If someone were to summarize what the Yakuza franchise is, there would be a variety of potential answers depending on who you ask. Some might call it a Grand Theft Auto clone crime drama. Others will say it’s a comedy game focused on gaffes, and with Yakuza: Like a Dragon‘s release in 2020 there is now a significant portion of people who believe it’s an RPG franchise.
In reality, the answer is all of the above. The Yakuza franchise began on the PlayStation 2 in 2005 as a clunky brawler with an interesting enough story that didn’t do anything particularly well. It also had one of the most hysterically bad English dubs ever made. Did you know Mark Hamill was in this? Well, he doesn’t know that fun fact either apparently. The result of that horrible English dub, along with a poor showing in the states, resulted in Yakuza titles often released with Japanese audio and English subtitles in the US. But while they remained niche in the West, they exploded in popularity in Japan, resulting in eight mainline titles, multiple spin-offs, and SEGA’s most lucrative franchise today behind only Sonic the Hedgehog.
These days, however, Yakuza is a worldwide franchise. They’re even back to giving their U.S. releases an English dub and some notable voice actors have been involved. This week, Yakuza: Like a Dragon was released on the PlayStation 5 with a free upgrade for owners of the PlayStation 4 version. As it turns out, it was one of the biggest games of 2020. For longtime fans of Yakuza, it’s hard to believe. And for newcomers, it can feel overwhelming with so many titles to play.
With all that Yakuza out there — and its recent addition to Xbox Game Pass — there’s never been a better time to get involved in the franchise. You just need to know where to start.
Where To Start
One thing that’s great about the Yakuza franchise is they all tell self-contained stories that are interesting by themselves. With a focus on telling self-contained stories over an overarching plot, they avoid the issue that some players might feel of having to play every single game. If a player wants to only play Yakuza 0 and Yakuza 7, they can. And while they might not recognize every character in either title, or get all the nods to other games, they’ll understand enough of what’s going on to appreciate the game.
That said, there is a reward for those players that do dive into every game of the franchise. The world of Yakuza changes from game to game, including many of the characters gamers become vested in as their story develops. You begin cheering for them or, in other cases, cheering against them.
If you don’t have time to play them all, however, the best places to start are likely either Yakuza 0 or Yakuza: Like a Dragon. The former is a prequel to the entire franchise that establishes the backstory of many main characters. It’s also a game that, if you don’t like it, you will likely not like the rest of the franchise. It’s the perfect barometer to test your willingness to invest deeply in the Yakuza ecosystem.
Like a Dragon is also a great starting point, too, because it represents a massive shift in gameplay. Yakuza 0 through Yakuza 6 are all beat’em up brawlers with light RPG elements, but in those games, one of the major focuses was the cinematic style heat actions. These are single button pushes that, in specific situations, allow the player to do massive damage almost like a quick-time event. Perhaps these are what inspired the developers to switch to turn-based RPG combat in Like a Dragon.
Like a Dragon also introduces new characters and a new city to explore. There are still elements from the previous games that make their way into the latest Yakuza, but it’s the closest thing the franchise has had to a reboot, making it a great entry point into the franchise. It also helps that the plot is spectacular, and better than most of the Yakuza games, which often don’t have the most engaging of storylines. Many Yakuza games see fans let their love for the characters push them past plots that aren’t so great, but Like A Dragon is a notable, and welcome, exception.
The Appeal of Yakuza
Much of the Yakuza franchise may be personified by the game’s vibrant characters, but the best argument to explore the franchise is the larger world in which they exist. The majority of the Yakuza franchise is set in one town called Kamurocho. It’s a fictional version of Tokyo’s Red Light District and, unlike the typical crime drama open-world game, Kamurocho is not a huge expansive world. It’s small in comparison, but while other worlds may have a problem of emptiness this one is filled with detail. Every corner has something, whether it’s a shop, a restaurant, mini-games, or the major side-quests of this franchise’s substories.
These substories are, in fact, the driving force of the Yakuza franchise. Unlike the GTAs and Red Dead Redemptions of the gaming world, Yakuza does not typically allow player to cause chaos in the streets. You can’t just go up to a random person and shoot them or start a riot. There are street fights, but those occur when the main character is provoked by random passersby desperate for a brawl. For some players, this may be a turnoff, but the substories more than make up for the supposed lack of freedom.
Xbox Series X
Many of these stories take the main characters of the franchise and throw them in the wackiest situations you can think of. In Yakuza 0 for example the main character, Kiryu Kazama, is tasked with defending a Michael Jackson-esque man named “Miracle Johnson” while he films his famous “Thriller” video. Another sees the player running a successful host club, or there are the taxi races in Yakuza 5, or maybe you want to be dressed up as a beloved children’s mascot and kick the crap out of people that have wanted nothing more than to punch said mascot.
