Joe Budden had some high praise for Cardi B, and she decided to show some love right back. The notoriously critical hip-hop personality, who runs his own show, The Joe Budden Podcast, was discussing her rise to fame and nothing but love for the New York rapper. “Cardi B is a superstar,” he said. “And you can’t argue that she is not.”
Joe Budden speaks on @iamcardib being a super star in Rap.
“Cardi B is a super star and you can’t argue that she is not”
Well, as she does with most things — good or bad — Cardi B caught wind of the clip, which had been circulating on Twitter, and decided to respond. Of course, the high praise meant more to her because she has a long history with Budden, who also came up in New York as a rapper.
“I told y’all he always believed in me……that’s why I always got love for him even when he gets me mad …That’s my mean uncle,” she wrote on Twitter, sharing a very old photo of the two together, way back before Cardi is where she is now. Considering how many people try to come after Cardi due to her success, it’s nice to see someone in the game — and a man, no less — give her the credit she’s due. Now, superstar, can we get a new album?
I don’t love fast food tacos. I was born and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, so I’ve always been a stone’s throw away from great tacos. Even at home, I was raised on a steady diet of carne asada and ground beef. By comparison, fast food tacos have always tasted like pale imitations of the genuine article to me.
Having said that, I’ve since come to appreciate fast food tacos not for what they purport to be, but for what they actually are — late-night indulgences that hit the spot while you’re under the influence. They’re the sort of cheap food you grab when you need to sober up after hitting the bars or maybe took too many hits during that late-night smoke session.
Most of the fast food tacos I’ve eaten were in an altered state. They were all better for it.
Utility and relative quality aside, when it comes to fast food tacos, we do have options. Having already tested and ranked what’s out there, I wondered if we could get even more granular. We’ve applied the Naked Taste Test to burger patties and chicken fillets, why not taco meat? To that end, today I’m sampling seven fast food beef tacos, from Chipotle, Taco Bell, Jack in the Box, and Del Taco, in an attempt to see who is doing beef best.
For an extra bit of fun, I tasted the meat from each of these tacos blind, to see if I could identify which meat was from which spot and to shed my biases (which, when it comes to tacos, loom large). It was a good thing we did it that way because some of this “meat” had me convinced my girlfriend was pulling a prank and was actually feeding me wet dog food. I’m still not 100% sure some of these are real.
Sound appetizing? Let’s get to the meat!
7. Jack in the Box — Crispy Taco
Original Notes (tasted second):
Dane Rivera
I didn’t think it could get worse than the first meat but I’m not sure you can even classify this as food. Is this what rabbits eat? It almost looks like some sort of meat paste. The mouthfeel is just as bad as it looks. The “meat” separates into tiny granules in your mouth that don’t seem to break down easily. It has a flavor that I can only describe as “meat.” Not any specific meat, just meat. Truly awful stuff.
Jack in the Box
General Thoughts:
I know, I too have fallen in love with the flavors of a Jack in the Box taco in the middle of the night while under the influence. We all have. But Jack in the Box’s Crispy Tacos come in sets of two and cost less than $2. That should tell you everything you need to know about them. In fact, it might not even belong on this list, because Jack in the Box doesn’t explicitly call it a “beef taco,” which is kind of disturbing.
During the blind taste test I guessed that this was Taco Bell. I was wrong, but I’m not entirely convinced this is Jack in the Box either. I’m not even sure it’s food.
The Bottom Line:
Don’t eat these. Even if you’re drunk, reach for an order of curly fries or something. This isn’t fit for human consumption, and they put a slice of American cheese in the taco which should be a f*cking crime.
Absolutely disgusting. This meat is incredibly chewy as if it wasn’t trimmed of fat, and yet there is no visible fat on it. It also has this unappetizing ghostly color to it. The mouthfeel is rubbery with a soft spongey chew, it almost tastes steamed. My guess is Del Taco.
Taco Bell
General Thoughts:
My hunch told me that Taste 1 was Del Taco’s carne asada, turns out it was Taco Bell’s steak taco. I’d like to formally apologize to Del Taco, which is a chain I actually like. This is only ranked higher than Jack in the Box because I can actually tell that this is meat, and I take some comfort in that. I didn’t like the steamed quality of this meat and if I can go my entire life without ever eating it again, I’ll have lived a good life.
The Bottom Line:
Taco Bell’s worst protein option and I’m saying that despite them having ground beef on the menu.
What is this weird orange congealed film over the meat? Is it grease? Before I even eat this I’m going to guess this is Jack in the Box, because those tacos are always dripping with orange grease. The flavor is as frighteningly bad as it looks. It’s salty and over-spiced, and there’s a lot going on here: onion, some sort of barf-esque white pepper, garlic powder, and a texture that is somehow wet and dry at the same time. Eating this meat is like throwing up in reverse.
