This week’s episode of UPROXX Sessions features Young Thug affiliate T-Shyne, performing his song “That Go!” which appears on the YSL Records compilation Slime Language 2. While the song’s usual guests Thug and Meek Mill couldn’t appear, T-Shyne shows he can hold his own with an energetic performance that brings the song to vivid life.
As a member of YSL Records, T-Shyne’s gotten his fair share of attention as one of the label’s longest-tenured members, joining in 2016. As one of the few non-Atlanta artists on the label, he stands out from the pack but has a built-in multi-regional appeal thanks to his New York upbringing combining with his Southern exposure. While he hasn’t released a solo project since 2018, the increased buzz from his standout moment on the compilation could very well lead to increased interest in another one sometime soon.
Watch T-Shyne’s “That Go!” performance above.
UPROXX Sessions is Uproxx’s performance show featuring the hottest up-and-coming acts you should keep an eye on. Featuring creative direction from LA promotion collective, Ham On Everything, and taking place on our “bathroom” set designed and painted by Julian Gross,UPROXX Sessionsis a showcase of some of our favorite performers, who just might soon be yours, too.
Generally speaking, people in the US get their driver’s licenses during their teenage years. In that regard, though, Lil Nas X was a bit of a late bloomer. He’s 22 years old now and he just got his license recently: He shared a photo of it a couple months back and it showed the license was issued on April 30 of this year. Then, on June 21, he shared a photo gallery of his new first car, a “Panini”-predicted Mercedes.
So, he’s had his license for a little over two months and his car for about two weeks, and he has already drawn the attention of the law: He took to TikTok today to celebrate getting pulled over for the first time. In the video, which he also shared on Twitter and Instagram, the rapper looks at the camera with his hand over his mouth in disbelief. The shot then changes to show the police vehicle in his side-view mirror. The video wraps with Nas dancing in the front seat of his car as the police car is still behind him. All the while, the video is captioned (and narrated by a computer-generated voice), “Oh my god guys I finally did it! I got pulled over.”
A good litmus test to determine whether your election fraud conspiracy theory has reached crackpot levels: Does Marjorie Taylor Greene believe it?
The Republican representative has backed some truly wild conspiracies during her short time in office. She’s a devout QAnon groupie, once blamed “Jewish space lasers” for wildfires in California, and apparently believes there are actually 31 days in the month of June. So yeah, Greene can theoretically get on board any conservative-minded crazy train, which makes her recent comments concerning an election fraud theory from the My Pillow guy surprisingly rational.
Mike Lindell has been going on conservative talk shows to spew his unsubstantiated claims that Donald Trump, the man who lost the 2020 Presidential Election, will resume his presidency on August 13th of this year. He’s got a conspiracy board and everything, but we won’t waste brain cells trying to understand the reasoning behind the date or how Trump thinks he can run a country when he and most of his team might be behind bars fairly soon. Instead, we’d like to focus on Greene, who visited Steve Bannon’s show (via Raw Story) to dispel the rumors instigated by Lindell.
“I want people to be careful in what they believe,” Greene said. “It’s going to be very difficult to overturn the 2020 election and so I would hate for anyone to get their hopes up thinking that President Trump is going to back in the White House in August. Because that’s not true.”
Apparently, Greene is worried that Trump supporters might be setting themselves up for disappointment, despite personally subscribing to a belief group that thinks a sex cabal is being run out of DC-based pizza shops. But before you start to think, “Hey, maybe Marjorie hasn’t completely lost the plot,” here’s the rest of her statement on Trump’s presidency hopes:
“It’s just that I don’t want people to get excited and think that something is going to happen and then they get disappointed. We need to stick with the truth. We have to stick with the process. And we have to reveal the election fraud.”
Aaaand we’re back. Look, to be fair, if Marjorie Taylor Greene actually acted rational, Twitter would be a lot less fun.
