisteria next to blackberry jam, blueberry pie, and mason jars of apricot jam with plenty of dark spices layered in.
Palate: The palate holds onto the jammy notes but adds in the rich vanilla pudding, candied walnuts, nutmeg-dusted eggnog, and a tiny echo of cherry sasparilla.
Finish: The dry spices circle back around on the finish with a touch more of that vanilla and a whisper of fresh mint from the garden with a little dirt still on it.
Bottom Line:
This is the biggest crafty on the list. This is the bottle that you grab when you want to taste what the next generation of whiskey makers are doing to push the category forward. There’s a clear classical sense of Kentucky bourbon as a foundation here that then edges toward deeper notes of root beer, gardens, florals, and fruits that take this whiskey to new levels. On the flip side, this isn’t your everyday classic bourbon either. But that’s kind of the point.
24. Blade And Bow Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This is a fascinating and unique bottle from Diageo. The core of this whiskey is orphan barrels from Diageo’s Stitzel-Weller distillery (which is now dedicated to the brand). Those last barrels from the iconic distillery — that once made Old Fitzgerald and Pappy back in the day — are blended with sourced whiskeys from unnamed distilleries. The blend is then proofed and bottled with no age statement.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is a nuanced bourbon with hints of dried apricot, cinnamon sticks, vanilla beans, and a slight whisper of banana pulling you in.
Palate: The palate veers more towards the dried stone fruits and raisins, as a counterpoint of juicy pear leads towards hints of soft oak next to grain touches.
Finish: The end leans into the warming spices with a Christmas edge, with the oak and fruits fading out slowly.
Bottom Line:
This is the classic bourbon you’re looking for. This has that iconic Kentucky sweet/spicy vibe that bourbon is beloved for. It’s dialed, succinct, and extremely drinkable as a sipper or cocktail base. It might not “wow”, but it will satisfy any bourbon craving.
This four-grain Kentucky bourbon is made with 70% corn, 10% malted wheat, 10% honey malted barley, and 10% malted barley. That spirit is then aged for three years in toasted and charred barrels before it’s small batched from only 15 barrels, proofed, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This has a lot of apple cobbler on the nose with sweet and bright stewed apples, plenty of dark brown spices, brown sugar, buttery pastry cobbles, and a touch of honey sweetness.
Palate: The honey becomes creamy and spiked with orange zest as the malt shines through as a digestive cookie with a hint of fresh mint and more of that honey with a flake of salt.
Finish: The finish brings about that spice again with a little more of a peppery edge this time as the fade slowly falls off, leaving you with a creamy vanilla tobacco feeling.
Bottom Line:
This is a fruity and spicy dessert in a glass. There’s a nice sharpness here that helps this one really shine brightly in a cocktail, especially a classic old fashioned or bourbon sour.
22. Rebel Cask Strength Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Single Barrel
This is Lux Row’s classic wheated bourbon recipe from 1849. The mash is made with 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley before it’s distilled and then left to mature for at least four years. Once aged, the whiskey barrels are batched and then bottled as-is at cask strength (mostly for retailers or bars).
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Pecan waffles, pancake syrup, and blueberries drive the nose with a hint of toasted marshmallow and old oak.
Palate: Those blueberries drive the palate toward honeyed Graham Crackers with a sense of almost floral honey, wet brown sugar, and old boot leather.
Finish: That honey amps up through the finish with the leather as cedar kindling and dry tobacco round out the hot finish with a sense of chili peppers stewed in brown sugar syrup with cinnamon and clove.
Bottom Line:
This has a deep nutty edge that’s accented by sharp spice and dark fruit — again, classic. The ABVs are there but this isn’t a hot whiskey. It has a nice warming Kentucky hug that’s perfectly mellowed either via cocktail mixing or a big ol’ rock for sipping.
