Meghan McCain finally went to town on a subject we all can agree on: What’s up with Gwyneth Paltrow? Like most people, McCain was rightest confused and horrified by Paltrow’s latest wellness fad, which literally involves shooting ozone up her butt. You could not make this stuff up if you tried.
However, McCain took her analysis a bit deeper and joined the growing number of experts who have been calling out Paltrow for coming dangerously close to promoting eating disorders.
“At what point is ‘wellness’ just starving yourself?” McCain tweeted this week as Paltrow’s latest interview went viral.
The conservative commenter then went long in her new column for the Daily Mail, where she highlighted Paltrow’s “disturbing” advice to women that involves a litany of cleanses, fasts, and detox procedures. McCain then made a controversial observation by noting that if Paltrow is the pinnacle of wellness, why does she not look so great? The actress had to conduct the interview while hooked up to an IV, which concerned McCain:
She has become an icon of sorts for ‘almond moms,’ a slang term for a wealthy, middle-aged women, who don’t eat real meals and instead snack all day on almonds and health bars. You know the type, we all do.
Even more uncomfortably, if you watch the video of this, Gwyneth looks…. bad, tired, haggard, and much older than her 50 years. I rarely speak about other women’s appearances but since she’s putting herself out there, let’s talk about it. The women I admire in ‘wellness’ aren’t hooked up to an IV bag.
The former The View host ended her column by connecting Paltrow’s brand of wellness to the recent trend in women taking Ozempic, which McCain recently revealed she was pressured to use for weight loss after her second pregnancy.
“No wonder there is an Ozempic craze sweeping the nation and ‘heroic chic’ thinness is back on the fashion runways,” McCain writes. “This ‘wellness’ trend is making us sick. And Gwyneth Paltrow is part of the problem.”
E.H. Taylor, Jr. is one of those whiskey brands that always seems to have a lot of hype behind it. The Buffalo Trace whiskey wows with special releases from time to time but really shines with its core lineup, which continuously delivers great whiskeys. E.H. Taylor, Jr. has the perfect storm of hype combined with rarity and truly great juice in the bottle. That means you’re going to get some very inflated price points for the standard bottles and limited releases (if and when you can find them).
Since the price points are so high for a lot of these often very rare bottles, I’m going to rank every single E.H. Taylor, Jr. releases that you can find in the wild these days to give you an idea of what you’re getting into with this brand. I was lucky enough to try a few of the expressions that had escaped my grasp over the past month or so, which completed my quest to try them all.
Before we get into that — E.H. Taylor, Jr. is more than just an elite brand from Buffalo Trace out in Frankfort, Kentucky. The brand is named after Colonel Edmund Hayes Taylor, Jr. who was a crucial figure in bourbon whiskey in the United States. Taylor, Jr. constructed some of the first real-deal whiskey distilleries and warehouses that make up multiple distilleries around Eastern Kentucky today, including the famed Warehouse C at the Buffalo Trace Distillery (which is still being used for aging whiskey to this day).
Taylor, Jr. was also crucial in enacting the Bottled-In-Bond Act of 1897. That moment in American whiskey history helped codify what bourbon is on a higher level by ensuring that the whiskey in the bottle came from the same distillery, distilling season (spring or fall), and was aged at least four years before bottling at 100 proof only. Taylor, Jr. was not only instrumental in making some great whiskey from the mid to late 1800s but in making something with real continuity and rules. To that end, Buffalo Trace bottles all but one of their E.H. Taylor, Jr. expressions as “Bottled In Bond” whiskeys at 100 proof.
Long story short(er), E.H. Taylor, Jr. whiskey is one of those brands that touch on real history while also delivering whiskey people actually want to drink. It’s a great combination — so let’s rank some bottles and find the perfect E.H. Taylor, Jr. expression for your bar cart!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
This expression is all about unique aging. The whiskey starts off with Buffalo Trace’s classic wheated bourbon mash bill (which also populates Weller and Pappy Van Winkle whiskeys) and ages that whiskey for several years in new oak barrels. Those barrels were made with staves that were specially seasoned in a natural outdoor setting before they were turned into a barrel and charred.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a clear sense of burnt orange and spice barks next to a bowl of botanical winter spices, cedar bark, and a hint of dried sage with a hint of old oak in a lumber yard.
Palate: That orange brightens on the palate with a hint of orange pekoe tea leaves, apple wood, and smoldering hickory next to a touch of almond shells, burnt caramel, and woody vanilla.
Finish: The finish leans into the woody winter spices with plenty of cinnamon bark and cloves over a cedar box full of woody tobacco and another hint of the lumber yard.
Bottom Line:
This is woody. I’m not a huge woody whiskey stan, so this is a tad much for my palate. That said, if you’re looking for that oak bomb, this is it. And look, there’s still plenty going on in this whiskey besides the woody notes, there’s nice and bright citrus, dark caramel sweetness, and almost floral dry tea — all of which are expertly layered in.
