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Learning to taste whiskey like a pro (and this goes for any spirit, really) is a journey. There are steps. There is a vocabulary to get a handle on. And then there’s a lot of f*cking practice required. Which takes time.

Oh yeah, then there’s the cost of buying bottles, attending industry events, hitting whiskey bars, traveling to distilleries, and living that whiskey lifestyle. Like any refined skill — effort is the secret to success.

If you’re still with me, I have good news — I have the credentials to help you take your adoration of whiskey from novice to pro. Back in 2000, I was like any other American who loved whiskey and drinking plenty of Wild Turkey (though it was still Austin Nicol’s back then), Jim Beam, and Jack Daniel’s. A two-week trip to Ireland in the spring of 2000 with a trip to the Midleton Distillery helped me fall in love with Irish whiskey. I got into Scotch whisky back in 2005 on a trip to Edinburgh when I was introduced to Talisker 10 in a small whisky bar. It was love at first sip and started me on a path of really diving into the Scotch whisky and Irish whiskey worlds. In 2007, I was lucky enough to befriend the manager of Vendome Wine & Spirits in Studio City — which proved crucial to me learning what real bourbon and rye whiskey were via amazing bottles of Pappy van Winkle, Black Maple Hill, Blanton’s, Hirsch, and many others.

I carried my education with me and it helped me score an elite cocktail job at the famed Victoria Bar in Berlin, Germany. There, I was lucky enough to be taken under the wing of cocktail industry icons Stefan Weber and Beate Hindermann (the bar’s owners). As I learned from them, I commented on posts featured in the fledgling LIFE section on Uproxx.com. Before long, founding editor Steve Bramucci offered me a job and… away we went! By 2020 (20 years into my whiskey journey), I was spending my days reviewing endless spirits with a focus on whiskey. Today, I judge the world’s biggest spirits competitions (San Francisco World Spirits Competition, New York World Wine & Spirits Competition, John Barleycorn, IWSC, Tales of the Cocktail, and more). I’m a consultant for charities, retailers, and brands for barrel picks throughout the whiskey industry.

This year alone, I’ve sampled over 2,000 whiskeys. And peak whiskey season has just begun.

So now that you know my bona fides, let’s dive into how to taste whiskey like a true pro. Trust me, it’s not that hard and it is always rewarding. Especially if you proceed with an open mind.

• The 100 Best Bourbon Whiskeys From Kentucky, Ranked
• The Absolute Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States
• The ‘Smoothest’ Bourbons Under $100, Blind Tasted And Ranked
• The ‘Smoothest’ Bourbons On The Market, Blind Tasted And Ranked
• The 100 Best Bourbons Under $100 Right Now, Ranked

Bottle Selection: Chose The Right Adventure

This is critical. While you can taste whatever you want whenever you want, there really should be a rhyme and/or reason to what you’re tasting. Moreover, the order in which you taste the whiskeys does make a difference.

Let’s look at Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon as a sample tasting flight. Here’s how to set that flight up like a pro:

• Taste 1 — Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon Special Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (40% ABV)
• Taste 2 — Blanton’s The Original Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (46.5%)
• Taste 3 — Blanton’s Gold Edition Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (51.5%)
• Taste 4 — Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (66.85%)

Notice the order?

You want to start with the lowest ABV/proof and work your way up to the highest. This will allow your palate to slowly build and not get blown out on the first sip. Moreover, the lower the proof of the first whiskey, the more flavor notes you’re going to notice throughout. Those notes build on each other as the heavier alcohol starts to mute subtle flavor notes in the higher ABV/proof whiskeys. Think of it as a building process across your senses.

This sort of order works with any combination. Say, you’re sipping wheated bourbons or single pot still Irish whiskeys, always order them from lowest ABV to highest. Then mix and match! You don’t have to keep everything to one brand or even one distillery. That said, always try and keep your flights to one style. Single barrel bourbon, Islay peated Scotch single malts, sherry cask finished Highland single malts, high-rye bourbon, Kentucky rye whiskey, and so on. This allows you to really get a clear sense of a style.

Tasting a heavily peated Scotch whisky next to a sweet AF bourbon will just be confusing.

Setting the Stage: Environment, Glasses, And Tone

None of this happens in a vacuum. Any sensory experience is massively dependent on your surroundings. Tasting whiskey from the barrel in a warehouse built in the 1800s in Scotland or Kentucky is going to change the way the whiskey tastes (drastically) compared to tasting that exact same juice at home at your kitchen table. Be aware of where you are.

Things to consider when setting up and tasting whiskey:

• Where are you? If at home, are you comfortable? Are you sitting in a loud bar?
• Who’s with you? Are you with other whiskey lovers, newbies, distillers, or alone? Who you’re with has a big impact thanks to chatter about what others are sensing in the pour. You can be incepted with flavor notes very easily.
• What glass are you using? If it’s not a Glencairn, get one ASAP.
• What sounds are around you? Soft and familiar music is ideal to let you focus on your senses.
• What time of year is it? Seasonal diets and atmospheres make a difference in how and what you taste.
• What time of day is it? Our palates get more and more worn out as the day progresses.
• Do you have palate cleansers at the ready? Oyster crackers (unsalted), celery, and edam cheese are all good candidates.
• Do you have a notebook for taking notes? Get one.

