The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.
Drake’s influence is all over Jack Harlow’s new album, Come Home The Kids Miss You. I don’t just mean in the sense that he appears on the album’s magnetic standout track “Churchill Downs,” on which Jack sounds almost exactly like his hero. But throughout the album, I couldn’t help but feel the same sense I did when I first popped Drake’s mixtape Comeback Season into my car’s CD player 15 years ago.
To be clear, this is a good thing. Harlow has been maligned over the years, perhaps somewhat unfairly, for being kind of, well, goofy. In hip-hop, there’s more or less always been the prevailing attitude that rappers should carry themselves with exaggerated coolness. Even throughout the “keep it real” era, nobody really wanted most rappers to be themselves. Look at who all was elevated to the culture’s upper echelons.
From The Notorious B.I.G’s mafioso raps to Eminem’s serial killer horrorcore, over-the-top personas have been the order of the day. In more recent years, the keep-it-real ethos has been completely blown away by characters like Rick Ross and Future, who couldn’t be realistically expected to live what they rap about and still be alive to rap about it. Tucked somewhere into the middle of all that stylistic evolution, the regular guys who exploded in the noughties were kind of exceptions to the rule.
Drake stood at the forefront of that movement and was its de facto face. When he dropped Comeback Season in 2007, he had yet to become the internationally recognized global superstar he is today or would become on his next tape, the breakout So Far Gone. He sat somewhere between the wordy headiness of his backpack rap heroes like Little Brother and Slum Village and the pop-reaching sensibilities of 106 & Park heartthrobs like Trey Songz and Pretty Ricky.
His rhymes were marked less by the belligerent boastfulness of 50 Cent and Lil Jon’s constellation of crunk associates than by a plainspoken earnestness. Drake just wanted to be successful, and he wanted to do it by making relatable, semi-sincere rap music about having his heart broken and chasing his dreams. Nary a gunshot was fired, not a kilo was sold. No one got stomped out in the club, and Drake himself had a relatively average success rate with women. He felt like an underdog but carried himself with the confidence that he wouldn’t be for long.
On Come Home The Kids Miss You, Jack Harlow bears the same sensibility. He’s sort of always had a similar outlook and an introspective approach. But now, his circumstances somehow match both the confidence and the humility. He’s got multiple No. 1s to his name, but he’s also an outsider in hip-hop (so much as rapping-ass white guys can still be considered outliers in a world where Eminem still tops the album chart and Lil Dicky makes poop jokes on a hit cable TV show).
So when Jack shoots his shot at pop stars as he does on “Dua Lipa,” which not only name-checks the British singer but also accurately predicts the inevitable Twitter backlash for doing so, it does give “heart-eye emojis in the comments” energy — but success doesn’t seem completely out of reach. When Jack titles one of the bouncier tracks “I Got A Shot,” you believe him.
The parallels to the prologue don’t stop there. With every successive generation reaching back a couple of decades for inspiration – Drake famously leaned heavily on ‘90s R&B samples throughout his oeuvre – it might be odd to think that it’s time for Gen Z rappers to begin mining the platinum era. But that time has come – sorry, fellow Millennials, you’re officially old now – as Harlow looks to 106&Park mainstays like Pharrell and Snoop Dogg’s “Beautiful” for “Side Piece,” Tweet’s “My Place” for “Lil Secret,” and Fergie’s “Glamorous” for his chart-topping single “First Class.”
In this, Harlow defies convention as much as his new mentor did with Comeback Season and So Far Gone. The defining sound of our modern era is very much “808s and trap breaks”; with Come Home, Jack signals what perhaps could be the next evolution of the sound for the still-young decade ahead – just like someone we know. He’s willing to take the risk of diverging from the mainstream with his glossy collection of synth horns harkening back to the days when T.I. and Bow Wow held radio in a chokehold. But he’s also perfectly positioned to be the one to spark this latest nostalgia wave, what with TikTok being deluged in 2000s hits and radio playing a song sampling Mariah Carey four times an hour.
In my review for Harlow’s debut album, That’s What They All Say (I love his penchant for wordy titles), I pointed to the Kentucky MC’s potential and obvious passion and love for the craft of rap. On Come Home, he certainly lives up to that potential – perhaps even exceeds it – by pairing it with ambition. Before, Jack was satisfied with walking in the footsteps of prior greats. Now, it looks very much like he intends to make some of his own.
Come Home The Kids Miss You is out now on Atlantic. Get it here.
Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
It’s never a good sign when a company has two widely publicized incidents on its hands. Live Nation discovered as much in the wake of Astroworld Festival with the attack on Drakeo The Ruler at Once Upon A Time In LA just a month later, and now, the security company that worked Astroworld is learning the same lesson. According to Buzzfeed News, Contemporary Services Corp. is one of North America’s largest event-security companies — and may face added scrutiny after the recent Netflix Is A Joke Fest show where Dave Chappelle was tackled by an armed man during his set.