11. E. H. Taylor, Jr. Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
Buffalo Trace’s Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Small Batch is an entry point to the other 12 expressions released under the E.H. Taylor, Jr. label. The whiskey is made from Buffalo Trace’s iconic Mash Bill No. 1 (which is a low rye recipe). The final whiskey in the bottle is a blend of barrels that meet the exact right flavor profiles Buffalo Trace’s blenders are looking for in a classic bottled-in-bond bourbon for Taylor.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a sense of soft corn mush with a hint of fresh green chili, Saigon cinnamon (a little sweet), orchard tree bark, and the black mildew that grows on all the whiskey warehouses in Kentucky.
Palate: The palate leans into buttery toffee with a twinge of black licorice next to cinnamon-spiced dark chocolate tobacco and a hint of huckleberry pie with vanilla ice cream.
Finish: The end has a salted caramel sweetness that leads back to a hint of sweet cinnamon and dark tobacco with a light sense of the fermentation room with a hint of sweet gruel.
Bottom Line:
This is a great, classic bourbon whiskey. It’s also a $40 bottle at MSRP and you really need to keep that in mind when buying and comparing it. It certainly punches above its price point, hence the inflated secondary price. Still, this is an essential cocktail bourbon far more than a deep sipper.
10. E.H. Taylor, Jr. Amaranth Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
For this limited release, the team at Buffalo Trace replaced the rye in the mash bill with Mexican amaranth grains, which bring a unique foundation of flavors to the bourbon. The final blend yielded a small run of bottles of something truly unique.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s an almost green cherry fruitiness next to a strong mint tea cut with floral honey on the nose.
Palate: That mint tea starts to lean into a black tea bitterness as rich vanilla oils from the barrel arrive with a soft edge while a hint of red berries, more honey, and a touch of cedar linger on the tongue.
Finish: The end is pretty short all things considered, with the floral notes leading towards a minty tobacco chew, more unripe cherry, and a hint of cedar-infused toffee.
Bottom Line:
This is a great bottle if you want to try something completely different. It’s still bourbon but has a wildly different POV from those classic Kentucky bourbon notes. This is the bottle you buy and sip when you want the opposite of quintessential.
9. E.H. Taylor, Jr. Cured Oak Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
This is standard Mash Bill No. 1 bourbon from Buffalo Trace that’s aged with oak barrels made with staves that were cured for 13 months before construction (Buffalo Trace doesn’t go into exactly how that’s different than seasoning outdoors other than it’s a longer process). Those barrels were left in the famed Warehouse C until they were just right for this blend.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Sticky toffee pudding drizzled with salted caramel and flaked with fresh orange zest drives the nose toward sweet oak, savory summer figs, and chewing tobacco with a hint of black cherry.
Palate: The palate largely follows that direction with soft spiced cake, black tea, and burnt orange next to a hint of marzipan and fig jam over a Southern buttermilk biscuit.
Finish: A hint of honeyed tobacco pushes the finish toward a thin layer of cedar and wild sage with a hint more of that sticky toffee pudding with a dollop of rich vanilla buttercream.
Bottom Line:
This is where we get into some seriously good bourbon. This is a step above the Small Batch expression and far more straightforward than the Amaranth and Seasoned Wood bottles. So if you’re looking for classic and delicious bourbon, track down this bottle.
8. E.H. Taylor, Jr. Four Grain Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
This E.H. Taylor, Jr. expression is from Buffalo Trace’s much rare four-grain mash bill. The recipe is a mix of corn, rye, wheat, and malted barley but we don’t know how much of each grain is in the mix. What we do know is that this one is aged for over 12 years before it’s batched, proofed, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Salted caramel and vanilla ice cream are front and center on the nose with a light hint of kettle corn and a whisper of rich pipe tobacco smoke with the finest hint of cherry wood.
Palate: The taste really leans into the vanilla and caramel as a fruity base arrives with a mix of red berries and pear swimming in vanilla cream next to an old cedar tobacco box.
Finish: The end has this whisper of peppery spice that’s way more powdery white pepper than freshly cracked black pepper.
Bottom Line:
This is another bottle that’s just good but also stands out with that peppery end and creamy vanilla-ness. It’s a nice balance and truly stands out as something unique in this lineup.
7. E.H. Taylor, Jr. Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This much-lauded and beloved bottle from Buffalo Trace is the only E.H. Taylor, Jr. at barrel strength. The spirit is from Buffalo Trace’s low-rye recipe (Mash Bill No. 1). The juice is then aged in warehouses built by the Colonel himself, yes, Warehosue C. The best barrels are selected yearly for batching and bottling with no water added.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The sip draws you in with a spicy wild berry jam next to a perfumed note (kind of like wet potpourri), buttery toffee sweetness, and a note of pecan waffle.
Palate: The taste, on the other hand, leans into vanilla oils, dry cedar, and a dusting of white pepper that winds back to the spice without the jam or pecan before a wave of warm, buzzing alcohol encompasses your senses.
Finish: The end is long and really smoothes out, thanks to the vanilla and toffee, as the peppery spice builds towards a pear/cherry tobacco-filled cedar box and a very distant hint of fresh mint.
