In honor of the 125th anniversary of “Bottled-in-Bond Day,” Buffalo Trace has teamed up with country superstar Chris Stapleton to release a bottle of the good stuff for a good cause. Very briefly, Bottled-in-Bond Day (March 3rd) celebrates the creation of the Bottled-in-Bond Act that federally regulated the production of American whiskey according to the proof for taxation/production purposes. It was a pivotal moment in the history of American whiskey.
For this special drop, Chris Stapleton (if you don’t know who he is, go listen to Traveller immediately) has linked with Buffalo Trace for the second year in a row to pick his own barrel and sell it for charity. This year, the single barrel release is an E.H. Taylor, Jr. Bottled-in-Bond Single Barrel personally selected by Stapleton at the famed distillery. Incidentally, E.H. Taylor was the in-studio bottle Stapleton and his band drank during the making of Traveller.
Over the next two weeks, you can bid on one of two options for a bottle of this very limited bourbon. One way to win is to bid on a package that includes concert tickets to a Stapleton show this April in Lexington, Kentucky, a VIP tasting for four people at Buffalo Trace, some merch, and, of course, the bottle. Another package includes the bottle, merch, and two tickets to any Stapleton show this year. You can enter both right here. The rest of the bottles will be available via various charity events associated with Stapleton’s Outlaw State of Kind organization throughout the year.
Okay, let’s get into what’s actually in the bottle.
Also Read: The Top 5 UPROXX Bourbon Posts Of The Last Six Months
The whiskey in this case is a 12-year-old barrel of E.H. Taylor. That whiskey was hand-picked by Chris Stapleton. It was then cut down very slightly to bottled-in-bond proof, or 100 proof, with that famously soft Kentucky limestone water.
The Bottle:
The bottle is a classic E.H. Taylor bottle with a big, yellow label (a label which definitely happens to make one hell of a statement among aficionados). An additional label/sticker is on the bottle denoting the 125th anniversary of the Bottled-in-Bond Act and Stapleton’s “seal” of approval.
Tasting Notes:
Dried dark fruits and a hint of vanilla wafers mingle with fig fruit leather, a touch of orchard wood, and a deep caramel on the nose. The palate holds onto those notes while layering in dark berry tobacco with sharp winter spices, new leather, and a singed cotton candy next to a cedar box filled with that tobacco. The finish lingers on your senses a while and leaves the spice behind for that dark, almost savory fruit note with an echo of blackberry Hostess pies next to soft leather pouches that have held chewy tobacco for decades and a final hint of old porch wicker in the middle of summer.
Bottom Line:
This feels very classic while offering a little something sweet and fruity, which is nice for a 12-year-old bourbon. I like this a lot over some rocks and it will make one hell of an old fashioned.
The Ranking:
91/100 — This is classic, perfectly made, and very easy-drinking. There are no faults but also nothing to “wow” your palate either.
When it comes to festivals in Scotland, one likely comes to mind first and foremost: Fringe. The Edinburgh arts fest is a nearly month-long celebration of creativity that has no equal across the globe. If you’re a fan of stand-up comedy, street magic, avant-garde theater, or pretty much anything in-between, you have to visit at least once in your lifetime. While the performers are fairly U.K.-focused, the fest has launched some serious careers. Fringe is where Robin Williams got his first big break on stage and contemporary comedians like Hannibal Burress and Mary Lynn Rajskub are known to frequent clubs or perform longer-term residencies during the festival.
Still, there’s more to Scotland’s festival scene than Fringe. The country boasts an eclectic mix of cultural fests that celebrate the intricacies of Scottish culture, one-of-a-kind whisky events tucked away on the Inner Hebrides, and rad EDM bacchanals that last days on end.
If those don’t nail your vibe (they definitely nail ours), there are plenty of other options, too. You might have heard of the famed Highland Games — featuring modern-day goliaths competing in feats of strength supported by a rich cultural (and culinary) backdrop — or the almost impossible-to-summarize scene at Eden (paganism! music! yoga!). The point being, the whole Scottish festival universe is unique, diverse, and a whole lot of fun. We’re calling out five festivals beyond Fringe that we love best below!
Terminal V Resurgence, Edinburgh
Terminal V
The Fest:
The easiest recommendation we can give is Terminal V Resurgence. This is the ultimate techno party with a direct line to Berlin’s scene, where a sibling festival takes place next year. While that sounds amazing in and of itself, Festival Director Derek Martin takes us deeper:
“Our stage designs are productions that have been meticulously planned with no corners cut on costs,” he says. “Our lineups feature the biggest electronic acts from across the musical spectrum.”
On that last point, Martin isn’t kidding. The lineup this year is a deep dive into the cutting edge of techno, EDM, trance, and every other form of electronic music from all around the world in one place. That translates to nearly 60 acts on six stages with over 20,000 people dancing and partying every day and night. You can see the whole, vast lineup right here.
Details:
Terminal V runs April 16th-17th, 2022, at Edinburgh’s The Royal Highland Centre. The venue is out at the Edinburgh airport, meaning that there are plenty of hotels very close. Terminal V will also be providing pre-party buses to and from the venue to central Edinburgh and several other cities throughout the U.K.
Tickets start at $88 for a one-day pass with VIP upgrades starting at $27. The full weekend pass is $168.
Highland Games, Nationwide
Pitlochry Highland Games
The Fest:
If Fringe isn’t what you think of when you think of Scottish festivals, then it’s probably the Highland Games. This nearly 1,000-year-old cultural festival celebrates all things Scotland but is far more than a monolith. Sure, you can watch bulking Scottish dudes throw logs (caber toss) and rocks (shot putt) while a bagpipe parade bellows in the background alongside foot races. But you’ll also find plenty of local food, drink, dancing, and community.
