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By the time Stranger Things 4 premieres on Netflix, it will have been a whopping three years since the third season first started streaming, so needless to say, fans are starving for any little tidbit about what’s next for the Hawkins crew. Well, they’re in luck because over the weekend, Netflix dropped a new trailer for Season 4, and it’s jam-packed with little clues on where the story is heading next.

Most notably, Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) has moved to California with the Byers family: Joyce (Winona Ryder), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), and Will (Noah Schnapp) who has significantly grown. That kid sprang up thanks to the pandemic putting a significant delay between seasons. Also, it looks like he’s still doing creepy drawings from his time in the Upside Down, but hey, art is like therapy. Or a telepathic connection to another dimension. Either one!

More importantly, Eleven has been diligently writing to Mike (Finn Wolfhard) who’s on his way to California for spring break, and clearly, it’s not going to be a normal teenage experience.

As the trailer kicks into overdrive, we see government agents, an underground facility that look eerily like the one from Season 3 where another Upside Down portal resided, and explosions. Were they caused by Eleven’s mind? Maybe!

Joyce also receives a Russian doll in the mail, which is almost certainly tied to Chief Hopper (David Harbour) getting teleported to Russia where he’s now bald, freezing, and definitely not becoming the Red Guardian. David Harbour wants you to chill with that talk.

On top of the new trailer, Netflix also released a tease for the Season 4 episode titles, and a release window, which may not go over so hot. It appears Stranger Things 4 will not debut until Summer 2022. Hate to be the bearer of bad news!

(Via Netflix)

The 7-4 Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves sixth in the Eastern Conference and are riding a four-game winning streak. For the foreseeable future, though, they’ll have to build upon this hot start without the services of fourth-year guard Collin Sexton. The Cavs announced Monday that Sexton suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee and there is no immediate timetable on a return, while more testing awaits him.

Sexton seemingly injured his knee midway through Cleveland’s victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday evening. He initially played through it, but did not take to the court following halftime. Averaging 16.0 points per game, Sexton is the team’s leading scorer and the one most prone to electric bucket-getting flurries. His absence will thrust greater responsibilities onto the quartet of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Ricky Rubio to replace his scoring. When Lauri Markkanen leaves health and safety protocols, he, too, will likely be tasked with an uptick in scoring duties.

The Cavs had largely limited their guard rotation to Sexton, Garland and Rubio thus far, so this development could create an opportunity for Kevin Pangos, or even Dylan Windler to slide up a position and assume more minutes. The first opportunity to see how this all plays out comes Wednesday, when Cleveland returns home to face the Washington Wizards following a two-game road trip.

We talk a lot about bourbon whiskey on UPROXX. We’re also the first to admit that sometimes the names getting loved can feel repetitive. We all like certain whiskeys more than others and those whiskeys tend to get a lot of love from us. Personally, when it comes to bourbon, I tend to go on and on about Wild Turkey, Michter’s, Balcones, Peerless, Jack Daniel’s, and the many, many products from Beam, Heaven Hill, and Buffalo Trace to name only a few.

But there’s so much more out there and, luckily, I get to try a lot of other bourbons too. Today it’s high time to give them some shine.

For this exercise, I’m calling out 20 bourbons that I’ll readily admit I don’t talk about enough. That’s not to say I’ve never called out one of these bottles. But they’ve each fallen through the cracks one too many times. Let’s flip that.

Let’s dive in!

Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of 2021

• The Single Best Bottle Of Whiskey From Each Of The 50 States
• The Best Bottles Of Bourbon Whiskey For Under $20, Ranked
• Our Favorite Bourbon Whiskey From Every Price Point Between $10-$200
• All 19 Brands From The Buffalo Trace Distillery, Ranked
• Here’s Who Won Our Big Barrel Proof Bourbon Whiskey Blind Taste Test

Leopold Bros. Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $60

The Whiskey:

This expression dropped last year and has been garnering a lot of attention. The mash is made from 64 percent corn, 21 percent malted barley, and 15 percent Abruzzi Heritage Rye that Todd Leopold grew for his malting house at the distillery in Denver. That mash ran through a classic pot still before it was barreled and left to rest for five years.

Tasting Notes:

The floral and spicy nature of that Abruzzi rye really comes out on the nose with a touch of candied apples, Quick powder, and the faintest hint of sourdough rye with a light smear of salted butter. The taste leans into stewed pears with nutmeg and clove spices leading the way as Almond Roca and green peppercorns jostle for space on your palate. The end mellows out as that spice fades towards an eggnog vibe with a creamy vanilla underbelly and a final touch of that floral rye and hint of pear.

Bottom Line:

Todd Leopold — the brand’s master distiller — is a gentle genius. He’s a big teddy bear of a man. He’s also one of those whiskey makers that see beyond the stills, fermenters, yeasts, and grains and sees the process and product of whiskey kind of like Neo in The Matrix. And that’s what comes through in his expressions.

This really is special stuff that deserves far more of our/my attention.

Redwood Empire Pipe Dream Bourbon

ABV: 45%

Average Price: $40

The Whiskey:

While this whiskey is a blend of sourced juice, it really shines as a classic bourbon from a new brand. The juice in the bottles is a blend of bourbons from California, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana that are four to 12 years old. The final blend means the whiskey is made with 75 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and only four percent barley.

