Posts Written by Vic Arkoff

Celebrate special moments or simply class up the joint with splurge-worthy Bisquit & Dubouché VSOP Cognac (Very Superior Old Pale), an exceptional pour from France’s Cognac region. It’s pressed from the most prestigious eaux-de-vie of vines harvested from four main crus: Petite and Grande Champagne, Fin Bois, and Bons Bois.

A one-of-a-kind collection of vintage “Silver Bullet” trailers highlight the Airstream Heritage Center inside the company’s Jackson Center, Ohio HQ. The museum documents 90+ years of innovation with displays, archives, and awesome models including a 1938 Clipper, Wally Byam’s Gold Airstream, and a painted Argosy trailer.

Instead of taking a bath on MLB ticket$$$, fans in Atlanta can take a Presidential Suite bubble bath while watching a live Braves game. Special suites, guestrooms, and the rooftop pool at the Omni Hotel at The Battery Atlanta have awesome ballfield views. Book during home games to score overnight home runs.

Pro rally driver Ken Block is road-testing his insane Hoonipigasus. The 1,400 hp AWD Porsche SVRSR racecar is a widebody pink monster built for the 100th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado on June 26. The brutal 12.42-mile course has 156 turns and an elevation gain of 4,725 feet, with the finish line at 14,115 feet.

The opening of D.A. Pennebaker’s 1967 Bob Dylan doc Don’t Look Back – featuring the zeitgeist Subterranean Homesick Blues clip with lyric cue cards – has gotten a redo with contributions from dozens of artists, designers, filmmakers, and musicians including Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, Jim Jarmusch, and Wim Wenders.

The cute-as-a-bug Mini Bugout is an everyday carry pocket knife small enough to pack inside an Altoids tin. Scaled down to a closed length of 3.7” and weighing in at just 1.5 ounces, Benchmade’s baby is made of CPM-S30V blade steel with a Grivory handle, making it tough enough for adventures big and small.

What’s up SUP? Stand-up paddleboarding has a super-stable inflatable that makes the fastest growing watersport easy to pick up, pack up, and set up. Bote’s affordable Wulf Aero 10′4″ Inflatable Paddle Board weighs just 29 lb., fully loaded with an adjustable paddle, removable fin, hand pump, repair kit, and travel bag.

Shed water and shred trail with Deckers X Lab’s X-Scape 100F sneaker sandal. Made for mountain adventures, class 10 rapids, and running errands, this performance hybrid has your summer sorted. The Nubuck leather upper is lined with mesh and foam for comfort. Top laces and an adjustable heel strap finesse the fit.

The imposing, 3-row 2023 Hyundai Palisade means business when it comes to family transportation. The company’s flagship SUV has received a dignified sprucing up, inside and out, most notably with vertically connected LED headlights, a revamped instrument panel, multi-spoke alloy wheels, and heated third-row seats.

In olden times, shuffleboard was the most fun you could have on a cruise. Now it’s laser tag! Pew pew! On the very top deck on very tall Norwegian Cruise Line mega-ships! The planet’s only outdoor laser tag arenas are even awesomer than the only go-cart racetrack at sea on the same deck.

Genesis swept the 2022 iF Design Awards, winning four honors: three for Product Design and one for Interior Architecture. Then they topped themselves by unveiling the most jaw-dropping concept car of the NY Auto Show: the X Speedium Coupe, a streamlined preview of the Korean automaker’s next wave of luxury EVs.

Will Mystery Science Theater 3000 ever run out of bad movies to scoff at? Nope. MST3K returns for its 13th season, this time with three snarky humans suffering through the cheesy F-movie dreck on the big screen: Kinga Forrester (Felicia Day), loyal henchman Max (Patton Oswalt), and grandmother Pearl Forrester (Mary Jo Pehl).

Throughout his 60-year jazz career, double bass maestro Ron Carter has always been the coolest cat in the room. To celebrate his 85th birthday, the national treasure jams supreme in an NPR Tiny Desk Concert filmed onstage at the Blue Note Jazz Club. The jazz deity will be fêted at Carnegie Hall on 5.10.22.

Distilled from high-altitude Blue Weber agave, Casa Noble Tequila was a pioneer in the use of certified organic agave, even going so far as to make their own compost to guarantee its purity. The blanco tequila’s refined flavor and aroma come from resting in toasted French oak barrels instead of common American oak.

Streetwear trendsetter John Geiger gets his kicks this Cinco de Mayo with a top-shelf textured leather sneaker for Patron Tequila. The limited-edition GF-01 sneaks feature the buzzy Patron bee and Geiger’s swoopy “g” logo on a fresh green and white colorway inspired by Patron’s agave fields in Jalisco, Mexico. Drops 5.5.22 at 5pm ET.

Inspired by the stars, Astral Tequila is a super-premium tequila made in Jalisco, Mexico from 100% Blue Weber agave. A traditional milling process uses a stone wheel to crush juices from agave fibers, which are fermented together to maximize use of the plant. Spent fibers are then upcycled into bricks for local communities.

EVs dominated the 2022 New York Int’l Auto Show. Demonstrating their ambitions to go all-electric by 2028, Chrysler unveiled a graphite version of its Airflow Concept with a 400-mile range. The sleek crossover offers a panoramic glass roof, fast charging, intuitive AI, and tech to sync vehicle, work, and home environments.

After COVID locked us up in our personal escape rooms, we’re longing for a real escape like the overnight game at Hilton Orlando where groups complete missions around the sprawling resort to discover a secret. Called the world’s largest/tallest escape “room”, it requires a smart device for clues and (spoiler) a swimsuit.

This pencil set from the firm of legendary architect Michael Graves contains 24 colored pencils in his sophisticated palette. Graves’ minimal aesthetic is everywhere, from the essay on color usage in the design process to the die-cut sleeve’s grid of squares — a nod to Graves’ characteristic window pattern.

Built in the USA by the great bootmakers at Danner, this leather tool belt is a good looker and a good worker. It’s made to last, constructed from thick suede and natural leather. Features two large and three small pockets, a full-grain leather hammer loop and tape holder, and an adjustable web belt for waists 29”-46.”

The adidas Originals Ozworld sneaker collection has launched a personality-based, AI-enabled avatar generator. Users create their unique digital selves, which work with Ready Player Me, a cross-app avatar platform for the metaverse that lets anyone explore virtual worlds across 1,500 apps and games with a consistent identity.

The first legal American absinthe released after the U.S. ban was lifted in 2007, St. George Absinthe Verte shines in this misunderstood category. It doesn’t cause hallucinations or insanity, but the brandy-infused herbal elixir does have an unholy trinity of wormwood, fennel, star anise, and an insane 120-proof kick.

Castle & Key rose from the ruins of an old Kentucky distillery and now uses rose petals in its spring release. Rise 2022 Seasonal Gin cold-steeps macerated rose petals for 72 hours in the base spirit before distilling it with seven botanicals: juniper, tarragon, lemon peel, green peppercorn, almond, green cardamon, and licorice.