This is classic (sourced) Bulleit Bourbon that’s aged up to 10 years before it’s blended and bottled. The barrels are hand-selected to really amplify those classic “Bulleit” flavors that make this brand so damn accessible (and beloved) in the first place.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: A lot is going on with butter and spicy stewed apples, maple syrup, Christmas cakes full of nuts and dried fruit, and a hint of savory herbs all pinging through your nose.
Palate: The palate brings about smooth and creamy vanilla with plenty of butter toffee, sourdough crust, more X-mas spice, cedar bark, and a hint of dried roses.
Finish: The finish is long, warming, and really embraces the toffee and spice before echoing the stewed fruits and buttery vanillas.
Bottom Line:
This is a pretty good choice if you’re looking for a great everyday pour to have stocked. If someone doesn’t like this, they simply don’t like bourbon yet.
20. Horse Soldier Small Batch Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This craft whiskey from Kentucky 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 really 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 bolder whiskey with a good dose of peppery spice, sharp winter barks, and soft stewed fruits that are all mellowed by velvety vanilla creaminess. ONI short, this is for the sharper spice bourbon fans, which makes this a great sipper (on a rock) or whiskey-forward cocktail base.
This celebrity whiskey comes from Vampire Diaries actors Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder. The juice is from an “undisclosed” source from Indiana (MGP, obviously). The mash bill is a four-grain recipe of corn, rye, wheat, and malted barley that’s aged for an undisclosed amount of time before proofing all the down for bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is light but distinct with hints of apple cider, soft caramel, a touch of singed oak, and plenty of vanilla.
Palate: The palate leans into notes of marzipan with a fairgrounds caramel apple on a stick that’s just touched with salt and a distant hint of tobacco.
Finish: The finish is short and sweet (and a bit thin) thanks to that low ABV, but does leave you with a nice sense of lush marzipan and applewood tobacco just touched by vanilla.
Bottom Line:
This is a really solid cocktail bourbon. The silky vanilla adds a nice texture while the apple cider, spices, and nuttiness add good dimensions of flavor. You can also pour this a table whiskey any ol’ day of the week too.
18. Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 1870 Original Batch
This Old Forester celebrates the distillery’s founding in 1870. Back in the day, Geroge Brown would pull barrels from his three distilleries to create a consistent blend to bottle. Today, the good folks at Brown-Forman pull three barrels from three of their Kentucky warehouses. Each barrel will have a different day of distillation, a different entry proof before aging, and different ages. Those barrels are batched and then proofed down.
Tasting Note:
Nose: This opens with a rush of fresh wildflowers next to bold citrus notes — especially grapefruit and orange oils with a dash of lemon zest in the mix — before a deep and stewed cherry arrives with plenty of winter spice.
Palate: The taste takes that lemon and layers it into a very vanilla and butter-forward shortbread with a dusting of raw sugar that leads towards an eggnog spice mix cut with brandied cherries.
Finish: Spiciness drives the finish as a hint of that dark cherry and lemon mingle on the warm and fairly long end.
Bottom Line:
Old Forester tends to lean into the dark cherry. This is a great example of that with plenty of bright citrus and buttery mouthfeel adding more to the mix. Mix this into a Manhattan or old fashioned and you’ll be all set.
17. Wilderness Trail Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
Wilderness Trail is the whiskey nerd’s whiskey. Dr. Pat started off selling yeast to brewers and distillers and helped start this distillery based on making the best of the best. This expression starts with a high rye mash bill of 64% corn, 24% rye, and 12% malted barley. That whiskey is aged on-site and then only 12 barrels are pulled for this small batch expression.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This draws you in with a piping hot apple pie full of stewed apples, wintry spice, and a lard crust accented by vanilla, a touch of applewood, and subtle salted caramel drizzle.
Palate: The palate leans into the stewed apples first, then counters with freshly cracked black pepper before the caramel sweetness takes the mid-palate towards the finish.
Finish: The end is full of winter spices with a hint of peppery tobacco leaf and a touch of dry wicker furniture.
