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While we never turn down a good bottle of bourbon or rye on a cold winter’s night, it’s hard to beat the warming, comforting feeling you get from a nice glass of peated (or even unpeated) Scotch whisky this time of year. Alas, your bank account is probably still reeling from all your holiday season generosity — so an overly expensive bottle of scotch is likely out of the question.

You need to get every penny’s worth out of the juice you buy this January.

To help you along your way, we asked some of our favorite bartenders to name the best value Scotch whiskies to drink this winter. Check them all out below, pick one or two that fit your price range and passion points, and pour yourself a dram. If you don’t have a Glencairn glass, a rocks glass or even an old coffee mug will do!

Aberfeldy 12

Felipe Muñoz, head bartender Sweetleaf Cocktails in Long Island City, New York

Aberfeldy 12 has become a staple behind our bar. A favorite of our bartenders as it delivers notes of honey, vanilla, orange and spice, all rounded out nicely by dark fruit notes and the right amount of peatiness. This will get bourbon drinkers out of their comfort zone too and keep connoisseurs of the category wanting the next sip.

Price: $44.99

Lagavulin 8

Erin Delaney, food and beverage director at Barn8 Restaurant & Bourbon Bar in Goshen, Kentucky

The best “value” Scotch to drink this season is Lagavulin 8 Years Old — because it is smoky and full of peaty flavor that you don’t find in other Scotches at this price, which tend to fall flat.

Price: $57.99

Kilchoman Machir Bay

Brandon “Habi” Habenstein, beverage director at The Kitchen & Bar at Bardstown Bourbon Company in Bardstown, Kentucky

Kilchoman Machir Bay is an absolute must-have bottle this time of year. Kilchoman is a “Single Farm” Distillery and, as the name may suggest, this bottle is indeed grain-to-glass where every aspect of production is handled on-site. The peat fires used in the malting process are very present in the whisky itself but not as powerful as say, Laphroaig.

Peated scotch is the quintessential whisky to drink in the winter, with fires crackling.

Price: $60

Ledaig 10

Iain McPherson, owner of Panda & Sons in Edinburgh, Scotland

The Tobermory distillery produces exceptional Scotch. Ledaig is their peatier range of expressions. My favorite within the range would have to be the 10-year-old, which is finished in sherry casks. The marriage of sweet berry notes and smoke is one that dreams are made of. The finish keeps going and going.

This is the ideal sipping Scotch at its price and it doesn’t get its fair share of the spotlight in my opinion. That’s largely to do with the historical dominance of smoky Scotch’s coming from Islay.

Price: $54.99

Aberlour 12

Andy Printy, beverage director at Chao Baan in St. Louis

Aberlour 12 is a great single malt for the season and the money. It’s all citrus and barley on the nose. At first sip, the citrus is met with apricot, orange blossom honey, and bit of black pepper. As it finishes, the dry barley and mild oak leave you with just enough residual tannin to keep you going back for more.

Price: $49.99

Monkey Shoulder

Robbie Robinson, lead bartender at The Ballantyne, A Luxury Collection Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina

I’ve recently come across Monkey Shoulder, which is blended with several single malts. Vanilla, clove, malt, and baking spices on the nose. It has a very creamy palate consisting of butterscotch, vanilla, honey, with a bit of dried fruit. All in all, a great match for the season.

Price: $32.99

Compass Box Peat Monster

Hayden Miller, head bartender at Bodega Taqueria y Tequila in Miami

Compass Box Peat Monster is an excellent holiday (or post-holiday!) scotch for those peat enthusiasts. Similar to many bottlings, this takes best to a splash of water or some cubes for better translation of the flavors.

Price: $49.99

Glengoyne 10

Gavin Humes, bartender at Scratch|Bar & Kitchen in Encino, California

I think not enough people give credit to the Glengoyne 10-year Single Malt – finished in sherry casks, it has a nice round, lush mouthfeel to complement the flavors of vanilla, baking spices, and almost overripe apples. The 10 years in cask give it enough time to really settle into the flavor complexity to be sure.

Definite bang for the buck!

