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Despite everything that’s happened, the Republican party remains beholden to a septuagenarian who’s been kicked off most of social media and now lives in resorts with strangers. Trump has repeatedly strongly suggested he plans to run in 2024. But some have taken things…well, not one step further, exactly. More like one step back: Among the many wacko things Trump lackey Matt Gaetz has claimed is that his favorite former president could become Speaker of the House.

It seemed an odd thing to say — and it inspired the question: Is that, like, even possible? Can someone who’s not even an elected lawmaker rule over one of the biggest bodies of government? Well, some are taking whatever steps necessary to ensure that, even if it is, it doesn’t happen. As per Forbes, Pennsylvania Rep. Brandon Boyle introduced a bill called the MEMBERS Act. What it stands for also explains what it is: Mandating that being an Elected Member Be an Essential Requirement for Speakership.

Boyle called the act an “alarm bell,” saying signing it into law would be “in the name of protecting our nation and our democracy.”

Thing is, it’s not that far-fetched. As Forbes reports, Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution deems the House has the power to “choose their speaker and other officers.” Throughout history, every Speaker has been a member of the House. But it doesn’t offer any specific requirements, which suggests Gaetz did some snooping, hoping to find a loophole.

“This legislation would establish that mandate in very clear and direct language,” Boyle said, “and it would serve as a check against those who would seek to undermine and derogate the authority and responsibilities of the Speaker’s office.”

Fun fact: There have been cases when non-House members have received votes during speaker elections, the most recent case being now-President Joe Biden, who got a vote from Democratic representative Anthony Brindisi in 2019 based on his opposition to current Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

As for Gaetz, he’s busy these days impersonating Huey Lewis on sidewalks and getting clowned in viral videos.

(Via Forbes)

Here are some opinions Geraldo Rivera has voiced since last November: Donald Trump lost re-election. People who say otherwise, like Rudy Giuliani and Charlie Kirk, are fools or worse. Don Bongino is wrong and his beliefs are worth attacking in public. Joe Biden hasn’t been doing a bad job. He has other takes, ones more in line with his Republican stripes; he recently cheered Bill Cosby’s prison release, for one. But he’s been one of the few GOP supporters making sense in this topsy-turvy time.

So here’s another Geraldo hot take (that’s actually just a basic, sensible take): People who say vaccinations are an infringement upon their human rights are also wrong. This one came the day Fox & Friends’ Brian Kilmeade went on a libertarian rant so unhinged that even Steve Doocy had to shut him down, pleading with his viewers to get the shot(s).

“Hearing crazy talk on cable TV right now about folks having the constitutional right not to get vaccinated,” Rivera wrote on Twitter. “Yes (they may be dopey) but they do have that right. We too have rights: to deny the unvaccinated access to our home, school or business.”

Again, the longtime conservative has been making sense a lot these last couple handful of months. And yet people were still blown away by agreeing with Geraldo Rivera.

Some, though, were a little hesitant to praise Rivera simply sounding rational.

In the meantime, the much more contagious Delta variant continues to rip through parts of the nation where vaccination rates are low.

The story Liz Cheney tells is that on the afternoon of Jan. 6, as armed Trump supporters were funneling through the Capitol, having violently broken through cordons of police officers, her Republican colleague Jim Jordan offered his hand to help her flee the premises. She swatted it away. “Get away from me,” she claimed she told him. “You f*cking did this.”

Jump some seven months later and Jordan may be on the committee examining what happened on that dark day.

According to Politico, Jordan — the Ohio representative, who gleefully disseminated misinformation about the 2020 election in the weeks leading up to the failed insurrection — is one of five likely Republicans allegedly being discussed by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to look into what caused the attack. The others are fellow representatives Jim Banks (of Indiana), Rodney Davis (Illinois), Kelly Armstrong (North Dakota), and Troy Nehls (Texas).

Three of these possible candidates voted against the 2020 election results in January, including Banks, Nehls, and, of course, Jordan.

These names are not official as yet, but if they do become a reality, they’ll be part of a Democrat-led committee that already includes Cheney, who was stripped of her power in the GOP after she dared speak out against Trump and the many in her party, McCarthy included, who have continued to enable him since he left office in January.

The select panel is due to its first hearings later in the week, which will include testimony from the Capitol Police, many of whom begged Republicans to help unearth the causes of the attack.

Upon hearing that Jordan, of all Republicans, would be sitting on a committee meant to probe into a tragedy that he has been accused of helping foment, people on social media were livid. But it was a joke that really seemed to put it all into perspective.

Is the “hot dog driver guy” bit from I Think You Should Leave — from the first season’s eighth finest sketch, per Uproxx — the definitive joke of our age? It seems to get a lot of mileage in an age when those causing the biggest problems in the world try to project blame upon others in the most shameless fashion.

Others were suitably horrified.

Of course, Nancy Pelosi could always put a stop to that. If she so wishes.

But there’s a chance Jim Jordan could report to a select panel later this week, perhaps dressed in a brown suit with a loud yellow dress shirt and ketchup-colored tie.

(Via Politico)

Right now in the cannabis cooking scene, there isn’t a single person with the star power of Chef Nikki Steward. Her ability to infuse cannabis into healthy foods and command a room with stories that follow the throughlines of food history is why Chef Nikki is the go-to chef for legends like Dave Chapelle, Naomi Campbell, and Snoop Dogg, as well as a whole handful of corporate leaders, athletes, and social media influencers. Her High-End Affair brand — a touring cannabis culinary and entertainment experience — is booming and she’s absolutely in demand among the weed-imbibing elite.