Bottom Line:
This standard release has a great variance to it, thanks to the mint and mild florals. That makes this a great mint julep base or easy summer sipper over some ice, it is warm. Still, if you’re looking for a great barrel-strength bottle from Buffalo Trace that isn’t Stagg, this is the bottle to buy.
6. E. H. Taylor, Jr. Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
This whiskey is aged in the famed Warehouse C at Buffalo Trace from their Mash Bill No. 1. In this case, single barrels are picked for their perfect Taylor flavor profile and bottled one at a time with a slight touch of water to bring them down to bottled-in-bond proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Dried dark fruits and a hint of vanilla wafers mingle with fig fruit leather, a touch of orchard wood, and a deep caramel on the nose.
Palate: The palate holds onto those notes while layering in dark berry tobacco with sharp winter spices, new leather, and a singed cotton candy next to a cedar box filled with that tobacco.
Finish: The finish lingers on your senses for a while and leaves the spice behind for that dark, almost savory fruit note with an echo of blackberry Hostess pies next to soft leather pouches that have held chewy tobacco for decades and a final hint of old porch wicker in the middle of summer.
Bottom Line:
This is really, really good bourbon. In fact, it’s one of my favorite bourbons from Kentucky. Still, this is a ranking of E.H. Taylor and there are simply some more interesting bottles coming up. That all said, if you’re looking for a phenomenal single-barrel product to add to your shelf, this is a must-have. It’s kind of like Blanton’s Plus.
5. E.H. Taylor, Jr. Old Fashioned Sour Mash Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
This limited-edition whiskey was distilled back in 2002 and left for nine years to rest. All of Buffalo Trace’s mash fermentations are a “sour mash” which means that they use a little of the grain, yeast, and liquid from the last batch to start the new one (it’s like a sourdough starter). This whiskey was designed with a unique flavor profile thanks to how the barrels aged.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose bursts forth with sourdough bread crusts dipped in fresh floral honey, marmalade, and old boot leather with a hint of cherry wood underneath.
Palate: Buttermilk biscuits dripping that honey saddle up next to pecan waffles with a drop of maple syrup, caramel, and vanilla buttercream with more of that cherry wood and boot leather.
Finish: The end leans into the leatheriness with a touch of honey apple tobacco and pecan bread with plenty of soft cinnamon and nutmeg and a powdered sugar glaze.
Bottom Line:
This has a crazy secondary price point. Part of that is that this is an older release and there are just fewer of them out there. Another part of that is that this whiskey absolutely slaps. The profile isn’t unique or funky, it’s just… good. It hits every note so true and precise while delivering a soft and engaging overall experience. That said, maybe just try a pour at a high-end whiskey bar. I can’t justify that price tag for a whole bottle.
4. E.H. Taylor, Jr. Warehouse C Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
This 10-year-old bourbon was aged exclusively in Warehouse C (are you catching a pattern here?) from whiskey made with Mash Bill No. 1. The nuance here is that the barrels were aged on floors 2 and 5 only. That makes this blend a mix of lower-floor and higher-floor barrels. It’s cooler on those lower floors so the whiskey ages more slowly. Likewise, it’s warmer on the higher floors, and the whiskey ages a tad more rapidly. That means the final blend on this one is from whiskeys that feel and taste like they’re at different eras of the life cycle.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Cherry Coke dominates the nose with a big scoop of blackberry cobbler and Tahitian vanilla ice cream next to mild sweet oak with a whisper of warehouse whiskey mold.
Palate: That Cherry Coke drives the opening of the palate as well with a nice vanilla buttercream foundation below dark chocolate-covered espresso beans, rum raisin, star anise/black licorice, and sharp fresh spearmint.
Finish: That mint adheres to cherry tobacco on the finish with a woody winter spice matrix and a dollop more of that vanilla buttercream.
Bottom Line:
This is lush AF. It also builds and takes you on a journey through berry-forward bourbon toward older and spicier barrels with deep cherry and vanilla. Goddamn, this is a good whiskey. It’s instantly recognizable from the first nose why this whiskey is so sought after. It really does live up to the hype.
3. E.H. Taylor, Jr. Warehouse C Tornado Surviving Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
This very limited release was made after a tornado meandered through central Kentucky back in April 2006 and tore some of the wall and roof off of Warehouse C. This exposed a bunch of Warehouse C barrels to the elements for a whole summer while repairs were underway. Several years later, it became apparent that those exposed barrels had taken on a profile unlike any other barrel of Taylor in the warehouse. So, those barrels were batches as this special one-off release of Warehouse C Bourbon.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Figgy pudding with clove drives the nose toward spiced holiday cakes, old oak cellars, falling autumn leaves, and blackberry jam over butter-griddled sourdough pancakes.
Palate: The dark berry leans into a woody huckleberry on the palate that’s accented by vanilla almond cake dusted with powdered sugar, smoldering black tea leaves, and a whisper of spicy nasturtium.