Price: $44.99

Old Pulteney 12

Dan Marlowe, mixologist at Modena in Washington, DC

Old Pulteney 12-year-old Single Malt is a relatively lesser-known “highland” style that is completely peat-less. It is however aged seaside on one of Scotland’s most northern shores and the salinity in the spirit more than replaces the peat for flavor and depth. Perfect sipping on a brisk winter day.

Price: $45.99

Kilchoman Sanaig

Eric Vincent, bartender at Sparrow in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Kilchoman Sanaig. Everyone is aging, resting, or finishing their juice in sherry barrels and when done effectively I can hardly blame them. This Scotch is an excellent blend of all my go-to flavors. Mild salinity, enjoyable peat smokiness, toasted ex bourbon barrels and a nice nuttiness from the oloroso casks to round it all out — lots of scotch for the money here!

Price: $56.99

Slowthai wrapped up 2020 by starting to roll out his next album, Tyron. Here in 2021, he’s picking up where he left off by dropping an upbeat new song today, “Mazza.” The track features ASAP Rocky, whose creative agency AWGE is releasing the album in the US. Also set to appear on the album are Skepta, Dominic Fike, and James Blake, among others.

Meanwhile, Slowthai shared a note on social media, in which he revealed that he and his team have considered delaying the release of Tyron. However, he ultimately decided that he “cannot allow this virus to keep holding us back” and will go forward with the planned February release.

Listen to “Mazza” above and check out Slowthai’s full note below.

“it’s almost a year since this virus took hold of our world and shattered the lives of thousands. deaths, unemployment, rise in domestic abuse and suicide, business closures, educational crisis and a rise in homelessness to name a few of the overwhelming negatives this pandemic has caused.

i’ve personally struggled more with my own mental health during this time and wanted to let you know that you’re not alone if you feel the same. however, i’m trying to do my best to stay positive and look forward on ways in which we can come out of this and make this whole world a better place for every one of us.

earlier today me and my team had a conversation about pushing back TYRON due to the national lockdown and not being able to bring to life all the ideas we had planned for you all but i cannot allow this virus to keep holding us back.

films, an and music have helped me most in my darkest moments and with the majority of this album being made last year i would hope that it can help someone as a distraction amongst the chaos and shift their mindset positively.

‘normality’ may not return but we do have a chance to create a new normality. one built with humanity at the core, one that is inclusive of all with compassion and love as a focus. although it’s hard I try my best to act and visualise this every day.

ALL LOVE

TYRON.”

Tyron is out 2/5 via AWGE/Method. Pre-order it here.

As more and more artists get into podcasting as an alternative outlet and become the subjects of narrative podcasts like the Tekashi 69 podcast Infamous, it was only a matter of time until an artist took on the challenge of reporting for their own documentary-style show. Now, Dreamville and Bas are partnering with Spotify for The Messenger, a podcast telling the story of Ugandan pop star Bobi Wine, who is running for president in his country’s upcoming general election — and risking his life to do so.

Bas will narrate the podcast, amplifying Bobi Wine’s social justice struggle as he challenges Ugandan dictator Yoweri Museveni, who’s been the nation’s president since 1986. Under Museveni, Ugandan leadership has suppressed dissent, threatened to punish homosexuality with the death penalty, removed term and age limits on the presidency, and oversaw multiple humanitarian crises, including involvement in Congo’s civil war and the insurgency of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Northern Uganda.

Bobi Wine, who led multiple humanitarian aid projects throughout his tenure as both a musician and a member of Uganda’s Parliament, was banned from radio for speaking out against the government’s policies, arrested after his nomination for president, and allegedly mistreated while in police custody. The Messenger seeks to bring light to this artist’s struggle ahead of his challenging Museveni this year, spearheaded by Bas, who is also of African descent, although he hails from Sudan rather than Uganda.

Listen to the podcast on Spotify and check out its theme song, “Smoke From Fire,” above.

Meghan McCain has been back on The View for all of two days after taking a months-long paid maternity leave (which she only now realizes should be mandatory), and already she’s pissed off the internet and her co-hosts. On Monday, it was telling Whoopi Goldberg that the “media needs to be more respectful of Trump voters,” to which the EGOT winner replied, “You’re not allowed to kvetch and poop all over this!” (Don Lemon agrees). During Tuesday’s episode, she got into it with Joy Behar, who straight-up said what many others are thinking: Meghan’s contrarian takes were not missed.