Recently, Chef Nikki teamed up with cannabis vaporizer brand Pax Labs for a special collaboration that saw the chef pairing Pax’s new Era Life concentrate-based vaporizers with plant-based recipes that reflect the vivid colors of each Era Life design. To mark that launch, we linked up with Chef Nikki to talk briefly about the new recipes and got into a deeper conversation about cannabis in the culinary space, where to start if you want to begin cooking with cannabis, and the exciting frontier of psilocybin cooking.

***

So… one of your Era Life recipes is themed around carrots and, more specifically, “carrot bacon.” How does one make carrots taste like bacon?

What I do is an old-school culinary hack, you gotta use liquid smoke, you mix it with tahini, you also add maple syrup and liquid aminos or coconut aminos. The longer you let it set, the more it absorbs the smokey ness of bacon, the sweetness and the saltiness of that flavor.

So get a nice big carrot, when you shave it you’ll see the little lines, almost like bacon, like when you’d fry it. Let it marinate in the mixture and it will pick up all those flavors. It’s a really quick recipe, it takes five minutes of prep, in and out of the oven within 10 and you’ve got crispy carrot bacon strips. It’s kind of mind-blowing to a lot of people.

It’s very different, bacon has been done a lot of times with a lot of different things, even if you’re talking about proteins, turkey, lamb, pork, beef, there are so many options for bacon. But on the vegan side it’s usually seitan, or maybe coconut, I’ve seen mushroom bacon. But the only thing that resembles the actual full length of a bacon strip is a carrot.

You approach your cooking from a whole and healthy foods perspective. How did you fall upon that particular aspect of the culinary world? I know you were studying pharmaceutical sciences at Ohio State, so I imagine what you were learning in that field played into what you wanted to do with food.

Those things represent the ethos of my brand — my last name is Steward and when I think about being a good steward, you’re being a good steward to your body, and a good steward to your community so I want to promote healthy things. When we’re normalizing cannabis we also have to normalize health and wellness and incorporating those two with food and cannabis. To me, they are in natural alignment. As we’re pushing cannabis to be normal in everyone’s life, now I feel like it’s a regular supplement, or an additive to your food. That’s how I settled on that.

You’ve cooked for all sorts of celebrities from athletes to influencers to Chappelle, of course. What is the menu curation process? Is this something you discuss with clients or are they coming for a specific menu by you?

I have this thing personally, I try not to do the same thing every time. Thankfully I do have creative liberties with most of my clients, they trust me in that way. I know the do’s and dont’s and the allergies and stuff, but usually, for instance, yesterday, I did my menu planning for the rest of the week with my team. My sous chefs and I sit down and discuss flavors we would like to see, and new recipes techniques we would like to try. We try to do new stuff all the time. Last week, I have a sponsor in hot sauce called Truff, and we made caviar beads out of the truffle hot sauce. We’re always trying to challenge ourselves and push ourselves to the next level using different types of molecular gastronomy. We’ll try to do something fun or a little bit more scientific to challenge ourselves and my team is always down.

We have really great brainstorming meetings, I usually write the menu and they go through it and add some additional flavor notes and break it down into the prep list and the recipes. My team consists of all women, we have a really good relationship, we all know each other and our ways as far as in the kitchen. We’re making duck bacon this week, and duck prosciutto. With these things, a lot of people think we can just do them the night before, but no, we have to let them cure for five to seven days, a lot of these things take time.

Why was it important for you to create this team of all women, is that making up for the way the food industry has failed women?

100%. 110%. Women in the kitchen are often very overlooked and underserved. In addition to adding the black and brown woman to the kitchen, my mission is to consistently hire and mentor black and brown women and also women in the LGTBQI spectrum because they’re also one of the most underappreciated people in the kitchen. I want to elevate them to a platform where they are seen and help them grow their own personal businesses outside of working with me.

What’s your personal relationship to cannabis? I imagine you approach this from a more holistic and healing perspective.

Yes, very much so, I feel like most people have a teen story but I was a teenager the first time I consumed cannabis. And I thought “This could be my vibe.” In high school people are like “yeah let’s drink our parent’s liquor” but I’m over here wondering if one of my parents had weed. Where is it?! I remember sitting with my friends at the park and that was one of my first experiences with cannabis. But as I studied and learned more about plant medicine, drugs, synthetic drugs, and things like that, understanding wellness and healing, I began to incorporate cannabis more or less as a practice of health and plant medicine.

I always teach people that cannabis is an entheogen and understanding the root word of entheogen of plant medicines, that root word means “of God” and if you think about when you smoke cannabis, you’re getting closer and closer to that level of highness right? I teach people the relationship of cannabis, ancestrally, and historically, and medically and how it was used and how it should never have been put in this position where we’re now trying to legalize it federally because it should never have even gone there, but I do have those conversations with a lot of people because that’s my relationship to cannabis, it’s very spiritual to me honestly.

When did you start experimenting with cannabis as a culinary ingredient?

My first time experimenting with cannabis as a culinary ingredient was in college. I was just trying new things, of course, I did the brownies and the cookies in the beginning. Making my own butter… I’ve probably fucked myself up way too many times. More than I can imagine. Terribly. But when I started to understand dosing and went through the process of learning when I was in school and then stopping in the pharmaceutical space and going into the culinary space I just figured, maybe I can just merge the two?

