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Just because you aren’t willing to pay the equivalent of a car payment for a bottle of booze, that doesn’t mean you need to settle for low-level whiskey. The whiskey world (and specifically the bourbon market) is ripe with affordable deals. Sure, you might want to enjoy a glass of the likes of Pappy, Weller, and Blanton’s, but you should also be able to sip on a glass from a bottle of bourbon that costs less than $20.

Since this month is National Bourbon Heritage Month, we figured that the time was right to highlight our favorite bottom shelf (or closer to the bottom than the top) bourbons to enjoy this and every other month of the year.

Jim Beam White Label

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Jim Beam, Clermont, KY (Beam Suntory)
Price: $18.99

The Story:

There’s a reason Jim Beam White Label is the #1 selling bourbon in the world. It’s cheap, easy to drink, and the same every time you crack open a bottle. This high rye mash bill bourbon is distilled at low temperatures and matures in new, charred American oak barrels for four years before finding its way into the iconic white-labeled bottled.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a chance you’ve never nosed Jim Beam before drinking it. Well, we’re here to tell you that you should. If you do, you’ll be met with subtle rich vanilla, charred oak, and sweet corn. The first sip brings forward more toasted wood, leather, butterscotch, and sweet cream. The finish is sweet, long, and ends in a peppery flourish.

Bottom Line:

You might buy this bottle for mixing, but you shouldn’t sleep on it as a bargain sipper. It’s mellow enough to be enjoyed with a few ice cubes.

Old Grand-Dad

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Jim Beam, Clermont, KY (Beam Suntory)
Price: $20

The Story:

You might have sipped on a glass of Basil Hayden’s in the past. This premium bourbon from Jim Beam has a strong connection with the much cheaper Old Grand-Dad. That’s because the man who adorns the bottle is none other than Basil Hayden himself. Old Grand-Dad is one of Jim Beam’s “Olds” expressions along with Old Tub, and Old Overholt.

Tasting Notes:

The first sniff brings forth peppery spice from the high-rye content as well as cinnamon and sweet vanilla. From the first sip, you’re met with dried fruits, toasted oak, rich caramel, and hazelnuts. The finish is long, warming, and ends in a mix of spice and subtle smoke.

Bottom Line:

This is definitely a bargain bourbon. But, it might be a little too spicy for some novice drinkers. It’s best mixed into an old fashioned or Manhattan.

Heaven Hill Green Label

ABV: 45%
Distillery: Heaven Hill Distillery, Louisville, KY
Price: $12.99

The Story:

The biggest knock against Heaven Hill Green Label is the fact that it’s only available in Kentucky. While you can find random bottles in other states, this Bluegrass State-exclusive is as mysterious as it is drinkable. If you’re one of the people who have even tried this 6-year-old bourbon, consider yourself lucky. But, if you can find it, you’re in for a bargain at under $15.

Tasting Notes:

You might not want to nose this super cheap bourbon. But, if you do, you’ll be greeted with sweet vanilla, rich oak, and the musty, nostalgic smell of a barrelhouse. The first sip brings forth caramelized sugar, cinnamon, corn sweetness, and a hint of maple syrup. The finish is long, bursting with warmth, and full of charred oak and butterscotch flavors.

Bottom Line:

Use this bottle for mixing. Sure, you can sip on it, but that’s not really what it’s for. Mix it into a Mint Julep, put your feet up, and just enjoy the evening.

Evan Williams Black Label

ABV: 43%
Distillery: Heaven Hill Distillery, Louisville, KY
Price: $16.99

The Story:

Legend says that Evan Williams opened the first distillery in Kentucky in 1783. This bargain bourbon bears his name in remembrance of the man who changed the alcohol world on the banks of the Ohio River. While it’s inexpensive, it’s not noticeable in the flavor. Due to the whiskey spending longer than necessary in the barrels, it has a mellowness that far surpasses its price tag.

Tasting Notes:

The nose is full of herbal, sweet vanilla, and salted caramel aromas. The first sip brings forth a symphony of butterscotch, cooking spices, pecans, licorice, and dried orange peels. The finish is medium in length and long in heat with a subtly spicy finish.