Bottom Line:
This is Kentucky bourbon done exactly right. It’s versatile and delicious. You can’t go wrong with this as an everyday pour or great cocktail base. Should you buy it? Let the tasting notes above guide you.
16. Pinhook High Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This contract distilled juice from Pinhook celebrates the young racehorse “Bourbondini.” The whiskey in the bottle is made from a mash of 75% corn, 15% rye, and 10% malted barley. After a long rest, the whiskey is just touched with water and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with a big nose full of hot apple cider spiked with clove, raisins, and molasses next to a soft bar of high-quality marzipan all with a whisper of figgy jam in the background.
Palate: The palate leans toward that savory fruit with a hint of dry tropical fruit before a chili-infused dark espresso takes over with a dash of powdered dark chocolate.
Finish: The finish sweetens with rich toffee and brown butter vibe as the charred barrel makes an appearance at the very end.
Bottom Line:
This is another great bourbon that goes beyond the ordinary and simply dives deeper.
15. Knob Creek Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 9 Years
This is Beam’s small batch entry point into the wider world of Knob Creek. The juice is the low-rye mash aged for nine years in new oak in Beam’s vast warehouses. The right barrels are then mingled and cut down to 100 proof before being bottled in new, wavy bottles.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this feels classic with a bold sense of rich vanilla pods, cinnamon sharpness, buttered and salted popcorn, and a good dose of cherry syrup with a hint of cotton candy.
Palate: The palate mixes almond, orange, and vanilla into a cinnamon sticky bun with a hint of sour cherry soda that leads to a nice Kentucky hug on the mid-palate.
Finish: That warm hug fades toward black cherry root beer, old leather boots, porch wicker, and a sense of dried cherry/cinnamon tobacco packed into an old pine box.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the most widely available “premium” bourbons out there. It’s a damn good whiskey that’s built for making your favorite whiskey cocktails. That doesn’t mean that you can’t pour this over ice and sip away.
14. Cedar Ridge Barrel Proof Straight Bourbon Whiskey Small Batch
This Iowa whiskey is all about the Iowa corn. The mash is 74% corn, 14% malted rye, and 12% malted barley which has rested in oak for several years. Since the temperature in Iowa swings by 100 degrees through a single year, aging doesn’t need to last forever. When the barrels are just right, they’re batched and bottled completely as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a nice sense of orchard fruits and barks that leads to a dry grassy graininess (hello, craft whiskey) with a soft apple pie and peach cobbler vibe that leads to a floral honey cut with clear Caro corn syrup sweetness.
Palate: That sweetness attaches to the dry grains on the palate with a sense of white cornmeal over smudging sage with a hint of orchard and winter spice bark rounding out the palate before the ABVs start to rise.
Finish: The rise of the ABVs peaks pretty quickly with a pleasant buzzing, more honeyed sweetness, and dry prairie grasses on a summer’s day.
Bottom Line:
This is another great crafty to add to your bar cart. The essential bourbon notes are there with extra layers of sweetgrass, soft grains, and diverse fruits. This is also tasty AF in general and has a great mouthfeel that’s warming and bold.
This expression takes standard Woodford Bourbon and gives it a finishing touch. The bourbon is blended and moved into new barrels that have been double-toasted but only lightly charred. The juice spends a final nine months resting in those barrels before proofing and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a welcoming aroma of marzipan, blackberry, toffee, and fresh honey next to a real sense of pitchy, dry firewood.
Palate: The taste drills down on those notes as the sweet marzipan becomes more choco-hazelnut, the berries become increasingly dried and apple-y, the toffee becomes almost burnt, and the wood softens to a cedar bark.
Finish: A rich spicy and chewy tobacco arrives late as the vanilla gets super creamy and the fruit and honey combine on the slow fade.
Bottom Line:
This is probably the most approachable sipper on the list. It’s so easygoing while delivering a unique and varied profile. This also makes a mean whiskey-forward cocktail.