The mechanized heartbeat of the fast food machine never stops! Did you think that after a month that brought us new food from Taco Bell, Wendy’s, and Burger King, we’d get rest in July? Not a chance — it’s summer, baby! This is fast food’s season, look no further than the drop date of Popeye’s famed fried chicken sandwich, which arrived on the scene in August of 2019.
When the weather is hot, the body wants fast food. Either that or we’ve spent all our money on booze and vacation and need something cheap to sustain us.
As if the temperature outside wasn’t hot enough as is, this week brings us some sweet chili heat, courtesy of Shake Shack. The brand has just unveiled its Hot Honey summer menu, which includes a new seasoning for the Shack’s fries and nuggets, three fruity mocktails, two new shakes, including one with Pop Rocks — weird — and the star of the show, a new chicken sandwich called the Hot Honey Chicken.
As you can imagine, some of these new items are definitely worth ordering and some, quite frankly, aren’t. So we taste-tested the whole lineup (so that you don’t have to!), delivering the full breakdown of each new item from worst to most essential.
Least Essential — Lime Agave Margarita, Piña Punch, and Watermelon Mint Mojito Summerades
Dane Rivera
Price: $3.29 (Small), $4.09 (Large)
Since the cocktail-inspired Summerades were easily my least favorite new additions to the menu, I’m lumping them all in together into a single entry. Each flavor leaves a lot to be desired, and after tasting each I was left scratching my head wondering just exactly who these are for. They’re not for people who want to enjoy some alcohol with their Shake Shack, because the Shack has both wine and beer, so those people are covered. So then… it’s for lemonade fans? Juice heads? I suppose if you roll up to Shake Shack and want a refreshing beverage that isn’t carbonated, this is for you, but none of the three flavors are better than classic lemonade.
Let’s start with the worst: Lime Agave Margarita. It’s very peppery with a dull bitter bite that would totally work with some tequila or mezcal. They try to make up for this with the inclusion of jalapeno and smoked salt, but the result is a super sweet drink with a weird bitter aftertaste and a cloudy unappetizing appearance. Skip this one.
Things improve a lot with the Watermelon Mint Mojito, which goes pretty light on the watermelon, but has a great refreshing minty flavor profile, with a hint of bitter over-steeped white tea worked in there to balance the sweet flavor notes out. It kinda sorta works but still isn’t really worth spending money on.
If I had to pick a favorite in this lineup, it would be the Piña Punch, which tastes like a more natural version of the fruit punch of your childhood, with notes of cherry, pineapple, blackberry and mango, giving this a gourmet Big Stick popsicle vibe. Still, I wouldn’t exactly describe any of these as more refreshing than an ice-cold Coca-Cola, and they easily have just as much sugar, if not more.
The Bottom Line
If you want some juice with your meal, by all means, go ahead and order one of these but you’ll probably be better served by getting a lemonade or an Arnold Palmer. Avoid the Lime Agave flavor at all costs.
Good but Forgettable — Triple Chocolate Chip Shake
Dane Rivera
Price: $5.79
It makes me a little sad to give something this good the “forgettable” status, but I just don’t feel like the Triple Chocolate Chip shake pulls its weight compared to everything else on the summer menu. If you love Shake Shack’s chocolate shakes, this is simply more of the same, with a richer chocolate flavor and frozen semi-sweet chocolate chips mixed in, giving you an extra little dose of chewable chocolate to enjoy between sips.
The problem is the Shake Shack straws are way too narrow to make this shake work, you’ll constantly be sucking as hard as you can to get the chips dislodged from the straw, which will absolutely result in them shooting to the back of your throat and getting lodged there momentarily. Luckily the chocolate will melt before you can choke, but a shake shouldn’t take this much effort to drink.
The Bottom Line
If you love Shake Shack’s chocolate shakes, this is definitely worth a try. If you don’t normally grab a shake at the Shack, this isn’t a reason to start.