Tasting Notes:

Again, this is a classic bourbon. The nose opens with a build of vanilla pods next to caramel, a touch of oak, and a thin line of fresh maple syrup. The palate has a pecan pie vibe with the maple syrup turning into Caro syrup as the oak gets a little toasty with rich buttery toffee and a dollop of creamy vanilla pudding. The rye comes in late with a mild pepperiness and a slight savory fruit vibe.

Bottom Line:

This is a cool-looking bottle that celebrates one of the tallest redwood trees in California. It’s also a classic through and through. You can’t go wrong with having a bottle of this around for mixing into cocktails or sipping on the rocks.

Bomberger’s Declaration 2021

ABV: 54%

Average Price: $170

The Whiskey:

This whiskey heralds back to Michter’s historical roots in the 19th century before the brand was even called “Michter’s.” The juice on the bottle is rendered from a very small batch of bourbons that were aged in Chinquapin oak which was air-dried for three years before charring and filling.

Tasting Notes:

The nose opens with this rich and meaty plum presence next to a hint of buttery toffee and creamy vanilla with a touch of wood lurking in the background. The palate goes full crème brûlée with sticky burnt sugar over the top and a slight touch of allspice and nutmeg next to a dark cacao powder dryness with a touch of smoke salt and light, dry cedar. The mid-palate leans back into the dark stone fruit and sweetness as it only slightly dries out.

Bottom Line:

While I tend to go on and on about Michter’s, I also tend to forget they have other labels outside of the core line. This year’s Bomberger’s (and pretty much every previous release) is one of those under-the-radar bourbons that always wows. Yes, this can get lost in the mix when talking about Michter’s, and bourbon in general, but it’s also one of the finest whiskeys out there.

Old Elk Wheated Bourbon

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $72

The Whiskey:

This craft whiskey from Colorado takes the idea of wheated bourbon to the very edge of its limits. The mash bill carries a whopping 45 percent wheat, pushing this very close to being a wheated whiskey. The juice is then aged for an undisclosed amount of years before it’s batched and cut down to proof with that soft Rocky Mountain spring water Colorado is known for.

Tasting Notes:

You’re drawn in by a big bowl of vanilla ice cream drizzled with salted caramel sauce next to a very faint hint of dried florals. The palate builds on that ice cream, creating a sundae with crushed almonds, creamy toffee brittle, and a hint of eggnog spice. The end is medium-length with a touch of that buttery sweetness carrying the sip to a warm end.

Bottom Line:

We’re already back in Colorado! This craft whiskey is pretty delightful. But it being crafty means that it’s harder to find than your average bottle. Still, this is a really winning wheated bourbon that stands up with the big dogs from Buffalo Trace, Beam, and Heaven Hill.

Brough Brothers Bourbon

ABV: 41%

Average Price: $30

The Whiskey:

This tiny and new distillery was founded in West Louisville by brothers Victor, Chris, and Bryson Yarbrough. The distillery is the first African-American-owned brand working in the state. For now, this bottle is contract-distilled (distilled at a big distillery based on their own recipe/concept) in Indiana from a mash bill of 75 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and four percent malted barley.

Tasting Notes:

You’re greeted with dried roses, marzipan, and creamy eggnog on the nose with a hint of apple and corn. That apple drives the taste with more orchard fruit (think pears) as the nutmeg really spikes and the marzipan takes on a rosewater vibe next to a very distant flutter of pepper spice in the background. The finish sweetens with a spoonful of fresh and floral honey as those orchard fruits affix to a mildly spicy and vanilla-forward tobacco leaf.

Bottom Line:

While this is still pretty young, it has some serious potential. Now that the brothers are actually distilling in Kentucky, it’ll be interesting to see what comes next for this upstart bourbon.

Paul Sutton Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $75

The Whiskey:

Paul Sutton is a new bourbon from an old family recipe. I know, we’ve all heard it before. The new whiskey is not a blend of sourced bourbons. The brand took the time to release its own contract distilled juice. The bourbon mash bill has a touch of rye in it and it aged for up to five years in medium char barrels. It’s then proofed with that famously soft Kentucky limestone water before bottling.

Tasting Notes:

The nose on this has a distinct barnyard funk tied to wet bales of straw that leads to a salted caramel sweetness with a twinge of a pine box full of cherry pits. The taste veers away from most of that towards sweet corn cakes with a touch of vanilla cream and eggnog spice. A Caro syrup-soaked pecan sweetness and nuttiness drive the mid-palate towards a cherry tobacco finish with a hint of dark cacao powder.

Bottom Line:

This really is a nice-drinking whiskey. It works wonders in your favorite bourbon cocktail while also standing up to a glass full of rocks as a sipper.

Noah’s Mill

ABV: 57.15%

Average Price: $73

The Whiskey:

This small-batch bourbon from Willett Distillery hits a lot of high marks. The brand keeps their cards pretty close to their chest when it comes to mash bills (they use four for their various bourbons), barrel ages, and so forth. This whiskey used to carry an age statement of 15 years but that was dropped due to demand. What we do know is that after aging, the small-batched bourbon goes into the bottle unfussed with and close to barrel proof.

Tasting Notes:

Maply syrup-covered walnuts greet you with a sense of dark dried fruit and a hint of rose water. The taste holds onto those notes while adding in an almost sherried plummy depth with a whisper of caramel apple and orange oils. The vanilla and oak kick in with a rich depth and well-rounded lightness to the sip as it fades slowly away.

Bottom Line:

This is one of those bottles that are very high-end yet is both findable and relatively affordable. It’s sleek and refined. It’s also one of the best “on the rocks” bourbons on this list.

