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In the simplest terms, taste is subjective. Whereas I might love blue cheese or hen of the woods mushrooms, you might absolutely hate both. There’s nothing wrong with you (there probably is, but not this) and there’s nothing wrong with me (there definitely is, but not this) — we just like what we like. Our palates evolved in different ways, shaped by our childhood influences, our biology, and our present-day experiences.

This is absolutely true when it comes to whisk(e)y. So naming the “best tasting” whiskey of all time is certain to yield a whole bunch of different answers. That’s not to say that having an opinion and arguing your case is futile. It’s fun to chop it up about what’s “the best,” then expand your palate and reassess.

We decided to ask a handful of bartenders to tell us the best-tasting whiskeys to ever pass through their lips. While many included U.S. brands, others branched out into Japan, Scotland, and even the middle of the ocean (sort of). Check their answers below.

Old Forester Statesman

David Tlaiye, bartender at Sage SRQ in Sarasota, Florida

I’m a big fan of Old Forester Statesman. It’s a classy bottle, with a complex-yet-light flavor that I love on its own or on any cocktail I make myself at home.

Yamazaki 18

Robert Björn Taylor, bartender and assistant general manager at ARRIVE Hotels and Restaurants in Austin, Texas

You do know this question is impossible to answer right?

But… if I have to pick the best whisky… I have ever had it would be The Yamazaki 18 Year or The Yamazaki Sherry Cask. Love those whiskies. I can’t even begin to describe how beautiful they are. Smell, taste, the experience is one hundred percent orgasmic.

Blanton’s Bourbon

Drew Reid, bartender at W Aspen in Aspen, Colorado

Tough question. Blanton’s will have to be my answer here. Without question Blanton’s stacks up against all the best. The smoothness of this bourbon is unmatched. This whiskey is truly an American treasure.

Compass Box Hedonism

Meredith Barry, executive beverage chef of Angad Arts Hotel in St. Louis

A consistent go-to for me would be Compass Box Hedonism. Pineapple, banana, vanilla, brown sugar. Delicate and flavorful. Also, I’m a sucker for a PX sherry cask finish. Rabbit Hole Distillery Dareringer is another pick. It’s sweet but goes down oh so smooth.

Lagavulin 12

Benjamin Burch, bartender at The Nolen in San Diego

Lagavulin 12-Year-Old. I love Lagavulin. I think they make the best whisky in the world and every expression is top-notch. I’ve got at least one bottle of every expression on my shelf at home, but the 12 year is my favorite. It’s barrel-proof so it just has so much flavor. It tastes like a bonfire on the beach. Big smoke, big stone fruit flavors, and a really nice mineral quality and saltiness.

I have every release since 2013 and they are all just insanely good. If you like peated whiskey, find a bottle of this.

W.L. Weller Special Reserve Bourbon

Rebecah Hunter, bartender at The Monarch Club in Detroit

W.L. Weller Special Reserve Bourbon. This bourbon is very well known for its smooth taste which derives from substituting wheat for rye in the mash bill. The Weller brand falls under the Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve umbrella.

Angel’s Envy Bourbon

Eva Al-Gharaballi, bartender at Datz in St. Petersburg, Florida

My favorite tasting whiskey has always been Angel’s Envy Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. This whiskey is finished in port wine barrels and has robust flavors of vanilla throughout. It is a small-batch whiskey aged up to six years with just a touch of sweetness that goes great with a big rock of ice.

Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon

Tommy Ergle, bar manager at Dr. BBQ in St. Petersburg, Florida

Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon must always be in a whiskey drinkers’ collection. Its hints of cherry, licorice, and honey that hit your nose are incredibly vibrant and inviting. The cherry, licorice, and mahogany tasting notes give it such a warm finish that really leaves it second-to-none in my book.

Booker’s Bourbon

Jerry Shaffer, food and beverage manager at Embassy Suites Napa in Napa, California

My pick for best tasting whiskey is Booker’s — because of its flavors of oak tannin, smoky vanilla, mocha and coffee, and intense finish.

