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Honey bourbon usually elicits incredulity from me. I’m on the record as not really digging the flavored whiskeys out there. I like a few for cocktails, don’t get me wrong. They have their place. But a vast majority of the “flavored” whiskeys are overly sweetened sugar bombs that hint at their signature “flavor” with a whiskey-ish background, maybe.

Belle Meade Bourbon Honey Cask Finish is what I wish all flavored whiskey was. First and foremost, the folks at Nelson’s Green Brier don’t flavor their bourbon. This is a special cask finished bourbon. They coax honey from a barrel that aged honey instead of adding honey liqueur or syrup to the whiskey. This makes all the difference in the world when it comes to making a nuanced honey whiskey.

I was lucky enough to get to taste some of this year’s release and was, again, very impressed. Here’s my review of this much-sought-after special cask finished whiskey.

Belle Meade Bourbon Honey Cask Finish

ABV: 53%

Average Price: Distillery Lottery Only (available on the secondary market)

The Whiskey:

This whiskey starts off by seasoning used whiskey barrels (from Nelson’s Green Brier’s warehouse) with honey. The distillery sends their barrels to TruBee Honey Farm in Arrington, Tennessee where the barrels are filled with wildflower honey. After the honey has finished its rest, the barrels are emptied and sent back to Nashville. Once they arrive at Nelson’s, they’re filled with Belle Meade’s award-winning bourbon for a six to eight-month rest where the honey makes its mark on the whiskey.

Tasting Notes:

The floral honey notes from that honey really shine through on the nose. It’s supported by a slight woody yet sharp cinnamon that’s been stored in a cedar box with a hint of green tea lurking underneath that floral honey. The palate pushes the cinnamon to the foreground as a light touch of fresh brioche with butter and orange marmalade mingles with soft toffee and almost sticky honey cream, which creates a velvety mouthfeel. That honey and cinnamon combine on the mid-palate and lead towards a light note of vanilla pods and almond butter on the super-soft finish.

The Bottle:

Belle Meade bottles are weighty and classic whiskey bottles. Their stature is almost proud and really stands out on any bar cart. The label has two big bees on it with a golden and yellow theme. It’s immediately eye-catching while informing you exactly what this bourbon is about.

Bottom Line:

Once you get a taste of this, it’s really easy to see why so many folks clamor for it. It’s like what we all wish flavored whiskey actually tasted like. It’s clearly bourbon that’s just touched with real honey that accents and builds instead of takes over with an overly saccharine idea of honey. It’s delicious, subtle, and very drinkable.

All of that being said, you’re going to have to be awfully lucky to get your hands on a bottle this year (and spend some serious cash). The best play is to pay attention to Nelson’s social media around the start of 2022 for their announcement of the next lottery and sign up to see if you can get a bottle.

Ranking:

98/100 — If there’s a better honey cask finished bourbon out there, we haven’t tried it … yet.

In celebration of the 45th anniversary of the most iconic boxing saga in cinematic history, Diadora and Foot Locker are rolling out the Diadora x Rocky Vs. collection. Designed by Philadelphia-based artist Keith Show and available at Foot Locker, Champs Sports, and Footaction on Dec. 14 for $120 each, the collection celebrates three of Rocky Balboa’s (Sylvester Stallone) epic opponents: Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), Clubber Lang (Mr. T), and Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren).

The three iterations of the shoe comes in colorways tied to each opponent, with red and yellow for Drago, blue and red for Creed, and sky blue and white for Lang. Each shoe also features the opponent’s face on its heel and a removable chain, their last name on the tongue, and an image of the fighter punching Rocky on the insole.

To celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Rocky franchise, keep an eye out for a number of live events and activations planned for the end of 2021 and into 2022 outside of the sneaker drop. The series of events follows slew of news from the Rocky series earlier this year, including insight into a much “darker” original Rocky script, the release of a director’s cut of Rocky IV that includes 40 minutes of new footage, and the revelation that Stallone nearly died from a devastating punch at the hands of Lundgren playing Drago.

Sure, we might have gotten a new 007 film earlier this year and Matthew Vaughn’s The King’s Man is merely a couple away weeks from making its highly anticipated theatrical release, but can you ever have too many smart and stylish spy films? Exactly. Fortunately for us, the start of an entirely new sleuthy saga is just around the corner with Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre — and it looks fun.

Directed by Guy Ritchie (The Gentlemen, The Man from UNCLE, Sherlock Holmes) and featuring a star-studded cast of Jason Statham, Aubrey Plaza, Josh Hartnett, Cary Elwes, Bugzy Malone, and Hugh Grant, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre follows international super spy Orson Fortune (Statham) as he and his crew attempt to track and take down an eccentric, billionaire arms dealer named Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant). However, while this might seem your standard spy affair, the comedy-filled trailer paints Operation Fortune as a pretty fun take on the classic genre — as does its official synopsis.