12. George Dickel Bottled in Bond Tennessee Whisky Fall 2008 Aged 13 Years
Master Distiller Nicole Austin has been killing it with these bottled-in-bond releases from George Dickel. This release is a whiskey that was warehoused in the fall of 2008. 13 years later, this juice was bottled at 100 proof (as per the bottled-in-bond law) and left to rest. Last fall, new releases of that Tennessee whiskey were sent out to much acclaim.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Sour cherries, maple syrup, and pecan waffles mingle with dried apple chips, old leather boots, and winter spice with a hint of vanilla wafers on the nose.
Palate: The taste leans toward spicy apple pie filling with walnuts, plenty of cinnamon, and some raisins before malted vanilla milkshakes, blueberry cotton candy, and dark chocolate milk arrive on the mid-palate and lead toward a moist oatmeal cookie dipped in salted caramel.
Finish: The end has a dry woody spiciness with star anise, cinnamon, and allspice mingling with marzipan and cherry/cinnamon tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This is a whisky that continually flies under the radar. It’s a great whisky that deserves more hype (yes, it wins awards but still doesn’t get called enough for as good as it is). You can easily sip this over some rocks or mix it into your favorite cocktail and it’ll shine.
That’s before you even get to the point that this is a 13-year-old bourbon that costs less than $50.
11. Still Austin Whiskey Co. Cask Strength Bourbon Whiskey
The folks at Still Austin have spent the last six years perfecting their grain-to-glass whiskey experience. The juice is rendered with grains from Texas and water from the ground beneath their feet, all imbued with a crafty Texas vibe in every sip. The actual whiskey is a two-year-old bourbon that’s batched to highlight the bright fruits of the new and crafty whiskey.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is fruity like a tropical hazy IPA with clear notes of pineapple, lemon-lime, and maybe a slight hint of savory papaya next to more typical bourbon notes of vanilla, holiday spices, and caramel.
Palate: There’s a clear sense of those spices on the palate with a hint of dark chocolate leading back to all that fruit, a touch of marzipan, and a dash of vanilla cream pie.
Finish: The end warms a bit with the fruitiness waning towards a spicy choco-tobacco end.
Bottom Line:
This is a fun and kind of wild ride from dank and fruity craft to classic bourbon, all in one mouthful. If you’re looking for a start in Texas bourbon, this is a great place to take the first step.
This whiskey used to be a 12-year small batch offering named after the creek that runs through Willett Distillery. It’s still named after the creek, but the 12-year age statement is gone. The whiskey is cut down to a very specific 100.1 proof with Kentucky limestone water before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with notes of salted caramel, woody cherry tobacco, a touch of leather, and vanilla wafers countered by savory herbs (think rosemary and maybe sage) next to light but fresh roses.
Palate: The taste goes hard with the cherry tobacco to the point that it’s nearly sticky on the palate as the roses dry out and the vanilla and caramel almost feel dried out and attached to a dry cedar bark.
Finish: A hint of winter spice comes in late as the finish leans back into the dry roses and singed cherry tobacco leaves.
Bottom Line:
This is quintessential Kentucky bourbon that’s amazingly easy to drink. It’s so soft and supple while delivering a deep and varied profile of everything that you want from bourbon and more. This is also an excellent choice for making refined and really tasty bourbon cocktails.
9. Bardstown Bourbon Company Origin Series Botted-In-Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This brand-new release from Bardstown Bourbon Company is 100% their own whiskey. The juice is made from a wheated bourbon mash bill — 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley — down in Bardstown, Kentucky. The whiskey spends about six years mellowing before it’s just kissed with local water and bottled at 100 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with a sense of orange Jolly Ranchers, powdered cacao, and stewed peaches with classic bourbon vanilla and an oaky vibe.
Palate: The palate is a mix of apricot jam, pear cores, and red berries with a mix of spiced orange candy tobacco wrapped around dry wicker and cedar bark.