Even worse, Buzzfeed’s report found that CSC’s practices may have opened the door for these failures. Due to hiring inexperienced staff as independent contractors, CSC shields itself from liability at the expense of the overall safety of events. One staffer told Buzzfeed, “We were told there was going to be a big crowd and to get them in as fast as possible. There were no details on what that meant and how to do it — just get them in as fast as possible.”
Incidentally, just before he was tackled by the 23-year-old Isaiah Lee, who had a concealed knife on him (in the shape of a gun), Chappelle joked about “increased threats against comedians” as an oblique reference to the Oscars, where Will Smith slapped Chris Rock onstage. Chappelle had brought members of his own security onstage, and it was them who subdued Lee, although Chappelle later joked that he, Busta Rhymes, Jamie Foxx, and (lol) Jon Stewart had “stomped” Lee backstage.
Meanwhile, the venue, the world-famous Hollywood Bowl, is “reviewing its “existing procedures both internally and with the assistance of outside experts.” CSC, which also worked the Astroworld Festival and the Route 91 Harvest festival in 2017, is reportedly named in a number of lawsuits from event attendees and former staff, including those stemming from the Astrowold disaster. In 2020, CSC, along with MGM and Live Nation, settled a lawsuit with 4,400 people impacted by the mass shooting for $800 million.
The cutest and bravest good boy in Ukraine is over there saving lives every day, and he’s finally receiving the recognition that he deserves for fighting Putin-led atrocities. And hopefully some treats, too.
All due credit for a job well done is going out to a Jack Russell terrier named Patron, who has been out on the field with minesweepers since the Russian invasion began. All told, he’s busted over 200 explosive devices, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy brought Patron out (as revealed in the above USA Today video) to recognize his devoted work in front of the whole world.
The BBC notes that Patron has been hailed as a “a national hero, a symbol of Ukraine’s resistance against Russia,” and Zelenskyy recognized the precious pup as “wonderful little sapper Patron.” He’s only two-and-a-half years old, but he’s getting it done, and look at that wagging tail! Patron also proudly posed atop a pile of neutralized explosives, and the world could really use some more frequent good news like this.
Patron deserves all of the belly rubs. There’s no word on whether he got those from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was also on hand for the weekend ceremony. Ukrainian grandmas and dogs: we don’t deserve ’em.
Paul left his press conference early in an effort not to get fined and then sent out a tweet about the incident, still fuming over what happened. Not long after, word emerged of the incident, with some video of the aftermath coming out on Twitter and leading to further discussion about fans crossing the line with their words and actions towards players and their families. While the Mavs released a statement noting the fans in question were quickly removed from the arena when the incident was brought to their attention, the larger issue is that fans don’t seem to see an arena ban (which seems very difficult to actually enforce) as enough deterrent to keep them from crossing the line with their conduct.
The discussion made its way over to the TNT set, where Charles Barkley once again made his pitch for a solution to problems with fan conduct, in which they get brought to center court and have to say whatever they said from their seat directly to the player, who has five minutes to respond however he sees fit.
BARKLEY: “Just give me 5 minutes on the center court with him & say, ‘You ain’t gonna press no charges, nobody gonna be sued civilly, say what you just said to me right to my face, right here for these 5 minutes & Imma beat your a**.’”pic.twitter.com/XNSbWG3U16
While it’s not something that will ever happen, Barkley is right that if players were allowed to fully confront fans, you would probably see a sharp decline in these sorts of incidents taking place. Part of the issue right now from the players side — and one Paul noted in his tweet — is that they get fined for responding to fans with the same language they’re hearing, while fans aren’t beholden to the same standards. That is understandably frustrating, and until the league figures out how to enforce the same kind of no tolerance policy for fans, players will continue to grow tired of these incidents and wish privately (or in Chuck’s case, publicly) that they could handle things physically.
Keeping up with new music can be exhausting, even impossible. From the weekly album releases to standalone singles dropping on a daily basis, the amount of music is so vast it’s easy for something to slip through the cracks. Even following along with the Uproxx recommendations on a daily basis can be a lot to ask, so every Monday we’re offering up this rundown of the best new music this week.
This week saw Jack Harlow drop one of the year’s hottest rap albums and Taylor Swift dig back into the archives for a fresh rerecording. Yeah, it was a great week for new music. Check out the highlights below.
It’s Harlow’s world at the moment, as he’s fresh off his first No. 1 single with “First Class” (aside from his Lil Nas X collaboration “Industry Baby”) and the release of his second album, Come Home The Kids Miss You. The LP dropped a few days ago and with it came a new Drake collaboration, “Churchill Downs,” on which the two rightfully boast about just how well they’re doing.