Bottom Line:

Even though this whiskey is cheap, it’s smooth enough to fit the bill as a sipper on a chilly fall evening. Toss in a single ice cube and enjoy the changing of the seasons.

Very Old Barton

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Barton Distillery, Bardstown, KY
Price: $12.99

The Story:

Likely the best bargain in the bourbon world, Very Old Barton’s name is as confusing as its price tag. While it has “very old” in the title, it’s not very old at all having been aged for between four and six years at the Barton Distillery and comes in 80, 86, 90, and 100 proof. Even with all of the other bourbons Barton’s produces, you definitely shouldn’t sleep on its highly rated, much cheaper relative.

Tasting Notes:

This high corn content is noticeable from the first nosing. You’ll be met with fresh corn, sweet cream, and charred oak. The first sip yields an immediate vanilla sweetness that moves into a rich chocolate, spicy cinnamon, and dried fruits. The finish is long, sweet, and warm with a subtle hint of pepper at the very end.

Bottom Line:

Get a bottle of old Barton’s and make it a mainstay on your home bar. You definitely won’t regret stocking a bottle for mixing or sipping. It works well for both.

Four Roses Yellow Label

ABV: 40%
Distillery: Four Roses Distillery, Lawrenceburg, KY (Kirin Brewing)
Price: $19.99

The Story:

Four Roses is well known for its Small Batch, Single Barrel, and Small Batch Select. But, while these are great bottles, none of them is a bargain like Four Roses Yellow Label. For under $20, you can get a bottle of bourbon made up of whiskeys aged between 4 and 12 years. How this high-quality, award-winning, supremely mellow, highly sippable bourbon remains so affordable we’ll never know.

Tasting Notes:

From the first nose, you know that you’ve opened a special bottle. You’re immediately met with aromas of rich honey, cinnamon, and toasted oak. The first sip brings up cinnamon apple, brown sugar, and caramel along with creamy butterscotch. The finish is long, warming, and ends in a pleasing hint of spice.

Bottom Line:

Four Roses Yellow Label is another great bottle to stock your bar. That’s because it’s a dual-threat. It’s perfect for slow sipping and shines in your favorite whiskey cocktail.

The Denver Nuggets have drawn level in their series with the Los Angeles Clippers. Thanks to one of the most impressive quarters we have seen out of any team in the Orlando Bubble, the Nuggets picked up a surprising 110-101 win to make their opening round series tied at one game each.

It was a gutsy performance from Denver, which looked like it was on the road to getting swept after Game 1. They dug deep, picked up a win, and as a result, we have ourselves a series. Here are three takeaways we had after the final buzzer sounded.

The Clippers won three quarters…

…except for the first, where they got ran out of the gym. Denver looked absolutely magnificent during the game’s opening 12 minutes, boasting a 44-25 lead when the horn blared to mark the end of the frame. Jamal Murray’s 11 points stood out, but Nikola Jokic was particularly good, scoring 15 points, ripping down six rebounds, and blocking a pair of shots. He looked like a man possessed, and it did not matter whether he was being checked by Ivica Zubac or Montrezl Harrell.

As a team, Denver shot 17-for-24 during the quarter and hit seven of their 11 attempts from deep. They hit eight threes over the next three quarters. Saying that the Nuggets looked bad during Game 1 is an understatement, and they must have agreed, because teams don’t come out with this big of a chip on their shoulders unless they are trying to prove a point. Murray mentioned after the game that the team was tired in Game 1, which absolutely seemed to be the case, but that wasn’t the case on Saturday.

If Denver’s going to keep winning in this series, they’ll need these sorts of stretches where they just catch fire and everything is clicking — Jokic and Murray are both hitting shots and setting things up for those around them. They don’t need to do it over an entire quarter like this, but Mike Malone and co. would surely like it if they did. On the night, Jokic had 26 points, 18 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks while shooting 10-f0r-17 from the field and 4-for-5 from three. Murray, meanwhile, had 28 with six assists.