Ezra Brooks 99

ABV: 49.5%

Average Price: $26

The Whiskey:

This whiskey, distilled at Lux Row Distillers in Bardstown, is kind of like a Tennessee whiskey made in Kentucky. The juice has a pretty standard mash bill corn, rye, and barley. But, once the spirit comes off the stills it’s filtered through charcoal, just like Tennessee whiskey, before it’s filled into the barrels.

That whiskey is then batched, proofed down with limestone water, and bottled.

Tasting Notes:

This also leans very classic bourbon with hints of corn on the cob with melty salted butter next to hints of soft leather pouches filled with roasted peanut shells, a touch of caramel, and a vanilla/chocolate ice cream vibe. The palate keeps things super easy as that rich vanilla ice cream leads towards holiday spices, tart green apples, and a freshly baked cornbread bespeckled with dried chili flakes and black pepper. The finish is soft and fast with that spice leading back towards a leather tobacco chew.

Bottom Line:

This list could have been just all the Lux Row bourbons we’ve been sleeping on. However, this new 2021 release hits high marks for being a damn-near-perfect workhorse whiskey. It’s a solid mixer that you can easily drink on the rocks or take as a shot with a beer back. You can’t beat that price either.

Blade & Bow

ABV: 45.5%

Average Price: $52

The Whiskey:

This is a fascinating and unique bottle from Diageo. The core of this whiskey is orphan barrels from Diageo’s Stitzel-Weller distillery (which is now dedicated to the brand). Those last barrels from the iconic distillery — that once made Old Fitzgerald back in the day — are blended with sourced whiskeys from unnamed distilleries. The blend is then proofed and bottled with no age statement.

Tasting Notes:

This is a nuanced bourbon with hints of dried apricot, cinnamon sticks, vanilla beans, and a slight whisper of banana pulling you in. The palate veers more towards the dried stone fruits and raisins, as a counterpoint of juicy pear leads towards hints of soft oak next to touches of grain. The end leans into the warming spices with a Christmas edge, with the oak and fruits fading out slowly.

Bottom Line:

You’re starting to see this more and more on shelves and it’s easy to see why (well, beyond a company as huge as Diageo pushing it hard). This really is a tasty bourbon that’s easy to drink while being just bespoke enough to feel special. It’s one of those whiskeys that falls under the radar for being a mix-and-match of bourbons but 100 percent delivers with an end product that shines.

Rabbit Hole Cavehill

ABV: 47.5%

Average Price: $60

The Whiskey:

This four-grain Kentucky bourbon is made with 70 percent corn, ten percent malted wheat, ten percent honey malted barley, and ten percent malted barley. That spirit is then aged for three years in toasted and charred barrels before it’s batched from 15 barrels, proofed, and bottled.

Tasting Notes:

This has a lot of apple cobbler on the nose with sweet and bright stewed apples, plenty of dark brown spices, brown sugar, buttery pastry cobbles, and a touch of honey sweetness. The honey becomes creamy and spiked with orange zest as the malt shines through as a digestive cookie with a hint of fresh mint and more of that honey with a flake of salt. The finish brings about that spice again with a little more of a peppery edge this time as the fade slowly falls off, leaving you with a creamy vanilla tobacco feeling.

Bottom Line:

This truly small-batch whiskey really is a fine example of what this craft distillery can achieve. This is a super easy, well-rounded, and tasty all-around whiskey.

Yellowstone Limited Edition Bourbon 101

ABV: 50.5%

Average Price: $110

The Whiskey:

This year’s drop from Stephen Beam’s Yellowstone line is a mix of seven-year-old and 15-year-old bourbons. The 15-year barrels are high-quality bourbons hand-selected by Beam. The seven-year barrels were finished by Beam in Amarone red wine casks before this batch was put together, proofed, and bottled.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a balance of dark stewed fruits — think holiday cake spices with dates, prunes, figs, and raisins — next to this bright burst of bright red berries with a slight tartness and powdered sugar sweetness swimming in vanilla cream with mild hints of old leather, dark cacao powder, and toffee lurking in the background. The palate really embraces that vanilla cream base while the berries go full dark and sweet cherry with more of that buttery toffee, dark cacao, and meaty fig adding a dark depth to the sip. The finish builds on the sweet and dark fruits of the mid-palate towards an end that’s full of bright cherry tobacco and small lines of cedar plank that’s lightly singed on the edges.

Bottom Line:

Stephen Beam — who’s descended from both the Beams and Dants of Kentucky bourbon — brings some serious heritage to these whiskeys from Limestone Distillery. This release is quickly climbing the ranks as what might be one of our favorite releases of the year.

Expect us to talk about more in the near future.

Bardstown Discovery Series #6

ABV: 55.55%

Average Price: $129

The Whiskey:

This limited release from a couple of months ago is a blend of heavy-hitting bourbons. The lion’s share, 68 percent, is derived from an eleven-year-old Kentucky bourbon that’s made with 75 percent corn, 13 percent rye, and 12 percent malted barley. That’s batched with 16 percent from a 17-year-old Tennessee whiskey that’s made with 84 percent corn, eight percent rye, and eight percent malted barley. The final 16 percent is a seven-year Indian bourbon made with 75 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and four perfect malted barley.

Tasting Notes:

The age comes through with a big medley of dark cherries sitting in a big cedar bowl with a dark leather jacket imbued with decades of cigarette smoke and perfume next to a hint of dark chocolate orange balls. That orange and dark chocolate drive the taste as the dark cherry becomes brandy-soaked and the cedar feels more like an old cigar humidor full of cigars laced with vanilla, orange, cherry, and chocolate individually, creating a bigger whole on the palate. The finish takes its time as the tobacco spice and fruit slowly fade out, leaving you with a dry woody note and a touch of sweet and buttery toffee.

