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The last few weeks of the Billboard Hot 100 chart have been very similar to how the chart wrapped things up in 2019. Like last year, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” found its way to No. 1. Also like last year, some other holiday classics are back in the top 10, although in 2020, they’ve come out in greater force than ever before.

A footnote from Carey’s historic chart run last year was the fact that on the chart dated December 28, 2019, four total Christmas songs were in the top 10 of the Hot 100, which at the time was tied for the most ever. Now, though, that record has been eclipsed: On the chart dated December 26, 2020, there are six holiday tunes in the top 10.

Returning to the top 10 from last year are Carey’s hit (which fell from No. 1 down to No. 2 this week), Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” (No. 3), Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” (No. 4), and Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas” (No. 6). The other additions to the top 10 that weren’t there last year are Andy Williams’ “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” (No. 7) and José Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” (No. 10). All of the aforementioned songs were released at least 50 years ago, aside from Carey’s, which came out 26 years ago.

When Carey’s song returned to No. 1 again this year, she shared a surprised message, writing on Instagram, “WOW! I truly wasn’t expecting this at all!! Eternally grateful for the enduring success of this song. ‘I don’t want a lot for Christmas…’ just wishing for a bit more JOY and some holiday spirit for all, especially this year. Merry Christmas! Love, MC.”

In 2016, money was flying around like never before in NBA free agency, as a cap jump saw teams flush with cash and yet to fully understand how to best use it. That led to some massive contracts for the lucky players who happened to be free agents that year, particularly role players who had excelled the year before.

Guys like Bismack Biyombo, Allen Crabbe, Chandler Parsons, Ryan Anderson, Tyler Johnson, Harrison Barnes, and Kent Bazemore all cashed in on massive deals thanks to strong seasons playing a particular role the year before. Those players eventually became cautionary tales for teams about the dangers of taking their massive amounts of cap space and investing them in long-term deals, which has led to teams being much more shrewd in similar situations, often offering big money on shorter deals to avoid ending up locked in to an albatross of a contract that mucks up the cap sheet for years to come.

I covered the Atlanta Hawks in 2016 and Bazemore’s 4-year, $70 million raised an awful lot of eyebrows as he suddenly was going from being a role player to being paid like a star, which brings the expectation of star production. Instead, Bazemore remained himself, which is a very solid and useful player, capable of filling gaps on the wing, bringing energy on defense, and working best offensively off the ball as a cutter and spot-up shooter in the corner. There is always a place in the league for players like that, but fans grow frustrated quickly with a player making a lot of money who isn’t producing to the expectation of a contract (or draft position in the case of lottery picks).

This isn’t the fault of players, who should always secure as much financial security as possible, but more an issue of teams not recognizing what makes a player successful and paying them with the expectation of something more.

I say all of this to lead into the situation Jerami Grant finds himself in with the Pistons, after inking a three-year, $60 million deal to leave Denver for Detroit. We don’t know exactly how negotiations went, but reports emerged after Grant chose the Pistons that the Nuggets had offered him the same deal but wanted him to continue playing the role that made him their third best player in the 2020 postseason, whereas the Pistons offered a larger opportunity, particularly on offense.

Grant chose the allure of a more prominent on-ball role, something he didn’t have at all in Denver. With the Nuggets last season, 100 percent (yes, ONE HUNDRED PERCENT) of his made three-pointers were assisted. Overall, 84 percent of his made baskets were assisted, per Cleaning the Glass. Since he came into the league, that percentage has never been lower than 73 percent. Thus far through the preseason, the adjustment to a larger role has been rocky.

The preseason sample size is admittedly small, but the trends that caused many to question the move by the Pistons to promise Grant a greater on-ball role have continued in Detroit. His usage rate has jumped to 27 percent (it was 16.1 percent a year ago) but his true shooting percentage has plummeted to 44 percent (last year it was 59 percent), and he has just two assists to go along with 12 turnovers. Pistons coach Dwane Casey addressed those problems Grant’s having on Monday and said something that was a bit eye-opening.

And here you see the dilemma facing the Pistons, who are quickly understanding what Grant is best at and what his weaknesses are, but are in the position of having apparently promised him a role playing more into those weaknesses and less to his strengths. Grant is exceptional playing off the ball and thrived in that role in Denver. He has become an excellent catch-and-shoot player, has terrific hands to catch and finish at the rim as a cutter, and is best when taking just a few dribbles to attack closeouts and step in for a rhythm jumper off one or two dribbles. What he’s not great at is being an offensive initiator, creating for himself and others off the bounce.