2022’s Highland Games take place across the whole region. The gist of the Highland Games is really local celebrations of summer across the region. Expect a county fair vibe but with a quaint Scottish village feel to it with Scotland’s dramatic Highlands framing every scene.
In all, you could spend May to September traveling all of Scotland and hit all the games, and then leave having a deeper understanding of the whole country under your travel belt. Plus, you’ll have eaten some amazing meat pies and drunk some great whisky and ale along the way — hopefully, at a local pub after a tug-of-war battle just outside.
Details:
The Highland Games run May through September. You can check here for nine towns hosting the games this year. Most games will have a small entrance fee ($7 to $12 per person) plus an extra fee if you want to compete in any of the sports/activities. Don’t take that lightly though, the games are taken very seriously by local folks — it might be a good idea to just sit back with your whisky or pint and cheer from the crowd.
Fèis Ìle 2022, Islay
Fèis Ìle
The Fest:
Fèis Ìle is the ultimate Scottish whisky festival. The festival takes place in the late spring on the isle of Islay and celebrates the island’s deep and long history with all things Scotch whisky.
Ben Shakespeare, the communications manager for the fest, breaks it down like this: “each distiller has their own festival days, which are a celebration of whisky and music. But mostly, it’s just people from all over the world coming together and having a good time on this little island.”
While whisky is the main focus, Fèis Ìle is really all about the community in Islay. The whole island participates from pub to pub and distillery to distillery, proudly sharing everything the island has to offer, from white sand beaches to the local Gaelic Centre, perfect for history fans. There are also bands and food and scores of very friendly locals — it’s a whole vibe.
Shakespeare offers one last tip, stay until the end. “The Final Fling is a great night!” he says. “It’s the last night of the festival when a lot of the locals come out and celebrate the end of a really busy week.”
Details:
Fèis Ìle runs from May 27 to June 4th this year. All “first batch” tickets are sold out but there will be more events and tickets going up soon. Keep an eye on the fest’s social media for updates. You’ll also be able to buy tickets to food events, boat trips around the island, and music events at the distilleries themselves.
We’d also argue that you’d need to book accommodation ASAP if you plan to go this year. There are just over 3,000 people on Islay and up to 10,000 are expected to show up for the fest.
Eden Festival, Moffat
Eden Festival
The Fest:
The Eden Festival started off cheekily as the Wicker Man fest back in the early aughts. That vibe transcends to this day. The modern Eden Festival is a place where ancient Gaelic paganism, hippy vibes, and a 1990s carnival of the absurd collide. There are the requisite yoga mornings, meditation tents, vegan treats for everyone, and plenty of scantily clad and painted bodies everywhere you look.
Then there’s the music. Eden Festival is the biggest music fest in the whole country. This year’s event will have 250 acts across ten stages over just four days. Naturally, that vastness covers pretty much every genre of music there is. So we’re pretty confident that you’ll be able to find something that speaks to you.
All of that combines to create a scene, and that’s what the festival is all about. Those Wicker Man vibes still permeate through the whole event and drive the holistic and paganist nature of a festival that prioritizes treating all music and people as equals.
Details:
Eden Festival runs June 9th-12th, 2022, at St. Ann’s just outside Moffat in the Scottish Lowlands. There’s camping and glamping on-site for a fee. There are also public buses from Edinburgh and Glasgow with an Eden shuttle to take you the rest of the way. Otherwise, this is a pretty remote location. There are plenty of food stalls, beer taps, and cocktail bars on-site in case you’re worried about food.
Tickets are almost sold out. Expect to pay $178 to enjoy the whole festival run. You can also book bus travel, camping, and more right here.
TRNSMT Festival, Glasgow
TRNSMT Festival
The Fest:
Let’s end things with a classic multi-stage music festival in a big city. TRNSMT in Glasgow has a classic main stage in a big ol’ field with huge nostalgia acts this year like The Strokes as well as two supporting stages with up-and-coming hip-hop, rock (Wolf Alice is on the lineup), and EDM artists.
The stages are set up with vendors in between selling plenty of food and drink. That being said, the ripple here is that the fest takes place in Glasgow Green, which is right in the middle of the city. That means you have the entirety of Glasgow’s restaurant, bar, and club scene at your fingertips before, during, and after every performance. That makes this kind of the perfect festival to travel to, especially if you’re looking to party in one of Europe’s coolest cities while also attending a massive music festival.
Details:
The fest runs from July 8th-10th this year. Since it’s in the middle of Glasgow, transportation isn’t an issue once you arrive. Moreover, there a plenty of hotels within a stone’s throw of the Green. Though be warned, up to 120,000 people attend this festival. So book your accommodation now.
Tickets start at $82 for a single day or $210 for the full run. Though, since this is the first year back since 2019, tickets are going quickly.
Celebrity bourbon, like celebrity tequila or anything else “celebrity”, is an odd beast. White labeling is a very real thing — that’s where big-name celebrities slap their names on a label, spend some time promoting the bottles, and then collect checks with little to no real influence on the process. But that’s not always how celebrity-driven bourbons come to be. Some famous folk actually dig into the process of making whiskey, help pick barrels and make blends, and spend a large amount of time championing the whiskeys they helped make.
Today, we have a bit of a mix of both worlds. Some of these bottles are sourced whiskeys that were released in an effort for a celebrity to jump on the bourbon boom. Some of them are passion projects. But does that love for the game shine through in what’s actually in the bottle? Or can an indifferent star make a better bourbon with a great brand backing them?
We’ll see!
