Our love of the fine scotch from The Balvenie distillery knows no bounds, so word of their latest release is always welcome. In this case the spirit is called Tun 1509. Handcrafted by renowned Malt Master David Stewart, Tun 1509 was carefully hand-selected from 42 of Balvenie’s finest casks – 35 traditional American oak barrels and seven European oak sherry butts – which were then transferred to the eponymous Tun 1509. There they were aged for several more months before bottling. Tun 1509 is therefore a rare interpretation of the marrying process from the Speyside distillery, and allows all 42 casks to come together to create a unique expression of The Balvenie that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Balvenie promises its Tun 1509 will be deep and rich on the nose, with floral notes of sweet vanilla and orange peel. Also notes of tangy citrus, mellow cinnamon spice and blossom honey are hallmarks. Pick up a bottle at Master Of Malt for $340.

I know it’s not an international holiday, but dammit if it shouldn’t be. Instead of spreading “democracy” and “freedom”, I think America should concentrate on spreading “Thanksgiving” — easily the best American invention. What’s there not to like? You sit around all day, watch football, eat till you slip into a tryptophanic coma, and drink beer. Or whiskey. Or wine. Really, it’s up to you — that’s the beautiful part. And all you gotta do to earnestly celebrate the holiday is take some time to be grateful for all you have in your life. What does that have to do with girls and drinking beer, as in the photo above? If you have to ask that, I think it’s fair to say you don’t understand the holiday at all. Happy Thanksgiving world, we could all use this holiday right about now…

In 2008 I was sent by the now-defunct BPM magazine to Berlin and Vienna to document the emerging Future Bass movement percolating from the dank basements of those Teutonic capitals. While Modeselektor proved to be the most successful of all the acts from that scene, many were making amazing music — including Jahcoozi, The Tape, Chris Deluca vs Phon.o, RQM and Stereotyp. Among those was a man named Christian “Cee” Schwanz, who at the time was recording under the Al-Haca moniker. We first met at a dock on the Danube, took a boat to Bratislava to watch a musical festival, and ended up staying up all night drinking copious Zlatý Bažant and cheap Slovakian vodka out of a plastic water bottle until the next day. We befriended an 19-year old kid named Balázs who showed us the city, and we showed him the night of his life (his words, not ours). Somehow we stumbled onto the return boat just in time, our heads floating somewhere near Pluto. Since then Cee moved to Malaysia, got married, and opened up a music studio nestled in the Berembun forest where he makes beats under the Bass Sekolah alias with his partner/vocalist Darren Ashley (and records visiting artists such as as Daedelus, Africa Hitech, Perera Elsewhere and Modeselektor, who we interviewed HERE). Bass Sekolah are about to drop their first official single “Lighthouse” on Mouthwatering Records this Friday (November 28), so Cee dropped a line to let us know what he’s been up to these past few years. Stream the sophisticated loveliness of “Lighthouse”, and enjoy our To Whom It May Concern interview in its entirety below…

Allow me to introduce myself, I’m…
CEE of the Malaysian duo Bass Sekolah

You can find me…
Making music with the crickets and the birds and my partner in crime Darren Ashley, usually posted up at the Dusun, a little rainforest resort one hour outside of Kuala Lumpur.

You might’ve heard of me because…
I been making music under different flags for more than 15 years.

But why you really should know me is…
Because I make great pasta. My mustard & beer BBQ marinate is also killer

My next order of business is…
Being affiliated with the Red Bull Music Academy. I just came back from RBMA Tokyo as an observing guest, sucking up all that creative juice and that memory will stay up in my mind forevaaaa… I feel inspired in so many ways.

If it wasn’t for the fall of the Berlin wall I wouldn’t be where I am today.

The first piece of music I heard that I remember waking up my ears was…
The birds. No that’s a lie. My wake up alarm started bugging me at 7:30 AM, but I managed to ignore it until 8:30 AM

The last piece of music I heard that woke up my ears is…
Dorian Concept’s new album Joined Ends.

I hate to admit it, but I almost gave music up when…
I left Europe a bit more than 5 years ago. I had a good run with Al-Haca, but things started to fade out and I wasn’t sure if I could continue. Now I don’t rely on music financially and I am a much happier person. It’s all just love again.