Beware of the Baze. That’s a warning to both teams and players. Understanding who you are as a player and where you’re going to be at your best is important and also requires a certain humility and willingness to be honest with yourself, a difficult thing in a profession that requires immense self-confidence. For teams, it’s about recognizing what someone is best at and figuring out how to get them to do that as often as possible, not pushing them away from that role just because they’re coveted elsewhere.

Bazemore never found that next step to take in Atlanta, partially because of a roster that quickly changed around him but also because that simply isn’t who he is as a player. In Sacramento last season, his third stop in as many years, he played well and showed the value he can still bring to a team in the role at which he excels. He’s now back in Golden State where he started his career and will be asked to do that again, bringing the energy off the bench and I would expect him to thrive in it. He’s a good player capable of helping a contender, just not of playing a starring role on one.

Jerami Grant is a better player than Bazemore, but faces some of the same problems. He’s an above average starting wing in the NBA, capable of raising both the floor and ceiling of a team as a two-way menace, as we saw last year in the Nuggets run to the conference finals. He’s not, however, a superstar and simply isn’t efficient as an on-ball playmaker, either for himself or others. It’s possible with more reps he’ll get there, but quite literally every trend and stat from his past suggests otherwise.

That sounds like a slight, but it shouldn’t be. Not everyone is a superstar and there’s a way to get in where you fit in and thrive, something Grant did in Denver. He is a tremendous, versatile defender with a smooth shooting stroke who spaces the floor and attacks soft spots in the defense off the ball. That’s worth a lot in the modern NBA, enough so that Denver was apparently willing to pay him $20 million to continue doing that for them. The problem is, now he’s in Detroit where he wanted an expanded role, one that he might not be best suited for, and it’s clear that the coaching staff is even recognizing the flaws in that plan just four preseason games into his tenure.

GOP Senator Joni Ernst is facing intense criticism after being one of the first in line (like other senators) to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. The Iowa senator became a trending topic on Twitter after she posed for a photo of herself getting the vaccine despite her public statements downplaying the pandemic. During a campaign event in September, Ernst accused doctors of inflating the number of COVID cases to line their own pockets. “These healthcare providers and others are reimbursed at a higher rate if COVID is tied to it, so what do you think they’re doing?” Ernst said. She also said that she is “so skeptical” of the death counts. Via Little Village News:

“Asked to clarify her remarks after the event, Ernst said that’s ‘what I’ve heard’ from healthcare providers, but wasn’t sure if that meant numbers were being inflated,” the Courier’s Annie Rivers reported.

“They do get reimbursed higher amounts if it’s a COVID-related illness or death,” Ernst told Rivers. “I heard the same thing on the news. … They’re thinking there may be 10,000 or less deaths that were actually singularly COVID-19. … I’m just really curious. It would be interesting to know that.”

The notable contrast between Ernst’s COVID remarks and her quickly hopping in line to get the vaccine caused a significant backlash on Twitter:

Ernst joined Florida Senator Marco Rubio in being roundly roasted on Twitter after receiving the vaccine despite routinely attending superspreader events and joining his fellows Republicans in downplaying the severity of the pandemic. For a political party that routinely referred to the coronavirus as a hoax, they certainly didn’t hesitate to be first in line for the cure.

Tobi Lou struggles to hold back tears on his new single “2Hrs.” The emerging Chicago presaged his long-awaited album Parrish Blue with a dazzling video for its melancholy single on Friday, visually representing the metaphorical expressions of his pain with a bold color scheme and a hypnotic video full of floating jellyfish. The reflective video is directed by Tobi Lou himself along with his frequent collaborator Glassface.

Tobi had a relatively quiet 2020, pushing back the release of Parrish Blue to 2021, but that didn’t stop the indie artist from making long strides in his journey to increased acclaim. In September, he released the soothing “Pretty Much” video featuring a nostalgic glance back at Chief Keef’s “I Don’t Like” video. Then, in November, he dropped back-to-back collabs with even more of his Chicago brethren. First, there was “Okay,” a flirty exchange with Dreezy, then a few weeks later, he teamed up with Saba in the latter’s video for “So And So.”

All along, he’s been releasing self-shot visuals for more singles, including “Student Loans,” the animated “Darlin’,” “Notice Me,” and “Cheap Vacations.” He’s proven prolific and consistent in 2020; now all that remains is to put it all together on Parrish Blue.