If side quests aren’t your thing, the actual gaming sims in the franchise may be your thing. Go play a round of bowling and if you bowl a Turkey the bowling alley will reward you with a chicken. You can name the chicken “Nugget” and hire it to work at your Real Estate firm. Go play a round of mahjong or shogi. More interested in gambling? Hit up one of the secret casinos and play some poker or blackjack. There are batting cages, discotheques, hanging out at bars, and that’s just the start. Not to mention karaoke, which is a rhythm game that turns into a music video your character will actually perform.
There’s no need to go around causing mayhem because there’s so much to do in the city itself that it’s unnecessary. Exploring each town to see what it has to do is far more fulfilling than the average crime drama video game.
Yakuza is, admittedly, pretty weird. It’s also funny and tragic and very Japanese. But most importantly, Yakuza is… Yakuza. There isn’t another video game series out there like it and it’s one that you don’t want to miss out on. All of the games are available on the PlayStation 4/5, Xbox, and PC. And in a world where there are so many video games and series you might not have time to try out, Yakuza is certainly worth giving a shot.
When we first met Jazmine Sullivan, she was just a young woman figuring life out. Now years later, she arrives with a fresh perspective on her first project in over five years, Heaux Tales.
The thing that was missing back then from now, as Jazmine simply puts it, is grace. Grace is such a wonderful thing because it allows one to stop, breathe, think, and experience emotions that otherwise could never be bothered to be dealt with. Thoughts and feelings that are “swept under the rug” so to speak, because who has time for…feelings? (LOL) Heaux Tales unapologetically unveils what every woman goes through when that pause is taken and an honest conversation is had with the self about sex and the reality of relationships — and there’s power in that.
The stories Jazmine sings are inspired by close friends and family within her circle. She beautifully narrates the kind of freedom to be had on the other side of self-love and self-care, such as “Lost One” or everything Ari Lennox discloses on “Ari’s Tale.”
In a conversation with Uproxx, Jazmine further divulges on the meaning of Heaux Tales, shares the women in her life who inspire her the most, and also tells us what it was like performing at the Super Bowl with H.E.R.
Jazmine, we missed you and you dropped Heaux Tales during a pandemic after years of silence. Was there any hesitation about releasing this project considering everything?
We wanted to be sensitive obviously with everything that was going on so we did have talks about when to put the project out when was the best time to release music. We decided on the beginning of this year and I’m happy. I’m happy with the time that we came out. I feel like it was a good time. I feel like people were home and they kind of want it. They were able to listen in a way, because of the pandemic that maybe if we were all out and about, people may not have had the attention span to do so. I felt like it was good for that reason.
Considering Heaux Tales and everything that you learned from the relationship you went through during the second album at 24, what would you tell your 24-year-old self now?
I would tell my 24-year-old self to love yourself enough to let go of any situation that’s not making you better. And also, not to take it so hard on yourself that you don’t know everything. I think when you’re younger, you kind of beat yourself up. You think that you’re supposed to know things and honestly, you don’t really know until you grow and go through it. Now that I’m older, I definitely have a lot more grace for myself. The things that I don’t know where I mess up at, I have grace.
Do you remember the first time you gave yourself grace and allowed yourself to breathe for a second.
It’s really been during the process of Heaux Tales because it’s hard not to beat yourself up. Especially as a woman, because we feel like we have to do everything perfectly and just be perfect. We have the world on our shoulders normally anyway so we feel like we have to live up to a certain standard and, as a woman growing up, I always felt that way. This process and making the project helped me to do that by listening to the tales of other women, my girlfriends, and older women. And, just knowing that we’re human and we don’t have to be perfect and just allow ourselves to figure things out.
Do you think that men and women can be more honest about their relationships and what they want nowadays?
I think men have been honest and could be honest about everything in their lives because society doesn’t judge men the way that they do women. But I do feel like now there’s a movement with women where we are not being ashamed of our experiences and in fact, proud of them. Because now we’re realizing that without those experiences, we wouldn’t be who we are today. I feel like women are kind of taking up space and being bold about who they are and what they’ve done and what they’ve learned and come through. I just wanted to add to that movement by adding these stories.
Who are some of the women that inspire you?
Definitely my mother, she’s amazing. She is perfect… darn near at everything. She’s so creative and she’s the reason that I sing. I watched her battle cancer and go through chemo so gracefully. She’s just amazing to see. Also, my girlfriends, watching them grow from when we was 14 and 15 to now in our early thirties has been a pleasure and an honor, and they’ve taught me so much as far as being a woman. Mothers and partners and stuff like that. So I definitely just look up to them as well.
I’ve noticed you and Drake don’t have any songs together, but I feel like…
You noticed that.
Yes! And I was just thinking, back when you came out, I feel like you and Drake were out around the same time. I remember I was in college and I think it was just a really big moment in music.
I’ve never met Drake. I love Drake. I love his music and I definitely would do something if he wanted to. I actually haven’t even thought about a particular song, but I think that would be dope.
I feel like “Lost One,” just lives in the same energy as…
Him or maybe Frank Ocean. Either one.