What’s wrong with really loving food and really loving cannabis and how can we bring them together in a way that isn’t just brownies and cookies? I got turned off by that, why does everything have to be sweet all the time, it’s okay to have savory things, it’s okay if you want just raw nuts, why can’t they be infused?

So I was constantly thinking about ways — this has probably been a 12-year journey for me at least. But my first start was definitely the college brownie experience.

Speaking on dosing, how do you handle something like that? It’s a very sensitive area especially for people who are interested in using cannabis as a culinary ingredient, but we’ve all had those situations where we’ve had an edible you can’t handle and you end up staying in bed shivering all day and it feels like the world’s ending.

Yeah! I started teaching myself breathing techniques to get through that. I really do, I also teach a lot of my diners who feel that they’re a little too elevated the wim hof breathing techniques, because its really mind over matter, because you’re not going to die. That’s the one thing we do know, it’s not going to kill you, but just getting through that headspace and that breath space because a lot of the time when you’re way too high from an edible it’s an immense amount of pressure.

“Can I breathe?” Absolutely you can breathe, you’re just overthinking it!

When you approach something like dosing do you have specific guidelines or is that just too deep of a science to get into?

It’s pretty deep of a science, as far as the mathematical breakdowns, but it is a process by which you have to really train yourself and really understand your actual product and the amount of THC. There are a lot of home devices that you can use to make oils and things like that, you put your ounce of cannabis in there, and your carrier oil and those products are great now because they really break all of those things down for the at-home consumer. But if you are a chef and you are doing these things, the majority of the time I’m doing infusions for 200 to 300 people at a time… I can use everything from distillate to water-soluble rosin, water-soluble isolate, there are just a lot of different types of concentrates I use that create different effects and different results — it gets really tricky!

For someone who is just starting out, and interested in cooking with cannabis, what’s a good place to start? Should people start simple, brownies, cookies, or is there another recipe that you think is even easier?

Well, I’ll tell you what, as a sidebar, the carrot bacon does require oil, so you really could replace that amount of oil with cannabis oil or half and half, there are so many things you can do that you don’t have to start with cookies and brownies. You can take the recipes I write, and add additional things to them and replace those measurements. I do encourage people to go outside the box. Make a vinaigrette, instead of taking that oil and putting it in brownies, or you know, marinate some fish! There are a lot of different options so I just always encourage people to always have their measuring spoons, know how much THC is in your product, as soon as you think you’ve put too much, you probably did.

I mean seriously, I’ve thought “is that too much? Yeah probably, but you’ll figure it out.” It’s part of research and development.

When cooking with cannabis, are you someone who is relying on its natural aromas and flavors or are you looking for something that’s as transparent as possible and it’s more about medication?

There are often times where I lean more towards the seamlessness of flavor when it comes to cannabis, but I also like to bring the terpenes forward on certain dishes so that they match. So maybe we’ll take an atomizer, and incorporate the terpenes in the atomizer, and spritz the dish or we’ll put smoke back into it with the terpenes. Have you ever seen those smoking cocktails at a bar? In that same technique, you can put terpenes into there and it can smoke in the cocktail at the top of the glass so you get the essence of the terpenes at the top.

When I’m doing a lot of citrus, anything with garlic, every now and then I like to leave a little bit of the terpenes at the beginning so you taste it like “hmm?” but then once you digest it you don’t have the after taste of the terpenes.

I’m guessing Dave Chappelle’s favorite cannabis-infused mac and cheese is the recipe you get asked most about, can you share it with us or is that a guarded secret?

Honestly, it’s not a guarded secret. I have a recipe out for a full mac and cheese recipe out on WeedMaps. But it is one of the most often asked things. My DMs are filled with “Can you ship it?” I’ve been asked to deliver mac and cheese everywhere in the world. It’s just one of those things, we like comfort when we’re high anyway, and who doesn’t like mac and cheese? And so boom! But you have to be honest with yourself, you can’t eat three or four bowls, you can’t do it. You’ll blow on your ass before the end of the night. I don’t mind giving out the recipe, for the very reason that I know you can’t make it the same as I do. But I’m going to let you try. But it’s just the way I do it, I think it’s more about the technique than the ingredients.

You’re also interested in psilocybin in cooking. Where do you think we are as a country when it comes to mushroom-infused food? Obviously, edibles are taking off, especially after the pandemic, they’ve really shot up in popularity. Now as more states are decriminalizing mushrooms, how far out — I know you do it for some people as a very personal experience — but how far out are we from that being offered on a wider scale?

I don’t think we’re very far at all. I think we’re within a couple of year window, maybe two to four years, especially federally, it’s moving way faster than cannabis ever moved. The California Senate just pushed it through. The thing is, it’s a very interesting walk with psychedelics in food, especially psilocybin. Mushrooms are a very interesting thing, you can’t cook them all the way through because you lose the properties, you can heat them to 120 degrees a 130 maybe. I’m in a group that talks about a lot of safety and consent with psychedelics and we talk about the new trends in the industry, we’re seeing it in a lot of different places. I’ve been gifted a lot of different things I didn’t even know people were making. Like syrups, gummies, and chocolates, of course, the candy is going to hit the market first, all the sweet things.

But what I’m trying to figure out is, are people going to want to see dispensaries have mushroom products that aren’t sweet? I think it’s coming for sure. You can dry out mushrooms and put them in a trail mix and that could be your little microdose. There are so many things, a lot of companies reach out to me and want to do R&D right now and most of them are cannabis brands. It’s coming, it’s sneaking up on me faster than I thought, it’s like “Oh psychedelics are in the news today? Let’s go!”