Watch Tobi Lou’s “2Hrs” video

2020 saw an unprecedented increase in representation for women in hip-hop. Newcomers like Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion topped the charts, bringing with them longtime vets like Nicki Minaj and current queens like Cardi B. Meanwhile, Chika, Flo Milli, Mulatto, and more had tremendous breakouts. Even Noname had a moment, thanks to her incisive clap back toward J. Cole’s finger-wagging “Snow On Tha Bluff.”

But while more women than ever made it to the charts, covered our favorite magazines, and dominated our playlists, the music industry as a whole still continued to fail women in rap in a variety of ways that undermined the celebration of this fertile era of growth. From continuing to stoke non-existent beef to failing to recognize women on the highest-profile platforms to straight-up glossing over many of the women who dropped stellar projects this year, critics and the public proved they need to look beyond the surface and truly appreciate the work being done by women in hip-hop.

First, let’s address the element in the room: The double standard that has permeated hip-hop culture since its inception in the ’70s and apparently continues unabated into our modern context despite the increase in female talent in multiple arenas at nearly all levels of the industry. Hip-hop — both the music and the culture — has always been a microcosm of our society, so it’s no surprise that as women have made strides athletically, economically, and politically, there will always be someone seeking to hold them back to maintain a crumb of privilege.

Just days before this writing, one of the most prolifically filthy and explicit rappers the genre has ever produced fixed his silver tongue to worry about the potential effects of the Cardi B hit “WAP,” placing himself on the same side of the debate as trolls like Ben Shapiro. When Snoop Dogg said, “I just don’t want it that fashionable to where young girls express themselves like that,” he apparently forgot that he was responsible for songs like “Ain’t No Fun (If The Homies Can’t Have None)” himself.

Then, there was the Megan Thee Stallion shooting incident and its fallout. While Tory Lanez’s male collaborators like Jack Harlow shrugged in apparent apathy after he was indicted for shooting Megan in the feet, Lanez’s own fan brigade launched a vicious anti-Stallion campaign that saw them question her story, counter-claim abuse on her part, and even call her a man. Remember that when 50 Cent was shot 20 years ago, this culture practically turned him into a rap deity. There are some who question whether Megan was even shot, despite her Instagram post from the operating table as she was having bullet fragments removed from her heels.

That same cavalier, sexist attitude extended to the treatments of women like Chika, Doja Cat, and Noname, who were all ridiculed or questioned, barely afforded the benefit of the doubt, and whose accomplishments were downplayed by male rap fans who protested that men deserved the accolades they did accumulate. Chika’s presence in the 2020 XXL Freshman Class was slated while fans disparaged her physical characteristics, body-shaming her by comparing her to Gunna. Doja Cat, whose old, self-questioning song was resurfaced, got dragged by fans for supposedly participating in racist chat rooms on the slimmest of evidence — the word of jilted fanboys disappointed when she reneged on her promise to “show my boobs so hard” if her song “Say So” reached No. 1 on the Hot 100.

Even 53-year-old rap legend Nas joined in, rapping a dashed-off reference to the controversy on his new album. Nas, who spent a good 80 percent of the songs on his album living in the past, made only seven other recent pop culture references on the entire album — one dedicated to berating Gayle King for holding men accountable for past actions. He also never quite got around to discussing the accusations against himself for abusing Kelis, but was still praised for returning to form on The King’s Disease.

Meanwhile, despite the impressive accomplishments of all these women, there were no female rappers even nominated for the 2021 Best Rap Album Grammy — the second time in two years after Rapsody and Cardi B were at least included in the discussion in 2018 and 2019. I guess Cardi’s win was supposed to retroactively cover all the previous years’ women who got overlooked with some credit left over for the next few. While fans rightfully made a fuss over missing contemporary favorites like Lil Baby’s My Turn, the fact that Flo Milli and Mulatto were left out should raise just as many hackles.

But even if they’d received nods, it would still not be enough to address the dearth of critical coverage of women who hadn’t yet charted at major publications. Doja, Megan, Noname, and more all got plenty of attention, but where was similar love for Che Noir, Chika, Lyric Jones, or Sa-Roc? All four released excellent projects this year — and in Che Noir’s case, several — but many major music publications completely overlooked their work in favor of pursuing coverage of favored headline mainstays, despite providing plenty of coverage to other emerging underground acts — notably male ones. When they did, it was in the context of their co-signs from established male acts, like Phonte Coleman executive producing Jones’ Closer Than They Appear or Che Noir’s proximity to Buffalo label Griselda Records, despite not being signed there herself.