Whistle Pig Old World Rye

Anthony Aviles, General Manager at Jack Dusty in Sarasota, Florida

If you’re willing to spend the coin on it, Whistle Pig Old World is tops of my list and worth every penny. The sweet and salty notes, richness, complexity, and smooth finish are able to stand up to just about any other $90 plus bottle of whiskey I’ve come across.

High West Son of Bourye

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

Son of Bourye from High West is a fantastic blend of bourbon and rye that you were not expecting. The spice of the rye and the smoothness of the bourbon absolutely crush in this bottling.

Woodford Reserve Double Oaked

Damian Langarica, head bartender at a.bar in Philadelphia

Woodford Reserve Double Oaked is the perfect whiskey for those who love scotch (or bourbon). It’s aged in two different barrels. The second one being an extra charred barrel, for some extra smokiness.

Hakushu 18

Emmanuelle Massicot, beverage director of Kata Robata in Houston

As a scotch drinker, I also enjoy Japanese whiskies and I like Hakushu. Everyone goes for Hibiki or Yamazaki from Suntory but Hakushu 18 has a bit of a peatiness that is reminiscent of scotch.

Glenlivet 21

Marta De La Cruz Marrero, food and beverage supervisor of Burlock Coast in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Glenlivet 21 year is quite full and rich. There are notes of sandalwood and pine with a resinous note. Potpourri creeps in with barley sugar and cereal notes with acacia honey. The palate is rich and full. There are notes of oily walnuts and winter fruitcake with spice and sugar. The finish is long and sweet with a soft, chewy oakiness.

Jefferson’s Ocean Bourbon

Stephen Potter, lead bartender at The Kitchen by Wolfgang Puck in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Jefferson’s Ocean has to be one of my favorites. They float the casks in seawater for three years. The nose is just that — the ocean. I haven’t found the salted caramel flavor in many other bottles.

The novel coronavirus has started to make its presence felt in the NFL. A handful of teams have begun reporting positive cases, with games getting either rescheduled or thrown into uncertainty after players get positive COVID-19 tests. For one league elder statesman, the entire thing has led to him questioning the NFL and the NFLPA’s priorities.

Jason McCourty of the New England Patriots spoke to the media on Saturday and said that he was in the process of “trying to figure out who has [the players’] best interest in mind.” McCourty has recently seen one of his teammates, Cam Newton, test positive for COVID-19, and instead of the team having its games postponed while players who had come into contact with Newton quarantined, the team flew to Kansas City earlier this week. Players who came close to Newton flew on a separate plane, the game was moved to Monday, and later in the week, another Patriot, All-Pro cornerback Stephon Gilmore, got a positive test of his own.

“I think outside of here, the people that don’t have to walk in our building — whether it is the league office, whether it is the NFLPA — they don’t care,” McCourty said, per Mike Reiss of ESPN. “For them, it is not about our best interest, or our health and safety, it is about, ‘What can we make protocol-wise that sounds good, looks good, and how can we go out there and play games?’ I think what I kind of learned personally throughout this situation is it is going to be up to us as individuals in this building to just really take care of one another.”

It is really hard to disagree with the veteran cornerback’s assessment that the NFL and the players’ association want to make sure the plan in place for COVID-19 does just enough that it looks good, but not enough that it would automatically throw games into jeopardy if players start getting the virus. An example of this is how the Patriots’ game against the Denver Broncos this week is still happening, although it has been pushed to Monday afternoon.

McCourty went on to talk about the days leading up to the game against the Chiefs. While he said that the players opted to do everything they could — masking up, keeping their distance, etc. — the team was still perplexed as to why the game happened.

“But without a doubt, that’s a thought — the same way you guys are sitting there thinking about it like, ‘Hey, they’re getting on a plane on Monday [to go to Kansas City], well, those days don’t really add up with the incubation period,’” McCourty said. “That was the same question we were asking our union before we head out there.”

Perhaps this will turn into something worth keeping an eye on if other players end up expressing gripes with how the NFL handles positive tests. But regardless, a player being this open about the league and the PA dropping the ball is fascinating.