Taco Bell
General Thoughts:
I’m shocked that meat this foul is technically part of a top five. Taco Bell can point to this and say “Our Ground Beef Tacos Landed In The Top Five Fast Food Tacos At Uproxx!” and make an Instagram post about it, and they wouldn’t be wrong. But this taco might as well be garbage. Seriously, if you’re eating these tacos sober I have to ask why. Is it nostalgia? Are you being held hostage? Did you lose a bet?
I’ll give you this, the salty greasy flavor is addicting, and with a bunch of hot sauce or a Doritos shell, maybe it’s more palatable. On its own it’s inedible. After my forkful of this meat, I instantly burped and had to taste it all over again. Even as I write this, I’m still burping this flavor, and I ate six other tacos. My body does not want whatever this is.
The Bottom Line:
If you’ve ever felt like shit after eating Taco Bell, it was most definitely the taco filling.
Just when I was about to pretend I had food poisoning so I could back out of this experiment, I got to this meat, which was at least edible. It’s overcooked with a really dry chew despite the wet-and-juicy appearance. The overall flavor isn’t bad; it’s a bit sweet and herby, but as carne asada goes this tastes like the sort of meat you pick up on red tag sale from the butcher.
I’m going to guess that this meat belongs to Chipotle because they tend to overcook the meat.
Del Taco
General Thoughts:
I like Del Taco. I think when it comes to Mexican-inspired fast food, they do a pretty good job at most things they make. And they slow cook their beans, which is novel because slow cooking anything seems antithetical to ‘fast’ food. But this blind taste test has revealed to me that I’ve been giving them a pass on their stunningly mediocre carne asada.
As I mentioned in the tasting notes, it doesn’t taste bad, it’s a bit earthy and herbal but it’s overcooked, dry, and chewy. That isn’t a problem with cilantro, onion, and salsa, but Del Taco could have a better taco if they took this protein back to the lab or figured out a more effective way to marinate it to keep it from drying out.
The Bottom Line:
Del Taco’s grilled chicken taco is the move, skip the carne asada.
This one was a bit of a surprise. It looks and smells delicious, but it’s incredibly tough. It’s very dry in the mouth and the flavor is sweeter than almost all of the other meat in this test, barbacoa included. But it doesn’t seem like it’s sweet from a marinade, just because of how dry it is. It actually tastes like someone sprinkled sugar over it. Other tasting notes include a bit of cumin and some black pepper. This meat is well seasoned, but the sweet aftertaste masks some of its more interesting flavors.
Dane Rivera
General Thoughts:
I’m surprised at how sweet and dry this meat was. Chipotle’s steak isn’t the best, it’s mid-tier for sure, but this was the driest steak I’ve ever had from Chipotle. I certainly didn’t think a ground beef taco would rank above actual carne asada, but here we are. Chipotle’s steak is marinated before being cooked, but there is way too much sugar mixed in there and it muddles the flavor.
The Bottom Line:
Chipotle has a better beef option. Order that instead, unless you like dry, overly-sweetened meat.
So far the ground beef tacos have been awful, but this is a considerable step up. It’s not weird and wet like that orange congealed monster that was taste #4, and unlike taste #2, I think this can be fairly classified as meat. It tastes like it was made with 90/10 ground beef — dry and crumbly, but not to the point of flavorlessness, and it doesn’t suffer from a sandy texture like overcooked ground beef sometimes can.
Del Taco
General Thoughts:
A ground beef taco ranking in second place in a tasting that included actual whole meats? Yup, Del Taco’s ground beef taco isn’t the highest quality beef you’ll find, but the flavor is decent enough for us to feel comfortable suggesting that you eat it. I think the use of lean beef here works to this taco’s advantage. A fattier cut might have produced more grease and a wet consistency, like Taco Bell’s tacos.
This meat is mostly texture, but in a soft taco with cheese, lettuce, Del Inferno sauce, and a few crinkle-cut fries? Perfection.
The Bottom Line:
This is the only ground beef taco in the fast food landscape that won’t make you sick and is actually worth your money.
I already know what meat this is just by looking at it, so the very inclusion of this option makes this a completely unfair ranking. But hey it is fast food beef, so we had to include it. This is clearly Chipotle Barbacoa, which I gave the top spot in my ranking of Chipotle proteins. It’s great, the flavor cumin and oregano forward, two seasonings I highly doubt are used at Del Taco, Taco Bell, and Jack in the Box. It has a slightly sweet flavor, and a surprisingly tender texture. I’m by no means a Chipotle fan, but it shocks me just how good this meat is.