Then again, maybe they are just supplying the demand. The fact remains that media outlets tend to print what gets the most engagement. Any given writer or team only has so much bandwidth to devote to surfacing new and rising talent. Maybe the reason they can’t dedicate as many resources to these acts is because fans only allow enough attention for a handful of female rappers at a time — and no guarantee they’ll even accept these new artists if they do pay attention to them. Look at how they treat Chika and Lizzo, two women who don’t offer up the same presentation men claim women should be pursuing. Look at how widely ignored Che Noir and Lyric Jones and Sa-Roc’s stylistic forebearers like Jean Grae and Rapsody have been, even among female-focused Twitter accounts like Female Rap Room and its spin-offs.

Cardi said it best: When she made “Be Careful,” offering a personalized glimpse behind the glammed-up facade, fans rejected her. When she made “WAP,” she went No. 1, broke records, and stayed at the forefront of the conversation about women’s new dominance of rap for weeks. When rap fans bring up Noname and Rapsody, it’s usually to chastise women for being too raunchy, then they berate these paragons of virtue for being too outspoken about topics like the commodification of Africa and the toxic effects of capitalism. They get flattened into pro-Black, respectable caricatures of themselves, despite Chika’s defense that they can be just as filthy as the women they get juxtaposed against.

And while fans, critics, and fellow artists hold much of the responsibility, nothing absolves labels of their tendency to chase past successes and put the mantra “sex sells” at the forefront of their marketing strategies. Since Cardi B blew up, nearly every female rapper to receive a deal has operated from the same blueprint. There’s nothing wrong with that blueprint, by the way, but when there are dozens of nearly identical versions of the same sexed-up ideal, what incentive do fans have to choose any of them — especially when labels barely support them unless they get a viral hit, and even then may still shelve them?

Dej Loaf, Dreezy, Kamaiyah, and Tink were all XXL Freshmen at one point, yet most of them have since departed from their major label deals in favor of independent careers. They’ve flourished, releasing fiery works of art on their own terms, but those works have, again, been largely ignored by mainstream music publications. Kamaiyah dropped three separate projects this year alone, earning her the lion’s share of the blog coverage, but fans haven’t buzzed nearly as much as they had for drama-centered artists like City Girls, whose reckless tweets and “off-beat” flows have drawn almost as much attention as their actual album. For what it’s worth, even the narrative that Yung Miami can’t rap seems based more on taunting her into a response as much as anything else.

Despite all of the strides that have been made in securing representation for women in hip-hop, there is still a long way to go. Not only is the battle against long-entrenched attitudes that make it difficult for any woman anywhere to succeed at anything, but it’s also against the complacency that allows us to look at how far we’ve come and tell ourselves it’s enough. In truth, there is no “enough,” no benchmark for the culture to reach when we can argue that everything is truly equitable. The end goal should be the process, to be constantly re-evaluating whether we’re doing all that we can to pursue the ideal that everyone is getting a fair shot.

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

There may not be a better time of year to sip on a dram of whiskey than this week. Even if you don’t have a tree in the house and aren’t mainlining eggnog, having a good bourbon on hand for a little letting loose as 2020 winds down certainly isn’t a bad thing. We could all use a drink after this (very) long year.

That’s why — in a season filled with bourbon — we’re going back to the literal and metaphorical well to call out the best bourbons for Christmas. There’s no real preamble necessary here, beyond that we like the way these bourbon whiskeys taste. Expect a lot of “vanilla” and “baking spices” flavor notes in line with the holiday, but we also sought out a fair bit of variation, to account for differing palates.

With the government only kicking $600 in assistance everyone’s way, we also decided to focus on accessibility. The most expensive bottle below is only $60. The cheapest is close to $20. Clearly, you don’t need to break the bank to enjoy these picks over the next week or two.

Pinhook Bohemian Bourbon

ABV: 47.5%
Average Price: $40

The Whiskey:

Pinhook Bourbon made a pretty big splash this year with a deep bench of well-made bourbons and ryes. The shingle brings a wine sommelier’s sense to the world of Kentucky whiskey and the results are worth tracking down.

This particular juice is a fairly low-rye mash bill (only 15 percent) bourbon from Castle & Key Distillery.

Tasting Notes:

Clear notes of pecan pie with hints of orange oils and dark spices greet you. The palate builds on those notes, with whispers of juicy tropical fruits, salted caramel, and a pinch of marzipan. The end is short and sweet.