Today, I’m tasting five bottles blind and then ranking them on taste alone. I’ve kept this a little smaller purposefully. The main reason is that when I’m tasting ten or 12 (or more) drams at once, some simply get lost in the mix — a few rise to the top, a few sink to the bottom, and the middle can become sort of an extended tie. When there are fewer drams competing, the competition becomes fierce because there’s nowhere for a middling dram to hide.
Our lineup today is:
Drake’s Virginia Black Decadent American Whiskey
Bob Dylan’s Heaven’s Door Redbreast Edition
Matthew McConaughey’s Longbranch
Scottie Pippen’s DIGITS Bourbon
Terry Bradshaw’s Bradshaw Bourbon
I was lucky enough to score a few of these from a bar owner and whiskey collector down in Prague where I host whiskey tastings to help keep things new and varied (hence the small taster bottles in some of the images). Let’s get to it!
This is thin from the nose to the end. There’s a touch of vanilla extract with a plastic vibe on the nose that leads towards a hint of old lemon peel. The taste is pretty watery with a touch of caramel and a mild spice that leans towards cinnamon toast. The finish arrives pretty quick with a little note of oakiness.
This feels like “bourbon” but only just.
Taste 2
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
The nose draws you in with a worn leatheriness next to dark stone fruits, brittle toffees, and something that feels like apricot jam with a good dose of winter spices. The palate is nutty (ranging from nutshell to marzipan) with a sticky toffee pudding vibe that leads towards plum candies. That sweetness gets very creamy with a vanilla pudding base as a light sense of stringy cedar barks leads back to that sweet plum candy.
Taste 3
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
There are very light notes of citrus on the nose that feel like a distant lemon-lime with a wet wood vibe. The taste dried that wood out immediately, driving it towards almost pine wall paneling with hints of dry and dark spices, peach pits, and vanilla that all leads to this beautiful caramel candy end.
Taste 4
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a sense of vanilla extract that leads towards slightly singed popcorn with a touch of butter and an echo of cherry soda. The palate is classic bourbon with notes of caramel sauce, dark spice, light oak, and vanilla dancing with slight hints of leather and cherry tobacco. The end holds onto the vanilla before going full cherry candy on the finish.
Taste 5
Zach Johnston
Tasting Notes:
This is a wild nose that goes from Wether’s Originals to leather-bound books to drug store aftershave. The palate is all about soft spices with a woody vibe that’s a little bit wicker and a little bit oak. The finish holds onto the spice and warms up considerably before veering headfirst into apple candy sweetness.
This whiskey is a collaboration between tequila maker Brent Hocking of DeLeón Tequila and Drake. The juice is a blend of high-rye bourbons from MGP that aged for two, three, and four years. That blend is then proofed all the way down to 40 percent before it’s bottled in what best can be described as a fancy art-deco perfume bottle.
Bottom Line:
This was last and it wasn’t even close. The 40 percent ABV meant that water kind of took over the whole flavor profile and left a faint hint of what whiskey might have been in those barrels.
This bottle is a collaboration between Bulls superstar Scottie Pippen and Napa wine superstar Dave Phinney. The juice is a sourced five-year-old whiskey that’s distilled in Tennessee, likely in a place that rhymes with “Tacoma”, alongside some MGP whiskey from Indiana. The barrels are sent to Mare Island, off San Francisco, where they continue aging before vatting, proofing, and bottling.
Bottom Line:
This is miles ahead of the bottle above. There’s a real sense of a well-built whiskey here that weirdly starts off a little thin but builds towards a very solid finish. I could see using this in cocktails very easily but I don’t know if it’s quite a sipper, like its price point suggests.
A few years back, Wild Turkey brought on Matthew McConaughey to be the brand’s Creative Director and design his own whiskey. The product of that partnership was launched in 2018. The juice is a wholly unique whiskey for Wild Turkey, thanks to the Texas Mesquite charcoal filtration the hot juice goes through. The bourbon then goes into oak for eight long years before it’s proofed and bottled.
Bottom Line:
I think this could have won that day had the first half (the nose and the opening of the palate) had been bolder. This dram ends amazingly but you have to sort of force yourself to get there. Still, it’s pretty solid once you’re past the first act.
Bradshaw Bourbon is made by Green River Distilling Company in Owensboro, Kentucky. The bourbon (and now a rye) is a collab between former Super Bowl champ Terry Bradshaw and Silver Screen Bottling Company, which acts as a sort of bottling fixer between a celebrity and a distiller or barrel house. The juice is a two-year-old bourbon made with 70 percent corn, 21 percent rye, and nine percent malted barley. It’s proofed to a hefty 103.8.
Bottom Line:
This really stood out. That aftershave moment of the nose threw me a bit (it’s not too out of leftfield) but made total sense with the whole experience. Then the palate truly popped as a very classic Kentucky bourbon. There weren’t any big bells or whistles but there didn’t need to be. This felt like a really solid “table bourbon” that you could sip on the rocks or throw in a cocktail and all will be well.
This whiskey is a collaboration between Heaven’s Door Master Blender Ryan Perry and Redbreast’s legendary Master Blender Billy Leighton. The duo worked long and hard to create multiple whiskey expressions, which Bob Dylan taste-tested and granted final approval on. The juice in the bottle is Heaven Door’s low-rye 10-year-old Tennessee bourbon. They take that whiskey and fill it into Redbreast whiskey casks that had previously aged Irish whiskey for 12 years. After 15 months of final maturation, those barrels are vatted and slightly proofed down with soft Tennessee spring water.
Bottom Line:
Nothing came close to this. It’s complex, accessible, pronounced, nuanced. There’s a real depth that makes sense and welcomes you in. This is the winner by a country mile. I wanted to immediately go back. Given that Dylan actually helps select barrels and works with the blending, I have to think that he’s got one hell of a whiskey palate.