Dane Rivera
General Thoughts:
As I said in the tasting, this protein’s inclusion is almost unfair. Not only is it easily recognizable, but it’s in another class entirely. It’s the only meat in this lineup that can be described as “tender.” And unlike all the others, it’s not so much filler as it is real food that someone put together with the intention of another person eating it and enjoying. That’s a low bar, and yet given the other fast food options out there, it’s still in a class all its own.
A lot of places aren’t putting any effort into their tacos, but Chipotle, I’m surprised to say, is different.
The Bottom Line:
It hurts my soul to give Chipotle the number one spot on any ranking, but credit where credit is due, this meat packs flavor, is tender, and won’t make your stomach turn, which can’t be said about most of the other beef options out there.
Fast food tacos are, for the most part, bad. We need a brand to step up, the way that Popeyes did in 2019 when they dropped their super-hyped chicken sandwich. That single sandwich release forced the entire fast food industry to take notice. They responded by improving their chicken sandwiches in order to compete.
Fast food tacos need that same energy now. Desperately.
While you might find more “rye” on the whiskey shelves these days, high-rye bourbons are nothing new. Adding rye grains into a bourbon mash is a classic way to add flavor to the corn-fueled spirit.
That said, the amount of the rye in those bourbons does tend to vary. Some bourbons use maybe 10 or 15 percent rye against 75 to 80 percent corn in their “mash bill” (alongside a small percent of malted barley). Those would be considered “low-rye” bourbons. When bourbons use 20, 25, or even 30 percent rye in the mash, that’s high rye territory.
Very broadly speaking, high-rye bourbons tend to be a bridge between the softer and sweeter world of bourbons, and the greener and sharper world of rye whiskeys. These are the bourbons where you get a little more chili, winter spice, and, yes, pepperiness (white, black, and green pepper are common flavor notes). You might also get some herbal notes, hints of grassiness, and maybe some licorice or anise alongside the subtler bourbon vibes.
To decide on which high-rye bourbon to recommend the most… highly, I decided to pull some bottles off my shelf and blind taste them. The main rule was that each bottle had to have 20 percent or more rye in the mash bill. Beyond that, I’m simply ranking them based on taste.
This is “peppery” from the nose into the taste with hints of vanilla extract, winter spices, and suede rounding out that nose. The palate is all about a soft Christmas cake with more dark spices, orange zest, and light almonds. The mid-palate hits on a cherry cough drop sweetness and almost medicinal feel as dry cornmeal and a hint of green peppercorn linger on the short end.
Taste 2
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This feels classic from the jump with a nose full of leather, spice, vanilla, oak, and caramel. The taste is on the thinner side with a clear sense of cinnamon next to vanilla pudding, a touch of apple tobacco, brown sugar, and dry cornbread. The finish leans into the warming spice and wet brown sugar with a hint of dry wicker on an ultimately thin end.
Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Leather, Almond Roca, orchards full of fruit, cherry bark, and soft spice greet you on the nose. Wintry spices mingle with dry vanilla husks, almond shells, and an almost sweet potting soil. The mid-palate takes on a slight cherry candy by way of a spicy tobacco vibe as it slowly fades out through the woodier aspects of that orchard on the nose.
Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This opens with Werther’s Originals and old library books, with a whiff of aftershave on the nose that’s oddly comforting. A soft spice drives the palate as dry reeds lead towards cherry toffee and apple candies. The spice warms slightly on the finish as the tobacco dries out and those reeds make a return.
Taste 5
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Old cedar beams with cobwebs mingle with rich vanilla cake and eggnog spices next to a hint of potpourri on the nose. The palate has a woody maple syrup sweetness that’s countered by dark chocolate fudge, more of that old wood, and dash of white pepper. The finish leans into the pepper but ends pretty thin all things considered.
Taste 6
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Old oak mixes with dried raspberries and cloves, all bound up in worn leather on the nose. Dark and tart berries drive the taste towards apricot jam with plenty of winter spices as a hint of fresh mint lurks in the background. Vanilla kicks in late and smooths things out while letting that jammy and fruity spice linger on the tongue the longest.
Taste 7
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Cinnamon and allspice-heavy garam masala powder lead towards an old leather note, with ripe red apples, bruised peaches, and vanilla on the nose. The palate leans into the vanilla and battered peaches with a saltwater taffy wax wrapper vibe next to a spicy cedar humidor. The end arrives abruptly and the whole sip thins out and fades away fast leaving very little on the palate besides the wood.
Taste 8
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Cedar leads to a dark chocolate-covered brandied cherry with hints of a dried mint and vanilla husk in the back end on the nose. The palate feels like dried blackberries floating in a vanilla cream sauce with a dusting of cinnamon. That spice leans towards dried chili flakes and the soft leather softens the whole sip towards a berry spice tobacco end.