Bottom Line:

This is a very young bourbon that’s only going to get better in the years to come. For now, it makes a great candidate for cocktails, highballs, and sipping on the rocks.

Woodinville Whiskey Straight Bourbon

ABV: 45%
Average Price: $42

The Whiskey:

While we’ve been raving about the Woodinville Port Cask a lot this year (it was our favorite bourbon of 2020), their entry-point bourbon is also a winner. The whiskey is a true grain-to-glass experience with the corn, rye, and barley all coming from a local farm in Washington State. The juice is barreled and stored on the leeward side of the Cascade Mountains, where temperatures vary more drastically, adding to the maturation process.

Tasting Notes:

There’s vanilla pudding with caramelized sugar up top plus a hint of barrel char and bitterness on the nose. A matrix of Christmas spices arrives on the palate — with a bit of soft cedar and more of that caramel and vanilla. A little water reveals a dark chocolate character with a clear note of orchard fruitiness. The end is long and full of spices, vanilla, and caramel.

Bottom Line:

This is a pleasant surprise. While the price sort of says, “Hey, you can use me as a mixer,” the actual juice works as a nice sipper with a rock or little water.

Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

ABV: 45.2%
Average Price: $56

The Whiskey:

Woodford Reserve is already matured in heavily-charred oak, giving the juice a lot of depth. This expression ups the ante by transferring the whiskey to twice-toasted barrels with a low char for additional nine-months of finishing. The result is a damn fine example of Woodford.

Tasting Notes:

That classic hint of fruit-meets-caramel from Woodford is there on the nose, with a drop of honey next to marzipan. The palate embraces the fruit and gets a little dry while Christmas spices, candied fruit, vanilla, and fatty nuts build on the tongue. The sip has a nice linger that feels rounded and warm but never hot. A little water brings out a spiced caramel apple nature that just works.

Bottom Line:

This is a fine sipper with a little ice or water. It also works really well in eggnog.

Old Tub Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

ABV: 50%
Average Price: $22

The Whiskey:

This throwback was another of our favorite bourbons of the year. The juice used to only be available in half-bottles at the distillery in Louisville. This year, Jim Beam took in nationwide with a limited release.

The juice is classic Jim Beam that’s only cut down to 50% (100 proof) and bottled with no chill filtration. In essence, you’re getting more of the beauty that’s in the barrel with little to no fuss.

Tasting Notes:

Vanilla, cornmeal, caramel, sweet honey, and a woodpile of freshly chopped wood greet you. That vanilla takes hold and hints of caramel kettle corn comingle with apples stewed in brown sugar and plenty of spice, along with an oaky edge. The end is long-ish and carries a sense of minerality as dark chocolate oranges arrive when a bit of water is added.

Bottom Line:

This really has no business costing $20. It’s also a workhorse that’ll make a fine cocktail, highball, or sipper on the rocks. You can’t beat that.

Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon

ABV: 47%
Average Price: $32

The Whiskey:

This much-beloved bourbon from Heaven Hill is an easy whiskey to get into. The whiskey is small-batched from 200 barrels in the eight to 12-year range. The idea is to dial-in the bourbon notes from those barrels into a final, sippable product.

Tasting Notes:

The dram greets you with hints of classic bourbon vanilla next to ripe stonefruits and a very distant hint of fresh mint (more so when water is added). The Christmas spices kick in right away as the fruit, caramel, and vanilla marry to a sense of nuts and charred wood. The end lasts as the sweetness fades to spicy warmth, and is accented by a mild billow of smoke.

Bottom Line:

This bourbon probably doesn’t get as much love as it deserves. It’s really tasty and very easy drinking, which makes it a winner for us.

Legent Bourbon

ABV: 47%
Average Price: $40

The Whiskey:

Japan meets Kentucky in this collab bottle from Beam Suntory. The juice is made in Kentucky under the watchful eye of legendary Master Distiller Fred Noe and is made up of Beam that’s aged for five years. The whiskey then goes into California red wine casks and sherry casks for a finishing touch.

Finally, the whiskey is blended by Suntory’s legendary Master Blender Shinji Fukuyo.

Tasting Notes:

The nose draws you in with hints of orchard and stone fruits and a slight vinous nature next to classic bourbon vanilla and caramel. Those last two notes thicken on the tongue as vanilla pudding creaminess arrives with a toffee-meets-plummy-nutty underbelly. The finish is just long enough, with a little bitterness next to spicy warmth, oak, and more sweet fruit.