Part 3: Final Thoughts
Zach Johnston
I think I would have been shocked if Heaven’s Door didn’t win. The majority of their lineup is pretty damn fine whiskey across the board. Still, when I saw that Bradshaw Bourbon was my second-place pick, I was shocked. I had written that bottle off as “Terry probably just slapped his name on a bottle.” That’s not exactly true, he is part of the process, in theory. He’s out there pounding the pavement for the brand and has a long history of barrel picks going back a long way. It shows in this whiskey as it feels like it was made by someone who adores bourbon.
For me, the Longbranch was the splitting point. That whiskey finished so beautifully that it felt like a real shift from “shitty” to “okay” to “very nice” in this lineup. Still, I wanted a bit more up top and up just wasn’t there.
When it comes to Scottie Pippen’s bourbon, my best summation is this “yup, that’s bourbon alright.” It just left me a bit cold while tasting it and now while thinking about it. I can’t really see myself ever going back to it.
Finally, there’s Drake. Sorry, but cool perfume bottle aside, this was “meh” at best and “try again, folks” at worst. The 80 proof just let too much water take everything over and there was very little left.
I guess that means Bob Dylan remains the GOAT, in more ways than one.
We’re not going to lie, we love a good collab whiskey around here. We also tend to be pretty ride-or-die for Waco, Texas’ Balcones Distilling. Part of that adoration is in the fact that the distillery team is always changing things up and innovating. They’re also always dropping cool collab bottles that actually deliver.
Case in point, their new release (so new that it’s still pre-order only) is a collaboration between the Texas distillery and the legendary Texas band, ZZ Top. This sounds like a match made in whisk(e)y heaven.
The batch was created this year over Zoom as the three band members met with the Balcones team to taste barrels and create blends to build this whisky. They ended up with a Texas whisky that’s a blend of whiskies from Balcones. Each whisky ended up representing a member of the blues rock trio and was named ‘Tres Hombres’ in their honor. We were lucky enough to get a bottle in advance, so let’s see what’s in the bottle!
ZZ Top worked directly with Jared Himstedt (over Zoom) to blend three Balcones whiskies together. The blend is one part Balcone’s signature Blue Corn Whisky, one part Texas Single Malt, and one part Texas Rye. The idea behind the blends was to build the sip from a bold and oily base towards a fruity mid-palate that ends up nice and spicy. Let’s see how they did.
Tasting Notes:
The nose really leans into the apple crumble with plenty of buttery streusel, brown sugar, and holiday spices (especially cinnamon) with a hint of a worn suede jacket that’s layered with decades of your grandma’s favorite perfume, honey, and cigarettes. The palate does indeed shift away from those notes slightly. The apple crumble is still there but leans more into the brown sugar to the point that it feels wet and almost heavy while a chewy and almost earthy note of grape skins, seeds, and stems arrive with a very slight bitter note that’s also green and herbal. That fruity but woody mid-palate leads towards a finish that’s very spicy and warm but more like a fresh pile of grated ginger next to apple-cider-soaked cinnamon sticks and a flutter of something savory … it kind of feels like fresh rosemary or thyme stems.
The Bottle:
Balcones puts all of their expressions in an old-school port bottle and it works. These bottles always stand out on a bar cart or whiskey bar shelf thanks to the stout size.
The label on this one also pops with a unique design dominated by the abstract image of ZZ Top. It’s eye-catching for sure and you know everything you need from that label by just looking at it.
Bottom Line:
I really dig this. It’s not a mind-blowing whisky but it’s a really solid sipper. It goes to interesting places and feels like the perfect gift for any ZZ Top fan this coming holiday season.
Ranking:
90/100 — This is a solid and very unique sipper and a great gift for a fan.
Drinking whiskey and listening to music go hand in hand. Pouring a glass of the good stuff and slipping a beloved vinyl out of its sleeve is a whole vibe. Or maybe you’re rocking your favorite summer streaming playlist and downing Jack and Cokes. Either way, whiskey pairs well with pretty much all genres of music so much so that thousands of songs have been written about drinking in general while hundreds have been written specifically about whiskey.
We’re here to talk about songs about whiskey and the best whiskey to pour for each of those tunes. I’m not a music critic, so I won’t be critiquing any of these songs. But I am a whiskey critic, and these tunes stand out from the dense crowd of whiskey hymns, so I paired them with the bottles that capture the vibe of each song.
The feel of the song is really what I focused on with these pairings. Bands and artists from the plains tended to elicit thoughts of vast fields of rye and wheat. Irish bands singing about whiskey took me to Midleton, Cork, and Dublin. Old school Americana blues riffs called for old school bourbons. You get the point so let’s dive in and listen to some good tunes and drink some damn good whiskey.
We’re starting off by going way back to the Benny Goodman big band era. While this song doesn’t actually reference whiskey in the lyrics, it’s all about a regretful love life, which is a major theme of a lot of songs about whiskey. Plus, we all need a little extra Billie Holiday in our lives.
The Whiskey:
The blend is a “pure malt” blended whisky, meaning that it’s made only with single malts (usually blended scotch is made with both grain and malt whisky). In this case, the juice is pulled from all over Scotland with a focus on Speyside, Highland, Lowland, and Island malts, including a minimum of 15-year-old Talisker, Caol Ila, Cragganmore, and Linkwood.
Tasting Notes:
This sip draws you in with the smells of an old, soft cedar box that’s held black pepper, sweet fruits, and oily vanilla pods next to a hint of green grass. The taste really holds onto the cedar as the fruits lean tropical with a hint of dried roses pinging in the background. The end builds on that by adding a note of spicy tobacco, a splash of sea spray, and a distant billow of campfire smoke.
The Pairing Lyric:
“I jumped out of the frying pan and right into the fire. Lord, right into the fire.”