FEW Spirits takes small-batch, hands-on distilling very seriously. The Evanston operation takes its time in sourcing quality ingredients and then takes even more time to assure those ingredients become fine whiskey. This is a grain-to-glass operation. FEW was also the first distillery to open in Evanston after prohibition and the master distiller was instrumental in helping to overturn the city’s century-old dry laws.
Bottom Line:
This fell apart at the end/on the finish. So here we are. There was so much potential that didn’t quite come together for me today. I guess that’s why it’s collecting dust on my shelf.
Bulleit embraces a high-rye mash bill that’s comprised of 68 percent corn, 28 percent rye, and four percent malted barley. The juice is then rested for six years before blending, cutting down to proof, and barreling.
Bottom Line:
The lack of finish kind of killed this for me. There was more of a finish there than the previous bourbon, sure, but still, this feels like a good mixer and that’s about it.
This high-rye whiskey is aged for at least four years. The bonded barrels are then vatted according to the Old Grand-Dad flavor profile and bottled at 50 percent ABV, which lets a bit more of the juice shine in the bottle.
Bottom Line:
This was perfectly fine. It felt inexpensive but dialed in. There was no “wow factor” but there didn’t need to be. It’s a mixer after all.
Basil Hayden’s 10 uses the same juice as Old Grand-Dad. This is aged longer and built to match a different flavor profile even though both brands use the same high-rye distillate. In this case, this is left alone for 10 long years before the team at Beam finds just the right barrels for this once-a-year bottling.
Bottom Line:
This was fine. It’s woody, sure. But there’s just something missing from this bourbon and I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Still Austin is getting a lot of love for their very crafty (and fruity) bourbon, The Musician. This is that, but at cask strength, and released as a limited offering. The juice in the bottle is a local grain-to-glass operation that utilizes the best grains and water Texas has to offer.
Bottom Line:
This was pretty damn nice. It’s miles ahead of the proofed-down version. Overall, I could see reaching for this bottle for an end-of-the-day pour over some rocks.
Bradshaw Bourbon is made by Green River Distilling Company in Owensboro, Kentucky. The bourbon is a collab between former Super Bowl champ Terry Bradshaw and Silver Screen Bottling Company, which acts as a sort of bottling fixer between a celebrity and a distiller or barrel house. The juice is a two-year-old bourbon made with 70 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and nine percent malted barley, proofed to a hefty 103.8.
Bottom Line:
I’m shocked this was number three. It’s so nostalgic on the nose and in the flavor profile. There isn’t a whole hell of a lot beyond that nostalgia but sometimes that’s enough for an on the rocks or mixing bourbon.
This expression uses six of Four Rose’s 10 whiskeys in their small-batching process. The idea is to blend both high and very high-rye bourbons with yeast strains that highlight “delicate fruit,” “slight spice,” and “herbal notes.” The whiskeys tend to spend at least six years in the barrel before blending and proofing with just a touch of Kentucky’s soft limestone water.
Bottom Line:
This is a pretty damn good bourbon. That Four Roses dark fruitiness is engaging. Had this gone a little deeper on the funkiness of those berries and woody spices, it might have won the day. In the end, it was a great sipper that I kind of wanted to make a Manhattan with.
Woodinville’s bourbon is aged for five years from a fairly standard high-rye mash bill. The ripple here is that all their grains are sourced locally in Washington state from a family farm. Those local grains help drive the beauty of this whiskey. This expression is that aforementioned five-year bourbon that hit just the right mark to be bottled at cask strength as-is.
Bottom Line:
Nuanced. Delicious. Accessible. This felt like the only true sipper on the list. It was delightful and a massive step up from everything after Four Roses on this list.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
That Bradshaw Bourbon continues to surprise. Sure, it’s a celebrity bourbon, but it feels unique and fascinating. That Still Austin Cask Strength was another nice surprise this time around. There’s real depth and it’s easy to see why so many folks are digging it.
At the end of the day though, Four Roses and Woodinville were in a different class. They both offered something completely different but revealed a whole lot of depth and nuance. I tend to lean more towards the Woodinville with the nutty/earthy/toffee vibe than Four Roses’ funky berries and spice, but that’s down to the time of day and the mood I’m in. Both were pretty much flawless today.
With spring just around the corner, it already feels like Irish whiskey season. A big part of that is St. Patrick’s Day coming up in a few weeks, but Irish whiskey has been booming recently, and any time is a great time to dive into a Irish whiskey to sample blind. I kept it classic with blends (most Irish whiskey is blended from barley and grain whiskeys), single pot stills (a blend of malted and unmalted barley whiskeys), and even a couple of single malts (made from malted barley only). The only whiskeys I didn’t grab were the peated Irish whiskeys.