Bottom Line:

Bardstown Bourbon Company could also take up a few slots on this list. The massive and brand new distillery is changing the game in soucing, contract distilling, and tourism right now and will be on a lot of whiskey drinkers’ minds for years to come.

KOVAL Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey

ABV: 47%

Average Price: $50

The Whiskey:

There are a lot of great, interesting independent craft distillers out there. Hell, this list could also be just that. However, Chicago’s KOVAL does stand out from the crowd for us. Their bourbon has a unique mash bill of only corn and millet. The spirit then spends four years in the barrel before it’s proofed and bottled.

Tasting Notes:

The nose has a classic bourbon opening with plenty of vanilla, caramel, and oak. A distinct whiff of smoke arrives (think more of old brisket smokers than a campfire) while tart apples covered in caramel mix with a bright berry burst and dustings of spice and brown sugar. The sip has a velvet body that really embraces the bitterness of charred oak staves with an almost Graham cracker maltiness lurking in there.

Bottom Line:

KOVAL is doing so many interesting things with unique mash bills. This millet-fueled bourbon only scratches the surface of the craft brand’s unique expressions. That being said, this is a great place to start with this crafty distillery.

Calumet Farm 14 Single Rack Black

ABV: 48.1%

Average Price: $128

The Whiskey:

This bourbon is kind of like Kentucky in a bottle — it’s all about Derby horses and the state’s own spirit. The juice is sourced from a set of 19 barrels from the center of an unnamed warehouse. Those barrels are small batched after 14 long years of resting and the whiskey is proofed with soft Kentucky limestone water.

Tasting Notes:

This sip draws you in with a silken balance of cherry and vanilla cream that’s shockingly light. The taste builds on that foundation by adding in soft notes of cedar and cinnamon sticks next to a hint of dark chocolate with a whisper of pancake syrup sweetness. The end marries the cherry and vanilla into a cherry bespeckled ice cream, with hints of those woody cinnamon sticks and dark chocolate peeking in on the velvet finish.

Bottom Line:

This is one of those bottles that seems needlessly expensive for a sourced whiskey. But all of those feels melt away once you taste what’s actually in these bottles. It’s just really tasty bourbon that feels unique yet familiar.

Early Times Bottled-in-Bond

ABV: 50%

Average Price: $25

The Whiskey:

Sazerac’s Early Times spent decades as the best-selling bourbon in the world. Their Bottled-in-Bond is a throwback to that heady era in the early to mid-1900s when bourbon was king of the booze scene. Then this whiskey nearly died in the 1970s and 80s when bourbon took a massive hit in sales. This particular expression was reintroduced in 2017 as a limited release.

It was such a huge hit so it turned into a standard release.

Tasting Notes:

The low-rye and longer aging create a dram where the orange oils, pancake syrup, and holiday spices mingle on the soft nose. The palate luxuriates in this rich and creamy vanilla next to a mildly spicy tobacco leaf and another hit of those orange oils. The end adds in a slight allspice pepperiness with more of that creamy vanilla, tobacco, and a final hint of buttery brown sugar syrup.

Bottom Line:

This adds a great choice to Sazerac’s low-end bourbons, which tend to be a little rough (looking at you, Ancient Age and Benchmark). This is a really solid bottled-in-bond that stands up to Evan Williams, Beam, and even Dickel.

New Riff Single Barrel

ABV: 55.8%

Average Price: $50

The Whiskey:

These releases from New Riff will vary from location to location as they’re largely reserved for retailers. The juice in the bottle is New Riff’s standard bourbon mash of 65 percent corn, 30 percent rye, and five percent malted barley. The spirit is aged for four years before they’re bottled individually without cutting or filtration.

Tasting Notes:

The nose on these tends to be soft, kind of like freshly baked rye bread, with notes of eggnog spices, slick vanilla flan, thin caramel sauce, and hints of spicy orange zest. The palate amps everything up as the orange peel becomes candied and attaches to a moist holiday cake, dried cranberry and cherry, more dark spice, a touch of nuttiness, and plenty of that vanilla. The end takes its time as the whole thing comes together like a rich and boozy fruit cake as little notes of leather and tobacco spice keep things interesting on the slow fade.

Bottom Line:

We should probably be talking about New Riff more, in general. There’s always something interesting from them on the shelf and the prices are always pretty accessible for the high-quality of the whiskey in the bottle.

Pinhook Bohemia Bourbon High-Proof

ABV: 57.25%

Average Price: $52

The Whiskey:

Pinhook’s contract distilled bourbon is all about refinement. The expression is made from 100 barrels that are matured for 34 months before being small-batched by Pinhook’s Master Taster Sean Josephs. The juice is barely touched with that soft Kentucky limestone water to take the edge off.

Tasting Notes:

This opens with a lemon curd vibe with a buttered bread — nearly croissant — feel next to a mild dose of spiced fruits. The taste is toffee sweet but is countered by a powdered dark chocolate bitterness, marzipan smoothness, and plenty of that creamy citrus. The sip ends quietly and fades quickly, leaving you with a nice touch of lemon oils next to dark chocolate powder and a hint of spicy stewed oranges.

Bottom Line:

This is one of those releases that’s been growing on me year after year. Pinhook is creating some truly fascinating and tasty whiskeys right now, and that makes me pretty excited for what’s coming next.