The Nuggets have heart

At one point in the fourth quarter, it seemed like Los Angeles had figured everything out and were just getting to the point where it could take the lead and pick up its second win in the series. With about eight and a half minutes left to go in the frame, Paul George hit a three to cut Denver’s lead to five. It did not feel fluky in any way, it seemed like the Clippers had just gotten to the point where everything clicked.

And then, the Nuggets responded. The team immediately went on a 10-0 run after that stretch, giving themselves some necessary breathing room and demoralizing the Clippers just enough that they were never quite able to get that close again. Las Angeles is a team that is really, really intense, with a star in Leonard who carries himself with a sense of inevitability that he has backed up throughout his career. When you are able to take the wind out of their sails a little bit, that says a lot about your group. Denver did that, and as a result, they won.

Two guys deserve a shout out for what they did in the game. Gary Harris, a good player who has just not been himself for the duration of the season because of injuries or general poor form, hit three threes in the quarter, played tough defense, and showed flashes of being the guy who Denver inked to a substantial deal a few years ago. And while Jerami Grant only had five points on 1-for-9 shooting, he was a menace on defense, giving the Nuggets some serious bite in the paint.

Some optimism for L.A.

If one wanted to try and spin this loss as not particularly bad for the Clippers, they would probably try to say something like this: Despite getting run off the floor in the first quarter, they won the next three and found themselves within two possessions of being able to overtake Denver in the fourth. They did this despite a really not great shooting night from top to bottom and Leonard, who is normally magnificent in the postseason, had 13 points on 4-for-17 shooting and did not hit a shot in the second half. As a team, they connected on nine of their 32 threes.

Sometimes, it is just not your night, and on Saturday, it was just not their night. While they should certainly not throw the baby out with the bathwater right now, there was one interesting thing that happened that Doc Rivers would probably be wise to consider as he maps out his rotations over the remainder of this series. Harrell, for how good he is, just is not a good matchup against Jokic. Zubac and JaMychal Green getting the lion’s share of the minutes against the All-Star center might not be the worst idea.

But of course, this was all one loss. We’ll see if this trend continues in Game 3, but regardless, in the world of postseason losses, this is certainly not one that warrants a whole bunch of overreactions.

While one series in the Eastern Conference is on the verge of a sweep, the other has turned into a best-of-three series. That’s because the Toronto Raptors took care of business on Saturday night, picking up a 100-93 win over the Boston Celtics in their conference semifinal tilt. With the win, Toronto tied things up at two games a piece in what has, easily, been the best series in this round of the postseason so far.

Game 5 — and hopefully Games 6 and 7 — is shaping up to be a brawl between two teams that fight like hell and will do anything to win. Before we get to that point, though, we looked back on the Raptors’ second win in a row.

The Great Equalizer

In the first three games of the series, Toronto just could not hit anything from deep. They went 10-for-40 in Game 1, 11-for-40 in Game 2, and 13-for-40 in Game 3 from behind the arc, a noticeable cold streak from the team that was third in the league in made threes and fifth in three-point field goal percentage during the regular season. With the Raptors’ struggles in generating points in the half-court during the series and Boston’s ability to keep them from getting out and running, hitting shots from downtown was crucial.

This problem fixed itself in Game 4. The Raptors were 17-for-44 from three, with the 1-2 punch of Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet combining to go 9-for-21 on their own. In fact, outside of a poor night from deep for Pascal Siakam (2-for-13), Toronto was on fire from deep. On the other side of things, Boston — which had shot very well in the series — went ice cold, going 7-for-35. Three starters (Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker) went 1-for-6, while Jaylen Brown shot 2-for-11.

Again, Toronto is not a particularly great team when it comes to generating offense in the halfcourt. If the champs want to win two of the next three, hitting triples is going to be gigantic. Saturday night was an excellent start as they look to do that.

That’s Spicy

Siakam’s come under some fire for how he’s played thus far in the series. Coming into Saturday night, he was averaging 15.3 points and six rebounds in the series while connecting on 36.2 percent of his shots from the field and 18.2 percent of his threes. He is better than this — you do not become an All-Star on accident — but he was playing some really poor basketball. For someone who needs to be a consistent option if this team is going to knock off the Celtics, that’s not acceptable.