Speaking of Frank, you were on his Endless project. Tell me about your relationship with Frank.
Oh, I love him. I’m such a super fan. When he calls me, I’m always down to go work with him. I really just want to go and listen to his music before it comes out. I will literally be like, okay, what you going to play me to hear? But he’s amazing and he’s a freaking genius. We enjoy working together. I would love to actually do a full collaboration one day because most of the time I’m just singing background vocals and stuff like that. I would love to do an actual song with him.
The streets need it! I also want to talk about your relationship with Issa Rae, because you sang “Insecure” with Bryson Tiller for the Insecure soundtrack. I also saw that tweet where you said you wanted to work with her on something for Heaux Tales. Is there an update on that?
We have been in communication through texts. I believe she’s working on some things now. She’s definitely busy doing so many projects. I think it’s just about schedules and trying to see if we can actually get together to come up with the body of what we want to do. We both love each other and respect each other and what each other does. Hopefully, we get the time to actually create it.
We’re still thinking about that. I definitely would love it to be visual. I want to bring the characters to life. I think that people actually seeing these women talk about their tales and talk about their lives would just enhance Heaux Tales and what it means to women to see themselves. So maybe a short film, maybe episodes of the women.
Let’s talk about Super Bowl because I thought that that was so dope. I’ve been waiting for people to just recognize you. I feel like Super Bowl was that moment like, yes, that’s Jazmine Sullivan. Tell us about you getting that call to go do Super Bowl and the feelings that you were feeling when you were performing.
I was super shocked. First, to get the call, I had never even thought that my career would take me to the Super Bowl. I thought it was cool to blend the two sounds with Eric Church, being a country singer, and me being a soul R&B artist. I had never heard him before we actually did the song, but I definitely thought, he was a good country artist and I thought it’ll be nice to blend our sounds together. I actually wasn’t nervous until I started singing. I didn’t realize how huge the impact was until I opened my mouth to sing. Then I was like, “Oh my God, it’s millions of people watching me right now.” It hit me right at that moment and then I got super nervous. So, it was amazing. It was a once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment. I was just so happy that my parents were there to see me do that. They put so much energy and effort into me being a singer and the fact that we all got to share that moment meant everything.
What did your mom and dad say when you told them, “I’m about to perform at the Super Bowl.”
Oh, everybody screamed. My dad doesn’t scream, but he screamed on the inside. Everybody was super excited because I just put my project out maybe two weeks before I got that call. I wasn’t thinking about that at all. I just wanted people to enjoy my work. Then I got such an overwhelming, great response for the project and then that opportunity came. It was blessing after blessing. We were all just super grateful.
H.E.R. was also there performing at the Super Bowl too and y’all collab a lot. Tell me about your relationship with H.E.R. and how it felt to do Super Bowl with her.
We’re, first of all, are just fans of each other first and foremost. When I was on my hiatus, I was just watching H.E.R. dominate and was just amazed, like everybody else, at just how gifted she was. All the instruments she plays and how well she sings. When I was making my songs, she was the first person that kind of came to my head to do the collaboration. I called her. She loved the song and finished it so quickly. Our relationship just grew from there. We’re always just trying to text each other and just encourage her and let her know, just how amazing she is.
It was definitely a moment to do that with her because we’re two Black women. She’s in her early twenties and I’m in my early thirties. We just out here representing for women in general and Brown women and doing our thing and try to bring, real talent, vocals, with her instruments. You’re trying to bring that to the forefront. I love so much that she did “America The Beautiful” first and then I did the “Star-Spangled Banner.” It was a moment for us.
I love that for you guys. The song “Girl Like Me” you two have, I feel like a lot of women feel that way. Is that something that you guys have sat down and talked about with each other?
I had started writing a song, some time ago. I wrote maybe the verse and the hook and the bridge, and I was like, it needs something. I just thought about it real quick and H.E.R. just kind of popped up in my head. I was nervous to actually send it to her because I knew I had been away from the industry for a minute. I just didn’t know if anybody would even care to work with me. When she responded so quickly, I was so happy that she did. She added her part and it just elevated the song so much.
It basically highlights her relationship with the media and fans. As a kid, I didn’t realize how awful the media treated her and just women period. For you, when you started and you entered the business what can you say about the pressure of being in the industry back thing? I feel like today, there seems to be a little bit more empathy and an emphasis on mental health. It was just very, very misogynistic. I didn’t realize it back then.
I have to look at the documentary. I would say that I was sheltered from a lot that was going on in the industry because my mom was so protective of me and my energy and everything that happened around me. She protected me from really knowing exactly what was going on, but definitely, there’s a different pressure with women than there has been with men historically. I can definitely imagine that for a pop artist, especially as big as she was, that there was so much pressure for her to be and act and look a certain way. It takes a toll on you as a person. I just pray for her. I know that the pressure, especially at her level was, it was too much. That’s why I’m an advocate for taking breaks. My breaks are a bit excessive.