Raw leather, soft vanilla, mild spice, and light milk chocolate greet you on the nose. The palate has a malty vanilla cake foundation with malty spice and fruity candy sweetness. Chocolate pudding arrives on the mid-palate and drives the back end of the taste towards wet grains, nutty fruit cake, and a hint of wintry spice.
Taste 2
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose opens with savory fruit and toffee, counterpointed by a sharp lemon marmalade. The taste arrives subtly, with vanilla cream next to mulled wine spices, dried fruits, orange oils, and a woody/sweet figgy pudding. There’s a buttery maltiness towards the end with more of that spicy holiday cake vibe on the slow fade.
Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This opens with dry pencil shavings leading towards dry pine boxes, potpourri, and a hint of grapefruit pith. The taste is driven by cinnamon bark and clove berries, with a pink eraser vibe next to soft vanilla beans. That vanilla moves the mid-palate towards a finish full of ripe figs, light spice, and sweet potting soil. What a wild and confusing ride.
Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Cherry leather, black tea-soaked dates, figs, dry black soil, marzipan, and light eggnog spices lead the way on the nose. The palate opens up with sweet oak next to almonds, and rosewater with a hint of garam masala powder. That spice leads towards a cherry tobacco chewiness with a soft cedar box and silky savory fruit leather vibe on the end.
Taste 5
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Sweet fruits and spice lead the way on the nose, with green sweetgrass, soft leather, and spiced malts rounding out the experience. The palate perks up with slices of fresh ginger next to Tellicherry peppercorns, Nutella, and an apple candy mid-palate. That apple sweetness drives the finish towards drier sweetgrass and old porch wicker with a touch of moss growing between the canes.
Taste 6
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a thin caramel and vanilla vibe with a hint of almond shells. The palate is a mix of orange peels, honey, and Almond Joy (but almost just the wrapper). The mid-palate gets fruity with a slight nutty pastry feel, next to soft wood and a rushed end.
Taste 7
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Wildflowers and honey mingle with cedar, milk chocolate, and a clove/allspice vibe on the nose. The taste softly moves from spicy holiday cake towards dried fruits and green peppercorns. The mid-palate sweetens with a buttery toffee next to spicy stewed apples that feels like sticky apple tobacco before fading out.
Taste 8
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Apple pie and Amarena cherries with a bit of stem drive the nose with old leather and nutty Christmas cake. Those nuts and holiday vibes carry on through the taste as layers of apple peels, cherry bark, black pepper, and soft cedar planks settle into the finish. That finish fades slowly and gently through the dark spices, hints of dark cacao, cherry tobacco, and nuts.
Taste 9
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Red apple peels and rye crust open the nose before soft soil and green grass takes over. The palate is all about the butterscotch candies, with light florals, oat cookies, orange peels, and fresh mint acting as support. The mid-palate has a clove candy vibe that leads to white pepper, grapefruit peel, dark chocolate and cherry tobacco, and a final note of poppyseed cake.
Taste 10
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Sliced pears hidden in vanilla pudding opens the nose, with a slight woodiness that turns into a neutral vodka. There’s a slight espresso creme vibe on the palate, with hints of apple fritters, banana, and oak. The finish touches on oats and raisins but ends more like a listless vodka than anything else.
Taste 11
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Vanilla-laced toffee candies open the nose with dark chocolate, old leather, and raw sage. The palate is plummy, with plenty of holiday spice, almonds, cedar, and a thin layer of florals. The end is creamy vanilla pudding speckled with almonds and drizzled with caramel sauce with a soft landing that’s a little thin.
Taste 12
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
Apples and vanilla lead the way, with hints of chocolate malts, spiced dates, and mild leather on the nose. The palate leans into the apple with a lard-crust pie feel next to plenty of fresh honey, more of those chocolate malts, and fresh apple fritters. Those fritters drive the mid-palate towards a finish that subtly moves between apple candy, fresh and floral honey, and spicy chocolate tobacco.
This whiskey is a blend of Irish whiskeys sourced from distilleries all around Ireland. The whiskeys in the mix are mostly aged in ex-bourbon casks with a few barrels of sherry cask aged whiskey thrown in there too.
Bottom Line:
There really wasn’t a whole lot going on here. It feels like a rail whiskey for whiskey and Cokes. Which is fine but not all that exciting.
This whiskey begins as barrels of three to 10-year-old whiskeys. Those whiskeys are then aged in a range of barrels from French oak wine casks to ex-bourbon to rum casks. The blend is built from those barrels and then proofed down to a very accessible 92 proof.
Bottom Line:
This is just fine. It’s a blended whiskey that’s best used for mixing. And that, again, is fine.
This is Midleton Irish Distiller’s craft whiskey venture. The single grain spirit is matured in unused Spanish oak and old bourbon casks. That’s small-batched and proofed with that soft County Cork water and bottled in a throwback art-deco bottle.