Bottom Line:

This on the rocks is a win every time you pour it. Take your time and let the water open it up. You won’t be disappointed.

Eagle Rare 10 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

ABV: 45%
Average Price: $40

The Whiskey:

Buffalo Trace’s Eagle Rare 17 grabs a lot of the spotlight when it comes to this line. That’s fine. It’s a damn fine whiskey, albeit a very hard to find one. On the other hand, Eagle Rare 10 is both easy to find and damn delicious while also being affordable. That makes this a very good whiskey to track down.

Tasting Notes:

The age shows on the nose with a hint of musty oak and worn leather that counterpoints the rich toffee, vanilla, and honey. The palate is subtle with a marzipan roundness next to a little Christmas spice, orange oils, and dark chocolate. The end lasts as it fades through all those notes again, leaving you with a warm Kentucky hug.

Bottom Line:

One rock, one pour. Take your time and really let this one bloom in the glass.

Maker’s Mark 46

ABV: 47%
Average Price: $40

The Whiskey:

This amped up juice from Maker’s Mark makes for an interesting sip of whiskey. The wheated whiskey is aged like a classic Maker’s. Then, ten seared virgin French oak staves are put into the barrels for the last nine weeks of maturation.

The result is a unique whiskey that deserves a moment of attention as the year winds down.

Tasting Notes:

Toasted wood, rich caramel, and sweet fruits greet you. That wood really makes its voice heard, with a lumberyard vibe as big hits of caramel sweetness are met with plenty of vanilla and a wisp of smoke. The end holds onto the toasted wood as a hint of spice meets fruit on the finish.

Bottom Line:

This is a nice departure from the usual vanilla-caramel-fruit bourbons at this price point. If you’re into the woody and sweet bourbons, this will be your jam.

Weller Special Reserve

ABV: 47%
Average Price: $50

The Whiskey:

This wheated bourbon is the originator of the acclaimed Pappy Van Winkle line of wheated bourbons. The juice in the bottle is an entry-point bourbon for those looking to get into wheated bourbon with real accessibility.

Tasting Notes:

Sweet fruits meet caramel on the nose. The palate basks in notes of buttery toffee next to honey and a hint of soft wood. There’s a floral note near the end that feels like an orange blossom as the sip fades away at a medium pace.

Bottom Line:

This is a really great cocktail base that works as a sipper in a pinch. It’s also probably going to be the hardest to find on the list. Good luck out there!

Bulleit Bourbon Blenders’ Select

ABV: 50%
Average Price: $62

The Whiskey:

Part of this year’s course correction for Diageo’s Bulleit Bourbon was to highlight the BIPOC women running the show and making the whiskey at Bulleit. Case in point, this new release is Master Blender Eboni Major’s first limited release.

Major hand-selected three minimum nine-year-old bourbons available at Bulleit to create this signature blend — needless to say, we’re big fans.

Tasting Notes:

Salted peanuts coated in sugar mingles with oily vanilla, cedarwood, and Christmas spices. The palate delivers on those notes while adding rich toffee and spicy tobacco next to worn leather and wood. The end is velvety and long with plenty of spice, wood, and toffee.

Bottom Line:

This is one of the most solid sippers on the list. Add a little water or an ice cube and take your time with it.

Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Small Batch Bourbon

ABV: 50%
Average Price: $60

The Whiskey:

This expression from Buffalo Trace is crafted to be sipped. The bourbon is a small-batch blend of barrels that are hand-selected from Warehouse C (the one actually built by whiskey legend E.H. Taylor, Jr.) for their exactness and what they bring to the final product.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a real sense of a spicy caramel kettle corn dancing with hints of butterscotch on the nose. The palate carries on that path, adding in dark and peppery spices with a sweet tobacco vibe and a well-rounded nature. The end lingers and brings about a hint of licorice when you add water, which really plays well with the tobacco and sweetness.

Bottom Line:

Sip this whiskey slowly. This does work wonders in a Manhattan, but it really shines with a little water or ice and slow sipping.

Balcones Texas Pot Still Bourbon Whisky

ABV: 46%
Average Price: $30

The Whisky:

This whisky from Waco, Texas is one of the most unique picks on the list. The hot Texas Hill Country days and cold nights help this juice intensify as it rests in the barrels. The end result might not be for everyone but it’s certainly an outlier that’ll expand your whiskey palate.