Yes, these are all things that I consider before every single tasting that I do.

The Visuals: Deep Dive into Color & Clarity

Okay, the prep is out of the way. You’ve chosen a flight, poured it, and set up your tasting environment. Time to get started. Look at the whiskey in the glass. It’s best to look at it against a white background (like a sheet of paper or wall) to really let the color pop.

Color can reveal a lot about whiskey. For instance, a deep, dark, and almost ruddy American whiskey that’s young (two to four years) is likely from Texas or another hot state where whiskey ages much faster. A pale straw color on an Irish whiskey or Scotch whiskey usually denotes aging in a used bourbon barrel (since the heavier coloring agents were already extracted when bourbon was in the barrel previously). Most bourbon and American straight rye whiskeys from the Ohio Valley region (Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and even Tennessee) will have a dark(ish) caramel color with a hint of cherry red from time to time. Japanese whisky, which also uses used barrels, will have that same pale straw or light amber color as some Scotch or Irish whiskeys. But all three of those styles can get super dark and reddish thanks to secondary barrel aging.

And while it’d be easy to say “The barrel is what gives you the color” every time, that’s just not true. Coloring agents are allowed in Scotch, Irish, and Canadian whiskeys and any American whiskey that’s not labeled as a “straight” whiskey. That makes caring about the color of a lot of whiskeys pretty inconsequential, in the grand scheme of things. It still looks pretty though.

Nosing: The Art of Aroma Profiling

Okay, this is where things get fun. A lot is going on with a nose of any whiskey (yes, even the cheap stuff). That’s because about 80% of all taste is based on smell. That makes this the crucial step.

First, don’t swirl. Just sniff. Start to inhale the aromas from a still glass. Those first smells are the base for everything to come. Then maybe give the glass a swirl and nose it again.

Where you place your nose in relation to the glass will depend on how far down your whiskey road you are. I need to get right in the glass with my nose. If you’re a beginner, you want your nose to be about six inches away and then slowly move to four inches, and then two inches.

Next, keep your jaw loose and your mouth just open as you nose the whiskey, this will help your olfactory stay open as you smell the whiskey.

Lastly, move your nose around the opening of the glass. Different smells rise to the top and sink to the bottom of the glass’ rim as they approach your nose. The fruity notes will sit at the bottom while the woody and spicy notes sit at the top with grassy and floral notes in between.

There’s also an order to how you compute the smells from your nose (which has five million olfactory cells that can access about 32 distinct aromas in every flavor group) to your brain, which can translate the 300-odd chemical compounds (flavors) in a whiskey into tens of thousands memories of smells and tastes.

I know, I just threw a lot of big numbers your way. Think of it this way: vanillin is a chemical compound (from the wood aging in whiskey) that enters your olfactory. That chemical is converted into an electrical current that zooms to your brain where a memory is unlocked of a specific vanilla that you’ve experienced in your life. So that single chemical compound, vanillin in this case, becomes your grandmother’s vanilla cake or the vanilla you bought at a market in Oaxaca or the vanilla in the plastic extract bottles your dad used to make cookies or that vanilla latte you had in college. Or maybe it’s just plain vanilla bean to you. That’s fine too. That happens with every single flavor note you smell and taste based on those 300 flavor compounds in every glass of whiskey.

Getting back to the order of what you’re smelling on the nose of whiskey.

• The Primary Aromas are the grain and malting process. If the whisky is peated, you’re going to get that upfront on any nose. If it’s a corn-fueled bourbon, you’re going to get sweetness. Etc.
• The Secondary Aromas are the fermentation and distillation smells. This is where the fruity, floral, and spicy notes from the yeast come out. You’ll also get sour from the mash or a lactic quality in some whiskeys. Some whiskeys will have a metallic taste (especially cheap ones) thanks to the more stainless steel used in place of copper in the stills and tanks.
• The Tertiary Aromas are from the wood aging. This is where you get that rich vanilla, caramel, woody spice, oak, tobacco, and even wine-forward notes on the whiskey.

Each of these aromas tells you a story about the whiskey’s process. What you’re looking for is balance and harmony between the grain mash bill, the yeast for fermentation, the distillation process and proofing for barreling, the aging, and the batching/blending/proofing for bottling. It’s a lot but it is all there in that nose.

Without getting too far ahead of ourselves, adding water will often drastically change the nose’s profile — allowing you to experience tons of new notes. We’ll get to that.

The Sipping: Decoding Complex Flavors

Yes, now you can drink some! Here’s what to remember when tasting whiskey:

• Trust your taste buds! You have spent your whole life building a palate. Accept it and let it tell you a story.
• Your tongue senses different notes in different areas. The tip is connected to sweet tastes, the middle is connected to sour and salty, and the back of your tongue feels the bitter notes more.
• Move the whiskey all around your mouth and coat the whole thing — top, bottom, and sides — with the sip. This will help your sensory perception get a complete picture of what is in the whiskey.

