I will kick off today's Nugz with my first Bourbon Bye Week entry. There is no football game this week and the last one brought some of us to tears and has been the tradition around here we drown our Gopher sports sorrows with booze.
I'm going to introduce a new bourbon to you. This one was recently released by Michter's and can be found on shelves around the Twin Cities. It is the Michter's Toasted Barrel Bourbon. It is marketed as a limited release bourbon but it can be found on shelves at Byerly's and Cellar's as well as other locations around town I'm sure.
What makes this bourbon unique is that after it ages and is ready to be bottled, Michter's puts this through an extra step.
Instead of bottling the Bourbon after the normal maturation length, the whiskey is then transferred to a custom made barrel and aged for an additional period of time for finishing.
This finishing barrel is constructed from wood staves that have been cured by 18 months of air-drying. They are then toasted, not charred like normal Bourbon barrels. A toasted barrel has been exposed to high levels of heat, but no actual flames have touched the barrel. This agitates the cellulose in the wood and brings more vanilla and cinnamon flavors to the end of the wood staves, but not as much of the oak flavors.
This bourbon is really drinkable. It is not harsh or overpowering like many bourbons can be, especially for non-bourbon drinkers. Any bourbon that highlights vanilla and cinnamon is OK in my book and one I would highly recommend. This is a really nice bourbon, it can be found on shelves for now yet isn't so common that everybody is going to have one. You'll pay around $40 for this bottle.
On to the Nugz
- Gopher Basketball has a leadership void with the graduation of Austin Hollins. Tyler Mason takes a look at the candidates to step up into that role.
- Michael Rand takes an interesting look at the increasing ties between Gopher Basketball and the Timberwolves. By the way the Wolves tip off their season on Wednesday, be sure to check out Canis Hoopus to get your TWolves Fix.
- Marcus Fuller is back on double-duty with Gopher football and basketball. He has his recap of Sunday's scrimmage.
- WCCO has excerpts from Gopher Basketball's media day.
- The SB Nation bowl projections has the Gophers dropping to the San Francisco Bowl vs. UCLA.
- ESPN has us at either the Outback Bowl (YES) or also the San Fran Bowl.
- Jerry Kill reminds us and his team that the season is not over! He's right, there are still four important games remaining. The book is not yet written on this season.
- Look at the bright side...maybe the Gophers allowing Illinois to win will keep Tim Beckman in the conference for another year.