As part of The Spill Awards, The Spill's team of judges select the best gin, bourbon, canned cocktail, value bottle, rum — and a whole lot more. We also spoke with the bestselling author of The Comfort Crisis Michael Easter, who names the small, intentional challenges that lead to a stronger body and sharper mind.

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The Best Spirits Bottles of the Year

The criteria for the spirits bottle nominations and the winners are a little more strict than our other categories. The bottles had to be released in the 2024 calendar year, though we offered a little leeway on a few nominees (for example, if a regional spirits bottle was released in a different year but only got a national release in 2024, we could consider it). We tried not to be too exclusive about these bottles — a few of these are hard to find, but others you should be able to buy in any good local liquor store or online. With prices ranging from $25 per bottle to a few thousand, we also wanted to represent a wide spectrum of tastes and budgets. And we offered up a few honorable mentions that certainly deserve to be sampled.

Michael Easter on How to Live the “2% Mindset”

Michael Easter is a New York Times bestselling author, motivational speaker, adventurer, professor and journalist. He’s traveled all over the world, often to some dangerous places, and helped popularize “rucking” — an exercise that involves walking or hiking while carrying weight on your back, typically in a rucksack.

We caught up with Easter over the phone to talk about rucking, his 2% philosophy, and how traveling to places as far-flung as Baghdad, Bhutan and the Arctic helped him design the perfect backpack.

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Joan Didion Versus Nostalgia: An Excerpt From “We Tell Ourselves Stories”

Few writers of her generation have had the impact on American culture that Joan Didion has had. Since Didion’s death in 2021, a host of writers have sought to reckon with her legacy, including Lili Anolik’s critically acclaimed Didion and Babitz, which contrasted Didion’s life and work with those of another literary figure inexorably entangled with Los Angeles.

In her new book We Tell Ourselves Stories: Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine, New York Times film critic Alissa Wilkinson explored the breadth of Didion’s influence — on art, literature and politics. So far, the reviews have been enthusiastic, with Booklist‘s calling it “a cultural case study of the country Didion wrote about.”