Horse Soldier Small Batch

ABV: 47.5%

Average Price: $60

The Whiskey:

This craft whiskey from Kentucky is made with a mash bill of 65 percent corn, 30 percent rye, and five percent malted barley. The barrels have aged a minimum of six years before batching, proofing, and bottling.

Tasting Notes:

Butterscotch leads the nose on this sip as ginger snaps mingle with rich and sharp toffee candies next to a touch of vanilla, pepper, and cherry lurk underneath everything. The taste really amps up the creaminess of the vanilla and the butteriness of the toffee, as a slight marzipan flourish arrives with a thin layer of freshly cracked black pepper and salted black licorice. That pepper marries to the ginger as the heat levels off and fades out leading towards a finish with more of the vanilla and dry wood than anything else.

Bottom Line:

This is a very sippable whiskey started by Afghanistan War vets. The crew has just broken ground on a new distillery which means we’re sure to see more very soon from this brand.

Savage & Cooke The Burning Chair

ABV: 44%

Average Price: $58

The Whiskey:

This whiskey marries Napa Valley winemaking to Ohio Valley whiskey. Winemaker Dave Phinney sources four-year-old bourbons from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana and brings those to Napa. Once there, the bourbon is filled into Cabernet barrels for final maturation. Finally, the bourbon is cut with pure spring water from California’s Alexander Valley before bottling.

Tasting Notes:

Those barrels come through with a note of a dry lumber yard next to caramel apples, butterscotch candy wrappers, and a sliver of vanilla bean. That vanilla drives the palate and comes creamy and thick as apples stewed in eggnog spices kick in with a slight woody maple syrup sweetness and sweet red grapes. That sweet note drives the mid-palate towards a finish that warms with the holiday spices and almost hot apple cider next to a vanilla cookie with a dusting of maple brown sugar.

Bottom Line:

This is a cool bottle and a cool concept. While this isn’t the only bourbon getting finished in wine barrels in Napa, it’s certainly one of the most accessible. Bonus points for serving this at parties next to the brand’s similarly-designed wine bottles.

Oak & Eden Bourbon & Spire

ABV: 45%

Average Price: $42

The Whiskey:

This Texas whiskey is planning on being fully and truly from Texas very soon. For now, the juice is primarily sourced from MGP of Indiana. Oak & Eden ships those barrels down to Texas where they blend their whiskey and then add the oak spire to recreate a sort of double-barrel finish in the bottle.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a Red Hots cinnamon-sweet opening, with plenty of oak, hints of caramel, and a slight touch of woody vanilla and pine. The extra oak creates a dry mouthfeel with a continued spicy/sweet edge that’s welcoming, while hints of orchard fruits mingle with butterscotch and a hint of bitterness. The finish is fairly short, dry, oaky, and resurfaces the Red Hots note for a warming end.

Bottom Line:

This feels a little gimmicky, sure. Still, the concept does make sense (the idea that oak staves in the bottle would continually shape the final dram) and the expression delivers as a nice sipper on the rocks or solid cocktail base. In the end, this is a cool concept and Oak & Eden is putting a big list of expressions that play with unique finishings and Texas vibes.

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As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.

Over the weekend, Big Bird did the thing by declaring himself vaccinated, and predictably, the far right lost its mind in response. Ted Cruz immediately started tweeting about “propaganda,” and my gosh, he hasn’t let up yet. All of this ends up amplifying the mess earlier this year with Republicans complaining about problematic Dr. Seuss books being taken off school library shelves, and then they freaked out over Democrats supposedly “cancelling” the Muppets, so when it comes to Big Bird, man, people are taking firm sides.

Very pointedly, the official Big Bird Twitter account made that declaration, and people were quick to point out that the imposing avian has been leading by vaccination example since 1972, all to do his part in preventing potentially fatal and highly transmissible diseases. Well, Ted’s not here for Big Bird attempting to help the greater good at the so-called expense of “freedom” to spread viruses unchecked. So, Ted is still throwing a tantrum by co-opting this well-treaded Big Bird meme.

“Big Bird coming over to vaccinate your kids,” Ted tweeted without an iota of irony.

Well, ridiculousness merits a ridiculous response. To that end, someone created a Big Bird parody account and declared a faux senatorial campaign.

“Big Bird doesn’t fly south in the winter, unlike Ted Cruz” is a winning campaign slogan if there ever was one.

The parody account has now accumulated over 37,000 followers, and it sure looks like Ted would be in trouble if this was a real race.

Ted Cruz could stand to lighten up. It’s doing wonders for Big Bird.

Considering Dijon’s debut LP, Absolutely, is predicated on the nu-wave R&B singer’s spirit of live performance, his headlining tour represents a full circle completion for the project. Released on November 5th, Absolutely has been accompanied by live performance videos of standout singles “Many Times” and “Big Mike’s.” The collaborative recording sessions within give a glimpse to the process and show Dijon to be an evocative performer to say the least.

Following his support slots for Bon Iver next April, Dijon’s headlining tour takes off. Check out all of the tour dates below.