Donald Trump may still be contagious, but on Saturday, he held a rally at the White House less than a week since he was released from Walter Reed National Military Center following his novel coronavirus diagnosis and multiple reports of some significant side effects from COVID-19. There’s plenty still unknown about when Trump first tested positive, how many people were infected, and whether it’s even safe for him to be around other people.

But as we get further away from his hospitalization and subsequent release on Monday, we’re learning more about the way he initially wanted to leave the hospital. Trump has made plenty of public statements, including some vulgar ones on the Rush Limbaugh show, but he hasn’t mentioned he wanted to pull a Cam Newton when he left Walter Reed.

According to a story in the New York Times on Saturday, Trump had pitched some confidants on a dramatic plan to leave the hospital while looking weak, only to reveal a Superman shirt under his customary suit.

In several phone calls last weekend from the presidential suite at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Mr. Trump shared an idea he was considering: When he left the hospital, he wanted to appear frail at first when people saw him, according to people with knowledge of the conversations. But underneath his button-down dress shirt, he would wear a Superman T-shirt, which he would reveal as a symbol of strength when he ripped open the top layer. He ultimately did not go ahead with the stunt.

There are a lot of parallels to connect here, including Trump apparently wanting to riff on the first appearance of Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka in appearing to be frailer than he actually was in order to get a big response to the shirt stunt. What Trump did instead, of course, was return to the White House and walk up a flight of stairs to the South Portico, where he then removed his mask and saluted in what became a campaign ad or sorts. That was bizarre in it’s own right, but at least it didn’t look like a touchdown celebration that could draw a flag in the NFL on Sundays.

Jeopardy! has always been a game of accuracy and following the rules, which is why it’s very funny when the context clues make a contestant go in a very incorrect direction. The latest example, as it often is, comes from the world of sports — specifically, NASCAR.

On Thursday night, a Jeopardy! clue popped up about NASCAR brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch in a category had contestants thinking about beer names. But the question went very wrong, and the former brother’s racing team took notice on Twitter.

“What is Coors,” was the answer given for a question that, if you’re a NASCAR fan, is clearly about the Busch brothers. Jeopardy! contestants often struggle with sports questions, so this isn’t that big of a surprise. But usually these fails go unnoticed by the person the clue was actually about. The New York Yankees, for example, were a little too busy this week to publicly respond to contestants butchering a category about the team’s history.

But Kurt Busch saw it thanks to Chip Ganassi Racing sharing it on Twitter. He then retweeted it and responded himself, laughing and suggesting an even worse answer given the fizzy clue.

It just goes to show you, once again, that not everyone’s idea of “easy” is the same when it comes to trivia. It’s one of the many ways watching Jeopardy! can make you feel better about your own trivia aptitude. You know, sometimes.

Some college football teams are really good at finding ways to get creative. The sport inherently needs teams to zig when others zag in an attempt to catch opponents off guard every now and then, and while it ends in disaster sometimes, it’s beautiful when these little wrinkles end up working out.

An example of this came on Saturday afternoon as 13th-ranked Auburn played host to Arkansas. During the first quarter, the Tigers came out in the Wildcat, which led to an 11-yard game. The fun wrinkle here was who ran the Wildcat — instead of snapping the ball directly to a hyper-agile running back, or a wide receiver who has a rocket for an arm, Auburn turned to 6’2, 300 pound true freshman tight end J.J. Pegues. Watch the young man rumble:

This wasn’t Pegues’ first carry of the year — he registered two last week against Georgia — but this was easily his best. A four-star athlete recruit in the class of 2020, Pegues showed off his impressive athleticism by planting his foot in the ground for a spin move and hurdling a defender. Both of those would have been impressive no matter who did it, but for a dude of his size (and, not to mention, a true freshman with that kind of football IQ) to pull this off is something else. I hope Auburn gives him the ball a lot more this season.