As someone who is into the healing aspects of both mushrooms and weed, is this growing popularity something that stresses you out or worries you? Mushrooms are a more intimate and personal experience, freaking out on edible marijuana is one thing, but the effects of mushrooms are so much more profound. Are we moving too fast or is it on people to know what they can handle?

Yeah, I do believe it’s on everyone to figure out where they will settle in that space. I do work with a lot of groups that talk about safety and messaging and we have our eye on different types of psychedelic propaganda, but we’re always trying to teach people to sit with mushrooms. I have no problem with people using mushrooms recreationally, but I’m a person who likes to use them to get into a space to connect with my higher self, we do talk people through journeys, safety, and knowing your numbers as far as your dosing. A lot of people can’t just go and be a macrodoser. You kind of have to start slow in the micro-levels and work your way up. The other thing is a lot of people aren’t considering that it’s important to think about the other medications you’re on.

Cannabis doesn’t typically interfere with a lot of other psychotropics in the way that psychedelics do. So if you have someone that says “yeah I want to take a lot of mushrooms” and they’re on SSRIs or some sort of psychotropics, they’re definitely going to experience some psychosis if they go into a large mushroom trip.

Mushrooms will probably have — and Canada already has mushrooms in dispensaries — but the labeling and the regulation are probably going to be very similar to when you get a prescription to something. Don’t take this with, eliminate this, that kind of thing.

And again even with mushrooms, you’re not going to die! Just let it pass through.

The last year of the pandemic really gave an opportunity for a lot of industries to reset and reflect on themselves, what would you like to see the food world do better?? I know the food industry has failed women of color — feel free to double down on that point if you like to — but what can the food world do better not just for people working in the field but from a consumer standpoint?

I’m gonna start from this angle. My daughter comes to me last week and says “there’s no Michellin award or James Beard category for what you do” and I said, “no there’s not!” And she said, “do you think there will ever be one?” I don’t know, I feel like there should be. I’ve heard rumors that James Beard was going to add a cannabis category because it is a niche thing but it’s a space that is growing and there are a lot of chefs that have converted into that space that are extremely talented. I think for me I focus on telling stories, I talk a lot about the American aesthetic of food as it relates to the African diaspora. I do a lot of food lessons and I encourage people to understand food history. I think for the food world we’re getting close to that and people are starting to understand certain foods that we eat now, fried chicken, potato chips, they’re tracing the source back how these things get into the American aesthetic of food and also giving credit to the African Americans who created those dishes and the reasons why.

I’m always pushing people to understand spices and rice, and where did that come from how did it get there, why do we use it? Don’t shade certain cultures for certain things, I’m constantly having these conversations with my Asian, Latino, Black, and Caribbean chef friends. American really is a melting pot of immigrant food which we call “American food.” So don’t be shady to these immigrants when you’re consuming their food.

As far as the agenda and representing and mentoring black and brown women in the culinary space, I turn down men often, almost daily. I had two requests today, but my heart is never going to change. The woman that work with me, they will never make it to executive chef in most situations, they’ll never own their own restaurant if they aren’t given the opportunity to shine. One of my chefs, she’s from Detroit, she’s 23, she works at a really great restaurant in downtown Detroit. Because she’s been working with me doing stuff with Chappelle, her boss, the executive chef, just offered her a raise and increased responsibility. But it’s because he’s like “oh, either I want to keep you or you’re a goner right now. People are asking about you when they’re coming into the restaurant, Is Noel here, or is she with chef Nikki?”

I think the food world has a lot to grow as far as sources and where things come from and respecting cultures that contributed to that.

The Boys is the superhero world’s most flagrantly adult entry — way more violent and generally R-rated than Deadpool, if nowhere as serious as Logan. But Season 3 sounds like it’s really pushing the envelope. Among the storylines the next batch of episodes will pursue includes Herogasm, a six-issue off-shoot of the comic in which some of our heroes, well, get lucky. And if everything they’ve shot so far makes it to the final cut, it would definitely be the bluest thing to ever grace superhero motion picture media.

In an interview with The Wrap, showrunner Eric Kripke discusses including the infamous limited series, which was published in 2009, set between issues #30 and #31. It finds Homelander (Anthony Starr) and team pretending to go off to fight an alien threat. Instead they go to an island resort for a weekend of super-sized sex and drugs. Kripke says when he first pitched adapting it to Amazon execs, he was met with a “sigh of resignation.”

It sounds like they didn’t disappoint:

“I mean, those dailies are insane … Like, if we showed everything we saw in the dailies, we for sure would be rated X. I can’t even get my head around what we’ve filmed. We’ll make sure that we’re walking the right line and that we’re outrageous, but not exploitive, of course. So there probably will be a lot of self-censorship. But anyone who is a fan of the books and that particular volume of ‘Herogasm,’ I can just tell you, you’re definitely going to get the full ‘Herogasm’ experience. There’s just no question.”

Of course, the X rating hasn’t been around since the late ’80s, and NC-17 never really took off like it should have. Streaming TV, moreover, doesn’t really have much of a ratings system in place. But maybe the Herogasm stretch of The Boys will fix that.

In any case, one of the main complaints about the Comic Book Industrial Complex we live in is that the shows and movie versions, at least, have pretty much no sex. No one’s horny, no one’s hot for each other, and no one ever, ever does the deed. (Well, Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool did get lucky.) This sounds like a bit of over-correcting — but maybe over-correcting is exactly what comic book media needs.