Finish: The end layers in cinnamon bark, allspice berries, and star anise with a hint of spiced holiday nut bread, creamy vanilla butter, and dark cherry syrup.
Bottom Line:
This is Kentucky bourbon turned up to 11. It’s so luxurious on the palate with a laundry list of quintessential flavor notes. But more importantly, it is lush. This is a truly emblematic Buffalo Trace bourbon.
2. E.H. Taylor, Jr. Straight Rye Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey Bottled In Bond
This rye from Buffalo Trace is a beloved bottle. As with all Buffalo Trace whiskeys, the mash bill and exact aging are not known. It’s likely this is made from a mash of very high rye mixed with just malted barley, maybe. We do know that it is not the same mash bill as Buffalo Trace’s other rye, Sazerac.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This nose is vibrant with hints of freshly plucked pears next to black peppercorns, soft cedar, winter spice barks and berries, and a hint of fresh mint chopped up with fresh dill that leads to a minor key of spearmint and maybe some fresh chili pepper on the vine.
Palate: The palate holds onto the fresh green chili pepper as the pear gets stewed with those winter spices and drizzled with a salted toffee syrup cut with sharp burnt orange and bitter chinotto leaves.
Finish: That sweet and citrus bitter vibe leads back to dark and woody clove and anise with a dash of sasparilla and salted black licorice before some fresh mint and dill return to calm everything down.
Bottom Line:
I really wanted to rank this number one. This is both findable and just f*cking delicious. This is a phenomenal Kentucky rye that really stands out from the rest of the E.H. Taylor, Jr. pack. Everything about this whiskey is perfectly balanced and distinct.
If you can find this at MSRP, you’ll be way ahead and have a truly great rye whiskey. That said, I’d pay secondary to keep this stocked on my bar cart. It’s that good.
1. E. H. Taylor, Jr. 18 Year Marriage Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
This is one of the most fleeting E.H. Taylor whiskeys ever bottled. The whiskey in the bottle is a three-whiskey blend of two different rye bourbon mash bills and one wheated bourbon mash (basically a blend of the three main bourbon mash bills at Buffalo Trace). After those barrels hit at least 18 years old, they were blended, kissed with soft limestone water, and bottled as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Soft and moist vanilla white cake frosted with buttercream and drizzled with salted caramel draws you in on the nose with a twist of cinnamon bark, clove buds, and this fleeting echo of fresh spearmint.
Palate: The taste is pure velvet with subtle nuances of that soft white cake and caramel that leads toward cinnamon chewing tobacco, dark cherry cordial, dry Earl Grey leaves, and stewed prunes with a whisper of salted dark chocolate.
Finish: That cinnamon bark comes roaring back with a hint of cedar bark braided with wild sage next to more salted caramel Kentucky bourbon sweetness and a sharp spearmint finish.
Bottom Line:
This is the best E.H. Taylor, Jr. bottle. This is fantastic Kentucky bourbon. I’d go far as to say this is one of the true bests.
There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a pint of Guinness or two on St. Patrick’s Day. In fact, we assume you’ll be partaking in this Irish staple while you drape yourself in the Irish flag and drink one too many. But, after you’ve had a few pints of “the black stuff”, we implore you to give another dry Irish stout a try.
For those unaware, a dry Irish stout is known for its darkly roasted barley. This is what gives it its dry, roasty, chocolate, coffee, and lightly bitty flavor and differentiates it from other stout styles. On top of that, a traditional Irish dry stout is also brewed with specific hops such as Challenger, Fuggle, and East Kent Goldings.
A popular beer in Ireland, there are also myriad great examples in the U.S. beer world. This is why we selected eight great dry Irish stouts that aren’t Guinness and ranked them. Some are from Ireland, and some are from the U.S. All are dry, roasty, and well-suited for St. Patrick’s Day.
One of the most popular dry Irish stouts in the American beer landscape, Breckenridge Nitro Irish Stout is a year-round beer brewed with traditional Irish malts. Crafted in the “old-world” style, it’s known for its roasted barley, chocolate, and malt flavor.
Tasting Notes:
The aroma is fairly light with a mix of roasted malts and chocolate. You really have to concentrate to really find anything notable. The palate continues this trend. There are some lightly roasted malts, coffee, dark chocolate, and caramel malts. The finish is dry and lightly bitter. But overall, it’s surprisingly watery.
Bottom Line:
While this beer has all the traditional dry Irish stout aromas and flavors. Still, it’s all fairly muted and watery.
O’Hara’s award-winning flagship beer is its dry Irish Stout. Brewed since 1999, it’s brewed with roasted malts and Fuggle hops. The result is a traditional dark, coffee, chocolate, and roast malt-filled beer with light hop bitterness.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find aromas of bitter chocolate, roasted malts, and light caramel. It’s fairly muted though. The palate is slightly better with more roasted malts, vanilla beans, dried fruits, coffee, and dry, bitter hops.
Bottom Line:
Another beer that hits on all the flavors, but is just a little light and water for our liking. This dry Irish stout is just okay. It’s decent, but not overly memorable.