Taylor Swift — “This Love (Taylor’s Version)”
Swift is firmly in the midst of the massive undertaking of re-recording all of her old albums. She’s making great progress on the front and made some more last week with 1989 highlight “This Love,” which was first teased in a movie trailer (a strategy she’s tried before). As is the case with her other “Taylor’s Version” recordings, Swift has again done a tremendous job of re-capturing the vibe of the original version, which she is of course uniquely qualified to do.
Doja Cat — “Vegas”
Fans who checked out Doja Cat at Coachella this year got a real treat when she debuted a new song, “Vegas.” Now the track isn’t exclusive to the festival grounds (and the fan-shot videos capturing it on stage), as she went ahead and dropped “Vegas,” which arrives as part of the soundtrack album for the upcoming Elvis biopic. It’s not exactly an Elvis-style song, but it does sample Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog,” which works as a hook on the modern hip-hop tune.
Bad Bunny — “Moscow Mule”
Bad Bunny is having himself a moment, as it was recently announced he was tapped to play the lead in El Muerto, a new Spider-Man spin-off movie. He’s still making time for music, of course, as he’s also a few days removed from dropping his latest single, “Moscow Mule,” a warm tune that’ll help Bad Bunny dominate yet another summer.
Carly Rae Jepsen — “Western Wind”
The Canadian pop favorite (or “favourite,” as she may opt spell it) has been missed recently, as last week’s “Western Wind” is her first new song in a couple years. It’s a pleasing return, too, as it sees Jepsen’s feathery vocals float on the serene, vibe-setting pop tune.
Arcade Fire — “Age Of Anxiety I”
Arcade Fire’s previous album, 2017’s Everything Now, experienced a mixed reception. However, with their latest, last week’s We, Win Butler and company returned to an anthemic rock sound more reminiscent of their early material. The album opens with “Age Of Anxiety I,” which has a dynamic build-up that does a terrific job of setting the table for the rest of the LP.
Winona Oak — “Jojo”
The Swedish pop up-and-comer told Uproxx of her new single, “My name is Johanna, but I’ve always been called Jojo. I wanted to write a song to myself. It’s one of those songs reflecting on the time that we live in, and feeling confused and lost, and not knowing where to put these big emotions.”
Toosii — “Keeper”
Love is a common topic in a Toosii song, which is fair given he recently announced his longtime girlfriend Samaria Davis is pregnant with their first child. So he’s back in his bag on “Keeper,” which Upoxx’s Wongo Okon describes as “a tender release that Toosii uses to celebrate and praise a woman he plans on spending a lifetime with.”
ASAP Rocky — “DMB”
With all due respect to ASAP Rocky, whenever Rihanna is involved in something, she’s going to go ahead and be the star. So, when Rocky dropped a video for “DMB” and Rihanna featured in it prominently, naturally, that’s where the focus went. Let’s acknowledge, though, that this is a solid single that sees Rocky adopt a compelling lyrical rhythm over a lush backing track.
Black Star — “OG”
A true Black Star (Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli) reunion has been a long time coming, as the pair’s first and last album was 1998’s Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star. It’s no longer accurate to call it their “last” album, though, as they finally released their sophomore album, No Fear Of Time (exclusively on the Luminary podcast network). Uproxx’s Adisa Banjoko notes of the album, “Tracks like ‘OG’ and ‘The Main Thing Is To Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing’ absolutely slap… in that Madlib fuzzed up kind of way. And the lyrics? They’re both on point and a departure, in the sense that Kweli and Bey are different people now living vastly different lives. With that said, insights and hard bars abound.”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Last month, The Smile announced their next album A Light For Attracting Attention. The band is made up of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, along with Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner. Today, they’ve released the new single “Thin Thing” with a stop-motion animated video.
Directed by Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, the video took six months to make. “Hearing the song for the first time, we imagined a frenetic fluid that carries machines, pieces of human bodies and carnivorous plants,” The pair said in a statement. “When presenting the idea to the band, Thom told us about a dream that made him write the song. We believe the video is the conjunction of these two things.”
This song comes after the unveiling of the single “Free In The Knowledge” and January’s groovy track “The Smoke.” The album has a lot of collaborators, featuring strings by the London Contemporary Orchestra and a full brass section of contemporary UK jazz players, including Byron Wallen, Theon and Nathaniel Cross, Chelsea Carmichael, Robert Stillman, and Jason Yarde.
Watch the video for “Thin Thing” above.
A Light For Attracting Attention is out 5/13 via XL Recordings. Pre-order it here.
Fresh off of his controversial Grammys win, comedian Louis C.K. is now slamming Democrats for how they’ve treated Donald Trump supporters over the years. C.K., who has been accused of sexual misconduct by several women, rattled off his thoughts on Shane Gillis’ podcast, which made for a cornucopia of cringe, given thatGillis was famously fired from Saturday Night Live after his history of racist jokes were brought to light.