“In the film, super spy Orson Fortune (Jason Statham) must track down and stop the sale of a deadly new weapons technology wielded by billionaire arms broker Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant). Reluctantly teamed with some of the world’s best operatives (Aubrey Plaza, Cary Elwes, Bugzy Malone), Fortune and his crew recruit Hollywood’s biggest movie star Danny Francesco (Josh Hartnett) to help them on their globe-trotting undercover mission to save the world.”

In addition to Ritchie, his frequent collaborators Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies (The Gentlemen, Wrath of Man) are also working on the film as its co-writers. Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre hits theaters on January 21, 2022.

Tierra Whack’s new EP may be called Pop? but the Philly-bred star certainly shows off some impressive rap skills on its three new songs. The EP, a follow-up to her previously released Rap?, makes use of some lighter production styles to convey its theme, adopting a pop-rock guitar riff on “Lazy,” a mellow folk-pop tune on “Dolly,” and a high-speed techno-inspired dance beat on “Body Of Water.” Throughout, she demonstrates her singing abilities, but on the latter, she rhymes at warp speed between the sung choruses, reminding fans why she earned her spot on the 2019 XXL Freshman Class.

“Body Of Water” is also the song that receives the music video treatment of the three, once again demonstrating Whack’s wild sense of humor and commitment to delivering eye-popping imagery every time. While it’s probably moot to call a Tierra Whack video “weird” at this point — remember the talking potatoes in “Unemployed“? — this one is definitely surreal and strange, as a group of people get transformed into porpoises after drinking, showering, or playing in water saturated with some sort of mutagen. Whack herself lounges luxuriously in a cozy living room in a couture ensemble that highlights her impeccable fashion sense before stepping into the pool outside — and growing a dolphin tail herself. Like I said: Weird.

Good things come in threes, so we can only hope that Tierra’s comeback will continue with another themed three-pack of new music and if so, we can’t wait to see which genre she tackles next.

Watch Tierra Whack’s “Body Of Water” video above and listen to the Pop? EP here.

Following last week’s interview with ABC News where he denied pulling the trigger of the gun that fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust in New Mexico, Alec Baldwin has now posted an open letter from the film’s crew that pushes back against the narrative that the production was unsafe. Baldwin shared the letter signed by 25 members on his Instagram account on Thursday morning and provided no commentary of his own.

Here’s the key excerpt where the signees dispute reports that the set was “chaotic” and unsafe, leading to Hutchins’ death. Via Instagram:

Unfortunately, in the film industry, it is common to work on unprofessional or hectic productions to gain experience and credits. Many of us have worked on those types of productions. Rust was not one of them. Rust was professional. We do acknowledge that no set is perfect, and like any production, Rust had areas of brilliance and areas that were more challenging. While we stand firmly with our unions and strongly support the fight for better working conditions across our industry, we do not feel that this set was a representation of the kind of conditions our unions are fighting against. We do support any and all efforts to make film sets safer to work on for all cast, crew and working animals.

The descriptions of Rust as a chaotic, dangerous and exploitative workplace are false and distract from what matters the most: the memory of Halyna Hutchins, and the need to find modern alternatives to outdated industry firearm and safety practices.

The signees also described the morale on set as “high” and write that “laughter and optimism were common amongst cast and crew.” You can read the full letter via Baldwin’s Instagram below:

(Via Alec Baldwin on Instagram)

When it comes to conversations about music, much of the discourse goes down on Twitter. That’s why it’s no surprise that the most talked-about artists on the platform were those who released an album this year or those that were surrounded by controversy (and if you’re Ye — both).

Twitter collected all their data from this year and shared who the most-tweeted-about musicians were. Drake came in at No. 1, Ye followed shortly after him, and Lil Nas X sat at No. 3. It comes as no surprise that BTS was the fourth most-tweeted-about musician thanks to their massive global fanbase. After BTS, who were the most-tweeted-about group in 2020, was Taylor Swift at No. 5, whose rerecorded Red (Taylor’s Version) gave the singer a fair amount of buzz on the platform. Nicki Minaj came in at No. 6, Beyonce was No. 7, Megan Thee Stallion was No. 8, DaBaby was No. 9, and Cardi B made it in at No. 10.

Though BTS fell down a few placements this year compared to last year, they were still big when it came to the most-liked tweets of the year. Joe Biden celebrating his inauguration in 2021 was the single most-liked tweet, but a selfie by BTS member Jungkook was the second-most-liked tweet of the year with 3.2 million likes.

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

With Ye and Drake’s Free Larry Hoover concert just hours away and scheduled to stream around the world live, TMZ reports that the crew at the LA Memorial Coliseum are working overtime to finish the stage ahead of the production. In addition, TMZ’s sources say that the show’s budget comes in at well over $10 million, covering the cost of the stage, space rental, staff, and security.

Of course, to the two rappers, who have spent the last several years sniping at each other on their records and social channels, the cause is worth the cost. According to J. Prince, who is the one who ultimately connected the two artists, Drake saw the bigger picture was worth setting aside their petty — and extremely funny, let’s be honest — feud.