Again, you’re looking for harmony and balance between the grain (mash bill), the fermentation with yeast, the distillation, aging, and perhaps proofing when batched or blended.

Big fruity notes with sharp fruity spice (think fresh chili pepper) or floral flourishes? That’s the yeast saying “hello.” Corn husks or Cream of Wheat vibes? That’s the grain mash bill shining through. Caramel and vanilla pipe tobacco with winter spice barks? That’s the barrel making its mark. Fatty smoked salmon covered in black pepper and sea salt? That peated malt that’s spent a little time in wood next to the sea.

The taste tells you everything you need to know about how the whiskey was made.

The Finish: Analyzing the Aftermath

There are two ways to experience the finish of a whiskey:

• If you’re swallowing, swallow slowly. Let the whiskey roll down while you take in a little air.
• If you’re spitting, spit and then immediately take in some air and swallow. You’ll get the same finish (though be warned, a little whiskey is going to get swallowed).

There are days when I’m judging where I’ll sample over 100 whiskeys in a single day. Of course, every single one is spit out. Every competition operates on this method, as it couldn’t function otherwise. So delete from your mind that spitting somehow lessens the tasting experience.

In fact, spitting often heightens the finish when you’re drinking higher-proof whiskeys. See, the higher proof will burn or fade the finish tasting notes when it hits the back of the mouth and throat. By spitting, you’re avoiding the actual liquid from muting the finish on the back of the mouth. Of course, this barely applies if you’re talking about lower-proof whiskeys.

All of that aside, this finish is more about the feeling the whiskey leaves you with. It’s where a catharsis should happen between the nose and palate with the flavor notes. As the whiskey settles into your chest, it should still be permeating with flavor notes (especially the tertiary ones) that tie off the journey you’ve been on in a way that makes sense.

Still, think about how you feel. Do you want more? Do you never want to taste this whiskey again? Does it taste like burning? Did you get that warm Kentucky hug? Or was it a slap in the face? Answer those questions and you’ll be on track to understand a good finish.

Water & Ice

Make sure to add a few drops of water after you nose and taste your pour. This will release the fatty acids from the esters (flavor compounds). New flavor compounds will suddenly be accessible to your nose (and palate) while the fatty acids will create a creamier (and sometimes nuttier) experience on the nose (and palate).

Adding a little water is not only okay, it’s essential to the tasting experience. When those fatty acids are released, the whole vibe of the whiskey will change and you’ll basically get a whole new pour. This will give you a much deeper understanding of what the distiller and blenders were going for when making the whiskey.

Why? Every whiskey is tested in the lab at the distillery or blending house at 40 proof/20% ABV. That’s the prime proof for revealing the most flavor notes in a pour of whiskey. It’s also the proof that you can best identify the most faults. Yes, that means that your favorite insanely high-proof whiskey is still best when it’s watered down to 20% ABV. It’s not that you’re drinking incorrectly when you drink a high-proof whiskey neat at its full bottled proof. It’s more that you’re not experiencing everything that the whiskey has to offer by not adding some water to let it bloom. But hey, you do you!

Moreover, ice adds both proofing dilution and cooling. Cooling adds a whole other dimension to the whiskey by muting some flavor notes while highlighting others. Adding ice simply gives you a chance to dive deeper into what’s already present in the whiskey, giving a more well-rounded view of the pour.

The best advice is to try it all three ways, neat, with water, and on the rocks to get the full picture. None of them are inferior or wrong ways to experience whiskey. And anyone who says otherwise is full of sh*t.

Chronicle Your Journey

Keep a notebook with tasting notes of every whiskey that you taste. This allows you to internalize the whiskey while you’re tasting it. You can kind of get into a flow wherein flavor notes will pop into your brain as you taste and you can write them down immediately. By the time you’ve finished writing “vanilla,” another note will already be washing over you. Keep writing. Let it flow. Add in notes as you taste and nose again and again.

The best part is that this gives you a chance to go back and see how much development your palate has gone through over the years. If you want to take any of this seriously, keep a tasting journal.

Advanced Flavor Profiling

The key here is that you kind of can’t be wrong with anything you smell or taste in a whiskey. Again, 300 compounds that express in tens of thousands of ways depending on your palate means that there is way more that you’re not tasting than you are in every sip of whiskey.

What does that mean? Well, no one can tell you what you taste. We all have our own palates that are built over our entire lives. Where we grew up, what we ate as a kid, where we live, the foods we love, the things we’ve drunk, the smells we’ve smelled — all of this adds to what you will and won’t taste or smell when you sip a whiskey. Sure, someone like me can tell you what they experience in a certain pour. But those are nothing more than road markers for your brain to latch onto to start your own journey with the same pour. In the end, you’re going to experience what you have access to.

The long and short of it is this: The more you smell, taste, and experience in this world, the more you will experience in your whiskey’s nose, palate, and finish. The less you’ve lived, the less you’ll find in that glass. It’s really as simple as that.