Good — Hot Honey Fries
Dane Rivera
Price: $3.99
Don’t let the name “Hot Honey Fries” full you into thinking these are some type of sauce-drenched fries, they’re not. They’re just dusted with a sweet and spicy seasoning that greatly improves Shake Shack’s stock fries. I’m not a fan of Shake Shack’s crinkle-cut fries, I think that at a fast-casual restaurant that goes the extra mile in crafting their Angus meat burgers, hand-breaded antibiotic-free chicken, and hand-spun shakes, these frozen crinkle-cut fries are an odd, out of place misste –, so any effort to trick them out and make them more palatable is greatly appreciated.
The seasoning on these fries tastes sort of like a sweetened Tajin, with a barely-there heat that quickly settles into a sweet lingering aftertaste. It has that power that spicy food has of leaving your taste buds wanting more, but it suggests spiciness more than it actually delivers. I don’t think that’s a bad thing but set your expectations correctly, because if you want spicy fries, these aren’t quite that.
The Bottom Line
A better seasoning for your fries than salt and pepper — order these over the original!
Good — Hot Honey Chicken Bites
Dane Rivera
Price: $5.19 (6-piece) $7.19 (10-piece)
Like the fries, the Hot Honey Chicken Bites are a better version of Shake Shack’s regular Chicken Bites. The sweet and spicy seasoning pairs better with the chicken than the fries, and perfectly embeds itself into the craggy crust of these chicken nuggets — delivering a juicy bite of tender chicken with a delicious, lingering sweetened chili flavor. While I dipped both the fries and the chicken in Shake Shack’s new Habanero Mayo sauce, the sauce paired more harmoniously with the chicken, offering notes of bright citrus to Shake Shack’s garlic powder and black pepper-forward chicken batter.
As good as the chicken bites were, they still tasted like they were missing something. Luckily that gets remedied in the sandwich version.
The Bottom Line
An improvement on Shake Shack’s regular Chicken Bites. When this seasonal seasoning leaves the menu, it’ll be a major hit to Shake Shack’s stock fries and nuggets. Get it while you can.
Great — Cherry Pop Shake
Dane Rivera
Price: $5.79
I fully expected to hate this one. A vanilla coke milkshake topped with Pop Rocks (“popping candy” in this case), where am I at, f*cking Jack in the Box? This sounded like some stoner nonsense, and that’s coming from a stoner! But everything about this milkshake just works, it’s not only the best Shake Shack milkshake I’ve ever had, it’s one of the best milkshakes currently in fast food. Made using Vanilla cola frozen custard, I’m not getting any of that coke flavor in the actual drink, instead, I’m tasting a nice balance of vanilla and sweet Amarena cherry that has a natural sourness to it that (oddly enough) pairs perfectly with some Pop Rocks.
I haven’t had Pop Rocks in easily over a decade, and there is something about that popping sensation that matches up well with the decadent qualities of a nice thick milkshake. The Pop Rocks add a chewable quality to this milkshake that I really like and sort of acts like a bridge between bites. I’d strongly advise you to save this milkshake for after your meal, as the popping really doesn’t stop. Shake Shack didn’t just sprinkle some candy on the whipped cream and call it a day, this shit is embedded in the drink, giving you a dose of popping candy with every sip.
I had way too much fun drinking this thing.
The Bottom Line
I know that a milkshake with Pop Rocks sounds f*cking stupid, but just give it a try. This will exceed your expectations.
Must Order — Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich
Dane Rivera
Price: $7.19
Throughout my tasting of Shake Shack’s Hot Honey menu, I was getting a lot of sweetened heat, but identifying that sweetness as “honey” wasn’t quite hitting the mark. Honey has a distinct earthy sweetness and consistency that just wasn’t translating through the dry seasoning. But after eating the Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich, it’s clear that the menu was named for this delicious entry — which definitely delivers on the promise of honey.
The hand-breaded chicken filet in this sandwich is generously brushed with a sticky honey glaze made from shallots, oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. If that wasn’t enough flavor, it’s further elevated with some summer-y notes of bright passion fruit that give this sandwich a tropical sweetened flavor that truly feels fit for the season.