But I’m an advocate for taking a break when you need it for your mental health because the world and the industry could be so cruel to people and they just don’t care. If you giving them something, they feel like they can make money off of it or exploit you in any way and they will and not care about you as a person. And so sometimes you have to take a second away from whatever it is that’s doing that to you. It could be a relationship. It could be your job. It could be social media sometimes. You need to take a break when you need to.
Absolutely. It’s hard. Especially if you’re a workaholic. It’s hard. Sometimes I feel guilty for taking breaks.
It’s a catch 22. It’s hard. It’s hard being a woman, man. You just feel like you got to work extra hard to be seen, but then at the same time, you have to, sometimes you know you need to take a break for yourself, but then you don’t feel like you can. So you’re just stuck in the middle of that cycle. So it’s hard.
Megan Thee Stallion sampled your song for her song “Circles” and she’s around the same age you were when you came out. She’s kind of going through her own thing that we’re all witnessing.
I know that it’s hard for her to do what she’s doing, but she’s doing amazing. Just stay focused, don’t let anybody come to take you off of the path that you’re on. Definitely keep God first.
Missy Elliott gave you a shout-out recently and told us a story about Whitney Houston that whenever you were 15, she was like, she didn’t believe that that was you singing.
I have never heard that story, first of all. So Missy probably got a thousand stories of people that we don’t even know about.
She has to write a memoir at some point.
Yes.
I read that you actually — I don’t know if it was a text message or was it a phone call — that you actually got a chance to speak with Whitney?
I was at dinner with Kim Burrell and somehow Whitney came up. She was like, have you ever talked to her? I was like, no. She’s just like, Oh, let me call her. I’ll get her on the phone. I was like, huh? So she got on the phone and we spoke for literally a second, but it just made my night to hear from her. Everybody knows what Whitney means to music and it was amazing to be able to hear from her and actually speak to her.
Do you remember what you guys talked about for that brief moment?
I don’t. I think she may have said that she heard me sing or something like that. My mouth probably dropped and I probably stopped listening. I probably was in shock, to be honest.
I would probably react the same exact way. What song can’t you wait to perform live with an audience when we open up?
I think “Bodies” will be cool to perform live and see people sing the lyrics to. Probably “On It” because I’m seeing so many people who love “On It.” It definitely would be different for me because I don’t really do a lot of sexy songs. I think it’ll be fun to do that live.
Let’s talk about that song. You said you don’t do a lot of sexy songs, but what made you switch it up for this with Ari Lennox? I think we’ve all been waiting for that one to drop!
The project was about women being free, especially around their sexuality and not feeling the shame. That was definitely a song where there was no shame attached to it. Ari is a fellow Aries sister, she might be a little spicier than me, but it naturally fit in with her tale and what she was talking about with her tale. I just thought I needed that moment of being super sensual and sexual and doing it confidently.
Geraldo Rivera was the voice of reason on Fox News while Judge Jeanine Pirro lost her mind while subbing for Hannity. That’s quite a sentence to behold, I know, but Geraldo’s been pretty levelheaded lately (compared to his Mafia-vault digging and troop-coordinate-exposing days), and Jeanine looks especially unhinged in comparison. She was subbing in for Sean Hannity, and things got pretty wild, so much so that Geraldo actually made the Jake Tapper face while she ranted unabated about why she’s so furious about undocumented migrant workers
Here’s a video clip of Jeanine baselessly lashing claiming that people from other countries are to blame for COVID-19 in the U.S. “They’ve got COVID!” she shouted. “They’ve got all kinds of diseases. They are being released into the United States! Now, you’re not going to tell me that a governor is going to shut me down and not allow me to do my job and let in illegals because we’ve got a heart? Mexico ought to have a heart!”
FOX News’ Jeanine Pirro went full mask off last night, blasting immigrants at the border: “They’ve got COVID. They’ve got all kinds of diseases. They are being released into the United States!”
Whereas Geraldo pointed out that these migrant workers were deemed essential last spring while the pandemic started to heat up. Via Mediaite, Jeanine continued to yell while not realizing that President Trump had made the declaration about the migrant workers being essential. Via a video that’s available at Mediaite, Jeanine would not stop insisting that these migrant workers are taking jobs from Americans, and at that point, Geraldo had enough.
“Seventeen million Americans out of work are not going to go back to picking lettuce,” he countered. “Or go back to the meat packing plant or the poultry processing plant!” His point, of course, is that Jeanine could show a little appreciation for these workers that helped to keep the U.S. food supply chain going in the U.S., but the sentiment was undoubtedly lost in all the shouty fury.
Since January 20, the day Donald Trump left office, you’re more likely to catch Jared Kushner going for a run than talking to his father-in-law. Ivanka’s husband was one of the president’s most trusted advisors when he was in the White House (with an insane responsibility for someone who only got the highest level of security clearance after Donald stepped in), but their relationship has been “fractured” since last November. According to CNN, Trump “has at times in the last several weeks expressed to those close to him that he faults Kushner for losing” the presidential election to Joe Biden.