Stream Bass Sekolah’s “Lighthouse” track below, and hit the Jump to continue reading our To Whom It May Concern Q&A with the Malaysia-based producer…

“I just came back from Red Bull Music Academy Tokyo, sucking up all that creative juice — I feel inspired in so many ways…”

READ MORE…

Last we saw from Fool’s Paradise, it was something along the lines of a sexy Jedi Jesus. It’s a little harder to exactly pinpoint the narrative this time, but a first guess might be Barbie the robot-alien-headed bounty hunter who likes to keep her boobs well ventilated. This marks 12 rounds of Alan Ng-designed Jango Keiko dolls and the second Mintyfresh exclusive. There are only 100 of the 12″ polystone resin figures throughout the globe, so preorder now for about $250 and expect delivery some time in December.

Kick it with a Jango Keiko stormtrooper after the Jump…

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Maverick Drinks is ready for you to hit the books, and the sauce, once again. If you remember from your earlier  alcoholic academic studies, Masters of Malt’s Reference Series offered three bottles — each with the same but increasingly older whisky, marked with detailed notes, so that the drinking experience may be a learning one too. The series of malted whiskey blends therefore offered a bottle-paced immersion into the life of a whiskey, with each blend being bottled at different points in the aging process. As you sampled each bottle in order, and read the corresponding tasting notes, you could experience and understand first-hand exactly how whisky matures on the palette. The taster’s experience is thus a deliberate sensorial study in whiskey preparation, aging and imbibing.

As originally promised, extensions to each of these valuable reference tools are now available. Extension .1 finishes the original blend in a Pedro Ximénez Sherry casket, while Extension .2 stirs it up with some Islay Single Malt, and Extension .3 is colored with E150a (or what those gifted with the gabbier side of the gimlet like to call “Spirit Caramel”). Now you not only understand exactly how whisky ages taste-wise, but how different blends affect its final presentation. Prices begin at just over $65 and move up from there. Note that the initial series was very well received, so it may indeed be worth your time to renew your checkouts from the liquor library.

If the notion of kickflipping all over some royal cartoon titties makes you do a 180, so to speak, you are a very wise man one total creep that’s bound to step up to Sneeze Magazine‘s limited edition “Mulan & Jasmine” skateboard collection. Original artwork by Korean-American illustrator Peter Chung coats the decks with a busty Mulan measuring 8″ x 21.75″ and supine Jasmine at 8.25″ x 32″. Stocks are already running low on these denim-wearing topless princesses, so get your fully dipped, made in the USA decks today for $110.

Italian high-fashion house and masters of vibrant knits Missoni have teamed up yet again with Converse to ultra-lux a series of their Chuck Taylor All Stars. There’s just something fundamentally classic to a pair of Chucks that they will always garner new designer reduxes. Hence the arrival of the Missoni’s new Zip Hi “Cashew” this Fall/Winter. With the upper in Cashew-colored suede and a warming Missoni-knit interior, this interpretation of a classic is tasteful, neutrally toned and seasonally appropriate rendition. Other attributes include vintage heel branding, brass eyelets which house the waxed and rounded laces, turned up rubber foxing and tasseled side zippers. Cash in on the Cashews for $200.

Get a closer look at the Missoni x Converse  Zip Hi “Cashew” Sneakers after the Jump..

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Starting early this past summer, Raekwon figured out for us that #TBT can mean more than posting old acne-scarred photos of prom night. Since then, vintage soul and R&B jams got a Raekwon weekly redo thanks to a little Wu-spiration. The “Throwback-Thursday/TBT” mixes included new flows over the likes of many classics from the Gap Band, the Isley Brothers and The Spinners, just to name a few out of what would come to be 20 tracks in all. All 20 tracks have now been compiled onto one mixtape, We Wanna Thank You, just in time to serve as a pre-game to the upcoming December 2nd release of the Wu Tang Clan’s A Better Tomorrow album. Just like yesterday’s posting of the Wu’s  “Necklace” single, the Chef has cooked this all up to whet y’all’s appetites for their 6th studio full-length. Tunes that have been turned out for We Wanna Thank You include everything from Teena Marie’s “All Night Long” to “Zoom” from the Commodores. Raekwon, we wanna thank you this Thanksgiving…