03/30/2022 — Mesa, AZ @ Mesa Amphitheatre *
04/01/2022 — Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Greenway *
04/02/2022 — Austin, TX @ Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Greenway *
04/03/2022 — Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory *
04/05/2022 — Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall *
04/08/2022 — New Orleans, LA @ Bold Sphere Music at Champions Square *
04/09/2022 — Atlanta, GA @ Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park *
04/12/2022 — Wilmington, NC @ Live Oak Bank Pavilion at Riverfront Park *
04/14/2022 — St. Augustine, FL @ The Saint Augustine Amphitheatre *
04/15/2022 — Miami, FL @ FPL Solar Amphitheater at Bayfront Park *
04/29/2022 — Nashville, TN @ Third Man Records §
05/02/2022 — Washington, DC @ Sixth & I §
05/05/2022 — Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg §
05/08/2022 — Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer §
05/09/2022 — Boston, MA @ Royale §
05/11/2022 — Montreal, QB @ L’Astral §
05/12/2022 — Toronto, ON @ The Phoenix §
05/14/2022 — Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
05/16/2022 — Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line Music Cafe §
05/20/2022 — Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom §
05/21/2022 — Vancouver, BC @ Hollywood Theatre §
05/22/2022 — Seattle, WA – The Crocodile §
06/01/2022 — San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore §
06/04/2022 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern §

* with Bon Iver
§ headlining

Absolutely is out now via Warner.

Dijon is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

At 4-5, the Washington Huskies have three games to get two wins if they are to get bowl eligible, which is not the place they thought or hoped they would be back before the season started. After losing to Oregon on Saturday, the Huskies slipped to fourth in the Pac-12 North behind the Ducks, in-state rival Washington State, and Oregon State.

Those struggles this season have led to head coach Jimmy Lake finding himself squarely on the hot seat. Not helping his case for why he should keep his job were his actions on the sideline on Saturday night, when he hit a player in the helmet and shoved him aggressively after a rather mild altercation with an Oregon player that seemed to be all but completely diffused when Lake came in.

That clip became quite the talking point over the weekend, and the school announced it was looking into the situation on Sunday. Shortly after, the team announced on Monday that Lake was suspended without pay for the week and would not coach against Arizona State on Saturday in a game the Huskies need badly to keep bowl dreams alive with Colorado and Washington State to follow.

As the team’s statement notes, Lake will be away from the team for the whole week of prep, with defensive coordinator Bob Gregory taking over as acting head coach in his absence. Along with Lake’s suspension, the team already fired offensive coordinator John Donovan on Sunday, meaning the team will be going into their game against the Sun Devils with a new playcaller as well, as Donovan became the first casualty of the last effort from Lake to salvage his job.

Thanks to some technical difficulties during his set at the Atlanta Braves’ World Championship celebration, Ludacris was forced to perform not only clean versions (it was a family event, after all) but also do so without his instrumentals. Fortunately, the veteran rapper was more than up to the task.

After playing his hits “Welcome To Atlanta” and “Southern Hospitality” with no trouble, the beat for “Yeah” began skipping as a result of the fans’ exuberant bouncing, according to Luda’s DJ. So, he decided to perform “Yeah” and “Money Maker” totally acapella before being able to complete the set as normal, noting that a “true MC” should be able to perform under nearly any conditions and still keep the party going.

Once the sound was fixed, Luda ran through a dizzying display of fan favorites, including “Fantasy,” “Roll Out,” “Stand Up,” “How Low,” and “Move B***h,” closing out fittingly with “All I Do Is Win.” Luda’s set was preceded by another pair of hometown heroes, Big Boi and Killer Mike, who chose to perform their song “Kryptonite.” Big Boi also performed several Outkast favorites with Sleepy Brown, including “ATLiens,” “Bombs Over Baghdad,” and “Rosa Parks.” Veteran hip-hop journalist Julia Beverly was right in the front row for the whole show, posting some great videos on Instagram, which you can watch below.

Throughout their nearly four decades as an awards show, the MTV VMAs have historically been a way for musicians to experiment with their style. Lady Gaga’s 2010 raw meat dress became one of the most-recognizable pop culture moments, and who could forget Lil Kim’s purple pasties at the 1999 VMAs red carpet? As someone who thrives at the intersection of hip-hop and pop genres, Doja Cat has definitely taken a page out of Gaga and Kim’s playbooks when it comes to her own style. Whether she’s delightfully draped in chiffon or wearing an actual stool on her head as a hat, Doja toes the line between shocking and playful — proving she’s having more fun with fashion than anyone else in music.

When it comes to her style, part of Doja’s shock value success comes from her commitment to a concept. It’s been an important part of her artistry from her breakout moment and is abundantly clear from watching her music videos, performances, and eyeing her show-stopping red carpet looks. Throughout her career, Doja has leaned into cat-like looks to go along with her namesake, caught disco fever with the ‘70s-inspired outfits following the release of her No. 1 track “Say So,” and gone out of this world with a futurist approach to her ensembles surrounding the era of her latest album, Planet Her.

When it comes to her videos, Doja has stayed true to an aesthetic from the very beginning. She fully leaned into the title of her song “Moo!” in a video that became her first viral moment. The green screen-backed visual saw the singer dressed head-to-toe in a cow-print outfit and sipping on a strawberry milkshake while she shouts, “B*tch, I’m a cow.” Her outfits in the video to “Bottom B*tch,” a song which samples Blink-182’s “What’s My Age Again?,” brought pop-punk into a new decade by taking style elements from Spencer’s-obsessed teens like mesh tops and neon beanies while adding a modern twist with stringy corset tops and a patterned two-piece set. Fast-forward a few years and most of her videos to the tracks from Planet Her now revolve around an extraterrestrial theme. She and SZA were giant femme fetal space dwellers in “Kiss Me More,” while Doja transformed into a seductive, green, metropolis-living alien in her “Need To Know” video.