As one source said, “We know the boss isn’t going to blame himself.”
Jared Kushner was notably not on the list of advisers assisting the former President [for his CPAC appearance]. Kushner, who previously served as chief adviser-cum-micromanager with far-reaching responsibilities and had virtual carte blanche, has tapped out, say several people who worked closely with Kushner at the White House or are familiar with his thinking and told CNN on background in order to maintain relationships.
Kushner, described as “a guy who for four years did everything on behalf of President Trump,” is spending “some much needed time with his family,” an insider close to him told CNN. But that hasn’t stopped Trump from being “angry” at his son-in-law. They couldn’t even say hello to each other while golfing. However, if Trump runs for president again in 2024, as he’s teased (threatened), Kushner “would likely come back into the fold as an adviser.” Mostly because he misses the thrill of not letting Secret Service agents use his toilet.
Anderson .Paak was one of the supporting acts on Bruno Mars’ world tour in support of his album 24K Magic, and it turns out that’s where the seed of pair’s new band, Silk Sonic, was planted. The way Mars tells it, though, things really got started with .Paak getting drunk on his 25th birthday and joining Mars in the studio.
Mars and .Paak chatted about the project and their new song “Leave The Door Open” with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. Mars explained, “There’s a song on the album that we started in 2017, that was on tour. And it was just a little phrase that we had that we were joking around going back and forth about. When we got to the studio, I actually called him on his birthday and I said, ‘I think I figured out that little hook we had. Come to the studio.’ He’s like, ‘It’s my birthday.’ So he came drunk. After every take, he was on fire.”
.Paak then chimed in, “My 25th birthday, bro, what was I going to do?”
Mars continued:
“That’s what it was. It snowballed. And it was like, well, want to come back tomorrow? And we kept coming up with music. It felt like why you fall in love with music in the first place. And jamming with your buddy… There’s no plan, just working out the parts and trying to excite each other. That’s why this wouldn’t happen if it didn’t make sense and it didn’t feel natural and organic. This was a series of events that led us to, ‘Man, why don’t we just do it?’ Starting with the tour, us creating a friendship and a bond and talking to each other and sharing the same love for music, getting into the studio, quarantine, all of these things. it was the equation to get this album and it’s… that’s God.”
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
If you took Econ 101, you learned all about the effects of supply and demand. In the simplest terms, if there’s demand for a product without much supply, the price will be driven up. This is true in sneakers and it’s definitely true in the world of bourbon. If a well-known distillery releases a much-coveted expression of high-quality whiskey but it only makes a few thousand bottles available, demand will push the price well past the MSRP.
The boom of whiskey’s secondary market only exacerbates this situation and has led to what whiskey aficionados refer to as “unicorn” bottles — those dream drams that never make it onto the shelves of local liquor stores. The kind of bottles that you can only purchase (at cost) if you are friends with someone at the company or (well above cost) on the secondary market. Or… in this case, you might score a tiny taster because you write about whiskey and the distilleries want you to taste their best stuff so that you cover it, thereby keeping the whole supply-hype-demand-markup machine running.
Below, you’ll find tasting notes on ten bourbons that sell for a giant markup. These are all amazing, high-quality, sometimes life-changing sips, but they often cost an absolute ton more than they should. We do our best to help you parse that below.
Old Forester has been releasing its beloved Birthday Bourbon for twenty years. It’s made to celebrate the birthday of its founder George Garvin Brown. The ten-year-old barrels picked for the bottling are chosen for their unique and exceptional quality. Its price is driven up by the fact that it’s produced in extremely small quantities as the total is supposed to be the equivalent of one day of production at the distillery.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find aromas of dried orange peels, buttery caramel, and charred oak. The first sip yields hints of coconut cream, brown sugar, sweet treacle, and subtle cinnamon. The last sip is long, very dry, and ends with a nice kick of spicy cinnamon sugar.
Bottom Line:
This aptly named bourbon is the perfect birthday gift for a friend, family member, or, better yet, yourself… if you can pay somewhere in the $300-300 range (still a ton!).
Michter’s is a big name in the whiskey world. Its most sought-after bottle is its 10-Year Single Barrel Bourbon. Aged for ten years in fire-charred, new American oak barrels, this single barrel, very limited expression fetches much more than its $130 price tag on the open market.
Tasting Notes:
Take a whiff of this very special expression and your olfactories will be met with essences of brown sugar, toasted oak, and subtle cinnamon spice. On the palate, you’ll be greeted with flavors of toasted marshmallows, maple candy, buttery caramel, and allspice. The last gulp is long, lingering, and ends with a nice combination of charred oak and caramel candy.
Bottom Line:
You might be confused as to why a ten-year-old bourbon is so expensive, but after one taste you’ll agree that this is so good that even the markup price is probably fair.