Finish: The end leans into the sweet and spiced orange while the tobacco slowly fades through sweet caramel and vanilla buttercream toward a silky finish.
Bottom Line:
That bright orange and deep berry vibe makes this a wonderful old fashioned base. This also works as an approachable table whiskey too. This has everything you’ll want from a good classic bourbon.
8. Michter’s US *1 Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Michter’s really means the phrase “small batch” here. The tank they use to marry their hand-selected eight-year-old bourbons can only hold 20 barrels, so that’s how many go into each small-batch bottling. The blended juice is then proofed with Kentucky’s famously soft limestone water and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this is very fruity with a mix of bruised peach, red berries (almost like in a cream soda), and apple wood next to a plate of waffles with brown butter and a good pour of maple syrup that leads to a hint of cotton candy.
Palate: The sweetness ebbs on the palate as vanilla frosting leads to grilled peaches with a crack of black pepper next to singed marshmallows.
Finish: The end is plummy and full of rich toffee next to a dash of cedar bark and vanilla tobacco.
Bottom Line:
Not to be overly cliched, but if you only buy one bourbon for mixing cocktails, it should be this. Michter’s Small Batch works in every cocktail application without getting lost in the mix.
7. Heaven Hill Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled-In-Bond
This expression has been a touchstone “bottled-in-bond” since 1939 and remains a go-to for many bourbon lovers. The whiskey is the classic Heaven Hill bourbon mash bill that’s left to age for an extra three years compared to Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond (also from Heaven Hill and the same base spirit).
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with this rich and creamy vanilla ice cream (you know the kind that’s likely labeled “Tahitian”) that’s drizzled with a buttery and salty caramel sauce next to soft leather and dried apple blossoms with a hint of old cedar bark braids.
Palate: A floral honey vibe melds with Graham Crackers on the palate as creamy toffee covered in crushed almonds mingles with vanilla-laced pipe tobacco and old leather-bound books.
Finish: There’s a bit of freshly ground nutmeg near the end that leads to a light cherry tobacco note with whispers of old cellar beams and winter spices on the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is where we get into the “you can just buy this and be good forever” area of the list. This whiskey really has it all when it comes to bourbon and doesn’t disappoint as a cocktail base or sipper.
6. Pure Kentucky XO Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This is yet another of Willett’s “small batch” bourbons. This one is 12 years old and barely proofed down before going in the bottle. While it’s generally a Kentucky-only release, it is a $40 bottle — making it one of Kentucky’s best-kept secrets.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with rich buttery toffee syrup drizzled over a vanilla sponge cake with hints of smoky cherrywood, dry potpourri, and menthol tobacco.
Palate: The palate leans into the toffee and cherrywood and layers in notes of wintry spices, green peppercorns, nougat, and old library leather.
Finish: That toffee and cherry sweeten the mid-palate as the peppery spice, old leather, and cherry tobacco merge on the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is an easy “yes” as an everyday pour of deep and essential Kentucky bourbon. if you do come to Kentucky this year, buy a case and bring it home.
5. Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select Tennessee Whiskey
This was first introduced in 1997. The whiskey is hand-selected from barrels on the upper floors of Jack’s vast Tenessee rickhouses. The whisky is bottled at a slightly higher proof to allow the nuance of the single-barrel whiskey to shine.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The banana notes are drawn way back here and replaced by a clear sense of toasted oak, dark cherry, apple tobacco, and a hint of molasses.
Palate: That oak is the underpinning for notes of caramel corn, mild winter spice barks, and plenty of oily vanilla beans that are all countered by a soft cherry soda with a whisper of clove.
Finish: The sweet banana fruit is there on the end and marries well to a peppery spice, cherry gum, and mulled wine that amps up as the end draws near with plenty of that toasted wood lingering the longest.
Bottom Line:
This is the perfect after-dinner pour. It’s lighter thanks to those low ABVs but still delivers a punch of flavor.