Bottom Line:
This was whiplash in a glass. It was maybe too interesting to really know what to do with. I’m fine with the pencil shavings and eraser vibes but they didn’t feel like they were part of a cohesive whole.
This is Jameson’s take on double barreling. The whiskey is first matured in old bourbon barrels. That juice is then transferred to another bourbon barrel that’s been doubly charred with a deep alligator skin char. Those barrels are batched and proofed all the way down to 80 proof.
Bottom Line:
This was a surprise ending up this low. I generally dig this a lot. But, admittedly, I’m usually using this for cocktails, not sipping. So here we are.
This single malt is a blend of whiskeys aged up to 23 years. The barrels involved are varied and vast and include sherry, port, Madeira, white Burgundy, and Cabernet Sauvignon barrels in the mix. Those whiskeys are blended perfectly and then proofed with local Dubliner water.
Bottom Line:
This is the bifurcation point. All the whiskeys next on this list were really good until we get to the top three, which all stood above. Still, this feels like a great on the rocks or mixing whiskey.
This is a classic Irish whiskey. The juice is aged in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks for at least 12 years. Those barrels are then married based on their distinct flavor profiles to create this special whiskey.
Bottom Line:
This was another whiskey that hit well. It was tasty and distinct but didn’t quite wow today amongst this very long list of whiskeys.
The first expression in Bushmill’s single malt range is a winner. The juice is made from Irish barley and matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. The best barrels are married, proofed with that soft Northern Irish spring water, and bottled.
Bottom Line:
This was tasty with a real Glen-y Scotch vibe. That said, it feels like there are a million Highland malts out there that are just as good, but maybe not for quite as good of a price. Still, I’d drink this on the rocks all day.
This barley-based whiskey is aged in a combo of ex-bourbon and sherry casks for an undisclosed amount of time. Those whiskeys are then blended and proofed down with local water.
Bottom Line:
I had no idea what to expect from Busker and this was a pleasant surprise, especially for this price. It wasn’t mind-blowing but it didn’t need to be. I can see using this in a highball or cocktail with ease.
This award-winning Irish blend is all about the aging and seaside vibes. The juice is built with whiskey aged in ex-bourbon casks which are finished in new American oak casks. That’s then blended with the same ex-bourbon cask aged whiskey finished in red wine casks from Bordeaux, which have been shaved and remade especially for this bottling.
Bottom Line:
I think this was the biggest surprise. This kind of ruled today but felt like a younger sibling of some bigger hitting Scotch whiskies from across the Irish Sea. So if you’re looking for something Irish for a Scotch lover, this is the play.
Waterford is an interesting experiment in whiskey, in general. This expression utilizes the distillery’s many single-farm-origin whiskeys to create something heightened. The whiskey is a blend of those single farm whiskeys that highlight the terroir from all around Ireland, along with Waterford’s high-level skills.
Bottom Line:
This was that perfect balance of interesting/different and classic/great. It felt like an easy sipper that offered something new and distinct without being overwrought. This is a pour I want to go back to.
This dram really stands out amongst the line. The tripled distilled pot still juice is matured only in casks from Bodega Lustau in Spain. Their sherried oak brings about a dialed-in depth to the whiskey that really helps elevate the Irish juice.
Bottom Line:
This whiskey is pretty close to perfect. It’s a hell of a sipper, especially when you add a drop of water or a rock to really let it bloom.
This is a high-water mark of Irish whiskey distilling and blending. The whiskey is aged for 15 years in a combination of ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and ex-Marsala casks. The spirit is then married and proofed down to a very approachable 92 proof.
Bottom Line:
While the top three were tight, this pulled away for the win easily. It’s so nuanced and, well, nice. It’s easy to drink while offering serious depth. Plus, it’s a dream to drink neat but really blooms into something special with a few drops of water or a rock.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
Final thought after tasting these 12 whiskeys, “Wow, there are a lot of great Irish whiskeys I don’t drink enough of.” Truly, there were some really solid whiskeys on this list.
There was a lot of variation between most of them. Sure, a few of the bottom-ranked whiskeys are missable, but, I’d argue, the rest are worth seeking out, depending on what you’re looking for.
All of that said, the top three were miles ahead of the other nine. If you’re looking for a great one, that’s the Red Spot hands down. If you can’t find that, you will not be disappointed by the Redbreast or Waterford in any way. Sláinte!
Sean McVay won a Super Bowl and had to confront a pretty big question: Should he come back and coach, or ride off into the sunset and do something else? McVay has mentioned in the past that he does not want to spend his entire life coaching, but on Friday, the Los Angeles Rams coach told Adam Schefter of ESPN that he was going to eschew other opportunities and return to the team next year.