A great example of an Americanized version of the traditional dry Irish stout, Left Hand Dry Irish Stout is brewed with 2-row barley, Black barley, Chocolate barley, Munich malt, and rolled oats. It gets its bitter, floral flavor from the addition of Apollo hops.
Tasting Notes:
A nose of coffee beans, roasted malts, chocolate, and vanilla beans draws you in. The mouthfeel is surprisingly creamy and rich with notes of coffee, roasted barley, vanilla, chocolate, and a light nutty sweetness. The finish is dry and pleasantly bitter.
Bottom Line:
Another beer that loses points because it’s a little thinner than you’d hope, Left Hand Dry Irish Stout is still a pretty good take on the style.
While Guinness is undoubtedly the most popular dry Irish stout, Murphy’s is arguably the second most popular. Brewed with simple, traditional ingredients like water, malted barley, barley, and hop extract. This dry, bitter, chocolate-filled beer gets added creaminess from the addition of nitrogen.
Tasting Notes:
Bitter chocolate, freshly brewed coffee, roasted malts, vanilla beans, and bready malts start the nose off right. Drinking it reveals more chocolate, roasted malts, brown sugar, yeasty bread, and a dry, bitter finish. It’s flavorful, but not all that exciting.
Bottom Line:
This is a great replacement for Guinness as it’s a classic dry Irish stout. It’s no frills and loaded with classic flavors.
This dry Irish stout comes from the brewers at Fort Bragg, California’s North Coast Brewing. It gets its name from a now-retired California Western Railroad steam engine. This award-winning beer is known for its toasted malts, coffee, caramel, and roasted barley flavors.
Tasting Notes:
Bold aromas of freshly brewed coffee, dark chocolate, toasted malts, vanilla, and light floral hops greet you before your first sip. Drinking it brings forth more bitter chocolate, roasted barley, brown bread, caramel, vanilla, and a dry, pleasantly bitter chocolate finish.
Bottom Line:
This beer has everything an Irish dry stout fan could want. It’s dry, smooth, and loaded with dark, bold flavors.
You don’t have to be a boxer to enjoy this award-winning dry Irish stout. Made to taste like the traditional stouts of Ireland, it’s known for its mix of roasted malts, chocolate, smoky, coffee, and dry, bitter hop flavors. Simple, elegant, and well-made.
Tasting Notes:
An intriguing nose of dark chocolate, coffee, oats, vanilla, and gentle smoke greets you before taking your first sip. On the palate, you’ll find hints of roasted barley, toasted malts, caramel, and coffee. Dry, lightly smoky, and highly drinkable.
Bottom Line:
Societe The Pugilist is a nice take on the dry Irish stout. It’s dry, lightly bitter, and filled with coffee and chocolate flavors. The addition of gentle smoke only adds to the overall flavor profile.
San Diego is home to so many great breweries, it’s difficult to stand out. Pure Project is one of those breweries that’s definitely standing out. This is especially true with its Pure Project Milagro, a dry Irish stout brewed with Costa Rican organic coffee and Tahitian vanilla beans.
Tasting Notes:
A complex nose of toasted vanilla beans, dark chocolate, roasted malts, toffee, and freshly brewed coffee meets your nose prior to your first taste. Sipping it reveals notes of sweet, floral vanilla, toasted barley, butterscotch, bitter chocolate, and bolder, coffee beans.
Bottom Line:
This definitely isn’t your traditional dry Irish stout and that’s okay. This vanilla and coffee bomb is a great change of pace from the usual Guinness.
This highly complex, pitch black, 5.9% ABV dry Irish stout was brewed with Maris Otter, roasted barley, Pale Chocolate, Chocolate, Black barley, Carafa III, Pale Crystal, Crystal, and flaked barley. It’s also brewed with house ale yeast and gets its classic stout bitterness from the addition of East Kent Goldings hops.
Tasting Notes:
Notes of roasted malts, toasted barley, cocoa powder, coffee beans, vanilla, and light, floral hops are prevalent on the nose. The palate is butterscotch, bitter chocolate, vanilla beans, toasted barley, and espresso beans. Dry, sweet, subtly bitter, and highly memorable.
Bottom Line:
When it comes to US-made dry Irish stouts, you’ll have a hard time finding a better, more complex example than Zero Gravity Extra Stout.
The Sacramento Kings have clinched a winning record in the regular season for the first time since 2006.They’re 9-2 since the All-Star break. They’re 22-12 since the start of 2023, tied with the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics for the fourth-most wins in the calendar year. They’re jostling for the 2-seed in the Western Conference with the Memphis Grizzlies (0.5 games up currently) and are 4.5 games up on the fourth-seeded Phoenix Suns with 14 games remaining, it’s becoming increasingly likely that the Kings will hold homecourt advantage in at least one playoff series, if not two.
Point blank, Sacramento is a very good basketball team. And yet, because the Kings are the new kids on the block, conversations around Sacramento’s playoff chances overwhelmingly focus on why they might fail instead of why they can succeed.