According to C.K., he thinks “progressives” are making a “huge mistake” by “sh*tting on people” who love Donald Trump. “I mean, it’s the stupidest thing you can do,” C.K. opined via Mediaite:
“What progressives do is, you actually say to them ‘I’m a progressive,’ and they go ‘Really, prove it!’” he said. “‘Well, I’m for gay marriage’ — ‘What do you mean gay? What do you mean marriage? You are a Trump — ‘”
“They like tell [to] other people that they belong to Trump. They push people away,” C.K. lamented.
“They push everyone to him,” Gillis said.
C.K. took things further by accusing progressives of not actually wanting to win or change the country because it’s “gray, difficult, boring, bureaucratic, unsatisfying, slow business.”
“They’re not trying to make something happen, they’re just trying to feel, to show what they think, and preform what they are, and they’re addicted. It’s a sickness,” C.K. said. “I feel sorry for them.”
Of course, whether or not C.K. has a valid point is obviously overshadowed by the fact that the comedian is, again, accused of sexual misconduct by several women. If there’s a message to be had here, you couldn’t have picked a more ineffective messenger.
Let’s cut to the chase: there are so many bourbons on the average liquor store shelf right now that they can’t all be good. A lot of it is white labeled bottles (brands that buy booze and label it their own) containing juice from the big distilleries, but there are just as many iconic brands from yesteryear on those shelves too. Some are truly great, a lot of it is just fine, and too much of it is pretty much trash.
You used to be able to kind of tell by price point where to find the “good stuff,” not these days, there are plenty of $20 to $80 crafty and white-labeled bottles that are “meh” at best. And yet the same bracket also encompasses some true gems that outshine bottles twice and even three times that price. A whiskey lover could waste a lot of money trying to figure out which is which.
To help you sort all of this out, I’m conducting a random blind taste test. This is random in the sense that you’d see pretty much all of these bottles at a good liquor store on the mid-tier and top shelves and behind glass behind the register. A few might require a trip to a specialty whiskey shop. The point is, these are generally bottles you’ll see when you go into a store. Moreover, I tried not to repeat brands (though some of these come from the same parent company/distillery).
All of that aside, this blind taste test is meant to be like a long, in-store tasting that you might not have the time for, in order to help you find the bottle that you actually might want to take home.
Our lineup today is:
Widow Jane 10
Noah’s Mill
Evan Williams Single Barrel 2011
Redemption High-Rye Barrel Proof 10-Year Bourbon
Woodinville Port Cask Finished Bourbon
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof A121
Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit
Garrison Brothers Small Batch
Woodford Reserve Double Oaked
Baker’s Single Barrel 7-Year
Knob Creek 12
Michter’s Toasted Barrel Finish Bourbon
George Dickel Bottled in Bond, Fall 2008
Jefferson’s Reserve Very Old
A. Smith Brown Cask Strength Virginia Bourbon
Larceny Barrel Proof A121
Jack Daniel’s Bonded
Weller Special Reserve
Booker’s “Bardstown Batch”
Peerless Small Batch Bourbon
Let’s dive in!
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
Redemption has a knack for sourcing some of the best barrels from MGP Indiana. This multi-award-winning bourbon is a marriage of a minimum of 10-year-old barrels that come together to make a highly sippable bourbon experience.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This has a lot of woody vanilla next to tiny whiffs of dried florals with soft leather and toffee candies backing up the nose. The palate ebbs and flows between black peppercorns, sweet caramel sauce, and what feels like washed-out lemon pepper sprinkled over plain pork belly. The mid-palate leans back toward more classic notes of creamy vanilla and cherry with plenty of that black pepper and a whisper of chili powder but, ultimately, the finish dies a little and just kind of disappears on the tongue.
Bottom Line:
Had this nailed the finish, it’d be ranked much higher. Part of that is that my bottle is nearly kicked and has been open for a while, so there may be a little oxygenation at play. Still, this was the least compelling sip of the day, hands down.
This is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after wheated bourbons on the market. The mash amps up the wheat with 68% corn supported by 20% wheat and 12% malted barley. The juice then spends six to eight years maturing in Heaven Hill’s vast warehouses. It’s then small-batch blended and bottled with zero fussing at barrel proof.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This opens with soft oak and dried apricots that give way to a spicy and almost savory pumpkin pie filling with plenty of dried ginger and cinnamon with a slight touch of oatmeal cookie. The palate really leans into the spice with a Red Hot vibe that’s cooled down by vanilla pudding and a hint of maple syrup. The end has a spicy tobacco feel with old cedar and more of that dried fruit.
Bottom Line:
This is where the “that’s fine” section starts. This is perfectly good for what it is but it feels more like a cocktail base than anything else today.