The filet is already so well seasoned that this sandwich isn’t in need of a sauce, but Shake Shack provides one anyway, brushing the toasted potato bun with habanero mayo. The mayo sauce is made using pickled habanero peppers, which add a sour acidity to the sauce that reminds me of a lime rind — a quality I didn’t really enjoy that much when used as a dipping sauce, but here on the sandwich it really helps to settle the sweetness of the glaze, adding complexity to this chicken sandwich that just isn’t present in any of the competition, yes, including Popeyes (!!!!).
The sandwiches only weak point? That lettuce. Might as well just toss it out.
The Bottom Line
It’s hands down my favorite chicken sandwich of the summer. I’d order this over Popeyes any day in a heartbeat. Time will tell how long that feeling lasts, though. I might just be charmed by the newness of it all. It’s definitely worth a trip to Shake Shack — that’s for sure.
Shake Shack’s Hot Honey Summer Menu is available now nationwide. Find your nearest Shake Shack here.
Thanks to Bridgerton proving once again that audiences will show up in droves for old-timey Victorian romances, and reality TV always being a reliable staple, Peacock has apparently decided to mash the two together in Pride & Prejudice: An Experiment in Romance. While the Jane Austen classic has been adapted to include, among other things, zombies, this is the first time it will be used for a dating series. Think The Bachelor, but everyone talks with a British accent and does that pinky thing when drinking tea.
Here’s the official synopsis:
A heroine looking for her duke will sign up for the ultimate social experiment in romance. Transported to a Regency-style England, a group of eligible hopeful suitors will have to win the heart of our heroine, and her court. Housed in a castle on the countryside, set on a beautiful backdrop of rolling hills, the heroine and suitors will experience that with which dreams are made of. From carriage rides and boat rides on the lake to archery and handwritten letters to communicate, they will be immersed in a time-traveling quest for love. In the end, our heroine and her suitors will discover if the ultimate romantic experience will find them true love.
Pride & Prejudice: An Experiment in Romance is casting right now, so if you’d like a chance to festoon your loins with Victorian garments while attempting to meet the love of your life, you can click here.
The rapper explained that her appearance makes people think she’s a good dancer, but she’s really more suited to other sports. “I think that’s why people get so let down, because they’re expecting me to be this sensual person onstage, but if I can, I’d rather play a sport in front of you,” she said.
Even before reading online criticisms about her stage presence, Saweetie knew there was a lot she wanted to work on. When she first started rapping at 24, Saweetie says there was a “huge learning curve” for her. Saweetie told Vulture that instead of being able to hone her sound after her “Icy Girl” hit, Saweetie was playing festival and pressured to release more music:
“I’m an artistic girl. And I think that in the beginning, that artisticness was suffocated. It was wilted like a flower. In quarantine, I’ve been moisturized. I’ve been watered. I’ve been getting my sleep; I’ve been able to rejuvenate. I know what type of artist I want to be now. […] I don’t like arrogance. One day, I want to say, ‘I’m the best to ever do it.’ I can’t do that without identifying my weakness. I can’t do that without realizing what’s holding me back.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver held his annual press conference prior to Game 1 of the 2021 Finals on Tuesday night. Among a myriad of other topics, Silver was asked about the ongoing tension at ESPN — one of the league’s broadcast partners — regarding comments that Rachel Nichols made about Maria Taylor last year. Taylor replaced Nichols as the host of NBA Countdown, and in response, Nichols, unaware that her recording equipment was on, told Adam Mendelsohn, an advisor to LeBron James, that Taylor got the Countdown gig because ESPN was “feeling pressure about your crappy longtime record on diversity.”
When asked to comment on all of this, Silver started by speaking about the incident more broadly.