On one hand, it’s understandable, because the only way to prove you’re ready for playoff basketball is to do it in the postseason. On the other, this team rocks! While the Kings undoubtedly have flaws, so does every single team in the West. While there are no guarantees everything translates to the postseason, the Kings do a lot of things you want from a playoff team.
The biggest separator for the Kings this season has been their play in clutch situations, where De’Aaron Fox has become an absolute killer and is running away with the inaugural Jerry West Clutch Player of the Year award. That ability to excel and execute offensively when the pressure is highest should bode well for Sacramento once the playoffs roll around.
The Kings are already a good team, leading the league in offensive rating on the year and plugging away with a solid +2.7 net rating. They operate a great deal in transition, playing with the fourth-highest transition frequency (17.1 percent of plays) in the league, where they’re incredibly efficient.
Oftentimes, when looking at a high frequency transition team, you expect a stark fall-off in how effective that team is in the halfcourt. Teams that run a ton typically sell out to play fast and avoid set defenses due to limitations they have at creating advantages without being buoyed by pace. That’s not a problem for the Kings, boasting the second-most efficient halfcourt offense in the league per Cleaning the Glass. They play with continuous movement and intuitive principles to keep defenses in motion even when it should be most difficult. That is the part that translates at the end of games, and is also why I’m bullish on their ability to remain a dominant offense come playoff time.
It starts with their star guard, as Fox isn’t just leading the league in clutch scoring (defined by NBA tracking as a game within five points and five minutes or fewer remaining), he’s lapping the field. Fox is averaging 5.2 clutch points per game shooting 54.2% from the field. The next closest player is Stephen Curry with 4.4, and only five players total are averaging more than 4 per game on the season amongst qualifiers (at least 10 games played).
Every shot he’s taken in the waning minutes of a close game has felt good this season. There’s an air of “yeah, he has IT.”
In rewatching Sacramento’s clutch minutes, clutch games, and trying to parse through what’s different and what clicks for the Kings, composure is the answer that I keep coming back to. It sounds cliche, but it stands out in a way that’s uncommon for a team without a significant history of winning.
They don’t run different sets. They don’t operate with different personnel. They just do what they do, but better.
The Kings lead the league with their 118.7 offensive rating, which would be the best in league history as it stands. In clutch time, that jumps up to an astonishing 129.3 offensive rating; the next closest clutch time offense is the Lakers with a 116.9 ORtg.
Their turnover rate dips to 8.3 percent, making for the NBA’s 2nd lowest in clutch time and is 4.2 percent lower than their regular turnover rate. The Kings play with a similar pace, but with a different purpose: It’s Fox time.
For a team that prides itself on ball and player movement, they are dominant when they allow Fox to isolate late in games. Just 49.5 percent of Sacramento’s 2-point baskets are unassisted per game, near exactly league average, but 72.4 percent of their clutch twos are unassisted, the highest mark in the league.
They toe the line of heavy isolation, while also operating with their east-west movement. It’s essential. Every player remains a threat and keeps the floor spread for this year’s King of the Fourth. It rarely becomes a straight up isolation without an initial action or off of a switch hunt, but instead possessions begin out of a DHO or early pistol action, as the Kings get Fox to his best spots to cook off movement. It’s an important distinction when understanding why things work and how the Kings get to their bread and butter.
That lack of stagnancy matters greatly in producing great offensive looks. The Kings and Fox are like a great distance runner, sticking to the game plan, abiding by their truth, remaining calm, and then hitting the burst for the closing mile. The Kings’ defense isn’t good, and is oft the most nitpicked aspect of them. Understandably, as they sit bottom five in the league in defensive rating and have much of the year.
However, I tend to look at their defense in a different light. They do their job. They stay the course and rarely sway from their base. While their personnel are undoubtedly limited, they sell out to do what they do best; contest shots and rebound the heck out of the basketball. They limit opponent second chance points to enhance their own ability to get the ball out in transition. Again, it’s not good defense, but it is self-aware in that regard and just tries to limit the damage as much as possible.
They play a continual war of attrition, gaming the margins, trust-falling into their strengths. Every shot you miss is another opportunity for the Kings to put you on the back foot.
It’s reasonable to not believe in the Kings. They haven’t been in the playoffs before and they do have notable questions, namely their defense. Yet, I keep coming back to this pivotal quote in Watchmen (it happens in the novel, but differently) from Rorschach/Walter Kovacs.
“None of you seem to understand. I’m not locked in here with you. You’re locked in here with me.”
Every time I watch the Kings pull it together in the fourth quarter and establish their clutch dominance, it’s hard to not envision that scene. There are plenty of questions to be answered by Sacramento come playoff time, but De’Aaron Fox and the Kings deserve the opportunity to make that statement. Based on their play throughout the course of the season, we should be in for one heck of a first round series, whoever they play.