Jefferson’s Reserve is a masterclass in the power of blending. This expression is a marriage of only eight to 12 barrels from three different bourbons which are, for the most part, very old. How old you ask? There are 20-year-old barrels in the mix.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
There’s a lot of honey and nutmeg on the nose that’s tempered by old oak staves, worn leather, and green apples with a slight tartness. The palate is a little washed out with mineral water muting cinnamon sticks in apple cider, almonds, toffee candy, and vanilla tobacco. The end leans into the spice, wood, and tobacco but ends pretty quickly that’s to that watery proofing.
Bottom Line:
This feels like it could be a lot more had it not been proofed down so much. There are a lot of great notes lurking under that water. Shame.
This is the first single barrel release from Baker’s, which has phased out its small-batch expressions. The juice comes from hand-selected barrels from specific spots in the Beam warehouses from whiskey that’s at least seven years old. In this case, we’re talking an eight-year-and-seven-month-old barrel.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Old cellar beams with cobwebs mix with equally old leather, dried cherries, and rich vanilla ice cream on the nose with a hint of muted dried herbs. The palate is part vanilla frosting from the can and partly dried cherry tobacco with old reeds, moss, and fennel seeds rounding out the taste. The finish leans into the dried herbs as apple cider and cherry tobacco lurk in the background.
Bottom Line:
This was funky and cool but didn’t quite stick the landing. It felt like a great idea that needed a little something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
This expression takes the standard bourbon above and gives it a finishing touch. The bourbon is blended and moved into new barrels that have been double toasted but only lightly charred. The juice spends a final nine months resting in those barrels before proofing and bottling.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Wet leather and woody spice are tempered by soft marzipan, dark yet tart berries, and a slight sense of honeycomb and tobacco on the nose. The taste is all about the creamy vanilla and nougat with the berries layering onto a soft tobacco leaf and the wood taking on a slight mulled wine feel. The finish is equal parts vanilla cream sauce and softly spiced and almost sweet oak.
Bottom Line:
This was really nice, but that was about it. Again, I can see this working wonders as a layer in a cocktail or an on the rocks sipper in a pinch.
This is the bigger and bolder sibling of Rowan’s Creek bourbon (also from Willett), both are made with Willet’s low-rye mash. This bottle is comprised of barrels ranging from four to 15 years old. Brass tacks, it’s the same small-batch juice as Rowan’s Creek that’s simply not proofed down as much.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Pecan pancakes covered in maple syrup and butter greet you on the nose with a hint of old oak, old library leather, dried cherries, and a drop of rose water. The taste mix stewed plums, caramel apples (with a hint of tartness), and cherry tobacco with sweet oak and more old leather. The finish has a spicy cherry tobacco vibe next to a very soft yet leathery dark fruit feel.
Bottom Line:
It’s always amazing how far some of these really good whiskeys fall off when tried against bigger hitters. Still, this feels very much in the “yup, it’s good” category. Classic, but basic.
This is Heaven Hill’s hand-selected single barrel Evan Williams expression. The juice is from a single barrel, labeled with its distillation year, proofed just above 43 proof, and bottled as is.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Again, this is just a classic AF bourbon. Caramel apples from the county fair, rich vanilla pods, old leather, soft oak, and a hint of spice all mingle on the nose. The palate really delivers on that nose while layering honey tobacco, eggnog spices, rich vanilla creaminess, and a hint of cherry bark. The end is sweet and smooth with a nice mix of dry sweetgrass bundled with cherry tobacco dipped in eggnog.
Bottom Line:
I feel like I could drink this all day. It’s so well-rounded, but just that. There are no bells or whistles here — and there doesn’t have to be. It’s not that exciting, even though it’s amazingly drinkable.
The whiskey in the bottle is the classic Jim Beam mash bill of 77% corn, 13% rye, and 10% malted barley. The barrels were aged for exactly six years and five months before the juice went into the bottle untouched at cask strength.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This is both classic and hot, even on the nose. Old cherrywood, dry vanilla-laced tobacco leaves, old leather, dry cedar, and chewy caramel candies round out that nose. The palate leans into cherry root beer served with apple sauce cut with cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg (and a touch of anise and black licorice) next to wet cornmeal, marzipan, and bitter dark chocolate. The ABVs really kick in late and lightly mask the cherry tobacco and vanilla pudding vibe.
Bottom Line:
Well, that’s twice now that a Booker’s didn’t land for me in a blind. This was pretty good, it just felt a little washed out by the high proof. Had this been on a rock, it likely would have been top 10 easily.
This is sourced from Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee bourbons. The hand-selected barrels are sent to New York where they’re blended in small batches (no more than five barrels), proofed with New York limestone water, and bottled. What you’re paying for here is the exactness of a whiskey blender finding great barrels and knowing how to marry them to make something bigger and better.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This opens with a classic and rich nose full of creamy vanilla, dark orange oils, a hint of soft caramel, and a whisper of Irish Spring. The palate is all mulled wine spices, supple marzipan, and brandy-soaked cherries covered in dark chocolate. The mid-palate has a woody maple syrup vibe as more dark cherry, dark chocolate, and dark spices dominate the finish.