“People make mistakes. Careers shouldn’t be erased by a single comment…”
Adam Silver speaks on Rachel Nichols’ recent comments about NBA Countdown host Maria Taylor, and ESPN’s response: pic.twitter.com/yPzerhdKbB
“What I’ve learned from dealing with these issues with the NBA is that they are incredibly complex,” Silver said. “There’s no magic bullets here, and they require a very labor intensive effort of getting people in the room and working through these issues by talking a lot about them and then talking even more about them and creating a climate where people are comfortable saying what’s on their mind, where people are given the benefit of the doubt, especially long-term employees that are in good standing, that when they do make comments, that people recognize that people make mistakes, that careers shouldn’t be erased by a single comment, that we should be judging people by the context of their larger body of work, and who they are, and what we know about them.”
Silver went on to be a little more specific, referencing both Nichols and Taylor before continuing to package this as an issue ESPN has not addressed despite having ample time to do so.
“I think it’s particularly unfortunate that two women in the industry are pitted against each other,’’ Silver said, per Marc Berman of the New York Post. “I know that both Rachel and Maria are terrific at what they do, they work extraordinarily hard.
“When people can’t get in a room and talk through these issues, this seemingly has festered now for a full year. This is an incident that happened I guess when Rachel was in the bubble a year ago, and I would have thought that in the past year, maybe through some incredibly difficult conversations, that ESPN would have found a way to be able to work through it. Obviously not.’’
In honor of it being 10 years since their famous 2011 farewell tour, LCD Soundsystem is reissuing their out-of-print box set, The Long Goodbye: LCD Soundsystem Live At Madison Square Garden, via DFA, Parlophone, and Warner Music.
Originally a 5-LP vinyl unabridged recording of LCD’s four-hour April 2, 2011 show at New York’s Madison Square Garden, the updated physical reissue will be available in a box set of five LPs and three CDs. It’s also produced and mixed by LCD leader James Murphy and features special guest appearances from Win Butler and Regine Chassagne of Arcade Fire, Reggie Watts, the Juan MacLean, Sh*t Robot, Planningtorock, and Shannon Funchess of Light Asylum.
LCD Soundsystem, of course, did ultimately reform after their “farewell” tour, reuniting in 2015 with a holiday-themed single, “Christmas Will Break Your Heart.” Then, doubling down on the reunion, LCD appeared at a number of major music festivals and released a new studio album, American Dream, in 2017. Still, never hurts to remember that moment in 2011 when you thought LCD Soundsystem was departing this world forever.
Have a peek at the reissued The Long Goodbye tracklists below.
Vinyl edition
Side A
1. “Dance Yrself Clean”
2. “Drunk Girls”
3. “I Can Change”
Side B
1. “Time To Get Away”
2. “Get Innocuous!”
3. “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House”
4. “Too Much Love”
Side C
1. “All My Friends”
2. “Tired / Heart Of The Sunrise (Excerpt)”
Side D
1. “Sound Of Silver”
2. “Out In Space”
3. “Ships Talking”
Side E
1. “Freak Out / Starry Eyes”
2. “Us v Them”
Side F
1. “North American Scum”
2. “Bye Bye Bayou”
Side G
1. “You Wanted A Hit”
2. “Tribulations”
3. “Movement”
Side H
1. “Yeah (Crass Version)”
2. “Someone Great”
Side I
1. “Losing My Edge”
2. “Home”
3. “All I Want”
Side J
1. “Jump Into The Fire”
2. “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down”
CD edition
CD1
1. “Dance Yrself Clean”
2. “Drunk Girls”
3. “I Can Change”
4. “Time To Get Away”
5. “Get Innocuous!”