(Via The Wrap)

Islay has peated Scotch whisky on lock. The malts are smoked with peat-fueled smoke in Port Ellen’s legendary malt house on the island’s southern coast. All of the island’s distilleries produce smoky whiskies, though the degree of the smokiness varies.

But there’s more to Scotland’s peated malts than just Islay. The Highlands and Islands also produce signature smoky whiskies that stand as tall as any peat monster from Islay.

Today, we’re going to dip our toes into the peated malts from the Highlands. We’ll hit up the Islands (Talisker, Highland Park, and others) next time around. Though both styles are smoky, Highland peated whisky is a different breed than the stuff from Islay, based on the peat. The peat from the Highlands is imbued with trees, grasses, and cold winters full of snow; the peat in Islay is all about that sea soaking into the soil and the grasses and botanicals that grow across the island.

Very broadly, the smoke that is produced by the peat in these places is just different. That creates a different smoke which results in different malts, mash, and, finally, whiskey.

The ten bottles below tour you through peated malts from the Highlands. Full disclosure, some of these are pretty deep cuts. Some of them aren’t readily available at your local liquor store. Don’t worry — others are. If you want to give one of these peaty Highland whiskies a shot, just click on the price links.

anCnoc Rascan

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $92

The Whisky:

Hailing from the famed Knockdhu Distillery, this single malt is named after the rake-like tool that breaks up the sod so harvesters can dig out some peat. The whisky is made from malt that’s barely been kissed with the smoke from a peat fire, keeping the phenols very low. The juice is loaded into ex-bourbon barrels where it’s allowed to rest for “nearly” ten years before proofing and bottling.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a rush of fresh Granny Smith apples on the nose next to Honey Nut Cheerios made from fresh oats and dipped in real honey with the smallest spritz of orange oils. The fresh honey sweetness builds as a slight and almost woody bourbon vanilla sneaks onto the palate with a sharp edge of eggnog spice. The sip slowly fades towards smoked dried apple tobacco with a touch of old, soft leather and dried heather.

Bottom Line:

The smoke on this is so dialed back, that no one will blame you for missing it. It’s wholly tied to the sweet honey and apple, making this a great whisky for the smoke neophyte.

Clynelish 14

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $72

The Whisky:

Up on the cold northern coast of Scotland, you’ll find a little town called Brora. There used to be a distillery there of the same name, which made peat monsters up unit the 1980s. Clynelish took over the location and started making their own peated malts, this time while leaning more into the sea than the peat. And in this case, they’ve created a very lightly peated single malt that spends a decade and a half resting near that sea until it’s just right.

Tasting Notes:

This has a nostalgic sense of a cold, rainy beach. You’re not necessarily on that beach but you can remember to sea spray, the salt on your lips, the smell of dried seaweed, and a touch of old smoke from a nearly dead fire. The taste dances between notes of burnt orange peels, old leather tobacco pouches, and this soft mineral water mouthfeel that carries with it a creamy vanilla just touched with sea salt. The end is medium-length, salty, and has this mildly bitter edge that’s akin to a cocoa bean pith.

Bottom Line:

This was a revelation when I tried it with Johnnie Walker’s Master Distiller Emma Walker this year. It’s unbelievably well balanced and so soft. It’s a true hidden gem.

Dalwhinnie 15

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $75

The Whisky:

This entry-point bottle to the wider world of Dalwhinnie is a hell of an easy drinker. The juice is aged in Scotland’s coldest distillery, making the maturation process a severe one. The juice spends 15 years hiding in those barrels as the temperatures dip well below freezing across all those winters.

Tasting Notes:

Imagine a bowl of pear and apple peels sitting next to an open jar of floral summer honey on the nose. Dots of citrus oils mingle with that honey as a smooth vanilla character arrives on the back of sweet brown bread bespeckled with smoked walnuts. The nuts, sweet bread, and floral honey all converge on the finish as it slowly fades towards a final billow of sweet smoke at the back of your mouth.

Bottom Line:

This is another whisky that’ll hook you in immediately. It’s so delicately balanced while still being assured in its flavor and texture profile. It’s an all-around classic.

The GlenDronach Traditionally Peated

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $72

The Whisky:

This unique drop from late 2019 took The GlenDronach back to its 19th-century roots. Dr. Rachel Barrie devised a throwback peated single malt to celebrate the mash bills of the distillery’s founder that leaned into peated malts. The juice was then aged in ex-bourbon barrels before a finishing rest in both Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks.

Tasting Notes:

The whisky draws you in with a sense of pineapple and peaches that have been grilled on a smoky grill and then drizzled with honey and served on a slice of vanilla white cake. The honey and smoky BBQ briquettes drive the taste towards hints of smoked plums and smoldering cinnamon sticks while that fruit starts to edge towards bittersweet. The end has this oatcake vibe with a touch of raisin and walnut while the honey takes you back towards that smoky grilled fruit.

Bottom Line:

This is a very well-round bottle — in that you kind of end up back where you started while still feeling the journey that got you there. The smokiness is amped up a little on this (compared to the other peated whiskies on the list). So, we’d recommend pouring this one over a single rock.

Oban 14

ABV: 43%

Average Price: $90

The Whisky:

This is a great gateway to both Oban and scotch to have on hand. The juice is classically made and then matured in the Oban storehouses for 14 long years — all within a stone’s throw of the sea.