During a discussion about America’s two-party system, Behar said that compared to the Democrats, the “Republican Party is in much more trouble right now because you have, really, traitors.” This was too much for McCain, who interrupted her co-host to bring up Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez not having the “full support” of Nancy Pelosi, and so on. “Excuse me, am I done? I’m not done!” Behar fired back. She was only getting started.

“You missed me so much, Joy. You missed me so much when I was on maternity leave. You missed fighting with me,” McCain joked. But Behar wasn’t joking when she said, “I did not. I did not miss you. Zero.” Harsh, but fair. McCain called Behar’s response “so nasty,” and that she was only “teasing because you said something rude,” but based on the reactions to the clip on Twitter, it seems most people are on Team Joy.

Sturgill Simpson may not have been keen on late-night talk show performances in the past, but since he can’t tour behind his recent music, the singer has made some exceptions. After appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Show this year, Simpson brings his bluegrass tunes to a performance on The Tonight Show.

Taking the stage backed by a full band, Simpson delivers an upbeat rendition of “Life Of Sin.” A reworked bluegrass version of the song appears on his 2020 album Cuttin’ Grass – Vol. 1 (Butcher Shoppe Sessions), one of two LPs he released last year. Simpson debuted the album’s follow-up, Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 2: The Cowboy Arms Sessions, in December as a way to “[take] more chances” with his sound.

Ahead of his The Tonight Show performance, Simpson sat down with Uproxx to chat about his music. Simpson also revealed that, along with having a bevy of music in his back pocket, he is also working on a manuscript about navigating the music industry. “I’m always writing. I wrote a book. I’m working on a couple of scripts,” he said. “I’ve gotten really into film. Not just acting, but the whole art of it. I think it’s a very powerful medium for storytelling, without as many restrictions as a three-and-a-half minute song. But I definitely wrote a book. Still working on it. […] As somebody starting at 35 and just sort of learning to navigate the waters and all the real ins and outs behind the curtain. The kind of stuff that fans probably deserve to know, but you don’t really want to say while you’re still actively engaged in the business. So, I’m going to save that.”

Watch Simpson perform “Life Of Sin” on The Tonight Show above.

Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 2: The Cowboy Arms Sessions is out now via High Top Mountain Records. Get it here.

Like a lot of couples, Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor‘s characters in the new HBO Max original, Locked Down, found themselves trapped together due to a nationwide quarantine. But unlike other couples, they decide to mix things up with a high-stakes jewelry heist. Shot in London during the pandemic, the first trailer for the romantic comedy showcases Hathaway and Ejiofor’s relationship falling apart while navigating a new world of Zoom calls and toilet paper hoarding. Director Doug Liman shows a skilled hand at dealing with a troubled couple who rekindles their love life with a little illegal activity, thanks to his work on the smash hit Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Ben Kingsley, Mindy Kaling, and Stephen Merchant also stop by for some blink-and-you’ll-miss-them cameos.

Announced back in September under the original name of Lockdown and with Hathaway already attached, Locked Down came together pretty quickly despite shooting in pandemic conditions in the UK and with only a $10 million budget. However, Warner Bros. clearly liked what they saw and snatched up the streaming rights to the film in early December, when it was fast-tracked for a release on HBO Max.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Just as they decide to separate, Linda (Anne Hathaway) and Paxton (Chiwetel Ejiofor) find life has other plans when they are stuck at home in a mandatory lockdown. Co-habitation is proving to be a challenge, but fueled by poetry and copious amounts of wine, it will bring them closer together in the most surprising way.

Locked Down starts streaming January 14 on HBO Max.

Indie music has grown to include so much. It’s not just music that is released on independent labels, but speaks to an aesthetic that deviates from the norm and follows its own weirdo heart. It can come in the form of rock music, pop, or folk. In a sense, it says as much about the people that are drawn to it as it does about the people that make it.