While he still had a rough night from three, Siakam was very, very good. He scored 23 points on 10-for-23 shooting and hauled in 11 rebounds. He was darn near automatic inside the arc, going 8-for-10 on twos. Despite the fact that his jumper wasn’t falling, he stayed assertive and was a menace in the paint. Siakam’s a long and patient player, and when he’s able to get a head of steam or back down a smaller defender, he’s going to find ways to score.

Add in his defensive intensity and Siakam is someone who should be able to win games for Toronto. He hasn’t been able to do that through three games, but on Saturday, he looked like that dude. If Siakam’s shots from deep can start falling, then the Raptors could end up doing a repeat of last year’s series against Milwaukee, falling down 0-2 before ripping off four wins in a row. If not, that’s fine, because Game 4 showed that he’s able to win them games in other ways.

This Series Rules

So normally with the third takeaway, we’ll mention something about the other team, unless the game was really boring and one-sided and we decided to put down a good recipe for chicken wings. Instead, an observation: I love everything about this series.

Boston and Toronto approach every game with the same mentality. They battle for 48 straight minutes, dive for loose balls, fly around on defense, try to draw charges, all the stuff that should add up to a whole lot of winning plays over the course of an entire game. Despite only one of these groups having a ring, both the Celtics and the Raptors have the mentality that you see out of champions. Whether it’s Smart scratching and clawing for everything, or Lowry doing this stuff…

…every single game that these two teams play are brawls. Compared to the other series in the East, in which one team is wired this way and the other looks like a group of deer in the headlights (pun absolutely intended), this is like watching a heavyweight fight, and now, it’s best two-out-of-three to determine which one will get to play for the right to be crowned champions of the Eastern Conference.

I really hope this series goes seven games. Both of these teams are well-coached and collectively believe in one another. Actually, seven games isn’t enough. If this could turn into a best-of-15 series, that would be fun. It’s a shame that one of them have to end up losing.

We list of things we know about Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series is surprisingly long and still very incomplete. We know that the series is likely to have a hefty first season, as well as what the casting directors are looking for in their presumptive hobbits. And now we know that at least one of the thrilogy’s major stars wants absolutely nothing to do with it.

Hugo Weaving, who played Elfin leader Elrond, has made it clear he has no interest in heading back to New Zealand to film the TV show Amazon is putting in the universe that won a ton of Oscars and grossed billions of dollars at the box office.

A Variety interview highlighting Weaving’s latest role, a gritty adaptation of Shakespeare’s Measure For Measure, touched on whether he would be interested in the Amazon series that’s rumored to be bringing back a number of roles from the three movies. He was, shall we say, less than enthused.

“No way. Absolutely no,” Weaving tells Variety in a recent phone interview about whether or not he would don the elf ears as Elrond again, considering the upcoming “Lord of the Rings” Amazon series.

That said, he did mention that he’s interested in reprising his role as Agent Smith from The Matrix. As Weaving explained, he loved filming the epic movies that brought the Lord of the Rings books to life for millions of fans but has had “more than enough” of that universe for his lifetime.

“‘Matrix’ might have happened,” he says. “But ‘Lord of the Rings,’ no, I would never — I’m not interested in that at all. Look, I loved being in New Zealand with all those great people, and it was like going back to a family but actually, to be honest, I think everyone had more than enough of it.”

The piece also dives into why he’s been taking roles on projects taking place in his home country of Australia, which is certainly interesting and close to where the fantasy epics he wants no part of were filmed. He just probably won’t be taking any calls from New Zealand anytime soon.

Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is certainly in an interesting spot after America’s two major political parties had their conventions and not much has changed with polling trends. But one sign of support the president has found on the water reportedly turned to disaster on Saturday that lit up social media in a big way.

Dozens of Trump-themed boat parades have popped up across the United States in recent weeks, with Trump amplifying images of them to bolster his support among a very specific crowd of recreational vehicle enthusiasts. Some of these rallies have drawn crowds of counter-protesters, or at least people there to document the spectacle and, like the image above from New York in July, to show their disapproval of the events and the political beliefs of those particupating.

