“This elegant gin is as pretty on the palate as its riveted-glass bottle is on the bar. Made from 100 percent winter wheat, this gin offers a soft, sweet palate with notes of grapefruit peel, chamomile, and aniseed. It’s an excellent base for building citrusy gin and tonics.”
My personal pride and joy, subjectively, I think it’s our best spirit and a perfect balance of floral, citrus and earthy notes.
12 botanicals consisting of Juniper, Coriander, Orris Root, Grapefruit Peel, Licorice Root, Galangal, Grains of Paradise, Orange Peel, Lemon Balm, Angelica Root, Chamomile Flower and Lemon Peel create the perfect balance of floral, citrus and earthy notes.
We’ve really muted down the juniper and other botanicals to make this Gin incredibly soft on the finish and not over-powering to drink straight.
Other Notes:
Blackland is the only Texas distillery to be nominated as 2021 Craft Distillery of the Year by USA Today. You can vote and support an Orangeblood here: Vote - Blackland Distillery - New Craft Distillery Nominee: 2021 10Best Readers' Choice Travel Awards
For any Orangebloods in Colorado, Blackland will be showcasing the Texas Pecan Brown Sugar Bourbon at the Aspen Food & Wine Classic September, 10th through 12th. Please stop by the booth and say hello.
Finally, Blackland has a featured cocktail at one of Austin’s best bars, Nickel City, for the month of September.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
1. Recent commitment Champ Lewis enjoyed his weekend visit to Austin
It’s been a little more than one month since Champ Lewis gave Texas a commitment, pledging to the Longhorns one day after picking up his UT offer and one day after decommitting from Colorado.
Last week, with Hurricane Ida wreaking havoc on Louisiana, Lewis and his family wisely fled their home in New Orleans to spend time with some family in the Dallas area. During that nearly weeklong stay in the Lone Star State, Lewis took an unofficial visit to check out the UT campus on September 1, and he returned on Saturday to take in the Longhorns’ season-opening win over Louisiana. On Sunday, Lewis and his family returned home, thankful to find only minor damage to their home.
“(On Wednesday) I got a chance to check out the new facilities, the newly built ones like the locker room and the weight room. We checked that out, sat and talked with the coaches for a little while. We got a chance to meet most every coach,” Lewis said. “I talked to coach (Terry) Joseph, talked to coach Sark, did some academic stuff. It was basically an unofficial visit. My mom never got to see the campus when I was here before, so I got a chance to bring her up there and see everything.”
Lewis said his mom liked what she saw from the Texas program on their visit, which is always important. The return visit on Saturday was another eye-opener for the Warren Easton defensive back.
“I think it was all around great. Well worth the trip,” Lewis said. “It was my first college game, just seeing that environment, it made me anxious to get out there on the field.
“Before the game, saw coach Joseph right after the Bevo walk. Then we got a chance to see the coaches after the game. We were in the players’ lounge, just chopping it up.”
Lewis will return to Austin later this month when he takes his Texas official visit the weekend of the Texas Tech game. He says he’s “locked in” with his decision, and even spent some time at the game on Saturday trying to recruit other players to Austin.
“I got a chance to meet with some of the committed guys like BJ (Allen), Armani (Winfield), Austin Jordan. I hung with them for a little while. I also saw some guys that are interested in UT that aren’t committed yet,” Lewis said. “I gave them the word, but let the game speak for itself. After seeing that, I think anyone would want to play for UT.”
2. I'm sensing some confidence in UT’s position with Arch Manning
Let me preface my Arch Manning section by saying that as always, there’s quite a bit of a guessing game in predicting Manning’s recruitment. With that out of the way, in talking to a couple people recently I do get the impression that there’s a sense of optimism in where Texas stands with Manning at this stage of the race.
Manning took a two-day visit to UT in June and going back to that trip, we’ve heard from people who spent time around him (including other recruits) that Manning seemed to enjoy himself. That visit did a good job of setting the table for Texas.
We’re hearing this week that there’s a solid chance that Manning returns to Austin the weekend of October 16, when Texas faces Oklahoma State. Nothing set in stone yet, but the family is eyeing that date for a possible visit.
Should that visit take place, you have to feel pretty good about this one from UT’s perspective. We’ll see if other visits pop up before the Texas visit, but if he winds up visiting Austin first, that’s a sign that Texas is a major priority for Manning and his family.
You all have read that other recruits in the 2023 cycle have been in close contact with Arch, including several Texans like Rueben Owens and Johntay Cook. I’m told that Texas also has committed players that have developed a strong relationship with Manning, and there’s a thought from those players that UT is in a much better position than most realize. We’ll see.
3. 2023 OL Robert Sweeney had a good visit to Texas on Saturday
Offensive tackle Robert Sweeney is an intriguing prospect in the 2023 class, with the Highland Park lineman already holding a couple big offers from Florida State and Penn State. Ranked No. 59 on the 2023 Lone Star Recruiting Top 100, Sweeney is a guy who has been in touch with the Texas staff and he was invited in on Saturday to take in the Longhorns’ season opener.