Every week, Uproxx is rounding up the best new indie music from the past seven days. This week we got another taste of the forthcoming tenth Foo Fighters album, a remix album of Grimes’ Miss Anthropocene, and an excellent covers EP from Hovvdy. Check out the rest of the best new indie music below.

While we’re at it, sign up for our newsletter right here to get the best new indie music delivered directly to your inbox, every Monday.

Grimes – Miss Anthropocene (Rave Edition)

Following in the footsteps of Dua Lipa, who brought new attention to Future Nostalgia with the reworked remix album Club Future Nostalgia, Grimes is back with a new “Rave” version of Miss Anthropocene nearly a year after the album’s initial release. While the tracklist is the same, each of the songs has been reimagined by the likes of Channel Tres and Julien Bracht, breathing new life into an already inventive album.

Hovvdy – Covers 2

Austin lo-fi indie-pop duo Hovvdy (one of the most underrated bands out there right now) had a relatively quiet 2020, popping up here and there to share a couple of new singles. To close out the year, the band has shared an EP of covers, featuring their takes on songs from Charli XCX, Coldplay, Paramore, and Frou Frou. Put through a Hovvdy filter, most of these tracks are almost unrecognizable until the chorus kicks in.

Foo Fighters – “No Son Of Mine”

With Medicine After Midnight right around the corner, Foo Fighters have shared another preview of their tenth studio album. “No Son Of Mine” is a frantic rocker, straying from a conventional time signature and ramping up the riffs. “Pour a drink, turn it up, close your eyes and imagine that festival field blowing up to this. Because it f*cking will,” Dave Grohl said in a handwritten statement.

The Black Keys – “Keep My Name Outta Your Mouth”/“Black Mud Pt II”

As part of the deluxe ten-year edition of their breakthrough album Brothers, The Black Keys have shared two previously unreleased tracks. “Keep My Name Outta Your Mouth” and “Black Mud Pt. II” fit in perfectly with their Brothers track brethren (hehe), expanding on the distorted blues sound that launched the duo to arena headlining status and yielded some of their biggest hits to date.

Jeff Rosenstock – “Caring”/“Illegal Fireworks And Hiding Bottles In The Sand”

2020 was never lacking in new music from Jeff Rosenstock. From the surprise release of No Dream to his ongoing 2020 Dump collection, the punk maestro had a prolific year. He wrapped up the ongoing release with “Caring,” an acoustic duet with Laura Stevenson, and a new rocker called “Illegal Fireworks And Hiding Bottles In The Sand.” Rosenstock announced the release on Instagram, writing, “Wishing every one of you patience, health, kindness, love and massive success and financial gains that test your character in ways you couldn’t possibly imagine in 2021. Farewell, bad year.”

La Dispute – “Fifteen”/“Kinross”

We’ve been eagerly awaiting a new La Dispute LP since Panorama landed at No. 2 on our mid-year list of 2019’s best indie albums. Well, nothing better to tide us over than two new tracks from the Michigan post-hardcore outfit that “combines jazz, spoken word, and post-hardcore all into one roiling, beautiful mess,” according to Caitlin White.

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

The Weeknd’s chart-topping album After Hours debuted in March and the singer has been steadily releasing videos alongside the album since. Previously, The Weeknd has appeared in videos and performances with his face wrapped in bandages. But now, he’s taking off the gauze to reveal some massive plastic surgery in his “Save Your Tears” video.

The video furthers the singer’s faux physical transformation, which he has been chronicling through his entire After Hours album cycle. The Weeknd was previously seen with his face bloodied and bandaged, even at awards shows. Now, the singer appears healed, revealing a massive facelift and plastic surgery. But while his physical features are restored, it’s clear his mental state is unraveling. The visual depicts The Weeknd in a manic state at a surreal awards show where he stumbles through the crowded ballroom and even fakes-out the crowd with a confetti pistol.

The visual arrives following The Weeknd’s spat with the Recording Academy. After Hours did not receive a single Grammy nomination, despite being one of the highest-charting albums of the year. The singer slammed the Grammys as “corrupt” after claiming the Recording Academy didn’t consider him for any nominations because he had agreed to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show.

Watch The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears” video above.

After Hours is out now via Republic. Get it here.