6. “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House”
7. “Too Much Love”
8. “All My Friends”
9. “Tired / Heart Of The Sunrise”
CD2
1. “45:33 Intro”
2. “You Can’t Hide (Shame On You)”
3. “Sound Of Silver”
4. “Out In Space”
5. “Ships Talking”
6. “Freak Out/Starry Eyes”
7. “Us V Them”
8. “North American Scum”
9. “Bye Bye Bayou”
CD3
1. “You Wanted A Hit”
2. “Tribulations”
3. “Movement”
4. “Yeah”
5. “Someone Great”
6. “Losing My Edge”
7. “Home”
8. “All I Want”
9. “Jump Into The Fire”
10. “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down”
The Long Goodbye: LCD Soundsystem Live At Madison Square Garden reissue box set is out 8/6 via Parlophone/DFA/Warner Music. Pre-order it here.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The country of Iceland has released the analysis of its 4-day work week experiment and the results speak for themselves.
The trials run by Reykjavík City Council and the national government took place from 2015 to 2019 and included about 1% of Iceland’s working population, making it the world’s largest shortened workweek trial to date. The findings show that paying people the same amount to work fewer hours per week results in a happier, healthier workforce with similar or increased productivity. Who knew?
Will Stronge, director of research at Autonomy, a UK think tank that co-conducted a study of the trials, said in a statement: “This study shows that the world’s largest-ever trial of a shorter working week in the public sector was by all measures an overwhelming success. It shows that the public sector is ripe for being a pioneer of shorter working weeks—and lessons can be learned for other governments.”
So what are those lessons we can learn?
1) There’s nothing magical about a 40-hour workweek.
Most of the workers in the trial reduced their hours from 40 hours per week to 35 or 36, without any decrease in productivity. In fact, the study found “Productivity and service provision remained the same or improved across the majority of trial workplaces.”
Forty hours is an arbitrary number that was initially instituted in the U.S. as a response to the inhumane factory hours workers were forced into at the dawn of the industrial age. And this isn’t the first study to show that working fewer than 40 hours isn’t some magical, ideal number of working hours. A New Zealand company that cut its hours to 32 hours a week had similar results as this Iceland trial—happier employees and no loss in productivity.
2) Paying people more for their time may actually make them more productive.
It’s not just that people worked fewer hours in this trial—they worked fewer hours but still made the same amount of money, effectively upping their per-hour wage. Iceland already boasts one of the highest average income levels in the world, so a higher hourly wage may not have had a huge impact there, but since productivity didn’t decrease despite the fewer hours, it’s possible that people work more efficiently when the value of their time is reflected in their pay.
Considering the debates over a living minimum wage in the U.S., seeing the correlation between pay and productivity is interesting, to say the least.
3) Happier, less stressed humans make better, more efficient workers.
This should really be a no-brainer, but it’s good to see additional data to back it up. Happy workers are better workers.
U.S. work culture tends to reward “the grind,” and celebrates people who “go the extra mile” at work, but studies like this one keep showing that overworking is not the way to increase productivity. As the Autonomy study points out:
“Worn down by long hours spent at work, the Icelandic workforce is often fatigued, which takes a toll on its productivity. In a vicious circle, this lower productivity ends up necessitating longer working days to ‘make up’ the lost output, lowering ‘per-hour productivity’ even further.”
And conversely, the study states:
“Countries with greater productivity per hour usually have fewer hours of work. Furthermore, not only does greater productivity usually correlate with shorter work hours, but as productivity increases, working hours tend to go down over time.”
4) A healthier work-life balance actually makes people like their jobs more.
Are people unhappy at work because they don’t really like their work, or because they are simply working too many hours? According to the Iceland trial, working less made people enjoy their work more (which probably also contributes to greater productivity).
“[Workers] kind of had a greater energy on the job and actually enjoyed their work a bit more, which sounds very rosy,” Stronge told CBC Radio’s “As It Happens.” “But that is what comes out of a lot of these trials, is that people feel actually more attached to the job. In a way, they feel rewarded by having more time.”
Naturally, there are a few caveats here. These trials were conducted on public sector jobs, so they may not be perfectly applicable in all industries. However, the public sector makes up approximately 15% of the workforce in the U.S., which is nothing to sneeze at. Direct country-to-country comparisons are also tough, considering variations in economies, demographics, lifestyles, cultures, etc., but some lessons are simply universal. A healthy work-life balance is a human need, not an Icelandic one, and we can all benefit from creating a culture where family time, rest time, personal creative time, and leisure time are considered just as valuable as our work time.