Doja’s conceptual style also plays a major role in her live performances. She played up the feline-lover origins of her moniker with her Vevo Lift performance of “Say So” in 2020, which added campy elements to distinctly classic styles. Her wig was bobbed and curled in the style of Marilyn Monroe, while its hot pink color and fuzzy cat ears made it her own. Her accompanying outfit was a Garo Sparo bodice with a sweetheart neckline cut to mimic the Playboy bunny cocktail waitress outfits-turned popular Halloween costumes. But instead of being made from satin, Doja’s outfit was cut from hot pink furry cloth, once again nodding to her cat-like look. “There’s something mysterious about the concept of a ‘crazy cat lady,’” she said in an interview alongside the performance. “I took that symbol and applied it to my character, Doja Cat.” When it came to her recent 2021 performance at the Balmain Fashion Show in Paris, her concept was a bit more open-ended. Rather than formatting her look after an animal, the singer said she wanted her look to give the energy of “sexy garlic.”

Doja has long positioned herself as a fashion boundary-pusher, so she is always right at home on the red carpet. In fact, some of the singer’s most experimental looks happened at award shows. When it comes to the VMAs, Doja hasn’t held anything back. When she took the virtual stage in 2020, the singer showed up in an ensemble that can only be described as a sexy fish, complete with lit-up genitalia. A year later while hosting the ceremony, the singer accepted a VMA award in a head-to-toe padded quilt dress designed by Thom Browne that Doja compared to a colorful worm. “I never thought I’d be dressed as a worm while accepting an award,” she said.

Her “sexy fish” VMAs outfit is, to no one’s surprise, not the only look Doja has worn that draws attention to her… nether regions. At the 2020 AVN Awards, aka the “Oscars of porn,” the singer showed up in a skin-tight mesh bodysuit that sparsely covered her crotch in rhinestones. The look expertly combined the disco-inspired era “Say So” with the theme of the night, an outfit her stylist would later call her “Cher moment.”

Whether she’s posing in a glittery merkin, accepting an award dressed as a neon worm, clomping around in massive chicken claw-like shoes, many of her wildest outfits have one thing in common: they were designed in collaboration with her stylist, Brett Alan Nelson. While Doja has always had her own style, there’s no denying that Nelson has helped take her fashion to the next, sometimes bizarre, level. As a central part of Doja’s team since 2019, Nelson is drawn to over-the-top, theatrical styles. “She and I get each other so well,” Nelson said about his work with Doja in an interview with Vogue. “We bicker like brother and sister, but I know her, sometimes better than she knows herself. She’s down to have fun, take risks, and she trusts me, which in my industry, that is the best thing a creative could ever ask for.”

There are few activities as humbling and frustrating as golf. It’s a game people spend literal lifetimes playing, few if any feeling that they ever truly master it, but all of us chasing the feeling of those few perfect shots, foolishly believing that one day we can replicate them regularly.

When I arrived in Bermuda last Sunday, I had one thing on my mind: play as well as I possibly could on Wednesday. I was in Bermuda on a press trip provided by the Bermuda Travel Authority, who invited me to come play in the pro-am for the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. My initial plan was to write about the experience of playing on a PGA Tour course with PGA Tour pros and how I, a 6-handicap, fared in that round.

Monday had me feeling confident about my prospects, as I whipped around Ocean View Golf Club to shoot a 4-over 74, punctuated with an even par 35 on the second nine courtesy of a pair of birdies. It was a comfortable round and a familiar feeling, playing what accounts to the closest thing Bermuda has to the best local muni course in your area. Ocean View has a layout that sits right in front of you, more than manageable length, accessible greens, and forgiving fairways, with friendly locals, strolling nine with their push carts, willing to offer some sage local knowledge on the few holes with hidden lines.

It was a breezy afternoon, with the occasional big gust, but that’s to be expected on a course that hangs out over the Atlantic. Little did I know this was simply an amuse bouche, if you will, for the weather that was set to come my way.

When I awoke on Tuesday to get a taxi to go to Belmont Hills Golf Club, winds were howling at a steady 25-30 miles per hour, gusting to well above 40, rain careening down sideways. But I was here to golf, and with a forecast projected to be only slightly better for the pro-am, this represented a chance to get accustomed with the elements and try to get comfortable. The result was 2 hours of simply trying to hold on (as the only ones dumb enough to play in that weather, we were able to fly around the course at least), both figuratively and literally. Clubs and clothes soaked, every shot a guessing game of whether the wind would simply move the ball or pick up and send it into oblivion.

By the third hole, the scorecard had been reduced to unusable mush by the rain, offering a rare respite from the clutches of keeping score. Golf is an internal battle first and foremost, always chasing ghosts of rounds past, with everyone’s definition of success being unique. However, as the island threw its worst possible conditions at us, we had to battle something else. No longer were there expectations for a score, but rather a determination to win at least a few battles against the weather. Every successful shot felt like a small victory, and every bad one had a built-in excuse. It was freeing in a way, as we were determined not to shoot a score but to simply enjoy a day on a lovely golf course when mother nature tried its best to make that impossible.

As we arrived on the 16th hole, the weather subsided, and the sun peeked out. We had lost plenty of battles but had, somehow it felt, won the war. The final three holes were a delight, island vistas once obscured by sheets of rain and gloomy clouds suddenly brightened, turquoise waters beginning to reappear alongside us.