This feels like the best place to start since oftentimes when drinking scotch, you’re jumping into the smoky fire for the night.
19. One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer, John Lee Hooker — Chivas Regal 12
This mid-1960s version of the bluesy original from Amos Milburn is far more succinct than the sprawling George Thoroughgood version, which is a bit like watching a documentary play out in song. It clocks in at just north of three minutes, which is the perfect amount of time to pour yourself a whiskey and get ready for a drinking session with John Lee Hooker’s timeless licks.
The Whiskey:
This Highland whisky is built around the famed Strathisla Distillery. The whisky is crafted to work as a sipper or mixer, with real complexity built-in. It really shines in both respects.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a matrix of oak, nuts, malts, and fruit up top. The fruitiness leans into orchards in full bloom as a minerality drives the taste towards spicy tobacco with a hint of creamy vanilla. The oak peeks back in with a little more maltiness, as the end slowly fades alongside a mild chewiness.
The Pairing Lyric:
“I ain’t seen the girl since night before last. Wanna get drunk, get her off my mind. One bourbon, one scotch, one beer.”
Chivas feels like an easy pour at a dive bar if you’re ordering scotch. It’s cheap, very easy drinking, and pretty damn ubiquitous.
18. What Good Can Drinkin’ Do, Janis Joplin — Old Tub
Joplin wrote and recorded this deep cut when she was 19. It’s a classic blues number in all its 12-bar glory. It also feels like a time machine to a completely different era — if not world — where you learn the cold hard truth that the answers you seek are not at the bottom of a bottle.
The Whiskey:
Last year, Jim Beam released their “distillery-only” Old Tub expression on the national market. The juice is an unfiltered and higher ABV version of classic Beam, giving you more of the brand’s depth in each sip of whiskey.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a sense of cornmeal next to sawdust, oily vanilla, and a hint of fresh honey sweetness that entices your senses. The sip takes on a caramel corn sweetness as the vanilla carries you towards sweeter woods and cherry fruits. The end is short and sweet (like most Beam), with a distant wisp of orange oils next to a slight minerality.
The Pairing Lyric:
“Give me whiskey, give me bourbon, give me gin because it doesn’t matter what I’m drinking, Lord, as long as it drowns this sorrow I’m in.”
The old-school blues harmony of the guitar and vocals on this take you straight back to the 1920s. And that is exactly where Old Tub is from (albeit a new version of that). The throwback bourbon feels perfect for sipping on while listening to this throwback track.
17. Moonshiner, Bob Dylan — Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye
This early Dylan track goes deep on the whiskey drinking and sorrow wallowing with friends at a local bar. The song’s last verse starts with “The whole world’s a bottle and life’s but a dram.” If that’s not the perfect whiskey verse (albeit a Shakespeare paraphrase), we don’t know what is.
The Whiskey:
Crown Royal puts out a lot of whisky. But their Northern Harvest Rye might well be their best release to date. The juice is a blend of ryes, creating a 90 percent rye whisky, that’s then cut with spring water and bottled at a very approachable 90 proof.
Tasting Notes:
This opens with a nose leaning into dried florals and herbs with a sweet edge of pear and apricot. It’s slightly grassy with touches of pepper spice and woody vanilla taking. aback seat to the pears and peaches and red berries. The end is swift but leaves you with a sense of scones covered in orange marmalade with a nice dose of eggnog spice warmth.
The Pairing Lyric:
“The whole world’s a bottle and life’s but a dram. When the bottle gets empty, it sure ain’t worth a damn.”
There’s just something about the old-school, wind-swept Northern folksiness of this song that feels like the ever-moving grass fields where Dylan grew up. And that always leads us back to Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye. The whisky will transport you to those grassy fields that Dylan ran away through all those times as a kid.
16. Streams of Whiskey, The Pogues — Tullamore D.E.W.
The Pogues have always felt like the ultimate whiskey drinking band. It’s no secret that the band’s lead, Shane MacGowan, would go on notoriously dark drinking binges. That darkness often comes through in the lyrics of a lot of their upbeat pub songs, including this one.
The Whiskey:
This is a straight-up classic Irish whiskey. The juice is triple distilled — like most Irish whiskeys — and then it rests in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. The whiskeys are then blended into a final product that’s as easy to drink as it is to mix.
Tasting Notes:
Clear fruity notes of apple mingle with a hint of bourbon-y vanilla. That fruit carries on through the very light (in a good way) sip as a hint of wood and citrus arrive. The vanilla peeks back in near the end as the sip quickly fades while warming you up.
The Pairing Lyric:
“I am going, I am going where streams of whiskey are flowing, yeah!”
This could literally be Ireland’s tourism branding. Whiskey and Ireland and inextricably bound and Tullamore D.E.W. feels like the Pogue-esque underdog to enjoy while dreaming of the Emerald Isle.
15. Whiskey in the Jar, Thin Lizzy — Jameson Stout Cask
In the end, this is a classic Irish folk song (originally performed by The Dubliners) of love, betrayal, colonialism, and death wrapped up a in very 70s rock jam.
The Whiskey:
Aging stout in whiskey barrels has a long tradition in brewing. Then there’s the whole tradition of stouts in Ireland that go hand-in-hand with drams of Irish whiskey. So aging Jameson in whiskey barrels that held stout beer makes a lot of sense.
In this case, the aged juice spends an extra six months in the stout barrels, giving the whiskey that little something extra.
Tasting Notes:
Apple orchards and bails of hay mingle with almonds, spice, chocolate, and a hint of lemon oil. Dark chocolate and a note of spicy wood dance on the palate as creamy sweetness balances everything out. The end brings about a note of butterscotch next to a milkier chocolate texture that quickly drops off.