And perhaps most importantly, don’t ever let anyone tell you that you’re wrong for smelling or tasting a certain note. That’s simply your brain translating that compound in the only way it knows how. Moreover, if someone tastes something that you don’t, that doesn’t mean that it’s not there. It just means that you have no receptor for that compound to translate into a sensory note in your brain. That’s it.

Final Thoughts on Whiskey Tasting Like a Pro

The true north star of any professional whiskey taster is knowing the difference between “It tastes bad” and “I don’t like it.” Those two things are completely different thoughts.

As a professional taster, I have to set my personal taste/palate aside and judge the whiskey first on its quality — whether it’s bad, average, or great whiskey. How does the nose, palate, and finish tell me a story of how that whiskey was made? How are the mash bill and grains present? What yeast notes are in there? How does the distillate work within that? What has the wood brought to the table? Where does the proofing fit in? Does it all come together? Does it fall apart? Does the build of the batch or blend make sense?

Next, you have to ask yourself the important question: Does this go beyond the ordinary? Let’s say the whiskey is well-made, you’ve been able to get that out of the way with the first taste. Now, you have to go back and nose and taste the whiskey to see what is actually there that makes it special. How deep do the flavor notes go? Are they nuanced or do they clash? And how do they make you feel? Where do they take you mentally? Do you want to stay there or run away?

After that, your personal taste comes into play. Some whiskeys speak to my palate that are mediocre all things considered. Knowing that difference is key.

Lastly, if you don’t have receptors for the prominent flavor notes that make a certain whiskey what it is, then you’re not going to get that whiskey. That’s no fault of your own or the whiskey. We are all in different places with our palates. Again, building a palate is a never-ending journey that we’re all on every single day of our lives. So don’t let your palate get in the way of acknowledging a great glass of whiskey in your hand. On the flip side of that coin, don’t let your palate convince you that a glass of whiskey is perfect just because you like it.

Master all that, and you’ll be a pro.

How bad is the cryptocurrency world doing these days? So bad that Sam Bankman-Fried isn’t the only one aching. While the FTX bro is duking it out in the courtroom, another fallen crypto star has told him to hold his beer.

Per Protos, in a thread posted to the joint formerly known as Twitter Tuesday night, Ben Armstrong — a crypto guy formerly known as “BitBoy” — had a few big announcements. One, he was leaving his longtime wife. Two, he was leaving her for his sidepiece, who is also now the CEO of his tanking crypto token $BEN. Three, he wants his personal life to “be less in public” now. That ought to be news to those who had no idea who Armstrong was until his posts went viral.

“Sometimes in life you make mistakes you can’t undo. Sad to tell you all that @Bethanyliterary and I are getting a divorce,” Armstrong tweeted. “She filed divorce papers to me today. To get it out of the way so there are no questions, yes, I am with @DuchessOfDeFi,” aka one Cassandra Wolfe.

Armstrong called Bethany “incredible” and a “great mother” who had “helped me build my business and supported me.” Alas, they “grew apart as people and we were heading in opposite directions for a while.” He said that marriage is “hard very hard because people change over time and after 15 years neither one of us is the same person we were when we met.”

People on social media sure had thoughts about Armstrong’s TMI thread, including how he had tagged both his wife and mistress.

Others argued that social media isn’t the best place for divorce news.

Some wondered if this thread was a smart thing to do from a legal standpoint.

Others wondered if Armstrong didn’t have friends or a therapist to confide in with private business like this.

And some pointed out that Armstrong’s story is even bleaker than his thread suggests.

https://twitter.com/BenArmstrongsX/status/1716835531265606069/quotes

For Armstrong, getting dragged on social media over divorce news continued a bad streak. Not only is his crypto token a dismal failure, but he spent a night in the slammer last month after livestreaming outside of a former associate’s house, leading him to be charged with “loitering/prowling” and “simple assault by placing another in fear.”

(Via Protos)

Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm-and-blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B songs that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.

Since the last update of this weekly R&B and afrobeats column, we’ve received plenty of music and news from the genre’s artists.

Kali Uchis announced her Spanish-language album Orquídeas, shared its features, and released its latest single, “Te Mata.” Daniel Caesar held a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden for his Superpowers Tour and announced plans to celebrate the fifth anniversary of “Girls Needs Love.” Elsewhere, Ty Dolla Sign appears to be linking up with Kanye West for a joint album and Rema joined Ice Spice for a performance on SNL.

Here are some more releases on the new music front that you should check out:

Sampha — Lahai

Six years have gone by since Sampha’s stellar debut album Process, and finally, prayers for a new body of work have been answered. The singer returned with his sophomore album Lahai complete with 14 songs and a feature from Léa Sen. With his latest output, Sampha explores the ways that humans connect to each other as well as the life cycle and what exists beyond.

Summer Walker — “Girls Need Love (Girls Mix)”

Five years ago, Summer Walker received her big break with the success of “Girls Need Love.” The record was latest remixed by Drake, but it put Walker in the driver’s seat to eventually have a pair of top-two albums with Over It and Still Over It. To celebrate the anniversary, Walker returns to “Girls Need Love” to release remixes with Tink, Tyla, and Victoria Monét.