Actor and producer Donald Glover tried his best to walk away from his music persona Childish Gambino, but there’s still work to be done. The triple threat hinted that a new project was on the way during his appearance on Kimmel, but fans were in for a treat that new music was just the tip of the creative iceberg. In addition to the new music, Gambino released a new Amazon Prime Video series, Swarm, starring Chlöe and Dominique Fishback.
As with any great film or series, an original soundtrack is necessary, and Gambino released a full EP to accompany Swarm.
Childish Gambino and KIRBY lend their voices to singer Ni’Jah’s track “Sticky,” which serves as the lead single from the soundtrack. Heard in the series trailer, “Sticky” immaculately lays out the plot of a woman sick obsession with a pop star. Co-produced by Dylan Wiggins and Michael Uzowuru, the song is eerie in all of the same ways the series is.
The second verse of the song drives home the level of discomfort Cambino wants you to feel as you dive into this piece, as he and KIRBY sings, “I got a gun, I got the strap, I got the door locked / I gotta run, they in the back, “Hello” and the door knock / Lock on the car ‘Beep, beep’ / Blood on the bar, leak, leak / Cops finna come, sweet, sweet / Hoe, I look good, tweet, tweet / Hope I don’t get no blood on top of my weave / Ain’t got no beatin’, they ain’t no apostrophes /And I got my mask on (Hey) / Still twerk *ss to sad songs / Gotta keep the joy alive.”
Listen to the full track above and the full EP below. Swarm premieres today (March 17) on Prime Video.
All hail Keanu Reeves, the leader of the puppies who rules over his kingdom with a fuzzy paw. On Thursday, the actor dropped by The Tonight Showto discuss John Wick: Chapter 4 and sing “Hey Jude” by the Beatles, but we’ll get to that. First, if you watch the video above, you’ll be treated to Reeves being covered in adorable dogs during a game of Pup Quiz. “I am the puppy king,” he says at one point. Hopefully no one told the puppies about… y’know.
Earlier in the episode, Fallon and Reeves discussed a recent encounter they had. They were dining at the same restaurant in Los Angeles when Reeves “had the whole restaurant come over and sing me happy birthday,” the Tonight Show host said. “And it was not my birthday. It was not my birthday at all.” That wasn’t Fallon’s favorite part of the evening, though.
“Here’s the best move. You were leaving. There was a great guy who plays music, guitar at the restaurant. And so he starts singing ‘Hey Jude,’ and so I jumped up to sing with him. I thought you were gone,” Fallon told Reeves, who described his performance as “you just kept going.”
To celebrate the single-barrel 10-year-old bourbon release, I’m going to break down what’s in the bottle below. Spoiler alert — this is a great whiskey. It’s one of the most classic and quintessential bourbons on the shelf in the United States.
There’s a reason for that (though it’s a tad esoteric) — the care that both McKee and Wilson put into these expressions is apparent in the actual whiskey in the bottle. There’s a depth that goes beyond a well-built flavor profile into a ~ sense of something better and deeper ~ that just sings more on the senses and elicits a deep sense of feeling. From the first nose to the echo of the finish, you sense that there’s just more to this whiskey than your average one. And that’s what makes whiskeys like this so much more sought-after and, well, expensive.
Okay, that’s enough preamble. Let’s get to what’s actually in this new bottle of Michter’s.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
The whiskey barrels sourced for these single-barrel expressions tend to be at least 10 years old with some rumored to be closer to 15 years old (depending on the barrel’s quality, naturally). Either way, the whiskey goes through Michter’s bespoke filtration process before a touch of Kentucky’s iconic soft limestone water is added, bringing the bourbon down to a very crushable 94.4 proof.
The Bottle:
Michter’s large-format bottle for their 10, 20, and 25-year releases is hefty and iconic for the brand. They stand out on shelves and feel like bottles that you keep around after all the liquid is gone as a decanter or rose vase. Moreover, they are waxed dipped — adding some serious class.*
*Thankfully, the team at Michter’s has the good sense to add a useable pull tab in the wax for easy opening. This is not a universal truth in whiskey bottle wax dipping. As someone who has to open bottles constantly, I really appreciate this small touch.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a peppery sense of cedar bark and burnt orange next to salted caramel and tart red berries with a moist and spicy sticky toffee pudding with some brandy butter dancing on the nose.
Palate: The palate blends vanilla tobacco with salted dark chocolate-covered marzipan while espresso cream leads to new porch wicker and black peppercorns.
Finish: The end has a pecan waffle vibe with chocolate chips, maple syrup, blackberry jam, and minced meat pies next to old tobacco and cedar with a sweet yet toasted marshmallow on the very end.
Bottom Line:
Yup, delicious. This is a stellar sipper neat, blooms nicely with a little water (it takes on a creamy sense of dark chocolate and marshmallow with almonds almost like a scoop of really well-made rocky road ice cream filtered through spicy bourbon), and absolutely kills in an old fashioned.
How To Buy:
This is an allocated bottle. That means that high-end bars and restaurants are going to be the best bet to drink this in the real world. Nottles will be on shelves at liquor stores behind glass or behind the cash register but very fleetingly so. It won’t be impossible to find, but you’ll have to put in the legwork in your region to find it.