The Pairing Lyric:
“As I was goin’ over the Cork and Kerry mountains…”
If there’s anything County Cork is now known for, it’s the Midleton Distillery where the world’s supply of Jameson is made. The extra boozy aspects of this song of lust, murder, and tragedy adds a certain Irish stoutness to the mix, hence the mix of stout finishing and old-school Jameson.
This politic Irish folk song from Christy Moore goes to some pretty dark places while memorializing Irish suffering during the Troubles. Moore laments the people lost to “winter graves” and “streets running red” and, yeah, we need a pull of a whiskey now too.
The Whiskey:
This is a testament to the magic that can happen when a cask hits just the right marks. This is the standard 12-year expression — single pot still, triple distilled, and ex-bourbon/ex-sherry maturation — that’s blended and bottled unfiltered and uncut.
It’s the purest expression of the cask in the bottle.
Tasting Notes:
Dried tropical fruit, stone fruit, and berries come through on the nose with a hint of cedar next to a slight cinnamon-forward spice powder. Those fruits and spices mix into a Christmas cake with a bit of malt next to that wood while vanilla pokes in with a rich and creamy texture. The fruit, oak, and spice marry on the long and warming end as the fade brings a buzzing to your senses.
The Pairing Lyric:
“Kids wear white garters and smell like their mothers whose husbands and fathers alike drink black beer in the same public houses, smelling of smoke and strong whiskey.”
This protest song gets pretty deep and brutal, so we’re sticking with the “strong whiskey” part. And that makes us think of Redbreast 12 Cast Strength. It’s one of the stronger Irish whiskeys on the shelf while still being one of the most well-made.
13. Here Comes A Regular, The Replacements — Larceny Wheated Bourbon Barrel Proof
This song feels like it’s going to be about Norm from Cheers. But it’s, again, a dark tome of drinking alone, the loss of a friend, and more drinking.
The Whiskey:
These barrel blends from Heaven Hill are meant to highlight the precise quality of the distillery’s prowess from grain to bottle. This small batch of wheated bourbon is derived from barrels between six and eight years old. The juice then goes right into the bottle with no cutting or filtering, allowing the masterful craft to shine through in every sip.
Tasting Notes:
This has a mellow nose that ebbs and flows between soft maple syrup cut with cinnamon sticks, a light touch of brioche, new leather gloves, and bruised apples. It offers a warm rollercoaster ride through figgy puddings touched with burnt sugars, dried fruits and nuts, holiday spices, and a brandy butter silkiness. The taste has a hint of almond or walnut shell on the end that marries to a dry mouthfeel, vanilla, and a touch of tobacco chewiness.
The warmth lingers pretty long but never overpowers and almost becomes halfway between fizzy and buzzing as it fades, leaving you with a woody, bourbon vibe and a very late wet straw note.
The Pairing Lyric:
“And even if you’re in the arms of someone’s baby now, I’ll take a great big whiskey to you anyway.”
Most of the wheat for American bourbons comes from Minnesota (and North Dakota). Since The Replacements also come from the land of endless wheat, a wheated bourbon felt like the best move. Plus, Larceny Barrel Proof feels like the epitome of a “great big whiskey.”
12. Whiskey River, Willie Nelson — Balcones Texas Single Malt Whisky
There are about a million country songs about breakups and whiskey. We chose three for this list and at least one of those had to be from Willie Nelson. While this song is pretty straightforward (it’s all chorus and bridges), it flows at the perfect pace to sip some good whisky.
The Whiskey:
Master Distiller Jared Himstedt has one of the best collections of Scotch single malts I’ve seen outside of Scotland. This expression is his salute to the classic style. The juice is made from 100 percent malted barley in copper pot stills before aging in variously sized barrels before getting finished in a single, large barrel. The final product is a single malt unlike any other that’ll help you fall in love with the style.
Tasting Notes:
Hints of pears and bananas greet you with a sense of rose water and citrus. The sip shines with a feel of rich, sweet, and bitter marmalade with a base of sourdough toast dripping with rich, creamy butter. This sip is like a warm hug that you didn’t know you needed.
The dram fades slowly through the senses as burnt sugar, cedar, and honey notes linger on the palate.
The Pairing Lyric:
“I’m drowning in a whiskey river, bathing my mem’ried mind. In the wetness of its soul, feeling the amber current flowin’ from my mind.”
You need a Texas whisky as unique as Willie for this song and that is Balcones Texas Single Malt.
11. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar), The Doors — Evan Williams Black Label
This might be the most 60s-sounding song of all time. Still, the beat is quick enough to get you hyped about a drinking session at your favorite whiskey bar, and that’s sort of the point of all of this.
The Whiskey:
This is more of an entry-point for Evan Williams. The juice is a mix of four to seven-year-old barrels of the standard Heaven Hill bourbon. The whiskey is then proofed to 43 proof and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a bit of that fruit candy feel to this sip next to vanilla, dry corn, and a hint of caramel apples next to oak. The body of the sip is very light, with a slight spice burn. The end is very short, sweet, and full of vanilla, toffee, and oak.
The Pairing Lyric:
“Well, show me the way to the next whiskey bar. Oh, don’t ask why.”
If you’re drinking shots of Evan Williams Black at a whiskey bar, no one had better ask you why.
10. Take Your Whiskey Home, Van Halen — Bulliet Rye
This song starts off as a classic blues number and ends as a now-classic 80s rocker with a nice Eddie Van Halen solo to cap things off. At its heart, though, the song is about alcoholism destroying a relationship, which is very in line with classic blues.