Arin Ray — Phases III

A little over a year after releasing Hello Poison, Cincinnati-born and LA-bred singer Arin Ray is back with Phases III. The third installment in his trademark series finds Ray letting loose and finding the fun in music again thanks to records like “Tequila” and “Psychic. ” Still, he finds moments to dive into true love on “Wait So Long” and “Cold” for what arrives as a well-balanced project.

Naomi Sharon — Obisidian

OVO Sound’s newly-signed First Lady has arrived with her debut project. Naomi Shoaron’s Obisidian arrives with 13 tracks and a sole feature from Omah Lay for an album that Sharon says is about “rebirth, confrontation, and healing.” She adds, “Obisidianis just me being very vulnerable and that’s something that I’m missing in the industry right now.”

Felix Ames — Jena

Milwaukee native Felix Ames makes his mark with his debut album Jena. The 12-track body of work combines soul, jazz, alternative, and R&B for an impressive display of his artistry. Look no further than the lovelorn “Liquor Locker,” the dynamic “Always, I’ll Stay,” and the introspective “Half A Man.”

Elmiene — Marking My Time

British singer Elmiene arrives with one of the best R&B EPs 2023 has to offer with Marking My Time. His captivating voice and impressive voice lead the way through the project’s six songs. “The general theme of this project is trying to mark my time not in terms of history but just for me personally, so I don’t get lost,” Elmiene says of the project.

Terrace Martin & Alex Isley — I Left My Heart In Ladera

Terrace Martin and Alex Isley join forces as two of the best in their respective spaces for their joint project I Left My Heart In Ladera. Aside from the pristine production from Martin and the soothing vocals from Isley, I Left My Heart In Ladera is also a heartful tribute to the neighborhoods of Ladera and Crenshaw in Los Angeles as well as an undeniable example of the culture, art, and influence that lives there.

Jesse Boykins III — New Growth

On his latest album New Growth, Jesse Boykins III has one goal in mind: to create a sanctuary for the soul. “This album is the rawness of emotions presented in a space that has every intention to become a sanctuary,” he says about the album. “It’s an album about being semi-vulnerable, the waves that come with life as a black man who wants progress more than he wants power.” Boykins III does it without any additional vocal help as collaboration is seen with help from producers that include DJ Dahi, Los Hendrix, BJ The Chicago Kid, and more.

Kyle Dion — “Let’s Get It On”

It’s been a little over a year since Kyle Dion delivered his standout Sassy album, and he’s back to gear up for another project to arrive in the near future. He returns with “Let’s Get It On,” the latest single from his upcoming EP. The new track honors Marvin Gaye’s single of the same name as a smooth and sexy record dedicated to heading out into the city and having a great time with your partner.

NSG — Area Boyz

Ten years into their career, the six-piece East London afro-fusion collect NSG (short for Nigeria Slash Ghana) is here with their debut album Area Boyz. With help from Libianca, JAE5, Seyi Vibez, Tion Wayne, Aitch, Odumodublvck, and others, NSG delivers 19 tracks that are packed with bangers from top to bottom making for a project that is meant to be blasted on speakers near and far.

ReleastK — Real World

At just 19 years old, Toronto native RealestK is already on his second project with the newly released Real World mixtape. The follow-up to last year’s Dreams 2 Reality presents eight songs and a more vulnerable side of the singer. RealestK touches on the highs and lows of love and the other life-changing moments that had an undeniable effect on him.

Shae Universe — “LOML”

Fresh off her appearance on A COLORS Show, Shae Universe keeps the show going with her new single “LOML (Love Of My Life).” On it, she takes a trip to the past with nostalgic 2000s R&B production as she confesses to the vulnerabilities that lie within. “This is definitely one of, if not THE most heartfelt song I have ever written as it was birthed from pure vulnerability & honeymoon love,” she says about the new song.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Yellowstone-verse may be one of the TV’s most popular empires, but for the last half year it’s been in a bit of a mess. Kevin Costner, star of the flagship show, has been trying to ditch it, which has proven difficult given that the now-resolved WGA strike and the still going SAG-AFTRA strike have put the kibosh on finishing the fifth and final season. There are still spin-offs, but even those are up in the air — again, thanks to the lone strike. Indeed, what’s the deal with 6666, the curiously named spin-off that’s been teased for a while now? Does it even have a release date?

The answer is: not yet. Right now the closest thing to a release date is “2024.” Over the summer, production on the spinoff was put on hold as the two strikes raged. In fact, there’s very little known about it beyond the official synopsis:

Founded when Comanches still ruled West Texas, no ranch in America is more steeped in the history of the West than the 6666. Still operating as it did two centuries before, and encompassing an entire county, the 6666 has inspired a new scripted series where the rule of law and the laws of nature merge in a place where the most dangerous thing one does is the next thing. The 6666 is synonymous with the merciless endeavor to raise the finest horses and livestock in the world, and ultimately where world-class cowboys are born and made.