But for some on Saturday watching from the shores, they got quite a sight when a Trump boat parades ended in reports of boats outright sinking. Reports spread on Saturday that multiple boats sank during a Trump boat rally in Texas on Saturday. A local sherif department tweeted that it, indeed, had to respond to several calls about boats from the Trump parade that had sunk.

The New York Times reported that at least four boats at the event had sunk, though there were no reported injuries. It also had some details about what was supposed to happen at the event, which made many wonder exactly how this led to several boats sinking.

Owners of boats of “all shapes and sizes” were encouraged to participate and to decorate them with “as many Trump flags as she can handle,” the event’s Facebook page said.

Boaters were set to travel around the lake, which is about 15 miles northwest of Austin, at 10 miles per hour, according to the event’s page.

But one image in particular of a Trump flag-flying vessel in some rough waters immediately went viral on Saturday, as did the hashtag #Dumbkirk, a reference to the Oscar-nominated war movie Dunkirk.

There were some incredible reactions to that single image alone.

That wasn’t the only photo of a Trump boat taking on water that circulated online, though.

It was a good chance to get off some jokes about antifa and other conspiracies about what caused the boats to sink.

Or just make fun of people using the #Dumbkirk hashtag.

It wasn’t a very good day for the boaters, but it sure was a lot of fun for people online.

As everyone dove into NBA 2K21 this weekend there was a common refrain from experienced and casual gamers alike: Why is it so damn hard to shoot?

The biggest gameplay change for this year’s edition was an enhanced shot stick, which promised more control for ball-handling and, once you got the hang of it, more control around the rim and pulling up for shots of the dribble. However, there have been tons of complaints that it has become too difficult to shoot and the margin for error is effectively nil for shooting from three-point range in the game. It’s led a lot of gamers to just say they aren’t shooting from the perimeter at all for now, because all you end up doing is throwing up bricks.

The folks at 2K listened and came up with a bit of a compromise to help players that are trying to work their way into the new game. As such, a shooting hotfix is on the way for Sunday, September 6, that will apply to Rookie, Pro, and All-Star difficulties. The top difficulties and games on 2K Beach in the Neighborhood will not be effected by the fix. The goal of the fix, per 2K, is to help more casual players get more used to the shooting motion of the game as there are many (including myself) who are having serious struggles from the field in their MyCAREER — I will only shoot if near the rim, at this point.

Hopefully the hotfix will provide some needed relief and allow those of us that don’t log hours and hours on the 2K blacktop to still enjoy the game and shoot without killing our field goal percentages.

Big Sean finally released his Detroit 2 album on Friday, after teasing it for well over a year. With 21 tracks and appearances from Jhene, Ty Dolla Sign, the late Nipsey Hussle, Eminem, Young Thug, Wale, and a plethora of other names, the album stands as his longest and most collaborative album to date. Stopping by Twitter for a Q&A session with fans, Big Sean answered a wide range of questions about the album and some other things.

To kick off the Q&A session, a fan asked Big Sean what Kanye West contributed as an executive producer for Detroit 2. “Lotta advice!” Big Sean answered. “And more, he actually did a lot of references n parts that helped out a lot.” Sean was also asked about his favorite moment of making the album. “When I felt hopeless as f*ck after losing so many close people and role models and wrote ‘Feed’ that was the most therapeutic!” he said. “Also lucky Me and finishing Body Language. I wrote 5 versions of Body Language. 5!!!”

Even though the album hasn’t even been out for a full weekend, Sean was also asked if he would release a deluxe version. “I dont know, if i feel like its needed. i just want to be clear tho, i dropped deluxes for my 1st, 2nd, 3rd albums. that was always a standard for me. i just felt like i Decided didn’t need one because it was more of a concept album to me.”

Big Sean also answered questions about being on Justin Bieber’s next album, his favorite verse from Detroit 2, the one artist he hoped to get on the album but failed to, and if he plans to make yet another Twenty88 album.

Check out the tweets from Big Sean’s Q&A session above.

Detroit 2 is out now via Def Jam. Get it here.