Making regular McDonald’s french fries at home is one of those cooking tasks that seems… a little absurd. You can go into any McDonald’s in the world and get an order of fries for $2 to $3 in less than a minute. They’ll usually be piping hot, perfectly seasoned, and pretty goddamn delicious.

Why try to recreate what the Golden Arches never screws up?

Here’s why: The McDonald’s french fries we get today aren’t quite as delicious as they used to be, thanks to a massive change in the recipe in 1990 — a once little-known food fact that has become (relatively) common knowledge. Back in 2017, Malcolm Gladwell took on the issue of McDonald’s changing up their fry recipe on his podcast, Revisionist History. The author pinned everything to a pivot the Golden Arches made on July 23, 1990, when they stopped using beef tallow in their fryers. He asserted that the fries pre-1990 didn’t just taste better in our nostalgia-hazed minds, they were better.

The logic holds up. French fries fried in duck or beef fat are always more deeply flavored and generally tastier than those dipped in corn, canola, or veggie oils. The current iteration at Mickey D’s are treated to have “beef essence” through the addition of wheat and milk extracts, but c’mon, that’s no substitute. Sure, they still rule, but now each bite begs the question: Could these be even better?

To answer that question, I tried to recreate the classic McDonald’s french fries at home and then compared them with some fresh fries from a local McDonald’s down the street. Besides the beef tallow, I followed the steps that McDonald’s uses to make their fries today — blanching them in a sugar/vinegar brine, pre-frying, freezing, and re-frying the potatoes before seasoning them.

What You’ll Need in the Kitchen:

• Kitchen knife
• Cutting board
• 2 large, heavy-bottomed pots
• Slotted spoon
• Baking sheet
• Large bowl
• Paper towels
• Container for freezing (Ziplock bag works too)
• Thermometer

Classic McDonald’s French Fries

Ingredients:

• 3 Shepody potatoes
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 2-lbs. beef tallow
• Salt
• Water

McDonald’s uses a lot of ingredients to recreate the beef tallow beef essence lost by cooking their fries in vegetable oils. I’m skipping all those additives and sticking with the barebones recipe of a sugar and vinegar brine to blanch, an initial fry, freezing, and second fry. I’m also just using Shepody potatoes, which is one of four potatoes McDonald’s uses for their fries. I didn’t have the time during a lockdown to track down Ranger Russets, Umatilla Russets, and Russet Burbanks.

Shepody potatoes are perfectly fine for making fries at home anyway.

The biggest change-up here is, obviously, that I’m using real-deal beef tallow from Belgium. Why? Because let’s face it, if there’s any culture that knows its way around a good fry right now, it’s Belgium. The cones of frites you can get on pretty much every other street corner in that small country are arguably the best in the world. And that comes down to the beef tallow they’re fried in.

Step 1:

First, I get two heavy-bottomed pots on the stove. In one, I’ve added two pounds of beef tallow. I turn the heat on low to allow the tallow to melt slowly. You want it to become a liquid before you turn up the heat for frying.

In the other pot, I add about half a gallon of tap water and a half-cup each of white sugar and white vinegar. I put that on high to bring it up to just under a boil and completely dissolve the sugar.

While the fat is melting and the water is warming, I start processing my potatoes. McDonald’s fries are peeled in a huge machine. I like a peel on my fries, so I leave it on. It also saves time.

I then use a kitchen knife to cut the potato length-wise into oblong disks that are just under one-quarter-inch thick. I then julienne those into long matchsticks. I make sure to cut them a little bigger than I want, as they’ll shrink as they cook.

The cut potatoes go straight into the warm water. I bring the water just to boil. As soon as that happens, I use a slotted spoon to transfer the potatoes to a towel-lined cutting board.

I then use another towel to dry the potatoes by pressing down on them to extract as much moisture as I can. You want to get them as dry as possible, without mashing or breaking any of the sticks.

Step 2:

I use a thermometer to keep an eye on the beef tallow. When it hits 375f/190c, it’s ready to flash fry the potatoes.

I use a slotted spoon to drop the fries in a handful at a time. I make a single layer of fries in the hot fat and keep moving them as they fry with the slotted spoon. Mine end up taking almost three minutes to fry. You want them to just start taking on a yellowish color.