That news came amid rumors that the 36-year-old McVay might move to the broadcast booth. According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, Amazon was interested in bringing him on board as they get ready to begin their NFL broadcasts, and were willing to cut him a potentially gigantic check to pique his interest.
Amazon Prime Video were planning on meeting next week with the Los Angeles head coach about him becoming an NFL TV game analyst, and sources felt the platform might go as high as offering five years and $100 million for its exclusive Thursday Night Football package in the fall.
Marchand went on to report that McVay didn’t just attract interest from Amazon, as Fox reportedly had interest in bringing him in and putting him in the booth. The network is on the lookout for a new No. 1 NFL analyst, as Troy Aikman is reportedly on the verge of heading to ESPN and joining its Monday Night Football team.
James Harden‘s debut as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers couldn’t have gone any better. Harden suited up on Friday night for the first time since he was traded by the Nets in the deal that sent a package headlined by Ben Simmons back to Brooklyn, and the early returns were quite good — the Sixers blitzed the Minnesota Timberwolves, 133-102, with Harden putting up 27 points on 7-for-12 shooting with 12 assists, eight rebounds, and five made threes.
Philly has been quite good in recent years, a pretty consistent regular season winner and playoff team. But as Joel Embiid said after the game, Harden brought something that the team has not had at any point during his time with the franchise.
“That was probably the most wide open I’ve ever been in my career.”
“You should have seen my face every single time, especially in the fourth,” Embiid said when asked his thoughts on Harden. “You know, the first three quarters, obviously making plays for all of us. That was probably the most wide open I’ve ever been in my career. I had a lot of easy baskets, I used to have to work for everything. But in the fourth quarter, the shotmaking ability, shot creation, you should have seen my face. I was just like, ‘We’ve never had this, nothing close to it.’ So, hopefully that continues. We didn’t even play our best, but I think we can be way better than that.”
Embiid had 34 points on 10-for-18 shooting with 10 assists in the win.
It’s been a pretty underwhelming season for the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite entering the year with title-or-bust expectations, Los Angeles found itself sitting 27-31 entering Friday night’s game against the Clippers. They’re firmly in the play-in field, an automatic playoff berth seems like too tall a mountain to climb, and over the All-Star break, questions started being asked about LeBron James‘ long-term future with the team.
Between public comments James made that indicated a willingness to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers some day, his statement of intent to play his final season in the NBA alongside his son Bronny, and the fact that the team did not do anything at the trade deadline, it’s hard not to wonder if the future Hall of Fame inductee has his eyes on going elsewhere once his contract is up following the 2022-23 campaign. But according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, a recent meeting between Rich Paul and some higher-ups in L.A. was meant to quell fears that James is planning his next chapter.
In the aftermath of LeBron James’ public comments on a possible return to Cleveland and media reports describing his agency’s displeasure with the organization, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul met with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka on Tuesday, insisting that there’s no movement underway to seek management changes and that he believes there’s a shared accountability for the franchise’s disappointing season, sources told ESPN.
…
After Pelinka resisted making any deals at the trade deadline, James’ own public comments — raising the possibility of a return to Cleveland and praising Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti — started to fuel speculation that he could leave in free agency in 2023. Paul has privately downplayed that possibility, and told the Lakers that James is committed to playing his part in helping the Lakers to become championship contenders again, sources said.
While James has been quite good when he has been able to play this season, injuries to Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook’s general issues getting used to life in L.A., and James missing time due to injury have led to a serious inability to gel. Maybe they’ll be able to figure some things out once Davis comes back from his current ankle injury, but if not, it seems likely this will be a quick playoff trip for the Lakers before an offseason where they’ll have to circle the wagons and figure out a way to win another Larry O’Brien trophy.
Everyone loves Wordle, except for the people who use their Twitter accounts to complain about folks who post their Wordle scores every day. The success of the popular game, which was recently purchased by the New York Times, has led to a number of fun spin-offs — my preferred one is Worldle, where you get an outline of a country and have to guess what it is.
Well, it was my favorite one until the newest idea for this sort of game has hit the internet. Thanks to Gabe Danon, the producer of the podcast Dunktown, we now have a Wordle-inspired game called Poeltl.
Know a lot of basketball player trivia? Test your knowledge with this great game created by our very nice and talented Producer Gabe! https://t.co/0mFaQ1CR6I
Here’s how it works: Like Wordle, you type in your guess and a green, yellow, or gray (well, gray-ish) square let you know how you did. You guess an NBA player, and have to find a perfect match based on their team, conference, division, forward, height, age, and number. The particular rules look like this:
There is a decent enough chance that, if you’re a big basketball fan, the silhouette mode and a guess or two can get you across the finish line without too much trouble. My highest recommendation is that you don’t click on the silhouette mode unless you’re really, really stuck, but regardless, the game is a blast and worth your time. Don’t take my word for it, take it from the subject of Friday’s puzzle (this is, of course, a spoiler, so be warned). We’ll let you know if Karl-Anthony Towns faces (ultimately unfounded) accusations of cheating on this one, too.