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

Week 1 of this bizarre college football season kicked off on Saturday afternoon. As a result, ESPN’s Saturday morning institution, College GameDay, is back, although it’s not quite the same as it is in years past — no raucous crowds, no college campus, yes to views of a bunch of home offices and Lee Corso’s patio.

Saturday’s episode featured a discussion about social justice, one that moved GameDay stalwart Kirk Herbstreit to tears. Herbstreit began by saying that he believes white players in locker rooms need to “really help with the change” and expressing his belief that the work that needs to be done to combat racism has to go beyond the “great” demonstrations that have been commonplace across the world of sports in recent months.

Herbstreit went on to mention a conversation he had with Stanford coach David Shaw, who told him the Benjamin Franklin quote “justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are,” before he began to tear up.

“The Black community is hurting,” Herbstreit says. “If you listened — the word ’empathy’ and ‘compassion’ over these last four months — how do you listen to these stories and not feel pain and not want to help? Wearing a hoodie, putting your hands at 10 and 2, ‘Oh God, I better look out because I’m wearing Nike gear.’ Like, what? What are we talking about? You can’t relate to that if you’re white, but you can listen, and you can try to help, because this is not ok. It’s just not.”

Herbstreit went on to give a call to action, saying through tears that, “We gotta do better, man. We gotta, like, lock arm and arm and be together in a football locker room. That stuff is gone, those barriers are gone, we just gotta do better.”

Several of his GameDay colleagues were emotional over this, while Rece Davis mentioned the role that sports have played in combatting racism, citing individuals like Jesse Owens and Jackie Robinson. You can watch the entire segment above.

The Game of Thrones show has gone and left the world, and maybe the monoculture, behind. But there’s still some secrets left to tell about how the show’s rocky final season played out. The latest tidbit is that Kit Harrington had apparently been told that his character, Jon Snow, would be the one to kill the Night King, years before the scene was ever scripted and filmed.

According to Maisie Williams, Harrington once told her that he was let in on a big show secret while they were filming Season 3. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Williams reflected on the show and her big scene involving a knife and the most dangerous being on the fictional planet. Asked about the fact that most people thought it would be Snow to take care of business, Williams noted it would be “too obvious” and that even Harrington thought he would be the one to do it.

He expected it to go that way, too, and he even said, “It was going to go that way. Someone told me in season three that I was going to kill The Night King.” And then, he read the script, and it was Arya the whole time. (Laughs.) Yeah, I think it would’ve been too obvious. I’m glad that it was Arya, honestly. I think I had the best storyline of the final season. (Laughs.)

Assuming is one thing, but being told it would happen by someone is another thing altogether. And it must have been a surprise to find out that he wouldn’t be the one to do it. That certainly explains his reaction to the plot points when asked in the press. Though he hadn’t revealed that secret to anyone, he did admit in 2019 that he wishes he had been the one to kill the Night King.

“I was secretly like, ‘I wanted to do that!’” Harrington told The Hollywood Reporter last year, imagining an epic sword fight with Vlad Furdik, who played the Night King. “But it was a really great twist, and it tied up Maisie’s journey in a really beautiful way.”

It’s been just over a week since Chadwick Boseman, acclaimed actor and Marvel superstar, died of colon cancer. The news came as a shock, not only because he was so young, only aged 43, but also because he had kept his illness a secret, reportedly believing he could conquer it before the sequel to Black Panther. Since then tributes have poured in and his movies and new specials about his life have been squeezed into TV line-ups.

Now SNL has followed the lead. As per Deadline, the beloved live sketch show is reserving its slot on Saturday, September 5, for the episode Boseman hosted back on April 7, 2018. The actor appeared less than two months after Black Panther hit theaters and mere weeks before the release of his next MCU appearance, in Avengers: Infinity War.

Boseman never got to make a comedy film, and even all his television appearances were on dramas — except for his SNL gig. And he proved he was an untapped comedic talent, particularly when he brought Black Panther’s T’Challa to bear on another round of Black Jeopardy! The YouTube clip of it remains incredibly popular, with 24 million views over the last 2 ½ years. While you can watch that in the video above, remember that there’s another hour and change of quality Boseman SNL fodder, which will air Saturday at 11:35pm EST.

(Via Deadline)