Tasting Notes:

Saddle leather, toasted oak, kettle corn, and sweet apples greet your senses. The palate has a pecan pie edge with a vanilla whipped cream body that touches on more leather, apple, and oak. That soft vanilla carries onto the end with hints of sweet applewood smoke and a final note of tobacco spice.

Bottom Line:

This is a great sipper to pair with a pie after a big holiday dinner, especially if we’re talking about a pecan or apple pie.

Wild Turkey Longbranch

ABV: 43%
Average Price: $40

The Whiskey:

Although this whiskey has been around for almost three years, it was really 2020 that it caught the attention of America. Part of that’s due to Matthew McConaughey (Wild Turkey’s Creative Director and co-creator of the expression) being everywhere in the news recently. The juice in this bottle is Kentucky meets Texas.

The end result is another unique whiskey, certainly worth giving a shot when you’re getting toasty over the break.

Tasting Notes:

Christmas spice, creamy vanilla, and rich caramel draw you into the sip. The palate has a matrix of orange oils, tart red berries, toasted oak, leather, and mild butterscotch. The sip lasts a while on the sense as that dark spice and creamy vanilla fade out with a final note of mesquite smoke gently billowing through at the very end.

Bottom Line:

This sip feels like a cold winter’s day next to an outdoor fire with a pile of vanilla sugar cookies for pairing.

Heaven’s Door Straight Bourbon Whiskey

ABV: 46%
Average Price: $50

The Whiskey:

This whiskey from Bob Dylan’s whiskey line from Nashville, Tennessee, is classic bourbon that works really well at this price point. The juice is a small-batched blend of around seven-year-old bourbons made in Tennessee. The blend is proofed with soft Tennessee spring water and bottled. The bottles are then adorned with a wrought-iron gate design, created by Dylan.

Tasting Notes:

Honey notes meet freshly baked bread with a buttery edge that leads toward butterscotch sweetness. There’s a little orchard fruit lurking in there, with hints of kettle corn covered in caramel and a whiff of dark spice. The end is medium-length and leaves you with a sweetness on the tongue and warmth in your chest.

Bottom Line:

This is a very sippable whiskey that also is a conversation starter given the cool look of the bottle and the legend behind the brand.

Belle Meade Bourbon Whiskey

ABV: 45.2%
Average Price: $45

The Whiskey:

This revival from the Nelson brothers of Nelson Green Brier has become an almost instant classic. The juice is a high-rye bourbon that’s small-batched from only four barrels per bottling. The juice is then proofed with that soft Tennessee water and bottled.

Tasting Notes:

Florals and citrus mix with light maple syrup and a sense of caramel. The palate carries on that caramel path and adds rich vanilla, plenty of sharp rye spice, and a nice dose of apricot. The finish is long and with a little water brings about dark candied cherries inside a spicy, rich, nutty, and plummy Christmas cake.

Bottom Line:

This really vibes with the season. Pour it in some eggnog or mulled wine or make Boulevardiers with it.

For most people, getting a coronavirus test entails heading out to a testing center and getting the thing shoved up your nose over there. There are at-home tests available, but they aren’t so easily accessible. Courtney Love has shared a post critical of this system, revealing in the process that she sometimes gives away at-home tests that she fortunately has access to.

Sharing a photo of a COVID-19 test, Love wrote about how these tests should be more widely available:

“I’m posting my Covid ( and antibody both. ) test because I’ve never been great at this 1 percenter sh*t. I love myself some fine living , but in the end I bleed liberal, I wish I didn’t sometimes, maybe it’s not liberal, maybe it’s humanist… I have and many of my wealthy friends have had access to Covid test kits, for over 6 months. Every time I give people without the same money or access as me a box of 20 I get furious that these are not available at every Tesco and at every 7/11 in both of my countries ( and globally too ) for 5 bucks or even 20. With this new strain of Covid-19, 70 percent more ‘catchy’ than the last, we all need this testing capacity more than ever. ALL OF US. ALL OF US!!! If testing ( the above tests for antibodies too. ) especially the newer tests ( roche ) that can detect covid antigen in you within 15 minutes, were made available and cheap, people would still make tons of money and ? This sh*t would be curbed. Billions and maybe trillions in world economy could be saved. So … maybe I’ll get tossed out of the ‘club’ for posting this . But I’ve never been all that comfortable with my own elitism, especially in the area of public health. You ALL DESERVE TO HAVE A BOX OF TESTS IN YOUR FRIDGE! I keep asking why the f*ck you dont ?
That’s all I have to say on it now.
I feel less dirty and my conscience more clear to post this. Though I’m scared to as well. Love .x c.”