Yellowstone heads should know what 6666 is. It’s the gigantic, real-life ranch known as the “Four Sixes,” which was founded in 1879 and which Yellowstone honcho Taylor Sheridan paid a fortune to own last year. Sheridan has used 6666 to shoot some scenes for the Yellowstone prequel 1883. It’s also been speculated that it’s where he holds his cowboy camps to prep his team before shooting.

With the SAG-AFTRA strike still afoot, it’s unclear when Yellowstone fans will get to see 6666. Hopefully, people will know soon.

If it feels like there are too many celebrity memoirs coming out these days, then you can probably thank the Hollywood strikes because these authors are able to promote their wares whereas actors cannot currently promote struck work. However one of the more juicy-sounding titles happens to be Down The Drain by Julia Fox. She discussed her previous drug addictions and unusual relationship with Kanye West. Some of that information was not flattering at all to Kanye, but he hasn’t publicly pushed back much.

As well, Julia discussed her past work as a dominatrix, and that included details on how to best wear latex and so on. While speaking to Vanity Fair, Fox has elaborated more, and that includes suggesting that a certain SNL would benefit from visiting such a… performer:

“I think he probably needs to see a dominatrix. I could see him really liking the deprecation, like, ‘you’re a little b*tch,’ things like that. I could see him getting off to that. Just a hunch.”

Well! It’ll be entertaining to see if Pete responds, and surely, he would do so with good humor, but Julia made this statement during the Vanity Fair lie-detector test. In doing so, she discussed how she used to engage in “ball-busting.” She admitted that she would do so again for “free.” Your move, Pete Davidson.

(Via Vanity Fair)

Have you ever heard of the anglerfish? It’s one of those profoundly unusual looking deep water fish that live towards the bottom of the ocean. You know the kind of fish that’s almost translucent with a squished head that nightmares are made of? Well, it turns out the unique look is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the anglerfish.

There’s been a viral post going around social media explaining all about this fish’s mating habits and It’s giving people the willies. Well, while it’s giving some people the creeps, there are a select few that wouldn’t mind if humans had similar mating rituals. Though, with this fish’s habits, mating only happens once and then the male ceases to exist.

This isn’t some sort of black widow or preying mantis situation, no one’s heads are being eaten. But according to the infographic, and science, the anglerfish male attaches to the female and fuses with her body unable to survive without her.

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Yep. That’s a thing. The male fish is a lot smaller than the female fish so she can have multiple males fuse onto her at the same time. After the male fuses to the female, the female essentially begins to absorb them, sharing their skin and circulatory system.

This level of intimacy seems to be a bit on the excessive side and likely not what was meant by becoming “one with your partner,” which is why people finding out this information for the first time are having some uncomfortable feelings. But aside from all of the “ewws” were hilarious jokes from commenters trying to work out the relationship mechanics.”That’s way more than I want to do,” one person jokes.

“This is the kind of love that humans describe when they say when you get married, your bodies become one. But, we didn’t mean it literally,” someone says.

“So glad humans don’t do this. It would really complicate divorce proceedings,” another added.

‘“Hey I know we just met and all, but I’m really feeling a connection here. How bout I merge into your body, and share your bloodstream. Whaddya say?”,’ someone writes.

The nonscientific fish experts may just now be finding out this information, but this isn’t new and the reason behind them even being able to fuse together is interesting. There are multiple species of anglerfish and while most mate without fusing, some species are quite literally stuck together once they’ve picked a mate.

This is because there’s something missing in their immune system that tells the female there’s something foreign in her body to fight it off. Since her immune system doesn’t recognize the invader as an invader, the male anglerfish becomes parasitic in a more literal way than the ex that won’t get off of your couch.

It doesn’t sound like either fish has much of a say so in what happens to their bodies when they mate. And since there’s no fish interpreters, there’s really no way to tell if the male anglerfish understand that once they mate they can never let go. What a wild ride through science that sadly for the male anglerfish, they can never get off. No pun intended.

Therapy speak (notice how everyone talks like a therapist these days?) has entered the chat and unfortunately it’s here to stay whether therapists like it or not.

With the rise of social media and content creators trying to break the stigma of mental health, therapy speak has become a part of people’s daily lexicon, even if it’s not always used properly. “Dissociation” is a term used frequently online whether it’s someone saying they dissociate or diagnosing themselves with dissociative identity disorder, previously known as multiple personality disorder.

It’s clear from comments and videos that there’s confusion around what truly constitutes dissociation and when to be concerned. Kati Morton, a licensed marriage and family therapist, breaks down what she calls a spectrum of dissociation, helping to clarify the phenomenon.

Morton begins the video by explaining what causes dissociation and what it is.

“When we become overwhelmed, meaning what’s happening to us is too much for us to manage, our brain, oftentimes, pulls the ripcord on reality.”

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This doesn’t mean that you have to be overwhelmed to get to this depersonalized state but it does mean it’s fairly common for people to experience this when trauma happens. When experiencing trauma our brains are self-protecting by design, that’s where this break from reality can come from in the moment, but dissociation can be experienced without trauma or a history of it.