I remove the first batch to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to leech out the excess fat and fry up the second (and last) batch.

Again, it’ takes about three minutes to hit that yellowish color. The fries are cooked but they’re not crispy fries yet.

Step 3:

After I leech out as much of the excess fat as I can by gently tamping the fries with a paper towel, I place them in a freezer-safe container in as close to one layer as I can. Some recipes call for a single layer for freezing. That takes up a lot of freezer space most people don’t have. This way works fine too.

I then place the fries in the freezer for at least two hours or until the fries are frozen through. You can keep them for up to a month like this and pull them out in batches to fry up at will if you want.

Step 4:

This is where the magic happens. I get the beef tallow up to 400f/205c to finish the fries.

Now, if you order a freshly fried order of fries from McDonald’s, it takes about three-and-a-half minutes to get those fries. So, I’m aiming for three minutes as my frying time.

I drop the fries in and keep an eye on my temperature. I have to kick the flame up to get the tallow back up to temp as quickly as possible. I also use the slotted spoon to move them around a bit (basically emulating the basket shake of a professional frier).

After three minutes pass, I check the fries for doneness and they’re very done. They aren’t burnt but they also are not that lightly fried McDonald’s french fry either. Still, they’re super crispy and freakin’ delicious.

For the last batch, I fry for closer to two minutes before dropping them in the bowl and salting. The crispiness was there but the color was a bit closer to actual McDonald’s fries.

Bottom Line:

So, McDonald’s fries are McDonald’s fries. They’re crispy yet soft with plenty of salt. They’re delicious. These fries are also delicious. They’re fries after all. They did have that sweet edge with a beefiness for sure. But they really tasted like your average homemade fries. Okay, they were a little better than “average.” The beef tallow really shined through and made them very tasty.

As you can see above, they look similar to McDonald’s fries and have a close texture and feel to them. Maybe if I fried 50 more batches in my beef tallow, it’d start to build up some deeper flavor/seasoning. But that’s never happening. That being said, I do think the vinegar and sugar brine/blanch added a nice touch to the overall fry.

I guess it comes down to this: These are delicious. But cooking them three times and freezing them in between is way too much work for a side you can get for $2 at any McDonald’s, beef tallow or not. There are easier/ more straightforward fry recipes that we like every bit as much.

Sure, you may still decide to make this one — just know that you’re doing it to feed your curiosity as much as your hunger.

In a new oral history on the making of the 1996 sci-fi classic 12 Monkeys, director Terry Gilliam had some interesting words to say about working with Bruce Willis, particularly the shape of his mouth. While revealing that he chose Willis after shooting down A-list stars like Tom Cruise and Nicolas Cage, who were at the top of their game during the mid-’90s, Gilliam described his one major issue with the Die Hard actor: he thinks Willis’ mouth looks like a butt.

“I had never been a great fan of Bruce’s before,” Gilliam told Inverse. “But I liked talking to him, and I thought, OK, this guy’s smart, he’s funny. I explained to him my concerns about him as an actor. I hated the Trumpian mouth he does in films. Rectal. It’s like I’m looking at somebody’s a**hole.”

Did he truly say “rectal” to Bruce Willis’ face? Gillaim doesn’t clarify, but Willis’ mouth wasn’t the only problem Gilliam ended up having with the actor, who had developed a reputation for being difficult on set. Despite assurances that he would “leave his entourage behind” and agreeing to work on 12 Monkeys for a fraction of usual salary for a chance to “stretch” as an actor, Gilliam said that Willis began to revert back to his old ways during the production:

Bruce was trying incredibly hard to just be an actor at work but he had been spoiled by success for so long. So he was in many ways like a kid who was pushing the limits constantly and then coming up with stupid excuses for being late on the set. There was one point he had something that looked like a note from his mother. We let Bruce go away for a long weekend and he came back and suddenly he was Bruce Willis Superstar again.

Despite the difficulties with Willis’ mouth and demeanor, 12 Monkeys went on to become a commercial and critical success, earning over $180 million on a $30 million budget.

(Via Inverse)