There is nothing quite like a particularly off-the-rails college football rivalry game. Thanks to the fine folks at the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas, we got just that in the 2020 Red River Showdown. The two teams squared off in a thrilling, four overtime contest, and by the time the dust settled and Longhorn quarterback Sam Ehlinger’s pass fell into the hands of Sooner defensive back Tre Brown’s hands, Oklahoma knocked off Texas and secured a 53-45 win.

The game was filled with drama early on, with Oklahoma benching star redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler prior to the half then inserting him back in once the teams returned from the locker room. The Sooners seemed prime to come out on top, though, as they had a 31-17 lead with just under five minutes remaining.

Then, things went off the rails. The Longhorns scored a touchdown with 3:28 left, failed to recover an onside kick, forced a fumble that the Sooners recovered, and broke up a third down pass to get the ball back. They got the ball at their own 16 with 1:52 remaining, then marched down the field and scored the game-tying touchdown with 14 seconds left, when Ehlinger jumped and found a wide open Keaontay Ingram.

Both teams found the end zone in the first overtime, with Ehlinger scampering in and Rattler lobbing one up for tight end and apparent part-time power forward Austin Stogner, who boxed out his defender beautiful and hauled in the ball for six.

The two signal callers turned to their legs in the second overtime. Rattler started things off by getting six, but upon review, it was determined he was just short. This brought up a fourth down, where he went under center and punched it in.

Things weren’t quite as dramatic for the Longhorns. Ehlinger ran for a 25-yard score, and even though the officials missed a … let’s call it aggressive hold up front, Texas forced OT number three.

The kickers entered the fray in the third overtime. You can guess how this went, both by the fact that another overtime came and because nothing good ever happens when college kickers enter the discourse. Texas got the ball first and lined up for a 33-yard kick by Cameron Dicker, but Oklahoma’s Perrion Winfrey got his hand up and swatted the ball down.

Oklahoma responded by playing for the field goal, which never ends well. Sure enough, Gabe Brkic pushed his 31-yard kick wide left, prompting an exasperated Gus Johnson to scream “COLLEGE FOOTBALL!”

Overtime number four started with Oklahoma getting the ball and Rattler making one heck of a play to find Drake Stoops for six. Because of college overtime’s rules, the Sooners had to go for two and were successful, adding a little extra pressure to the ensuing Texas possession.

Things got hairy for the Horns on the ensuing possession, as they got a first down but were called for a holding. As a result, they faced first-and-goal from the 19, and after an incompletion on the first play of that series, Ehlinger got picked off.

The Sooners were starving for a win over their rivals after back-to-back losses in recent weeks that knocked them out of the top-25. The fact that it happened against their biggest rivals and in such dramatic fashion surely didn’t hurt, either.

While Killer Mike’s 2020 might be highlighted by the Run The Jewels 4 album he and El-P released together, the Atlanta rapper has also spent much of the year fighting for equality and social justice in the Black community. The rapper took over Selena Gomez’s Instagram page to talk about activism, speaking publicly on the deaths of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks, and more. Now the rapper is taking a big step to help the Black and Latinx community on the financial side of things.

Teaming up with civil rights activist and former mayor of Atlanta, Andrew J. Young, and founder of the Bounce TV network, Ryan Glover, Killer Mike has launched the Greenwood digital banking platform for Black and Latinx people. Speaking on the new endeavor in a press release, Killer Mike said, “Today, a dollar circulates for 20 days in the white community but only six hours in the Black community.” He added, “Moreover, a Black person is twice as likely as a white person to be denied a mortgage. This lack of fairness in the financial system is why we created Greenwood.”

To start, Greenwood is offering saving and spending accounts for potential customers as well as black metal debit cards for those who sign up before the end of 2020. Apple, Samsung and Android pay features, mobile check deposits, peer-to-peer transfers, virtual debit cards, and free ATM usage in over 30,000 locations will also be provided to users. Greenwood will also offer five free meals to a family for every person that signs up with the banking platform and every use of a Greenwood debit card will result in a donation to the United Negro College Fund, Goodr and the NAACP. Lastly, the bank will also offer monthly grants in the amount of $10,000 to Black and Latinx customers with a small business.

You can find more information about the banking platform here.