Buffalo Trace is the name when it comes to bourbon. Even its flagship $20 Buffalo Trace Bourbon is memorable. But the brand’s W.L. Weller 12 is one of its most beloved and also most expensive bourbon whiskeys on the secondary market. The 12 year age statement is longer than most wheated bourbons. The result is a luxuriously mellow, velvety smooth sipping experience.
Tasting Notes:
If you take time to nose this expression, you’ll find aromas of caramel corn, toasted vanilla beans, and a nice nutty sweetness. Take one sip and you’ll be well aware that this is one of the best wheated whiskeys on the market — with its rich, dark oak, buttery caramel, sweet almond cookie, and subtle cinnamon flavors. The finish is long, full of warming heat, and ends with a nice kick of caramelized sugar.
Bottom Line:
If you find yourself with a bottle of this rare offering, don’t even consider mixing it with anything. In fact, we suggest drinking it without ice to really take in all of the nuanced flavors. And while the markup here is huge… you’re probably going to be stuck with it for awhile. This was never destined to be a $40 bottle.
Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. is known as the “Father of the Modern Bourbon Industry” because of his legendary impact and innovations in the industry. In his honor, Buffalo Trace makes E.H. Taylor, Jr. Small Batch. Its age isn’t disclosed, but since it’s Bottled in Bond, it’s at least four years old.
Tasting Notes:
Take a moment to breathe in the elegant aromas of dried cherries, caramelized sugar, and charred oak. On the palate, you’ll find sweet cinnamon, buttery caramel, molasses, and toasted vanilla beans. The last sip is long, has a nice bit of warmth, and ends with a nice mix of brown sugar and subtle spicy pepper.
Bottom Line:
When it comes to hard-to-find bottles, this is one of the easier to get your hands on. Sure it’s listed for around $40, but you can easily find a bottle for around $200 — that might be enticing enough for you to grab, depending on your bankroll.
Even before you know what’s inside it, you’ll probably be struck by the bottle itself. Old Fitzgerald 15 Bottled-In-Bond is packaged in a container that’s also a beautifully designed decanter. Inside is a complex, high-wheat bourbon that’s worth its mighty price.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find charred oak, cocoa powder, vanilla beans, and an underlying nutty sweetness. Take a sip and find yourself immersed in notes of pipe tobacco, caramelized sugar, and buttercream. That’s all rounded out with a subtle, cracked pepper finish.
Bottom Line:
Old Fitzgerald 15 is a showcase bottle. If you can get your hands on one, put it front and center in the middle of your collection. It’s bold, sleek in design, and delicious. At $400, you could think of it like paying $300 for the juice and $100 for the decanter.
If you’re a bourbon drinker, you’ve probably tried Baker’s 7-year-old offering from the brand’s small-batch expressions. But perhaps you haven’t tried Baker’s Single Barrel 13 — it’s damn hard to find. As with so many of these drams, demand has driven the price through the roof.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll smell the musty scents of the rickhouse itself as well as vanilla beans, charred oak, and sweet treacle. Take a drink and you’ll be met with flavors of barrel char, dried leather, buttery caramel, and cooking spices. On the finish, you’ll find lingering hints of butterscotch and cinnamon.
Bottom Line:
If you already own a bottle of two of the original Baker’s Bourbon, find a bottle of this gem (cross your fingers to nab it at $300) and compare the two.
Like many well-known bourbons, this rare bottle was named after a legend — former Buffalo Trace Master Distiller Elmer T. Lee. Made up of hand-picked barrels that were chosen to be a nice balance between sweet and spicy, the mash bill here isn’t listed but it’s assumed that there’s a higher-than-normal rye content (between 12-15%).
Tasting Notes:
Take a whiff and you’ll find clean, sweet aromas of toasted marshmallows, vanilla, and dried leather. On the palate, you’ll pick up clover honey, dried fruits, creamy vanilla, and just a hint of peppery rye spice. The finish is fairly long, filled with pleasing heat, and ends with a nice mix of charred oak and pipe tobacco.
Bottom Line:
Start a collection of bourbon pioneers and make this bottle your first addition. It’s a well-balanced expression perfectly suited for slow sipping while you think about the history of whiskey in America. However, we like it a lot better at around $150.
When it comes to hard-to-find bottles, the name Van Winkle always comes up. We could fill this whole list with bottles from the Van Winkle family. But we chose Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 because of the low suggested price and the difficulty in finding it. Aged for 12 years, this whiskey is known for its sweet, rich, mellow, easy-drinking nature.
Tasting Notes:
Take a moment to breathe in the aromas (for god’s sake, take your time with this) and you’ll be treated to the scents of wood char, brown sugar, and vanilla beans. When you take a sip, you’ll find velvety waves of sticky toffee pudding, allspice, buttery caramel, sweet vanilla, and a subtle nutty, almond cookie finish.