There is a pretty big aftermarket for this online and at high-end whiskey shops. Expect to pay three to four times the MSRP though.
Ranking:
91/100 — This is excellent bourbon. It’s versatile and deep. That all said, it’s obviously not Michter’s 20-Year Bourbon — that bottle offers pure whiskey transcendence. Still, this is much more approachable as a stone-cold classic bourbon that’s just essential.
It was confirmed yesterday (March 16) that the rumors are true about Billie Eilish appearing in Donald Glover‘s Prime Video series Swarm. Now, actor Jason Sudeikis brought her up on Late Night With Seth Meyers to discuss how she’s influenced his kids.
Seth Meyers asked him about his children making music together. “As I’m coming up the stairs, I can usually hear a keyboard, and I bought two karaoke setups for me and [Will] Forte. But they’ve now figured out how to turn them on. And they’ll just be making up songs. And I truly believe it’s because I had the wherewithal to watch the Billie Eilish documentary. So when we see Billie and her older brother Finneas making music together and making each other laugh, it’s kind of similar to when I would visit my Uncle George on the Cheers set and be like, ‘This is a job? You guys all joking around?’”
“I was just curious because Daisy and I were gonna go to the concert and I wanted her to have a little more context because you gotta understand why she’s a bad guy.” He continued: “The beat is great, the lyrics are interesting, but why is she a bad guy?”
After it premiered at midnight last night (March 17), Swarm has taken over the internet. The new Amazon Prime Video series from Donald Glover and Janine Nabers is notable for a number of reasons, including a recently revealed appearance from Billie Eilish. She’s not the only music star in the show, as Chlöe also has a role, and there’s one scene in particular that is making waves online: the sex scene.
We won’t share it here (it’s easy enough to find, though, either via clips on Twitter or in the actual show), but for about 30 seconds in the first episode’s opening minutes, Chlöe and Damson Idris’ characters (Marissa Jackson and Khalid) have sex with each other as they talk dirty and make sexual noises. Partway through, Khalid notices Dominique Fishback’s character (Andrea “Dre” Greene) watching them from the doorway, but he continues and even flashes her a smile before Dre walks away.
Naturally, the explicit scene has drawn so many reactions on Twitter.
Chloe Bailey getting her back blown out in this new show? hold up lemme go check it out pic.twitter.com/sSV6tls63R
In a recent Deadline interview, Chlöe spoke about filming the scene, saying, “I remember when I first read the script, I was like, ‘Oh, this is insane, this is incredible,’ and I cried, and then I realized, ‘You gotta do that sex scene, girl.’ And as open and liberal as I am with my body, I was very scared because I haven’t had that many partners, I’m not like that… that sexual and open. […] Damson made it really comfortable. You know, there were limited people on set, it was a closed set. We were laughing in between. We literally had a bouncy ball in between us. […] I have to give a lot of kudos to him as a man for making me as a woman feel comfortable being literally raw and naked.”
Chloe Bailey on how Damson Idris made her comfortable filming her first love scene in ‘Swarm’ #SXSWpic.twitter.com/jKhKmlTHj4
The demand for Drake and 21 Savage’s It’s All A Blur Tour tickets is so high, they’ve added a slew of extra dates. After fans trying to get in on the presale complained of high ticket prices, the two rappers announced 12 new shows on the tour to alleviate the pressure as the general sale opens up.
Dates in Dallas, DC, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Montreal, Philly, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver were doubled, while Brooklyn, Manhattan, and LA all received third shows. Meanwhile, the dates for Drake’s hometown, Toronto, will be announced in the future.
The general sale for It’s All A Blur tickets begins today, Friday, March 17 at noon local time. You can get more info here and see the full list of tour dates below. New dates are in bold.
6/16 – New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center
6/19 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
6/21 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center 6/22 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
6/24 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center 6/25 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
6/28 – Miami, FL @ Miami-Dade Arena 6/29 – Miami, FL @ Miami-Dade Arena
7/01 – Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
7/02 – Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
7/05 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
7/06 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
7/08 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena 7/09 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
7/11 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden
7/12 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden
7/14 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
7/17 – Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center
7/18 – Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center 7/20 – Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center 7/23 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
7/25 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
7/26 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
7/28 – Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena 7/29 – Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena
7/31 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center 8/1 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
8/12 – Inglewood, CA @ Kia Forum
8/13 – Inglewood, CA @ Kia Forum 8/15 – Inglewood, CA @ Kia Forum
8/18 – San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center 8/19 – San Francisco, CA @ Chase Center
8/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Crypto.com Arena
8/22 – Los Angeles, CA @ Crypto.com Arena
8/25 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena 8/26 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
8/28 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena 8/29 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
9/01 – Las Vegas, NV @– T-Mobile Arena 9/02 – Las Vegas, NV @ T-Mobile Arena
9/05 – Glendale, AZ @ Desert Diamond Arena
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