Bottom Line:
This would be a stone-cold classic if not for the Irish Spring note on the nose. Still, I like this for a solid middle-of-the-road pour but maybe a little more as a mixer in a very simple cocktail that lets the whiskey shine.
Garrison Brothers is a true grain-to-glass experience from Hye, Texas. The juice is a wheated bourbon made with local grains. That spirit is then aged under the beating heat of a hot Texas sun before the barrels are small-batched, proofed with local water, and bottled.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Raw leather dominates the opening on the nose and then leads into very sweet and raw grains with a yellow masa vibe, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and a hint of caramel apples. Those raw, wet, and sweet grains really drive the palate as angel food cake, vanilla frosting, and orange-laced shortbread mingle on the palate. The cinnamon and oak really kick in on the finish with a Red Hot warmth and dry wood vibe.
Bottom Line:
This is a pretty unique dram thanks to all those sweet grains. That makes it feel a little undercooked, but still delicious. All of that said, this feels like something I’d layer into a big cocktail than sip on its own.
This Heaven Hill expression is released three times a year (generally) and has been winning award after award. The whiskey in the bottle is generally at least 12 years old and bottled with no cutting down to proof or filtration whatsoever. This expression is all about finding the best barrels in the Heaven Hill warehouses and letting that whiskey shine on its own.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This started off rich and classic on the nose and then veered into a berry bramble after a fresh spring rain with tart and sweet red berries, green leaves, prickly stems, and soft black dirt that’s damped with mineral-rich rainwater as a cedar box full of orange and spice tobacco lingers in the background. The palate keeps those promises on the taste with a truly silky mouthfeel that warms you to your soul as creamy dark chocolate sauce mixes with buttery toffee and more of that spicy orange tobacco. That spice plays second fiddle to the berries which stay sweet and tart as they float in a high-fat vanilla-laced cream on the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is definitely a bifurcation point: the bourbons above are all perfectly fine for what they are but don’t really grab or hold your attention. This is where the list starts getting interesting, unique, and deeply layered. This is great whiskey but still a long way from the top of this list.
This whiskey is from Jack’s bonded warehouse. The mash of 80% corn, 12% barley, and eight percent rye is twice distilled before it’s run through Jack’s very long Lincoln County process of sugar maple charcoal filtration. The spirit then goes into the barrel for at least four years — per bonded law — before it’s batched, and cut down with that Jack Daniel’s limestone cave water, and bottled.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This opens with a big burst of apple candy mingled with cherry tobacco, plenty of vanilla beans, new car leather, a touch of orange vitamin c tabs, and a distant hint of mineral-rich potting soil with sweetgrass. The apple candy drives the palate toward bear claws and maple bars fresh from the doughnut shop fryers as winter spices and wet brown sugar mix with sweet yellow grits with butter. That all circles back around to the sweet apple with clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg next to a hint of cherry root beer and vanilla frosting on the finish.
Bottom Line:
This was the sweetest dram by far. But it works because that sweetness is always tied to a distinct flavor note. Overall, this was just an easy sip that stood out from the (very big) crowd.
8. A. Smith Bowman Cask Strength — Taste 15
Sazerac Company
ABV: 70.55%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Whiskey:
This release from Sazerac is all about the boldness of the Virginia spirit. The juice is from a few hand-selected 10-year-old barrels from Master Distiller Brian Prewitt from the lowest ricks in warehouses A and A1 at the A. Smith Bowman Distillery. The juice is vatted and then bottled as is, at what is clearly an extremely high cask strength.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Fresh firewood and cherry candies lead the way on the nose with pecan pie, brown butter, plenty of winter spice, and woody maple syrup. Woody cinnamon sticks stuffed into an old leather pouch with some spicy cherry tobacco drive the palate toward vanilla whipped cream over a banana cream pie with a lard crust. The mid-palate dries out with more of that firewood leading to dark espresso beans dipped in dark chocolate with a cherry/cinnamon tobacco bringing the heat to the finish.
Bottom Line:
This was bold and those ABVs certainly coated my whole mouth with a nice buzz, but the high proof didn’t wash out any of the flavors. This was a pretty nuanced bourbon for such a bold proof. Still, this needs a rock to cool it down and let those flavors really bloom.
Kentucky Peerless Distilling takes its time for a true grain-to-glass experience. Their Single Barrel Bourbon is crafted with a fairly low-rye mash bill and fermented with a sweet mash as opposed to a sour mash (that means they use 100 percent new grains, water, and yeast with each new batch instead of holding some of the mash over to start the next one like a sourdough starter, hence the name). The barrels are then hand-selected for their taste and bottled completely un-messed with.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
There’s a real soft feeling to this nose with hints of blackberry patches next to old leather gloves, vanilla toffees, and moist pipe tobacco. The taste holds onto all of that while layering in lush vanilla, bitter espresso beans covered in dark chocolate, and dry cedar bark with a hint of sweet pitch. The end comes along and marries all of those notes into a larger whole while sugar pie, berry compote, soft eggnog spice, and old wicker round out the finish.