Check out Love’s post below.

The Witcher doesn’t grin too much. Only in the rarest of scripted moments can Henry Cavill’s Geralt of Rivia be seen showing the tiniest sliver of a smile, like when “humble bard” Jaskier (Joey Batey) manages to soften him up a little bit with a tribute of a tune. Most of the time, though, Geralt walks around feeling unappreciated (and justifiably so) by villagers for all the good he does across the continent, vanquishing monsters. Well, look for Geralt to finally lighten up — although in a non-canon manner — in a Netflix-released video full of bloopers.

Yes, it’s a gift to celebrate Witchmas. Enjoy Henry giggling and chuckling and feeling highly uncomfortable whilst “feeling like a greased pig” (how glamorous). Watch his co-stars flub lines. And yes, watch Geralt’s horse, Roach, while he flagrantly decides not to cooperate with the very serious scene that’s being filmed. “The horse is s*itting in the background” is exactly the type of blooper that fans of this series need to see. It’s really too bad they couldn’t have left it in the show, though. It totally would have fit the vibe.

Tellingly, there are no bloopers here that include Jaskier. On the one hand, that’s quite horrible, but on the other, it’s appropriate because he’s always bringing the positive vibes around on the show. Don’t worry, though. More Witchmas goodies from last week treated fans to what looks like the bard’s outdoor glamour shots.

Also, here’s a new logo for the anime movie, Nightmare of the Wolf, from the franchise. Hopefully, we’ll hear about a release date soon, too. Merry Witchmas!

Not long after Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington released their first album as Darkside, 2013’s Psychic, the duo announced that they were calling it quits, although there has always been hope for a reunion between the two. Even in the post announcing that news, they noted they were just coming to an end “for now.” Then, a few weeks ago, there was a sign that Darkside was at least on Jaar and Harrington’s minds when they dropped a Darkside live album. Now, it’s happening: Darkside is back and the duo has announced they are following up their critically acclaimed debut album with a second one, Spiral.

They didn’t reveal much info about Spiral, aside from its approximate release window of this upcoming spring (via Matador), and that it was mixed by Rashad Becker and mastered by Heba Kadry. Press materials also note that Jaar and Harrington “quietly reconvened in 2018 to begin writing new music.” Alongside the news, the pair shared “Liberty Bell,” the first single from the album that is propelled forward by a driving beat.

The band shared a note about the single and album, writing, “In 2018 we met for the first time in five years to make new music. In December 2019, we finished the followup to our first album Psychic. It’s called Spiral and it was mixed by Rashad Becker, mastered by Heba Kadry, and will come out on Matador Records in spring 2021. Liberty Bell is the first single. Talk soon.”

Listen to “Liberty Bell” above.

Over the weekend, the New York Times reported that Donald Trump has discussed naming Sidney Powell to “a special counsel overseeing an investigation of voter fraud.” That’s the same Sidney Powell — an attorney by day, a conspiracy theorist by night… and day — who was dumped by the Trump administration for being even kookier than Rudy Giuliani, a man who holds press conferences next to sex shops. But now she’s back! Powell met with the president on Friday, along with former-national security adviser Michael Flynn, who “pushed for Mr. Trump to impose martial law and deploy the military to ‘rerun’ the election. At one point in the meeting on Friday, Mr. Trump asked about that idea,” according to the Times. Nothing like a coup to end 2020.

When asked about the report on Monday’s Newsroom with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto, CNN’s John Harwood did not hold back. “The president is surrounding himself with 30 days left in his presidency having been defeated by Joe Biden, being psychologically unable to accept that defeat, to accept the brand of a loser,” he said, via Mediaite. “He is holed up in the White House, not doing his job, spinning out lies about how he won the election and it was stolen from him. And bringing crazy people in to talk about crazy idea.” Harwood called the accusations of voter fraud and threats of martial law “absolutely lunatic stuff,” adding, “The reason that is talked about in the White House is that the president himself is a kook, and he cannot handle his situation.”

Trump is out of the White House in a month, whether he likes it or not, and “we’re all going to have to live with it for 30 days,” Harwood said. “While he does nothing about it or tries to do something, in which case he’ll be stopped… It’s continued trauma for the country.”

You can watch the clip here.

(Via Mediaite)