Tasting Notes:

Citrus, salt, and a billow of peat smoke open this one up in classic fashion. That citrus carries on as a foundation for mild spices, a note of honey, hints of pears, and plummy dried fruits mingle on the tongue. The oak spice and extremely mild peat smoke meet on the end with a slight malty sweetness as the sip fades.

Bottom Line:

Oban is the ultimate accessible peated malt. It’s so subtle, complex, and silky. It’s also the perfect whisky for pairing with a seafood feast.

Old Pulteney Huddart

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $68

The Whisky:

This peated malt ups the ante on the peatiness. The limited-edition juice is first aged in ex-bourbon barrels. That whisky is then transferred to second-fill bourbon barrels that aged heavily peated whisky for a finishing maturation.

Tasting Notes:

The whisky’s nose sort of feels like someone dumped a handful of vanilla bean husks on a backyard campfire and then handed you an apple pie brimming with brown sugar, cinnamon, and drizzled with salted caramel. The taste keeps that pie filling vibe but the fruit mellows more towards a stonefruit as a hint of sea spray arrives on the back end of the smokiness. The finish really takes its time and leads you towards singed, dry moss and a final note of floral honey sweetness.

Bottom Line:

Peaty whisky finished in peaty ex-bourbon barrels could be construed as a hat on a hat. But this works. The smoke is bold but the fruits, spice, and sweetness all make sense while balancing the whisky out.

Edradour Caledonia 12

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $80

The Whisky:

This is a classic Highland single malt. The peated juice started off as a one-off single-barrel pick that became a yearly release. The whisky aged in ex-bourbon for about eight years. It’s then refilled into ex-sherry casks for about four more years of maturation before it’s proofed and bottled.

Tasting Notes:

The nose on this is figgy pudding with stewed plums, Christmas spices, sultanas, and plenty of brown sugar syrup with a hint of sweet sherry-soaked oak lingering in the background. The palate settles into honey-roasted almonds next to a bowl of ripe red berries in cream with a drizzle of summer honey leading towards this hint of dried mushroom. That touch of umami leads towards a very distant whiff of campfire smoke on the far backend of this sip as it fades out.

Bottom Line:

This is really all about the red fruits, nutty figgy pudding, and sweet treats. The earthy smoke is very much an echo that feels more like you’re eating a dessert outside on a cold fall night.

Ardmore Tradition Peated

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $44

The Whisky:

This peated malt from Ardmore takes its aging process back in time to the 1800s. The juice is first aged in ex-bourbon casks. The whisky is then re-barreled into traditional “quarter casks” that were used for aging peated malt 200 years ago.

Tasting Notes:

This has a velvety nose full of vanilla pudding cut with eggnog spices that were cooked in an old, wood-fired oven, giving the nose a hint of soft, sweet smoke. The taste brings a peaty smoke through the vanilla creating a creamy texture while hints of tart apples and dried red fruits counterpoint that creamy, smoky vanilla. The peat really attaches to the creamier parts of the taste on the fade until you’re left with wet moss after a soft rain.

Bottom Line:

This is one of the more interesting deep cuts on this list. It’s fascinating in that it makes you think while you drink. You’ll want to go back in on the nose and taste to see what else you can find in there.

Glenmorangie Finealta

ABV: 46%

Average Price: $88

The Whisky:

Glenmorangie is world-renowned for its sweet single malts. That wasn’t always the case and this is the proof. This juice is rendered from peated malts and a mash bill that dates back to a 1903 recipe from the distillery. The whisky is then aged in ex-bourbon and finished in ex-sherry casks.

Tasting Notes:

There’s this vibe of peaches grilled over soft wood with a touch of smoke latching to the sweet fruit as a touch of orange and marzipan peek in. The palate holds onto the orange and builds this mix of brandied cherries, eggnog spices, and buttery vanilla frosting with just a hint of dried lavender. The finish circles back around to the marzipan with another whiff of sweet smoke and a light touch of soft mineral water.

Bottom Line:

This is a very rare Glenmorangie that’s 100 percent worth tracking down. It’s so unique yet so familiar without sacrificing any deliciousness.

The Famous Grouse Smoky Black

ABV: 40%

Average Price: $28

The Whisky:

This version of Famous Grouse is built on a foundation of rare Highland whisky. Glenturret peated single malt is at the core of this blend. That’s special in that Glenturret doesn’t really make peated malts — save for the whiskey that’s in this blend.

Tasting Notes:

Like all Highland peaties, this whisky has a balance of smoke and sweet from the first nose. There’s a hint of cedar that feels like it was soaked in dark rum and then set on fire. As that fire dies down, you’re left with dried fruits, dates, and a spice cake that leans into cloves and licorice root. The end is fairly long and revels in the soot of that burnt cedar box as an old rum note sneaks back in with more raisins and spice.

Bottom Line:

This is a mixing whisky that has a bold, peaty feel. It’s complex enough to be a great cocktail base but don’t expect greatness from this if you pour it in a glass on the rocks.

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As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive commission pursuant to some entries on this list.

Guilty Gear Strive came out back in June to positive reviews and is considered one of the better fighting games currently out there. Most people who manage to play it say it’s a really good game and one of the most accessible in the series. That’s great for anyone that’s looking to get into a fighting game for the first time. Unfortunately, actually getting into a game appears to be a bit of a challenge.