The Miami Heat gutted out a thrilling Game 5 win on Friday night, forcing the Los Angeles Lakers to have to wait for a potential coronation. The team rode a monster night from Jimmy Butler and some hot shooting from Duncan Robinson to see through the win, and as a result, we’ll have a crucial Game 6 on Sunday.

The game marked a small quirk: It was the first time all season that the Lakers lost in their Mamba jerseys. The team entered the game 4-0 in those threads, and while they were slated to wear them in Games 2 and 7, the team opted to toss them on for Friday night in the lead-up to the game.

The Heat were made aware of that record, and according to Jae Crowder, the decision to toss them on by the Lakers served as inspiration heading into the contest.

“You’re hearing how they’re putting the black jerseys on and sh*t and how they haven’t lost a game in those and people start talking about that,” Crowder said, per Bleacher Report. “That is motivation, and it’s always going to get under your skin a little bit. You obviously funnel that in the right direction and use it as motivation and it definitely helped tonight.”

Miami is very much a team that will take any little slight as a way to fire themselves up for a game, so this shouldn’t come as a huge shock. Still, Crowder and co. will very much hope that they get to see these uniforms one more time, because there is nothing they’d love more right now than to force a Game 7.

LSU has shown a drop-off following their torrid, national championship winning 2019 campaign, something that isn’t particularly shocking considering all they lost. Still, the 17th-ranked Tigers entered Saturday’s game against 0-2 Missouri as 14.5-point favorites, and in a high-scoring affair, the Tigers came out on top, 45-41. Well, one of the Tigers came out on top, but to the surprise of most, it was the ones from Columbia.

The game was ultimately decided by a shocking defensive stand by Mizzou. Following a touchdown by Niko Hea to put them up with 5:18 left in the game, LSU got the ball and had eyes on the end zone.

Myles Brennan marched the defending national champs down the field, getting them down to the Missouri 1-yard line with 37 seconds left. The Tigers had one timeout left, so Ed Orgeron had to figure out the best way to manage the situation.

But a funny thing about college football is how the incredible happens in these moments. LSU opted for a pair of runs by Tyrion Davis-Price on first and second down, both of which got stuffed by the Mizzou defense. On third down, the Tigers opted to go to the air, with Brennan’s pass to Terrance Marshall getting broken up.

With 16 seconds on the clock and a touchdown needed to stave off an upset, LSU went to the air once again on fourth down. Brennan rolled out to his right, saw Marshall in the end zone, and went for the win. But much to his chagrin, Joshuah Bledsoe made the play of his life, diving to break up the pass and securing the win for Missouri.

Missouri started its season with back-to-back losses to Alabama and Tennessee. Avoiding an 0-3 start seemed like a longshot, but stuffing a team four times on the 1 is a longshot, too.

Unlike in recent years years, Mariah Carey has been fairly active lately, and it’s thanks in large part to her newly released memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey. Her press run for the new book has cleared up a number of rumors, some of which include whether her songs “My All” and “The Roof” were about her relationship with Major League Baseball star Derek Jeter and the recording and release of a 1995 grunge album entitled Someone’s Ugly Daughter. Fresh off topping the New York Times best-seller list with the memoir, Carey has fans seething with excitement for yet another reason.

Friday afternoon, the singer posted a picture of three directors chairs on Twitter, each featuring a set of initials: M.C., A.G., J.H. Above it was Christmas emoji. After the post, people quickly speculated that the initials stood for Carey herself, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, and that the picture could result in a new Christmas track with the three singers on it. As a result, people took to Twitter to share their reactions to the potential track.

“Ariana Grande, Mariah Carey AND Jennifer Hudson ALL IN ONE SONG,” one fan wrote. “We won!!!! Another Christmas #1 classic on the way.” Another wrote, “Ariana Grande, Mariah Carey AND Jennifer Hudson on the same track is simply unfair lmaooooo no ones topping this.” The post comes a week after Carey shared The Rarities compilation album which featured previously-unreleased tracks “with personal relevance and meaning” to the singer.

You can see more reactions below.