Bottom Line:
This is damn near a masterpiece. It delivers on a deep flavor profile while still being fairly easy to drink, even neat. That said, I kept going back to how I wanted this in a Manhattan so it’s a little lower on this list, but not much.
Buffalo Trace doesn’t publish any of their mash bills. Educated guesses put the wheat percentage of these mash bills at around 16 to 18%, which is average. The age of the barrels on this blend is also unknown. We do know that they cut down those ABVs with that soft Kentucky limestone water.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
“Classic” comes straight to mind from the first whiff as cherrywood, vanilla pods, floral apple, and old leather mingle on the nose. The palate is all about cream soda and apple pies filled with walnuts, raisins, and plenty of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and allspice with a hint of ginger. The mid-palate veers into a cherry cough syrup vibe as the vanilla layers into soft and silky pipe tobacco with a hint of raw leather and old oak lingering in the background.
Bottom Line:
This was just good all around. It’s not reinventing any wheels but it doesn’t need to be when the refinement level is this high.
5. George Dickel Bottled In Bond Fall 2008 — Taste 13
Nicole Austin has been killing it with these bottled-in-bond releases from George Dickel. This year’s release is a whiskey that was warehoused in the fall of 2008. 11 years later, this juice was bottled at 100 proof (as per the law) and sent out to the wide world where it received much adoration.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
The nose opens up with a mix of old wood that’s been dipped in maple syrup next to cherry candy and root beer with a bit of anise, clove, cinnamon-apple chips, and this very tiny whisper of cumin. The palate has a little old leather next to rich vanilla that leads to black Necco Wafers with freshly baked apple pecan cinnamon rolls with a white sugar frosting rounding out the mid-palate. The finish leans into dark cherry cough syrup, anise, more of those Necco Wafers, and a small dose of apples sauteed in brown butter with winter spices.
Bottom Line:
“Refined” and “unique” come to mind, which makes sense as this is a Tennessee whiskey and benefits from that Lincoln Country Process with sugar maple filtration. That aside, this is just really easy to drink and rewarding with a deep flavor profile.
Jimmy Russell hand selects eight to nine-year-old barrels from his warehouses for their individual taste and quality. Those barrels are then cut down ever-so-slightly to 101 proof and bottled with their barrel number and warehouse location.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
The softness of this whole sip — from nose to finish — is beautiful. This opens with a mix of woody spices next to oily vanilla beans, soft nutmeg, old wine-soaked oak staves, apple and cherry pie filling, and a buttery pie crust that’s been drizzled with toffee sauce and dusted with instant mocha coffee powder. The palate follows suit while adding in rose-water heavy marzipan laced with orange oils, dark berries covered in dark chocolate, a hint of old wicker that’s been rained on too much, and old leather gloves. The finish leans into the nuttiness and soft spices as the toffee and dark fruit linger the longest.
Bottom Line:
This might be one of my all-time favorite classic bourbons. This kind of feels like everything Kentucky bourbon is meant to be that you can also (still) get.
This expression is the brand’s award-winning five-year-old bourbon taken up a notch. That means you’re getting that grain-to-glass experience of local Washington craft along with the bespoke barreling process on those snowy Cascade Mountains. The juice is then finished for six to 12 months in port casks, adding a whole new dimension to the bourbon.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
This nose runs deep with raw leather, stewed stone fruits with hints of ginger, nutmeg, clove, and saffron, dark and leathery prunes and dates, and soft, wine-soaked oak staves with a hint of vanilla husks. The palate combines all of that to create a rich, moist, and well-spiced Christmas cake brimming with candied and dried fruits, fatty nuts, plenty of dark spice, a line of black molasses, and a hint of espresso bitterness than leans towards dark cacao nibs. The end is lush and soft silk on the tongue while slowly fading back through that whole flavor profile, leaving you with a smile.
Bottom Line:
F*ck, this is so good! I hadn’t had this in a while but as soon as it hit my lips, I knew I was in a for a long and comforting hug. I kind of never wanted it to stop, which also means the top three are basically tied for first.