The Whiskey:
MGP of Indiana’s rye is one of the most popular ryes on earth. Their rye is has a mash bill of 95 percent rye and five percent malted barley. The juice is aged for four to seven years before blending, proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
This dram opens up with a mix of resinous cedar, sharp rye spiciness, creamy vanilla, and a hint of fresh mint. The taste delivers on those notes while folding in hints of dark cacao (with water added), savory fruits, and a buttery/crumbly biscuit somewhere deep in the bottom of the sip. The end lasts a while and circles back around to that cedar and sap, with plenty more sharp spiciness.
The Pairing Lyric:
“Yeah, you know that you’re headed for a lot of trouble if you take your whiskey home.”
Bulleit Rye remains one of the best bar whiskeys money can buy. It’s a good mixer or shooter and always available … at the bar.
9. Friends In Low Places, Garth Brooks — Jim Beam Bonded
Yes, this is a country breakup song. But it’s uptempo and pretty much a classic (or standard) at this point. It’s also a banger for just the right moment when you’re drinking at a dive bar and just tipsy enough to sing along with the whole bar.
The Whiskey:
This bourbon is Jim Beam’s high watermark when it comes to Kentucky bourbon. The juice is aged in a bottled-in-bond facility for four years where it’s also bottled at 100 proof with no bullshit. This is the standard Beam bourbon mash bill (77 percent corn, 13 percent rye, and ten percent malted barley) but there’s just something extra happening that makes this expression shine.
Tasting Notes:
This bourbon beckons you in with notes of toasted oak, red cherry, and vanilla. That leads to fresh honey, sweet caramel corn, rich toffee, bold vanilla, crisp apple, more of that red cherry, peppery spice, and a note of fresh mint. With a little water, the dram edges towards bitter dark chocolate with a nice billow of pipe tobacco while holding onto the mint, toffee, and vanilla oakiness.
The end is long, meandering, and full of warmth, fruit, spice, and bourbon goodness.
The Pairing Lyric:
“‘Cause I’ve got friends in low places where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases my blues away and I’ll be okay.”
You’re gonna want something familiar, cheap, good, and strong while you party (and sway) to this song. Jim Beam Bonded hits all of those marks perfectly.
When I made this list, I thought to myself, “Whiskey’N Mama has to be in there.” I remembered a fun romp of Texas rock. But, again, this is a breakup song about a Whiskey’N Mama. I swear we have some fun songs on this list too!
The Whiskey:
This introductory juice from Four Roses is a blend of all ten of their whiskeys. The barrels are a minimum of five years old when they’re plucked from the warehouses, blended, brought down to proof, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a bit of steeliness to the nose that’s mellowed by hints of dried florals, apple, and a touch of honey and spice. The taste doesn’t veer too far from the nose as the apple turns more honey, with mild vanilla and more honeyed sweetness. The end is subtle and short with a touch of green oak, spice, fruit, and one more dash of honey.
The Pairing Lyric:
“I should have known better than to fool with a whiskey’n mama.”
There’s something about Four Roses that feels very ZZ Top. Just grab a bottle of Four Roses the next time you’re in a liquor store, you won’t be disappointed, especially if ZZ Top is already playing on your car radio.
7. Whiskey And You, Chris Stapleton — Jim Beam Black
This is the ultimate hangover/breakup song. Stapleton’s very slowed and drop-D take on the Tim McGraw track will break your soul if you’re already hungover and maybe help it start to mend if you’re going through a breakup.
The Whiskey:
This expression replaced the old Black Label 8 Year. The juice in this bottle is aged longer than your average four-year-old Beam, but there is no age statement on exactly how long. The best way to think of it is that it’s aged for as long as it needs to be, according to the distilling team.
Tasting Notes:
This bourbon is where Jim Beam starts to get dialed-in to its core notes of vanilla, caramel, corn, and oak, with a hint of orchard fruit. Yes, all of those elements were there in standard Jim Beam above. But there’s more refinement in this whiskey with a little bit of sweet smoke added in. By the end, the vanilla is more like a dried vanilla pod, the caramel is richer, the fruit is a bit more tart (sweet apple-ish), the oak is more toasted than charred.
The fade isn’t too long but sticks with you.
The Pairing Lyric:
“Come tomorrow, I can walk in any store, it ain’t a problem, they’ll always sell me more.”
Jim Beam is the ultimate bottle that you can literally walk into any store and find some variation on the shelf. And yes, they’ll always sell you one.
6. Whiskey Girl, Gillian Welch — Michter’s Small Batch Original Sour Mash Whiskey
Keeping things low and slow, this ethereal song is all about a couple tying one on and going deep into the “underworld.” It’s very folksy and Americana-filed somehow (I told you I wasn’t a music critic). In the end, it’s about two people coming together rather than splitting up.
The Whiskey:
This was the first American whiskey to be named “Whiskey of the Year” by The Whiskey Exchange just last year. The reason this is a “sour mash” and not a bourbon or rye is that the mash bill doesn’t focus on corn or rye, hence it’s just a sour mash whiskey. The juice is then aged in new white oak with a heavy char.
Tasting Notes:
Smoked plums and rye spice mingle up top. The sip really embraces the smoky dark fruit with hints of vanilla and cherry popping up on the palate. The dram carries that smoky plumminess through to the end with a nice nod to the oak and bourbon-y vanilla underbelly.
The Pairing Lyric:
“Nowhere man and the whiskey girl, they loaded up for a weekend in the underworld.”
There’s something about the folksy and haunting tones of Welch’s voice that speaks to this deeply flavored and folksy whiskey. Pour it neat and let the record spin.
5. Drink You Away, Justin Timberlake — Jack Daniel’s Sinatra Select
This song straight-up references Jim and Jack, so you know we had to pick one of those two. And, yes, we know this is another breakup song. Still, it’s an easy jam to let spin while you sip some good whiskey.