4. Maker’s Mark Cask Strength Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky
This special release from Maker’s Mark is their classic wheated bourbon turned up a few notches. The batch is made from no more than 19 barrels of whiskey. Once batched, that whiskey goes into the barrel at cask strength with no filtering, just pure whiskey-from-the-barrel vibes.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Burnt caramel candies and lush vanilla lead the way on the nose with hints of dry straw, sour cherry pie, and spiced apple cider with a touch of eggnog lushness.
Palate: The palate has a sense of spicy caramel with a vanilla base that leads to apricot jam, southern biscuits, and a flake of salt with a soft mocha creaminess.
Finish: The end is all about the buzzy tobacco spiciness with a soft vanilla underbelly and a hint of cherry syrup.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the best Maker’s Mark bottles that money can buy. You can sip it or mix it and you’ll be set.
3. Four Roses Small Batch Select Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This expression uses six of Four Rose’s ten whiskeys. The blend employs OBSV, OBSK, OBSF, OESV, OESK, and OESF (see what that all means here) all aged six to seven years before batching, much lighter proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This nose is enticing with a mix of dark berries and cloves with a yeasty doughnut filled with dark fruit and covered in powdered sugar next to a thin line of berry brambles — stems, thorns, dirt, leaves, everything.
Palate: The palate is lush with a balance of dark berry pie filling next to winter spices, mincemeat pies, nutshells, and brandy butter vanilla sauce.
Finish: The finish arrives with a rush of fresh mint next to wet cedar, blackberry Hostess Pies, and nutmeg-heavy eggnog all leading to a final note of that dark berry bramble black dirt.
Bottom Line:
This is another great Kentucky bourbon. It’s a great sipper over a big rock while also shining as a cocktail base for fruity and classic cocktails.
This is such an easy “yes” when you see it on the shelf. Buy two and give one away.
2. Eagle Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Aged 10 Years
This might be one of the most beloved (and still accessible) bottles from Buffalo Trace. This whiskey is made from their very low rye mash bill. The hot juice is then matured for at least ten years in various parts of the warehouse. The final mix comes down to barrels that hit just the right notes to make them “Eagle Rare.” Finally, this one is proofed down to a fairly low 90 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Old leather boots, burnt orange rinds, oily sage, old oak staves, and buttery toffee draw you in on the nose before a sense of old fallow fruit orchards with falling leaves hints at old brick barrelhouses in the distance with a whisper of dried apple.
Palate: Marzipan covered in dark chocolate opens the palate as floral honey and ripe cherry lead to a winter cake vibe full of raisins, dark spices, and toffee sauce before deep and earthy barrel warehouse vibes arrive with a sense of the cobwebs, mold, and ancient wood takes over.
Finish: The end has a balance of all things winter treats as the marzipan returns and the winter spice amp up alongside a hint of spicy cherry tobacco and old cedar wrapped with smudging sage, old fall leaves, and bourbon-soaked oak stave from decades ago.
Bottom Line:
This is another “I’m done, I’ll drink this from now on” bourbons. I love this over a big rock or in an old fashioned.
This is the mountaintop of what the main line of Wild Turkey can achieve (this is easily found on liquor store shelves for the most part). This is a blend of the prime barrels that are married and bottled untouched. That means no filtering and no cutting with water. This is a classic Turkey bourbon with nowhere to hide.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens like a dessert table during the holidays with crème brûlée next to a big sticky toffee pudding with orange zest sprinkled over the top next to a bushel of fresh mint.
Palate: The palate hits an early note of pine resin as the orange kicks up towards a bold wintry spice, soft vanilla cream, and a hint of honeyed cherry tobacco.
Finish: The end keeps the winter spices front and center as a lush pound cake feeling leads to soft notes of cherry-spiced tobacco leaves folded into an old cedar box with a whisper of old vanilla pods lurking in the background.
Bottom Line:
This bourbon has everything you could want from a refined and delicious Kentucky bourbon. It’s perfect … really. Buy a case and be done with it.
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