Many players are growing frustrated at how long it takes to get into the game itself. Launching the game can lead to a rather lengthy wait time while the game connects to servers and loads. Things haven’t gotten better in the weeks since its launch, and it’s turned into a bit of a community joke in the process. Such as trying to speedrun the main menu.

However, the most popular joke has easily been seeing what games can be quickly beaten, or benchmarks reached before the game has finished loading in. Have you ever wanted to see someone beat the entirety of Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance for GBA in under 30 seconds? Well, that can be done with time to watch the credits before the menu will finally connect for Guilty Gear Strive.

One person managed to defeat the first Bowser fight in Super Mario 64 in the time it took to access the main menu while another completed an entire level of Sonic Generations. At least Sonic is known for going fast, but letting portly old Mario beat you in a race has gotta be rough.

One of the most challenging moments of Dark Souls is when you have to take down two bosses at once. So why not defeat both of them before accessing the main menu?

If you’re one of those people that likes to do something such as watching a basketball game while you play fighting games then try to line up starting the game with Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo taking free throws. He can get through a few of them before the game has finished loading in.

I think it’s safe to say that it takes way too long to load into this video game and this is an issue that hopefully gets addressed in future updates. Nobody likes having to wait to play a game and menus taking forever are going to do nothing but frustrate players. Until that is fixed though we can at least enjoy watching people complete video games extremely fast while we wait.

We are rapidly approaching the start of the 2021-22 NBA year with the Finals winding down and the Draft and free agency just weeks away. The Draft draws the most focus at the moment, in part because this is one of the more highly-anticipated draft classes in some time and teams will feel there’s an opportunity to bolster depth and add a rotation piece for the future no matter where they are picking in the first round.

Free agency arrives shortly after the Draft, however, and the decision on who to pick or what trades to potentially make always have to be done with what the plan is for free agency in mind. For some teams, that means going hunting for big name stars, while others will be working more on the margins, but front offices always have to keep the full picture in focus. For a number of teams, this summer will bring some key decisions on players from the 2017 NBA Draft who are hitting free agency for the first time as restricted free agents.

The restricted designation means their current teams have final say in whether they match an offer sheet or let them walk, and some decisions will be more difficult than others. Here, we’ll look at the 10 restricted free agents that figure to be the most interesting this summer, with some being locks to return (with the only question being at what price), while others could be pried away by other suitors if they’re willing to bid high enough.

John Collins, Atlanta Hawks

Given the Hawks’ run to the conference finals and the significant role Collins played for Atlanta in that stretch, it would seem an easy decision for the Hawks to simply bring him back. However, extension negotiations made it clear the difference in where the team thinks Collins’ value lies and what Collins himself is looking for. Ownership has said they want Collins back but at the right price, and if there is a team out there with lots of cap space — like the Spurs — who is willing to pay Collins’ max (~4 years, $120 million) it might be enough to make the Hawks balk.

I think Atlanta almost has to match on Collins even if that happens, because letting him walk doesn’t open up any real cap room to replace him and they simply can’t rely on Danilo Gallinari as the full-time guy at the four. Atlanta is worried about having to pay all of their young guys and knows they’ll have to make some hard choices, but given Collins is the one young guy who doesn’t play a position that’s redundant with any of their other youngsters, I don’t think he’s the one they can walk away from.

Bruce Brown, Brooklyn Nets

The Nets have to bring Bruce Brown back, this postseason showed his immense value to the team, but the question is whether a team wants to make the Nets pay significantly for that opportunity. There will be plenty of teams that look at Brown as a versatile defensive connector that could unlock a lot of things for them, and while the Nets likely weren’t expecting to have to break the bank on Brown prior to this season, he’s likely going to require a hefty tax bill to keep. That shouldn’t make for any real hard decisions in Brooklyn, particularly given how hard it’s going to be for them to build depth with outside signings, but I can guarantee you some other teams will want to make the Nets pay a little extra to keep their superteam intact.

Devonte’ Graham, Charlotte Hornets

This is, I think, where things get interesting. Graham is clearly the third guard in Charlotte now behind Terry Rozier and LaMelo Ball, and that might be a perfectly good role for him. After showing out in 2019-20, however, he saw a significant reduction in his role as a creator this season and if he feels that’s what he should be, then it wouldn’t be a surprise if he has interest in moving on. The Hornets would surely love to keep him because that trio is an excellent backcourt rotation, but they also seem likely to be more willing to walk away if the asking price gets too high because they have bigger needs to address elsewhere. With reports Graham could be in for a hefty payday, Charlotte might find itself with a very difficult decision.

Lauri Markkanen, Chicago Bulls

Markkanen is maybe the most available RFA of the bigger names on the market this summer, as he simply has never found a consistent role in Chicago. It seems best for all parties to move on, but it remains to be seen what the actual market for Markkanen’s services are. The Finnish big man certainly brings offensive upside, particularly as a shooter, but he leaves plenty to be desired on the defensive end. Still, that shooting ability figures to intrigue someone and it’d be fairly shocking if the Bulls chose to match any kind of substantial offer sheet if it came.

Jarrett Allen, Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavs swooped in on the James Harden trade and came away with a gem in Allen, but now they have to pay up. Allen’s going to have plenty of teams interested in him and while the Cavs have no reason not to match most any offer, what he gets from Cleveland is going to set the bar for the upcoming run of extensions needed for their cavalcade of recent high draft picks — which is the biggest reason most expect Collin Sexton to be on the move this summer.