This is classic Beam whiskey with a low-ish rye mash bill of 77% corn, 13% rye, and 10% malted barley. The juice is then left alone in the Beam warehouses for 12 long years. The barrels are chosen according to a specific taste and married to create this higher-proof expression.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
The nose has this mix of old cherry tobacco that’s spent a lot of time in old cedar boxes next to old vanilla pods, wintry spices, an old leather chair, and a hint of dried mint. The taste veers away from that toward a dark berry crumble with clove, allspice, and nutmeg and covered in plenty of brown sugar and buttery streusel, drizzled with salted caramel, a dusted with dark cacao powder next to old floorboards and a whisper of dried chili flake. The finish leans into green cattails, more of that chili flake, and a mix of berry pie filling and cherry tobacco with a creamy dark chocolate sauce tying it all together.
Bottom Line:
When I saw this was Knob Creek 12, I said, “of course.” This whiskey rules, especially for the price point and availability. This might be one of my favorite everyday pours that’s classic while feeling a lot more refined and just… special.
This is where things get interesting. Michter’s originally dropped this back in 2014. The juice is standard bourbon that’s then finished in a toasted barrel from the famed Kelvin Cooperage in Louisville. They build these barrels by hand from 18-month air-dried white oak and then lightly toast the inside before the aged whiskey goes in.
Zach Johnston
Blind Tasting Notes:
Oak char gives way on the nose to a fresh pile of douglas fir firewood with a hint of pitch, black soil, forest moss, pecan shells, candied orange peels, vanilla oils, and stringy cedar bark all swimming in dark Karo syrup. That sweet syrup drives the palate to campfire-singed marshmallows (nearly cotton candy) while saffron-stewed pears mix with clove and nutmeg, more of that candied orange, vanilla pound cake, and creamy and sweet caramel/chocolate sauce. The wood kicks back in late with that sappy firewood and old cedar as the pear, vanilla, and marshmallow come together on the long finish.
Bottom Line:
This is worth seeking out, though you should be able to find it at some very high-end liquor stores (for a price). For me, this was the perfect balance of something familiar and classic that’s also 100% unique and interesting. This taste went somewhere and took me along for a ride. You can’t beat that.
Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
I don’t think I tasted a bad bourbon today. There were some that certainly are more suited to mixing than sipping, sure. But overall, this was a good group.
Glad handing aside, the top 10 are where things got interesting and the top three especially were all impeccable. The Knob Creek (ranked second today) is going to be the easiest to find and best-priced (by far). But don’t let that stop you from tracking down a bottle of Woodinville (third) or that Michter’s in the number one spot. They really do live up to the hype.
It seems that no matter how many times Pusha T states he is finished beefing with Drake, anyone who interviews him has to ask about their infamous 2018 back and forth, if they would ever go at it again, and if there is any room for reconciliation. The It’s Almost Dry rapper returned to REVOLT’s Drink Champs with NORE fresh off his first No. 1 album to set the record straight.
Among the many things discussed in the episode, he was asked for his feelings on Drake and Kanye West reuniting and performing together at the Free Larry Hoover Benefit Concert back in December. Push felt it was good for them and it doesn’t bother him at all, but he did offer an interesting take when he said the two don’t make good music together. NORE countered with 2017’s “Glow” from More Life, to which the G.O.O.D Music president seemed befuddled.
Drake and Ye previously collaborated on other records such as “Forever,” “Blessings,” “Glow,” “Deuces (Remix),” and “Digital Girl (Remix)” in addition to writing and producing solo records for one another. One could infer that there may be some bias in Pusha’s statement, but it is an interesting exercise assessing the two’s discographies and where these songs would fall. Perhaps they’ll be able to change his mind if they come together again. After reconciling and performing together, anything is possible.
Elon Musk may be the richest man in the world and the soon-to-be new owner of Twitter, but that doesn’t stop him from still getting yelled at by his mom. On Sunday, Musk got in a back and forth with Russia’s space chief over the billionaire helping Ukrainian forces gain access to Musk’s Starlink internet terminals. Following the heated exchange, Musk made a joke about being being poisoned by Russia, which his mom, Maye Musk, did not appreciate seeing on Mother’s Day.
“If I die under mysterious circumstances, it’s been nice knowin ya,” Musk tweeted much to Maye’s chagrin. “That’s not funny,” she responded with angry face emoji.
According to a translation, Russian space chief Dmitry Rogozin accused Musk of aiding a “Nazi” battalion in the Ukraine by providing the use of Starlink. Musk didn’t take the accusation lightly and fired back on Twitter. Via Business Insider:
The translation continued: “Elon Musk, thus, is involved in supplying the fascist forces in Ukraine with military communication equipment. And for this, Elon, you will be held accountable like an adult – no matter how much you’ll play the fool.”
Musk tagged the translation with the comment: “The word ‘Nazi’ doesn’t mean what he seems to think it does.”
Rogozin reportedly fired off more responses to Musk’s tweet, including the one where he joked about dying under mysterious circumstances. “Nobody needs you,” Rogozin wrote in a private tweet. “Stop fooling around.” The Russian official also warned Musk, “you better keep quiet,” after Musk pushed back on the Nazi narrative, so you can see why his mom might be concerned.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