Bottom Line:
Old Rip Van Winkle 10 and Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 are both bottles in the Van Winkle family that retail for less than $100. But good luck finding either for anywhere close to that number. Zach Johnston said in his Van Winkle brand ranking that he’d pay $80 for this. I think it’s a value at double that — but we’re agreed that a grand is out of reach.
It should come as no surprise that there’s yet another Buffalo Trace expression on this list. William Larue Weller is aged for over 12 years and bottled at an extremely potent 134.5 proof. It’s well known for its mellow, soft flavor due to the liberal use of wheat instead of rye in the mash bill.
Tasting Notes:
On the nose, you’ll find hints of dried fruits, charred oak, pipe tobacco, and fragrant caramel candy. On the palate, you’ll find flavors of toasted marshmallows, maple candy, creamy vanilla, and subtle cinnamon spice. The finish is medium, mellow, and ends with a final flourish of buttery caramelized sugar.
Bottom Line:
This creamy, buttery, mellow whiskey is perfectly suited for slow sipping neat or on the rocks while you try not to think about the crazy amount of money you spent to get a bottle. Value-wise, you have to have f-you money to go beyond $400 for any bourbon whiskey.
Another whiskey named after a bourbon pioneer, George T. Stagg — this one is uncut, unfiltered, and, while we don’t know the make-up of the mash bill, we do know this expression was aged for over fifteen years. The result is a high-proof bourbon that still manages to be extremely smooth and sippable.
Tasting Notes:
Give this whiskey a proper nosing and you’ll find aromas of cocoa powder, toasted vanilla beans, sugar cane juice, and wood char. Take a sip and enjoy the flavors of pipe tobacco, dried leather, sweet raisins, creamy butterscotch, brown sugar. It all ends in a nice mix of mint and buttery caramel.
Bottom Line:
If you’re starting a collection, George T. Stagg is a great bottle to begin your journey with. It’s potent, rich, and perfect for sipping on a cold evening. $300 feels fair here.
Juice WRLD passed away a bit over a year ago now, but that actually hasn’t had a drastic impact on his musical output. The late rapper has made a number of posthumous appearances since his death, and now the latest one is “Life’s A Mess II,” a collaboration with Post Malone and Clever.
The track is a follow-up to Juice and Halsey’s collaboration “Life’s A Mess” and Clever previously explained, “the juice wrld record is a different version of ‘Life’s a Mess’ by Juice and Halsey. I was on that record before Halsey- and the beat got changed- this version I have is the version Juice wanted as far as the beat goes. it has more of an acoustic vibe.. but with a verse from me on it- oh and this other artist you may have heard of named Post Malone .”
Clever also wrote of the song on Instagram, “This song means so much to me.. everything was working against it- the devil tried so hard to keep it from happening- but it’s out. I wish Juice was here to see this- Thank you for everything. I love you. 999 til the world burns.” In another post from over the weekend, he also wrote, “for an artist that came up under Grade A while Juice was opening the doors for artist like me and Seezyn and Laroi- and then doing a collaboration deal before we lost Juice- between Grade A and Posty Co- a song with me in the middle of Juice and Post Malone couldn’t be more fitting. It really means a lot to me and I hope you enjoy it.”
Spring hasn’t quite yet sprung across much of the United States, and Netflix realizes that we need some help finishing up this endless winter. To that end, there are plenty of options for people who enjoy music, animation, rebellion, and true crime. First up, there’s a fresh installment of the Pacific Rim franchise for those who need some giant robots on their side. Then there’s a long-awaited tribute to a hip hop legend and a celebration of rising up against the high school status quo with a feminist twist. And finally, dig into one of the biggest (and most fatal) scandals to hit the Mormon church. No matter what mood you’re in while binging this weekend, the streamer will satisfy those cravings.
Here’s everything else coming to (and leaving) the streaming platform this week.
Pacific Rim: The Black (Netflix series streaming 3/4)
This animated series is as bonkers as the live action-ish films. There’s massive robots and Kaiju overrunning Australia, which renders the whole continent inhabitable. Amid the mayhem, two siblings search for their missing parents and basically embark upon their search by piloting a Jaeger, which is their only shot at survival. The only thing that’s missing here is an obvious ingredient: Charlie Hunnam.
Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell (Netflix documentary streaming 3/1)
The Notorious B.I.G. gets the celebratory spotlight in this documentary that charts his journey from hustler to rap king. It’s an origin story fit for a legend, and although his lyrics were often autobiographical, this film’s rare footage, testimonies, and in-depth interviews will teach you plenty that you didn’t know about the Hip-Hop icon before hitting play. The documentary arrives in collaboration with Biggie Smalls’ estate while looking ahead to what would have been his 50th birthday and as a followup to his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. Sean Combs executive produces alongside Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace, and the film promises to reveal a side Christopher George Latore Wallace that’s never before been revealed to the public.