Morton explains that on the spectrum of dissociation, that spacing out is on the lower end, giving the example of driving home on autopilot after a stressful day. You’re not quite sure how you got home but you’re getting out of the car and walking to your door. While on the other more severe end of the spectrum is dissociative identity disorder. The video gives a very clear easy to understand guide to what dissociation is.

You can watch the entire video below:

A 29-year-old man is dealing with serious tensions within his family after they confronted him about his girlfriend’s weight and how she chooses to dress. To find out if he was in the wrong for how he handled the situation, he took to Reddit to get some clarity.

The situation started at a recent family gathering.

“While attending my (26 M) brother’s girlfriend’s birthday party at their house, my mother and my brother brought me to the kitchen and confronted me, and told me that my girlfriend needs to dress more modestly and that they have a problem with her not wearing a bra,” the man recalled.

The discussion came out of the blue for the man who had no idea his girlfriend’s style or weight was an issue for anyone. It certainly wasn’t one for him. His girlfriend had previously told him that she doesn’t like wearing a bra because it makes her chest feel “tight” and “uncomfortable.”

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“I’m not sure if it’s because she’s my long-time girlfriend, but even though she weighs around 160 pounds, her not wearing a bra has never stuck out to me before, and I hadn’t even really noticed until they had pointed it out to me,” he admitted.

His family members then began to talk about his girlfriend in a sexualized way.

His mother said her breasts were “too big” for her not to wear a bra, and her boyfriend added that when she’s in the room, it’s the “only thing you can look at.” His brother then confessed that he had had multiple fights with his girlfriend over the woman’s body and choice of attire. “She’s afraid my brother’s eyes will wander, and she secretly is afraid he likes overweight girls,” he said.

After the confrontation, the man and his girlfriend left the party.

After the family realized they left, his brother called him, and he said that his girlfriend’s “body shape or the way she dresses is anyone’s business and that if people wanted to be creepy and stare at her, that wasn’t her fault.”

His mother then got on the phone and, once again, said the girlfriend needs to show “respect” for herself and the family by wearing a bra. “I then told them how important I think it is for my girlfriend to be comfortable in the clothes she’s wearing, and if she can’t be comfortable around my family, then we don’t need to see them anymore,” he said.

Sadly, the phone call devolved into a loud argument between all 3 parties. The man asked for a “second opinion” from folks on Reddit whether he in fact was being “too brash.” The commenters overwhelmingly supported him and said he handled the situation gracefully.

“Leaving the situation was the best thing to do. I’d like to think I would have this grace too but your family is REALLY weird,” the most popular commenter, ARandomWalkInSpace, wrote.

“The way you talk about your girlfriend tells us a lot about the kind of person and partner you are, and your perspective and actions in this situation are admirable. Your family is trying to pin the blame for their own problems on your girlfriend,” Amandahip wrote. “As someone with a relatively large chest, it’s almost easier to dress “modestly” while bra-less or wearing low-support garments. Your family is creating a battle that your girlfriend can’t win, and the two of you leaving the situation was a graceful response.”

Another noted that the family blamed the girlfriend for everyone else’s inappropriate reactions to her.

“You hit all the marks,” houskeepinghoney wrote. “Those women are afraid their men can’t control their eyes, which they should absolutely be able to. “So tired of people blaming women for men’s actions.”

In the end, the entire experience was an excellent way for the man and his girlfriend to break out of negative family cycles.

“My girlfriend is okay. We both come from families that thrive on drama,” he wrote. “This was just a breaking point for me personally. Thank you all for your support, kind words, and confirming what I already knew.”

A 29-year-old man is dealing with serious tensions within his family after they confronted him about his girlfriend’s weight and how she chooses to dress. To find out if he was in the wrong for how he handled the situation, he took to Reddit to get some clarity.

The situation started at a recent family gathering.

“While attending my (26 M) brother’s girlfriend’s birthday party at their house, my mother and my brother brought me to the kitchen and confronted me, and told me that my girlfriend needs to dress more modestly and that they have a problem with her not wearing a bra,” the man recalled.

The discussion came out of the blue for the man who had no idea his girlfriend’s style or weight was an issue for anyone. It certainly wasn’t one for him. His girlfriend had previously told him that she doesn’t like wearing a bra because it makes her chest feel “tight” and “uncomfortable.”

---

“I’m not sure if it’s because she’s my long-time girlfriend, but even though she weighs around 160 pounds, her not wearing a bra has never stuck out to me before, and I hadn’t even really noticed until they had pointed it out to me,” he admitted.

His family members then began to talk about his girlfriend in a sexualized way.

His mother said her breasts were “too big” for her not to wear a bra, and her boyfriend added that when she’s in the room, it’s the “only thing you can look at.” His brother then confessed that he had had multiple fights with his girlfriend over the woman’s body and choice of attire. “She’s afraid my brother’s eyes will wander, and she secretly is afraid he likes overweight girls,” he said.

After the confrontation, the man and his girlfriend left the party.

After the family realized they left, his brother called him, and he said that his girlfriend’s “body shape or the way she dresses is anyone’s business and that if people wanted to be creepy and stare at her, that wasn’t her fault.”