The Whiskey:
Frank Sinatra was one of Jack’s biggest fans. The crooner was buried with a bottle. The actual juice in this expression is a throwback of sorts to how Jack was made in Sinatra’s day. They use special “Sinatra Barrels” that have concentric grooves carved into the newly charred oak, giving the whiskey more surface area to do its thing. Once that’s aged, it’s blended with traditional Old No. 7 and proofed at 45 percent, as it also would have been back in the Rat Pack days.
Tasting Notes:
Stonefruit, caramel apples, vanilla pods, and a hint of that toasted oak pull you in. The sip leans into the fruit with a rich and buttery vanilla-laden caramel, plenty of peppery spice, and more of that oak, along with a very distant echo of tobacco smoke. The fruit leans back towards a mild banana as the caramel, spice, vanilla, and oak slowly fades out and warms your senses, leaving you with one final puff of that smoke.
The Pairing Lyric:
“I’ve tried Jack, I’ve tried Jim, I’ve tried all of their friends, but I can’t drink you away.”
But did he try Jack Daniel’s Sinatra Select? Really, this is more about the tuxedo-wearing swagger Timberlake rocked during his 20/20 tour — that was Sinatra to its core — than it is about a breakup song.
Okay, we’re picking things back up. This is the ultimate “let’s get this party started” tune for hard rockers. Hell, a shot of whiskey almost magically appears in your hand when this song revs up.
The Whiskey:
Starward Solera is an Australian grain-to-glass experience. The mash is made from 100 percent Australian malted barley. The juice is then aged in used Apera fortified wine casks from Australia. The final result is cut with local water and bottled at a very agreeable 86 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Subtle notes of butterscotch, red berries, and vanilla pods mingle on the nose. The palate has a slight floral note (think dried roses) that marries well to those sweet red berries as a note of woody spice comes into play with a hint of honey. The end leans into the vanilla to the point of getting a little creamy as the fruit, honey, and spice fade out.
The Pairing Lyric:
“Yes, my glass is gettin’ shorter on whiskey, ice, and water.”
Look at that! The recipe for a highball. Starward Solera is an excellent choice for a great highball with unique flavors and plenty of Aussie vibes.
3. Broken Whiskey Glass, Post Malone — Wild Turkey 101
This feels like a post-modern My Morning Jacket boast track. It’s mostly about getting f*cked up and going through life as a rock star, which whiskey always seems to be a central part of. But hey, at least it’s not about another breakup.
The Whiskey:
A lot of Wild Turkey’s character comes from the hard and deep char they use on their oak barrels. 101 is a high-rye and high-ABV bourbon that leans into the wood and aging, having spent six years in the cask. A little of that soft Kentucky limestone water is added to cool it down a bit before bottling.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a sweetness that feels like buttery toffee next to creamy vanilla and a note of citrus next to charred oak. The taste delivers on those notes and adds more vanilla pudding, sharp rye spice, butterscotch, and a hint of fresh and sweet tobacco leaves. The end is bold and long with the spice, oak, and sweetness lingering on the senses while heating you to your soul (this is what’s called the “Kentucky hug,” although this particular embrace isn’t overly gentle).
The Pairing Lyric:
“And that 101 like the highway in hell, going too damn fast.”
Those extra ABVs on Turkey 101 will 100 percent get you there faster.
A song purely about partying, taking shots, wearing sunglasses at night, and Jameson with an Avril Lavigne hook (of sorts)? F*ck yeah, I’ll drink to that.
The Whiskey:
This is more than just 18-year-old Jameson. It’s a masterful blend of hand-selected 18-year-old whiskeys aged in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. That juice is then married and finished in first-fill bourbon casks until it’s just right.
Tasting Notes:
This has a bold-yet-dialed-in nose, with bourbon vanilla, soft cedar, orange oils, rich toffee, and subtle spice. The taste delivers on those promises and adds in leather, hazelnuts, and a dusting of dark chocolate (especially with a little water). The end is slow and combines the cedar, toffee, and spice in a wonderful balance.
The Pairing Lyric:
“Oh, let the Jameson sink in, I drink to that, yeah, yeah…”
If Rihanna is calling out Jameson shots at the bar, they better be the best f*cking Jameson shots ever. And that’s clearly Jameson 18.
1. Tennessee Whiskey, Chris Stapleton — Uncle Nearest 1856
This list was pre-destined to end on this song. It’s about being in love and the person you’re in love with being as good as Tennessee whiskey — well that and strawberry wine and brandy too. Regardless, this is probably the best whiskey song of all time (this version specifically) because it’s not about a breakup. It’s about finding love, which is a massive outlier in songs about whiskey.
The Whiskey:
This whiskey is the entry point to the newly minted Uncle Nearest line. The shingle was created to celebrate Nathan “Nearest” Green who was instrumental in Jack Daniel’s early success in postbellum Tennessee. The juice in the bottle is a sourced (for now) blend of Tennessee whiskeys that have aged eight to 14 years before blending and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Fairground caramel corn mingles with rushes of dry hay, thin maple syrup, bowls of freshly picked peaches, and a hint of red berries. The fruit takes on dry edges as the maple and caramel take on a spiciness next to a maltiness that almost feels like a spiced cake full of dried red fruit. There’s a hint of dried florals behind vanilla and caramel on the short end.
The Pairing Lyric:
“You’re as smooth as Tennessee whiskey. You’re as sweet as strawberry wine. You’re as warm as a glass of brandy. And honey, I stay stoned on your love all the time.”
That deep red fruit that turns a little dry in a Tennessee whiskey exudes the vibes of this song’s chorus. Tennessee whiskey, strawberry wine, and brandy is this bottle.
Check out the whole playlist below:
As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.
