Back in 1992, for the 1,000th batch of Goose Island beer, the brewer Greg Hall, wanted to create something unique, a one-off beer. What resulted was the brewery’s first bourbon barrel-aged stout.
“At the time, we thought we’d never make it again,” says Hall, who left Goose Island in 2011.
As it happens, Goose Island is still making bourbon barrel-aged stouts 30 years later. It all began at a fortuitous dinner that put Hall next to Booker Noe, the legendary master distiller and grandson of Jim Beam. That chance meeting spurred the idea to age Goose Island stout in a bourbon barrel.
Over the last 30 years, the release of new Goose Island Bourbon County stouts has become somewhat of a spectacle, with people camping out to be the first to buy it big. Each year, the pressure is undoubtedly on Goose Island to make something memorable—once again. In past years, they’ve made bourbon barrel-aged stout variants flavored with Earl Grey tea, chipotle chilis, and blueberry juice (just not together). One of 2021’s stouts brought to mind strawberry ice cream bars. When it comes to pushing what a bourbon barrel-aged stout can be, 2022 is no different.
“We think about Bourbon County Stout every day of the year, and I hope this year’s releases show that.” says Mike Siegel, senior innovation manager at Goose Island.
This year, Goose Island has seven new releases that celebrate 30 years of making bourbon barrel-aged stout and push the process in seven new ways. From old favorites to tropical flavors, here’s the list of 2022 Bourbon County stouts you need to get your hands on.
Goose Island Beer Company
Goose Island Bourbon County Stout
Every year, Goose Island returns to the recipe for the first Bourbon County Stout from 1992. This year, the imperial stout is aged and blended from empty bourbon barrels used by Heaven Hill, Four Roses, Wild Turkey, and Buffalo Trace distilleries. Goose Island says you can expect flavors of vanilla, dark chocolate, toffee, molasses, almond, and dried fruit.
The M1 MacBook Air remains an excellent choice for a powerful ultraportable. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Our Monday deals post is starting off strong with the M1-equipped MacBook Air, which is currently matching its best price to date at Best Buy. The retailer has discounted both the 256GB and 512GB configurations to $849.99 (normally $999.99) and $1,049.99 (normally $1,299.99), respectively. While it’s beginning to show its age a bit — especially with the recent release of the M2 model — the M1 Air still remains a terrific macOS laptop thanks to its speedy performance and excellent battery life. The 720p webcam is definitely a pain point for the last-gen machine, but at this price, you’ll have difficulty finding a laptop that can match the M1 Air, pound for pound. Read our review.
LeBron James is eligible to sign an extension this Thursday with the Los Angeles Lakers. However, according to Brian Windhorst, the Cleveland Cavaliers should not be ruled out as a possibility of where LeBron ends his career. The NBA insider said the Cavs are setup perfectly next offseason with cap space to make a move for LeBron if he decides to not sign an extension with the Lakers. Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe predict whether they see LeBron leaving L.A. for his third stint in Cleveland or not.
The dream for most of us gear heads is to have a car you drive to the track, spend the day racing, then take home—no trailer necessary. But most track-focused cars are too stiff and uncomfortable to drive very far on public streets, while road cars are too soft and supple to provide much of a thrill on a circuit. But what if there were one that was just right for both? The 2023 Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica might just be our Goldilocks answer to this quandary.
Yes, It’s Fast!
Last year, Lamborghini debuted the Huracán STO, a road car that prioritizes track experience over driving on public thoroughfares. It was certainly brilliant ripping laps at hellacious speeds, but it was quite evident the STO wasn’t a rig well-suited to bumps in the road. With the 2023 Lamborghini Huracán Tecnica, the Italian maker has effectively created an STO in street clothing. The engine, transmission, and braking system are essentially the same, but the chassis has been given a softer setup, making it more comfortable in everyday situations. Also, Lamborghini has stripped away much of the aero kit, as well as the massive scoop and wing, giving it a more conventional Lamborghini aesthetic.
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Of course those changes are not strictly visual, the Tecnica offers less downforce than the STO, but it does generate 35 percent more rear downforce than the Huracán EVO and 20 percent less drag. Also, Lamborghini has reshaped the underside of the car and the brake vents to keep them cooler and prevent stopping power from fading as you push it on the road or track.
To save a bit of mass, Lambo used lightweight materials including a carbon fiber hood and engine cover to reduce the weight of the Tecnica by 10 kg compared to the EVO RWD.