However, mother nature has a funny way of returning the favor. Wednesday morning saw the same conditions from Tuesday tear up Port Royal, flinging signs and tents around and soaking the grounds. After initial hope of a 2 hour delay being enough to get the pro-am in, the event was canceled and we hopped back on shuttles to the hotel to try and figure out what else to do for the day – and in my case, what the hell I was going to write about. Our hosts with the Travel Authority scrambled to get us an afternoon tee time out at Mid Ocean Club, after the rain was supposed to clear.

As we arrived at the course at 1:30 for a 1:44 tee time, the sun peeked out for the first time all day. By the time we stepped on the tee 15 minutes later after a hurried warmup and no time on the practice green (this was a mistake), you would’ve never been able to guess there had been even a consideration of rain earlier.

The winds, though, chose to stay, and what we were presented with was as formidable a test as you’ll get in golf. A course that demands accuracy off the tee and punishes loose approach shots coupled with conditions that would love nothing more than to carry your golf ball into a hazard or out of bounds. Through five holes I was 8-over, with three bogeys, a double, and a triple courtesy of a pair of loose shots the wind gobbled up and deposited in someone’s yard and an inlet, respectively. It was the point of a round where, typically, I would shut down and just trudge along through the next 13 holes, head down, muttering expletives to myself about my swing and the wind.

However, as I could feel myself entering that spiral on the fifth tee, I took a quick survey of my surroundings. Here I was, lucky enough to be playing golf on one of Bermuda’s most exclusive courses, with gorgeous vistas off of nearly every tee and green, and I gathered myself.

For 15 years, my enjoyment of a round of golf has almost solely been tied to my score. A good round meant a good time. A bad one, well, you know. On this day, a score wasn’t going to happen, due to a swing that was a bit out of sync and conditions that weren’t going to be accepting of any shot short of perfection. But I told myself, “How could you not enjoy this place?” A course people would kill to play, on one of the most picturesque pieces of property in all of golf.

From that point forward, my mindset changed and for the first time in a very, very long time, I enjoyed golf for the experience rather than the score. This isn’t a story about letting go and the scoring suddenly coming along. There were plenty more bogeys and another double sprinkled in on my way to a 17-over 88, but as I scribbled those double snowmen on my card, I did so with a smile – something unthinkable for me previously. Then again, how could you not coming in to this view?

On Thursday, I strolled around Port Royal to follow the pros in the morning who were being presented with the same conditions of heavy wind and occasional sheets of rain blowing through. For much of my day, I stood behind the tee box on the signature 16th, a par 3 staring straight out into the Atlantic, watching some of the world’s finest golfers try desperately to find the sliver of green 170 yards away against winds gusting above 40 miles per hour.

A few succeeded, but just as many saw the wind carry their ball into the hospitality tent 20 yards right of the green. Most of the guys that walked off the course on Thursday were shaking their heads, muttering to themselves about their swings and the wind. It was a familiar sight, a feeling I’ve experienced many times, but also a reminder that for all the perks of being a pro golfer, there are some for the weekend warrior as well.

None of the pros that strode out on that 16th tee box, looking out on one of the most beautiful views on earth, took a moment to soak it in. They were stuck in the grind, trying to calculate the real distance of the hole given the winds gusting into them and off the left. They have to do that, as whether they get a paycheck is determined by it. For the rest of us, there isn’t a potential high six-figure payday out there for a great round, and a bad round won’t keep money out of our bank accounts either. So soak in those views when presented with them, and try to find ways to enjoy being out on the course, even if the round isn’t going according to plan.

I expected to go to Bermuda and put my skills to the test and see just how big the gap is between a 6-handicap and PGA pros (it’s very large, to be clear). Instead, I found joy in the game I haven’t felt since I was a kid, where I was just happy to be out on the course, hoping to hit some good shots somewhere along the way.

Golf is a sport where the goalposts never stop moving and only get harder to attain. It’s easy to get lost in that pursuit, which is no doubt part of what brings us back to the course over and over. I’m sure I’ll be back to grinding over every swing soon enough, but sometimes you need something to bring you back to why you play in the first place. Before you were on a quest to break par (or 80, or 90, or wherever you are on the never-ending journey), you were drawn to the course for something else – the people you played with, four hours of being outside, etc. – and sometimes we need a reminder of that. I found mine on an island in the Atlantic, staring down gale force winds blowing off of turquoise waters straight off a postcard.

Uproxx was invited on a hosted trip to Bermuda by the Bermuda Travel Authority for reporting on this piece. You can find out more about our policy on press trips/hostings here.

Adele’s “Easy On Me” got off to a slow start on the charts thanks to a technicality: It was released a few hours before midnight on Friday, meaning that the song’s actual first chart-eligible week consisted of just a few hours of tracking activity. It picked things up after that, though, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the next week and staying on top for the week after that. Now, the success continues, as on the Hot 100 chart dated November 13, “Easy On Me” is at No. 1 for a third week.

Adele’s hit also did well on the Adult Contemporary radio airplay chart, as it reached No. 1 this week, its fourth week of eligibility. For reference, that’s uncommon: This is the fastest a song has pulled that off since Adele’s own “Hello” reached the top of that chart in four weeks in November 2015.

Meanwhile, Glass Animals also had themselves a great week, as their 2020 single “Heat Waves” rose from No. 13 up to No. 10. The song was released on June 29, 2020 and has now reached the top 10 in its 42nd week, which is the longest trip to the top 10 in the history of the Hot 100 chart. It’s also the group’s first top-10 single (as well as their first single to chart on the Hot 100 at all).