Talen Horton-Tucker, Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers love THT, so much so that they reportedly weren’t willing to part with him in Kyle Lowry trade talks, but now comes the opportunity for teams (like with Bruce Brown in Brooklyn) to lob big offer sheets at Horton-Tucker in order to see if the Lakers blink or are willing to pay a hefty tax price to retain their most intriguing young player. We’ll see if any team wants to put the pressure on L.A. with a big offer sheet, and we’ll also learn quickly just how much they value the young wing.

Duncan Robinson, Miami Heat

Everyone loves shooters, but where the market lands on Robinson is going to be very telling about how the league views the value of even an elite, mostly one-dimensional shooter. Robinson is as good a shooter as there is in the NBA who goes beyond static catch-and-shoots to hit shots at an exceptional rate on the move off handoffs and pindowns. That versatility in being able to get his shot off is important and makes him valuable, but less so than a player who can also create for himself off the bounce or who brings defensive upside as well. The Heat should be willing to match most anything for Robinson, but what makes him intriguing from a league-wide perspective is what it might tell us about how the NBA views that archetype of player in this moment.

Lonzo Ball, New Orleans Pelicans

Probably the RFA that has the most overlap between “most available” and “most coveted,” Ball is going to have plenty of suitors and seems unlikely to be brought back by the Pelicans so long as there is a fairly substantial offer made — especially after rumors emerged New Orleans will pursue Kyle Lowry. There will be at least one team that believes their situation can be the one to fully tap into Lonzo’s potential, building on the continued strides he’s made as a shooter in New Orleans and put him in a competent defensive scheme that can keep him engaged constantly in a way he’s not yet shown. Lonzo remains a tantalizing talent even if his unique combination of strengths and weaknesses don’t necessarily fit easily into player archetypes we are used to. Teams like the Bulls, Knicks, and others who are both in need of a lead guard and want to compete with a younger team figure to be heavily in the mix for Ball, and contenders with guard needs also surely to at least check in on him.

Josh Hart, New Orleans Pelicans

Hart has made clear that New Orleans is not where he wants to be any longer, and where the market shakes out for him is going to be interesting. He profiles as a solid rotation wing, capable of defending multiple positions while being a good rebounder. What will make or break Hart going forward is his jump shot, as his rookie year he was a near 40 percent shooter from three but has never come close to replicating that in the three seasons since. If he can find that shooting form again in a place that’s a better fit, then he could be a Donte DiVincenzo-like asset to a contender at a good value this offseason.

Zach Collins, Portland Trail Blazers

Collins has suffered another setback on the injury front, fracturing his foot once again and it’s possible that the cash-strapped Blazers don’t even extend him the qualifying offer as they need every available roster spot to try and make Damian Lillard happy. As such, Collins is a buy-low candidate for a team that has the time to be patient with him and hope that his injury history can be put in the past by getting him to a new situation. A team like the Hornets could look to give him a smaller, two-year deal to give him a place to rehab his way back from the foot injury and hope that it pays off with a healthy second year where he’s suddenly a bargain.

Danny Brown is a unique, head-turning rapper. He seems to have a keen eye for other idiosyncratic artists as well: Bruiser Wolf, an artist on Brown’s Bruiser Brigade Records label, has drawn critical praise for standing out on his new album, Dope Game Stupid. As Wolf makes his ascent, a new Magnum Scenes video (presented by Uproxx in partnership with Magnum) looks at where Wolf has been and where he’s going.

The Detroit rapper was once known as Big Wolf, but he says he tweaked his name to show his appreciation for his label and his fellow artists on it: “I used to be Big Wolf. Changed it when I got with the Bruiser Brigade. All fire MC’s, fire producers. […] To let them know that this forever, I put ‘Bruiser’ in front of my name, like a badge of honor for me, to express my loyalty.”

Between footage of Wolf showing off his home and life, his Bruiser Brigade compatriots share praise for his unique style. “He’s a poet and a comedian at the same time,” ZelooperZ noted. J.U.S. also declared, “I ain’t heard nobody rap like that in so long.” Meanwhile, Brown praised his “very distinctive voice that’s going to separate him from the pack.”

Elsewhere in the video, Wolf and his peers tell the story of his career so far, and it’s full of terrific anecdotes, including some avian coincidences that tie in to the distinctive Dope Game Stupid cover art. Check out the full video above.

As female rappers continue to gain in popularity, more of them have spoken out about the unfair perceptions facing women in hip-hop. Cardi B recently addressed the double standard that follows them, saying in essence that they must work twice as hard for half the respect, a sentiment that up-and-coming rapper Latto co-signed a few weeks later.

In a new interview for Nick Cannon’s show on LA’s Power 106, Doja Cat also fielded questions about why she believes women face these obstacles. “When you dress up like you are going on a night out in Miami… People will put you in a category and for them to be comfortable, they’ll make it seem like you are not very smart, you are just a girl who is just a rapper,” she said. “You don’t have a great sense of humor maybe, or you’re stuck up… like female rappers are vapid or less than smart, I feel that’s how they’re looked at.”

Incidentally, it seemed that the interview itself simply affirmed her outlook, as she later tweeted, “If you’re gonna interview musicians try to ask them about their music,” highlighting how Cannon’s line of questioning apparently ignored the fact she has a new album, Planet Her, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and spawned the singles “Kiss Me More” with SZA and “You Right” with The Weeknd, as well as a deluxe edition featuring Eve’s first rapping appearance since Missy Elliott’s 2017 “I’m Better” remix.

Watch Doja Cat’s interview with Nick Cannon above.