The aforementioned engine is a naturally aspirated V-10 that savagely throws 631 hp and 417 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels. At the 8,500 rpm redline, the sound is both staggering and addictive. Once you hear it, you want to hear it again and again, like your favorite song on repeat.
Controlling how the car deploys that staggering power, the LDVI (Lamborghini Dinamica Veicolo Integrata) system manages the totality of the car’s dynamic behavior. Drivers have the option of three driving modes: Strada provides maximum comfort; Sport mode sharpens the throttle input, revs higher in automatic, and adds a bit of oversteer to the rear wheels; and Corsa offers maximum lateral and longitudinal grip, the fastest shifting from the gearbox, and greater precision for sticking the line on the track while you try to find the limit.
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On the Road
There are some truly epic driving roads in Spain, especially around the Parc Natural de la Serra Calderona, and if you find yourself behind the wheel of the Tecnica, you’ll want to drive them all.
Pop it into the Sport setting and the Valencian hills come alive with the sounds of V-10 music. Give the Tecnica even a modest amount of throttle and it howls. Push the accelerator further and it screams. Gear shifts are intensely quick, whether you’re lazily rolling in automatic or using the paddles while cosplaying an F1 driver. The carbon ceramic brakes are so strong they could probably yank the Millennium Falcon from hyperspace to a dead stop in a few hundred feet, but the pedal itself feels a bit dull.
Moreover, the throttle response in Strada could be a little sharper. The Tecnica requires a forceful push of the accelerator to wake the engine from its slumber. But that massive V-10 power is only a stomp away. Minor gripes in the big picture.
The softer setup makes the Tecnica a reasonably comfortable place to grind out highway miles or saunter through town. Of course, for most customers, it won’t serve as a daily driver. But it’s certainly versatile enough that it could.
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On the Track
As good as the Huracán Tecnica is on the road, it’s equally adroit on the track. Flicking through turns and hammering the throttle on straights, it’s hard to find the edge in this car lapping the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. Raw speed comes so easily to the Tecnica what seems like hair-on-fire-fast in other cars feels easily manageable.
Rear-wheel steering gives the Tecnica both enhanced maneuverability at lower speeds and more lateral stability at faster ones, a feature you appreciate both on the track or during hairpin turns and hills on the open road. Optionally, the same custom Bridgestone Potenza race tires featured on the STO provide insane levels of grip that leave you with the impression there’s no line you can’t hold. But should you get a touch too aggressive, the traction control system can unwind all but the most serious mistakes.
Best of Both Worlds
For those who are going to live the dream and drive their race machine to the track, along with those race specific tires, customers should probably pick up a set of the Bridgestone Potenza Sport tires and some extra rims to swap for track days.
Those lucky few should also add the optional roll bar, though it does significantly diminish the already minimal rear visibility. But when you’re driving a Lamborghini, what’s behind you doesn’t matter…unless they have flashing lights and a siren.
The most contentious part of any review is the numeric score that’s given to the product. which reduces our evaluation of how a product performs in what is often a very competitive space to a value on a 10-point scale. We have often talked about getting rid of our scores, but readers tell us they often look to the score first when reading a review, and rely on scores for their purchasing decisions.
As a result, we take scoring very seriously here at The Verge. We know how much weight each score has on the perception of a product and how much conversation there is about Verge scores. Reviewers pitch scores to their editors and those scores are often hotly debated before we publish a review. Our aim is to make sure that the score provides…
The dog days of summer, indeed. | Image: Sweet Mommy, ONEKOSAMA
Tokyo-based clothing company Sweet Mommy has a novel way to keep pets cool. Instead of romping in sprinklers or parking in front of the air conditioner, it’s created “air-conditioned pet clothes” called COOL DOG (though cats can wear them as well). The device is a wearable fan that can be fixed to a pet’s back and is designed to help prevent pooches from getting heat stroke during walks.
The fan, which launched at the beginning of July, uses two AAA batteries and weighs roughly three ounces. In an interview with the South China Morning Post, creator Rei Uzawa says the batteries should last for three months, provided you take a dog on a 10-minute walk twice daily. The fan attaches to a mesh doggy shirt, which then helps to circulate air…
Deebo Samuel and the San Francisco 49ers have reportedly agreed on a three-year extension that has a value of over $73 million with $58 million of it guaranteed. It means that San Francisco will hold on to what is arguably their most productive offensive player as they transition to having Trey Lance at quarterback. On a scale of 1-10, Skip Bayless reveals why he believes the 49ers are a threat to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West despite Lance’s inexperience.