Thanks, Iceland, for the push to move in that direction.
Blanton’s Single Barrel is one of the most revered and sought-after bourbons on the market. And, if I’m being completely honest, that’s always pushed me away from the brand. I was above the hype for a while. Then, after re-tasting the whole line, I gave into it completely.
Now, I don’t shut up about Blanton’s. Yup, I’m that bourbon drinker. I even like the figurines on the corks.
Since I’m deep on this Blanton’s wave, I thought I’d rank their three core bottles — the Single Barrel, Gold, and Straight From The Barrel expressions. I was going to include the Special Reserve but that’s still only an international release (for the U.K.) and a fleeting one at that.
This is a look at each of the three core bottles and an examination of how they stack up, flavor-wise. As you can see from the photo below, I was doing some “research” over the weekend to keep things up to date.
If any of these bottles jump out at you, click on the prices to give them a try!
Buffalo Trace’s Blanton Single Barrel is made up of hand-selected single barrels that meet the sky-high standards of former Master Distiller Elmer T. Lee, who created the expression back in 1984.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a clear sense of Christmas spices right away, leaning towards honey spiked with vanilla and an old cedar cigar humidor. The taste holds onto the spice, especially nutmeg, as caramel kettle corn, more fresh honey, fresh red berries, and vanilla husks dominate the palate. The end doesn’t overstay its welcome as hints of eggnog spice, dry vanilla, and popped corn surface on the fade.
Bottom Line:
I had no idea what to rank third on this list. The very idea is kind of ridiculous. This is a great bourbon, a great single barrel, and a great whiskey in general. The only thing that maybe brought it down a notch was the low ABV. It’s not like it was watery. It’s more that I’m not sure it needs to be quite so low after tasting it right next to the Gold and cask strength versions.
2. Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel (Barrel No. 159)
Blanton’s is “The Original Single Barrel” bourbon, and this expression is the purest form of that whiskey. The juice in this case is from the barrels that need no cutting with water and are perfect as-is, straight from the barrel. All the barrels will come from Warehouse H (where Elmer T. Lee stored his private stash of barrels back in the day) and arrive with varying proofs.
The through-line is the excellent taste of that single, unadulterated barrel in each sip.
Tasting Notes:
The nose is full of very bespoke dark chocolate-covered salted hard caramel toffees encrusted with almonds and pecans — the kind you get from a chocolate shop that imports their goodies from somewhere like Belgium. The nutty toffee carries through into the taste as oily vanilla pods mingle with cedar boxes of dried tobacco leaves and a touch of floral honey. The end is very long and lingers in your senses, with a hot buzzing that subtly fades through all that sweetness.
Bottom Line:
This is a little warm on the nose and palate. A single rock turned this into something magical. But I was tasting these neat and ranking them like that, so a pretty impeccable product ends up in the #2 slot.
I know this is a very “this porridge was too hot … this porridge was too cold” situation, but I have to find some way to rank these!
This single barrel masterpiece was made for the international market but is now available widely in the U.S., albeit for a hefty price. The juice is all about the refinement of the single barrel aging process, with masterful finishing to bring this down to a very drinkable 102 proof.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a big greeting on the nose with notes of spicy tobacco leaves next to honey, dark berries, and orange oils. The palate carries those notes forward while leaning into the tobacco and amping up the rye pepperiness then balancing it with a bit more honey and caramel. The finish takes its time fading out as notes of vanilla, spice, and oak linger — with a final billow of pipe tobacco popping at the very end.
Bottom Line:
This really hit well on this go-around. It’s so goddamn soft and refined while still holding onto big notes that make it “Blanton’s.” That citrus, honey, berries, tobacco, spice … everything just works.
This wound up first because this was the dram I wanted to drink again, right after the tasting. That’s got to say something.
As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.
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