Anyone who grew up in the late ’80s and early ’90s—Gen X, I’m looking at you—grew up in a world that was dominated by 8-bit graphics. Back in the day, computers and video game systems had a limited amount of processing power so the graphics had to be simple.
That meant the heroes that we played with such as Mario from Super Mario Brothers or Link from The Legend of Zelda, had to be super simple looking and we had to fill in the rest with our imaginations.
Video graphics have come a long way over the past 30-plus years, but people still love the old designs because it takes them back to a simpler time. This has led to an 8-bit movement where people use their creativity to make art within the confines of the limited medium.
Some people also use the limited 8-bit soundscape to create music that’s reminiscent of the old games. Sure, computer game music may be much more sophisticated these days, but is there anything better than the soundtrack to the original Tetris? Would Super Mario Brothers be the same with a sophisticated soundtrack? I think not.
Swedish artist Johan Karlgren, who goes by the name Pappas Pärlor, creates pixelated 8-bit-looking art and then inserts it into everyday scenes. The interesting thing is that his 8-bit art isn’t done with computer graphics, but Perler beads.
Perler beads are small, plastic beads that one places on a grid, and when the picture is done, they are melted with a household clothing iron. The beads are a fun hobby for kids who love to see the melting beads ooze their way into a fully-formed picture.
Although they weren’t originally intended to make 8-bit art, because the beads are placed on a grid when they melt together the designs look like they came straight out of a Nintendo Entertainment System.
Super Mario 3 Tanooki Suit Perler Beads Timelapsepic.twitter.com/Ywed4B3y47
Karlgren recreates iconic images from comics, cartoons, video games and movies with the beads and then adds them to the scenarios, turning the mundane into the whimsical.
What’s Karlgren’s big inspiration? “Anything that makes me feel something,” he told Bored Panda. “It could be anything from childhood memories to politics or people doing awesome stuff that I wanna interpret.”
For Karlgren, his work is the byproduct of having a good time. “I don’t really choose what to create. My work is sprung from playing, and I’ll try to go with the ideas that come up in my head,” he said.
One of the hallmarks of Karlgen’s work is taking drab places such as a parking lot or other types of urban infrastructure and livening them up with the addition of one of his Perler bead creations. “It’s something that makes me happy, and hopefully other people [when] seeing it as well,” he told Newsweek.
Karlgren is a father of four and started posting his creations on Instagram back in April 2014. Since then, his fun, old-school designs have earned him more than 144,000 followers. Here are some of his coolest, and funniest 8-bit designs.
Have you ever been boarding an airplane and said to yourself, “There’s got to be a more efficient way to do this”?
People love to debate the quickest way to get people and their luggage aboard an aircraft. Every airline has its own method, which largely revolves around boarding people with some kind of status—first-class/premium seats or loyalty program status—first, followed by the nonstatus coach folk in various groupings. (I personally like to spend as little time as possible on the actual airplane, so I’ve never understood the “perk” of early boarding. I guess you get your pick of overhead bin space, but that alone isn’t worth it to me.) Airlines are always tweaking their methods, both to be more efficient and to keep their customers happy.
But none of them do it in the truly most efficient way. And why not? Well, because people are involved.
If humans were robots we could program to do what we want them to do without getting their knickers in a twist over not getting to be first, we could theoretically board airplanes in a way that would minimize bottlenecks and get everyone seated quickly. But alas, we are not.
And what is the most efficient way? I would have assumed it would be back-to-front, but it’s not. As a video from CGP Grey explains, boarding methods that intuitively seem like they might work best actually don’t. There are several reasons for this, from the unpredictability of who is going to struggle to get their carry-on bag into the overhead bin to the fact that, as the video points out, “The human inability to follow instructions is breathtaking.”
The video is really fascinating in addition to being entertaining. (There’s poetry involved.) Check it out:
So it turns out the best way to board is every other row, back to front, window seats first, followed by the same pattern with middle and then aisle seats. Seems perfectly logical.
And the only barrier to this method is getting people to line up in a specific order? That doesn’t seem like it should be that hard of a task. Southwest Airlines already does that with its boarding groups (everyone gets a number and lines up accordingly), though they don’t have assigned seats. Has no airline ever even given it a try? Seems like it might be worth a shot at least.
And if nothing else, at least now we know that we’re doing it all wrong. If we’re going to be inefficient, we should at least be aware that we’re doing it on purpose.
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27 PTS (7-12 FGM) | 8 REB | 12 AST | 5 3PM 
(@DunktownPodcast) 