His mother then got on the phone and, once again, said the girlfriend needs to show “respect” for herself and the family by wearing a bra. “I then told them how important I think it is for my girlfriend to be comfortable in the clothes she’s wearing, and if she can’t be comfortable around my family, then we don’t need to see them anymore,” he said.

Sadly, the phone call devolved into a loud argument between all 3 parties. The man asked for a “second opinion” from folks on Reddit whether he in fact was being “too brash.” The commenters overwhelmingly supported him and said he handled the situation gracefully.

“Leaving the situation was the best thing to do. I’d like to think I would have this grace too but your family is REALLY weird,” the most popular commenter, ARandomWalkInSpace, wrote.

“The way you talk about your girlfriend tells us a lot about the kind of person and partner you are, and your perspective and actions in this situation are admirable. Your family is trying to pin the blame for their own problems on your girlfriend,” Amandahip wrote. “As someone with a relatively large chest, it’s almost easier to dress “modestly” while bra-less or wearing low-support garments. Your family is creating a battle that your girlfriend can’t win, and the two of you leaving the situation was a graceful response.”

Another noted that the family blamed the girlfriend for everyone else’s inappropriate reactions to her.

“You hit all the marks,” houskeepinghoney wrote. “Those women are afraid their men can’t control their eyes, which they should absolutely be able to. “So tired of people blaming women for men’s actions.”

In the end, the entire experience was an excellent way for the man and his girlfriend to break out of negative family cycles.

“My girlfriend is okay. We both come from families that thrive on drama,” he wrote. “This was just a breaking point for me personally. Thank you all for your support, kind words, and confirming what I already knew.”

There are few dishes in this world so universally loved as tacos. And what’s not to like? There’s so much flavor packed into such a small hand held morsel. Hence why it’s close to impossible to eat less than seven in one sitting.

Americans, land of Taco Tuesdays, certainly holds a special place in its heart for Mexico’s most famous food staple. 76% of the country eats them every week, and over 4.5 billion tacos are eaten each year.

But as it turns out, Americans aren’t the only ones who are taco obsessed. Nor are they the only ones to make some alterations to the original recipe.

In a now viral TikTok clip, Krysta Alexa, an American mom living in Norway, reveals the country’s passionate love affair with tacos, even dubbing them the nation’s “unofficial dish.”

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“You might think it would be the US, but after Mexico, Norway is the highest consumer of tacos in the entire world,” Krysta says in the video—a sentiment, while not confirmed, is shared by several online sources.

She continues “and they are often consumed on ‘Tacofredag,’ or ‘Taco Friday,’” which makes this comment left by a viewer so funny:

“I’m learning Norwegian on Duolingo and was wonder why it made Tacofredag seem so important 😂”

Krysta gives the caveat that if you were expecting authentic Mexican cuisine or even Tex Mex, “you’re in for a rude awakening.”

Here’s how the Norwegians do it: ground beef seasoned with generic taco spice mix, plus the essentials consisting of canned corn, sour cream, Norvegia cheese, salsa, guacamole and cucumbers, which are apparently quite the popular topping. Then wrap it all in a large tortilla and enjoy.

@krystaalexa Did you know, after Mexico, Norway 🇳🇴 is the second largest consumer of tacos IN THE WORLD?! 🤯 #norway #tacos #mexicanfood #livingabroad #tacofredag #lifeinnorway ♬ original sound – Krysta Alexa | Life in Norway

Is this sounding more like a burrito to you? You’re not alone. Several viewers chimed in to note how Norwegian tacos seem to give big burrito energy. Others couldn’t help but joke about how strikingly similar these tacos were to what they’ve eaten in the Midwest.

But several commenters who identified as Mexican or Mexican-American still approved of the recipe, even graciously giving bonus points for heating up the tortillas.

“As a Mexican, just enjoy and Cheers up,” one person wrote.

Krysta also points out that in addition to the standard toppings and condiments list, she had also seen pineapples used (which isn’t totally uncommon in traditional Mexican tacos) as well as ketchup, which she is “not a fan of.”

Still, though she at first viewed Norwegian tacos as “an abomination,” she concludes her video by admitting that now she finds herself craving them.

Tacos might be dinner time favorites around the globe now, and the culinary concept itself has probably been around for millennia, but the name “taco” isn’t as immemorial as one might think.

History professor, author and taco connoisseur Jeffrey M. Pilcher, writer “Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food,” explained that the word “taco” referred to charges made of small, round pieces of paper wrapped around gunpowder that miners would use to excavate silver in the 18th century.

Later in the 19th century, one of the first types of tacos ever described in any found archive were called tacos de minero, or “miner’s tacos,” suggesting that the food was named after these detonation tools. Similarly, taquitos resemble a stick of dynamite, further adding to this theory.

And while authentic Mexican tacos have their own characteristics, the general consensus seems to be to work with what ingredients are available, hence why Mexican-Americans began to incorporate yellow cheese, bell peppers and hamburger meat. And why Norwegians can celebrate Fridays with giant taco-burrito-hybrids. With tacos, the possibilities are endless. That’s what makes them a perfect food everywhere.