Hoover, who helped co-found Chicagos’ notorious Gangsta Disciples organization, has been in prison since 1997, serving a life sentence (six of them, actually, which… how?) for an extended list of crimes committed in his capacity as the gang’s leader. However, since then, he says he’s seen the error of his ways and can do more good outside of prison keeping kids away from gangs with his knowledge, experience, and street credibility.

In addition, Larry Hoover Jr. has been advocating for his father’s release, as well as overall prison reform.

The Free Larry Hoover Concert is expected to begin tonight at 8 pm.

At some point in the past year or so, Mike Lindell went from creepy pillow salesman to deranged pusher of The Big Lie without missing a beat. So much so that we’re now just used to the fact that a heroin addict-turned-infomercial pitchman has become a kind of political operative who is regularly hosting rallies, protests, and days-long marathons in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Despite the fact that he’s being sued for more than $1 billion for continuing to push The Big Lie, and that he seems more invested in seeing Donald Trump back in the Oval Office again than even Donald Trump does, Lindell cannot be stopped. And now, as Raw Story reports, Lindell’s fans (a.k.a. enablers) are assisting the Pillow Man in his harassment of the Supreme Court.

According to Raw Story, Lindell’s believers are so enraged that the Supreme Court has yet to reply to his 80-PAGE petition to “reinstate” Trump as president that they have taken up the cause as well, and are now also sending hard copies of the hefty plea directly to the Supreme Court. This report comes from the Daily Beast’s Zachary Petrizzo, who tweeted that Lindell—who was giddy to hear that people were supporting him in his cause—“told The Daily Beast that he supports his followers ‘bombarding’ the Supreme Court with overnighted packages filled with his so-far unsuccessful legal filing.”

Will it be as effective a stunt as Lindell is hoping? Well, considering that there’s no reason why—or likely any mechanism for—the Supreme Court to just proclaim the guy who lost the election is now president, probably not. Also, since Lindell’s Thanksgiving “Thanks-a-Palooza” at one point only have about two dozen people watching while Lindell bragged it was millions… it’s possible the Supreme Court mailroom won’t even notice an influx in letters.

(Via Raw Story)

Before Rami Malek landed his Oscar-winning role as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, actor/guerilla comedian Sacha Baron Cohen was originally attached to the part before exiting after a disagreement with the band. According to founding Queen member Roger Taylor, that move was for the best because he feels Cohen would’ve been terrible as Mercury, and that’s putting it nicely.

“I think he would have been utter sh*t. Sacha is pushy, if nothing else,” Taylor told Classic Rock magazine before elaborating on his thoughts.

Via IndieWire:

“He’s also six inches too tall. But I watched his last five films and came to the conclusion he’s not a very good actor. I might be wrong there. I thought he was an utterly brilliant subversive comedian, that’s what he’s great at. Anyway, I think Rami did a brilliant job in an almost impossible role.”

Taylor’s harsh criticism jibes with Cohen’s reason for exiting the Mercury role. Back in 2016, Cohen explained to Howard Stern that he left the project after having creative differences with the remaining members of Queen who reportedly wanted the last half of Bohemian Rhapsody to be entirely about them.

“A member of the band, I won’t say who, he said, ‘This is such a great movie because it’s got such an amazing thing that happens in the middle of the movie,’” Cohen told Stern. “I go, ‘What happens in the middle of the movie?’ He goes, ‘Freddie dies.’”

(Via IndieWire)

Adele’s chart-topping album 30 has been out for a few weeks now. True to the singer’s previous releases, the LP features a mix of empowering and heart-tugging songs. This time, however, her songs were about her 2019 divorce. The album was supposed to arrive in 2020, when all her feelings about her marriage were still fresh. But because of COVID, 30 was delayed for nearly a year and the singer now says that if she had waited any longer, she would have decided not to release the LP altogether.

Adele recently sat down with Rolling Stone UK for a cover interview, where she talked about her album’s delays. “If it wasn’t coming out now, I think I probably would never put it out,” she said. Because the music was about her divorce, the singer was nearly ready to put those emotions behind her before it actually dropped. “I know I would’ve changed my mind and been like, ‘It’s moved on. Let’s start the next album,’” she said. “And I couldn’t do that to this album. I feel like it deserves to come out.”

One major reason why she went ahead with the album’s release was due to a conversation she had with her good friend Drake. The rapper had been in a similar position as Adele, sitting on his album Certified Lover Boy for quite some time. “I had that conversation with Drake,” Adele said. “Because he kept having to push his album back. Suddenly he just announced that it was out and was like, ‘I feel like I’ve been working on it for so long because I’ve been sitting on it.’ I feel a bit like that.”

Based on how wildly popular her album has been, Adele is likely glad she decided to heed Drake’s advice and go ahead with the release. The LP became the best-selling release of the year just three days after it debuted. This week, 30 also hit a major milestone: The album became the only release of 2021 to reach one million sales in the US.

Read Rolling Stone‘s conversation with Adele here.