The streaming service is cranking out the movies (at least one per week) this year, and this series co-stars Amy Poehler as a mom with a rebellious past. That past ends up inspiring her daughter, Vivian (Hadley Robinson), to anonymously publish an underground zine (called Moxie) to expose wrongdoers at her high school. In the process, she inspires a full-on movement and revolution, which leads to a shift and power from the cliques and clubs to a better environment for all at the school. The film also stars Lauren Tsai, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Nico Hiraga, Sydney Park, Josephine Langford, Clark Gregg, Josie Totah, Anjelika Washington, Charlie Hall, Sabrina Haskett, Ike Barinholtz, and Marcia Gay Harden.
Murder Among The Mormons (Netflix limited series streaming 3/3)
Salt Lake City is struck by a series of fatal pipe bombs in 1985, and it’s easily one of the most shocking happenings in the history of the Mormon community. A criminal mastermind is to blame, and clues spring from early Mormon documents and diaries found scattered amid a rare document collection that’s in possession of one of the victims. This is a three-part miniseries and a true-crime documentary that digs into territory seldom seen for a genre that tends to focus on spooks and serial killers. Here, the main crimes in question went down in broad daylight, but as the episodes unfold, the darkness of what sparked these stunning killings slowly rises to the surface.
Here’s a full list of what’s been added in the last week:
Avail. 3/1 Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell
Batman Begins
Blanche Gardin: Bonne Nuit Blanche
Crazy, Stupid, Love
Dances with Wolves
DC Super Hero Girls: Season 1 I Am Legend
Invictus
Jason X
Killing Gunther
LEGO Marvel Spider-Man: Vexed by Venom
Nights in Rodanthe
Power Rangers Beast Morphers: S2 Rain Man
Step Up: Revolution
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny
The Dark Knight
The Pursuit of Happyness
Training Day
Two Weeks Notice
Year One
Avail. 3/2 Black or White
Word Party: Season 5
Avail. 3/3 Moxie
Murder Among the Mormons
Parker
Safe Haven
Avail. 3/4 Pacific Rim: The Black
Avail. 3/5 Dogwashers
Nevenka: Breaking the Silence
Pokémon Journeys: The Series: Part 4 Sentinelle
And here’s what’s leaving next week, so it’s your last chance:
Leaving 3/7 Hunter X Hunter: Seasons 1-3
Leaving 3/8 Apollo 18
The Young Offenders
Leaving 3/9 November Criminals
The Boss’s Daughter
Leaving 3/10 Last Ferry
Summer Night
Leaving 3/13 Spring Breakers
The Outsider
Leaving 3/14 Aftermath
Marvel & ESPN Films Present: 1 of 1: Genesis The Assignment
The Student
Leaving 3/16 Chicken Little
Deep Undercover: Collections 1-3 Love Dot Com: The Social Experiment
Silver Linings Playbook
It only took three albums, an EP, a mixtape, and a slew of singles of guest features, but Jhene Aiko finally got to live out her fantasy of being a Disney princess. It became a reality thanks to her new music video for “Lead The Way.” The single will appear on the soundtrack for the upcoming Disney film, Raya And The Last Dragon and in the new visual, Jhene heads to the magical kingdom of Kumandra to deliver the soothing video for the song that focuses on bringing a community together to fight the toughest battles and come out on top.
The singer spoke about the song and her Disney princess dream during a recent interview on Apple Music. “The number one thing was, I heard ‘dragon,’ and I love dragons,” she explained. “I have a big dragon tattoo on my back. I was born in ’88, which is the year of the dragon. And I just think it’s a beautiful, mystical creature that is just so many things, symbolizes so many things for me, personally. I’ve always had this little fantasy of being a Disney princess, voicing one, or like being the character. And so this was the closest that I’ve gotten, so I was pretty excited.”
The video arrives just a little over a week from the Grammy awards where Jhene received three nominations including Album of the Year and Best Progressive R&B Album for Chilombo.
Rexx Life Raj has been giving fans plenty of music over the past few months and in keeping the streak alive, the Berkeley act returns with yet another offering for fans. His latest drop comes in the form of his new song and video for “Built For Everything.” Raj gives viewers his nonchalant take of the world’s most confusing aspects and just labels them as things he’ll have to accept until they one day change. Lines like, “My n**** did a bid for some weed and he still in here / The whiteboy sold the same thing, now he a millionaire,” capture the parts of society that disappoint Raj the most. Elsewhere, he throws some shade at Blueface and speaks about an untrustworthy girl in his life.
The new track joins a growing collection of songs and videos he’s shared over the past few months. His most recent release was “Bounty,” which featured production from Illmind and was later paired with a music video that portrayed Raj as a full-on desperado. He also linked with D Smoke and G-Eazy for his respective “Optimistic” and “Bounce Back” singles and later showed off his new ride in his “Telsa In A Pandemic” video. In the midst of all of this, he also dropped his Californa Poppy 2 EP, with features from Juvenile and Kojey Radical.
You can watch the video above.
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