“Overall, I loved the environment. The fans are crazy, which is a big deal to me,” Sweeney said. “The team played with a lot of heart, which is awesome. All gas, no breaks is a great motto to have, and it’s all over the facility. The biggest thing to me was the fans. They were wild.”
Before the game, Sweeney was given a tour of the UT facilities and he said everything he saw was impressive.
“The facilities are crazy. The weight room is like the size of a warehouse. Everything has Texas all over it, which was really cool,” Sweeney said. “Overall, it was just a really, really nice facility.”
Sweeney visited UT over the summer where he got a chance to talk to some of the UT support staff members and OL coach Kyle Flood. When he got the invitation to come to Saturday’s game, he immediately accepted. Texas hasn’t offered yet, but the staff has been very upfront in their plan, which Sweeney said he appreciates.
“Coach (JM) Jones said they’re still in the evaluation period with me, which personally, I don’t’ have a problem with. That’s about the most direct answer I’ve got in my recruitment,” Sweeney said.
Sweeney’s mother went to Texas. He was born and raised in Texas. You all can do the math on this one, and Sweeney said if UT was to offer the Longhorns would be “pretty high up there.” He might head up to Notre Dame for an unofficial visit at some point this spring.
As for his strengths and weaknesses, Sweeney said he feels he’s a well-rounded lineman, but he knows there’s still work to be done.
“I don’t like bragging on myself, but I feel like I have a nasty streak to me. I like to hit people,” Sweeney said. “I feel like I do very well in the pass game, and nastiness in the run game. There’s always room for improvement no matter how good you are. I can improve on basically everything.”
******
TWO QUESTIONS
1. What are the Longhorns’ chances with Justice Finkley on Thursday?
Rivals250 defensive lineman Justice Finkley announced on Monday that he’ll be making a commitment this Thursday at 4:15 CST. Finkley will choose from a final three of Texas, Alabama and Colorado.
This one’s been a tough story to track for a few reasons. Finkley plays things very close to the vest. He’s intelligent enough that he’s not going to tip his hand when he does talk. Sources close to his recruitment also aren’t giving anything away. In some recruitments, reporters can be fortunate to have good connections. Others feel like dead ends no matter where you turn. Put Finkley in the latter category.
In checking around with people close to the Alabama and Colorado programs, it appears to be equally quiet on their side of things. That tells me that Finkley either (a) hasn’t told the coaches of his decision or (b) has told a very small number of people but has told them to keep things completely quiet.
Normally, when you’re talking about a prospect from the state of Alabama that Nick Saban and the Tide staff really covets (and they do), it would be a near slam dunk that the prospect would stay home. That may wind up being true with Finkley, but he’s a kid with different priorities than most his age. Finkley is big on academics (his parents are both educators) and he wants to someday attend medical school. In fact, I’ve heard that Colorado’s medical school is a big reason the Buffs are legitimately in the mix against two powerhouse programs like Alabama and Texas.
When Finkley took his official visit to Texas in June, he took some time to tour the Dell Medical School and came away impressed with that visit, in addition to liking the city of Austin and the hospitality he and his family were shown. The UT staff has done a good job in this one of stressing Texas’ academic reputation as well as what UT can provide on the field, including laying out a plan for Finkley on his official visit that would help him score high on the MCAT and get into med school. Will it be enough? I don’t have a clear answer for that and I hate to bet against Alabama on anyone, but there’s been some overall confidence in Austin of late and enough chatter of more good news being on the horizon that this one has definitely piqued my interest.
2. How do the Big 12 teams rank after last week’s slate of games?
We’re one week into the season and there will likely be a lot of movement on these rankings before the end of the month, but here’s how I see things after each team’s performance on Saturday.
1. Oklahoma (last week: 1) – OU didn’t exactly look very good against Tulane, but the Sooners get the benefit of the doubt until someone knocks them off.
2. Texas (last week: 3) – Impressive start by Sark and staff, and some of the other teams in the league struggled in week one.
3. TCU (last week: 4) – I’m not really expecting the Frogs to hold onto this spot, but TCU did dominate in its opener.
4. Iowa State (last week: 2) – Northern Iowa gave ISU everything it wanted, and a tough game against Iowa looms this week.
5. Kansas State (last week: 7) – I have no idea what to make of Stanford this year, but that was an impressive win by the Wildcats in week one.
6. Texas Tech (last week: 8) – The Red Raiders scored 31 straight points in the second half to beat Houston in week one.
7. Oklahoma State (last week: 5) – I expect OSU will move up this list, but a seven-point win over Missouri State didn’t move the needle much.
8. West Virginia (last week: 6) – The Mountaineers took the loss on the road against Maryland, but we all know there’s no shame in that.
9. Baylor (last week: 9) – The Bears ran the ball well and are 1-0 after beating Texas State.
10. Kansas (last week: 10) – The Jayhawks are 1-0! Beat Coastal Carolina this week, or even play them close, and I’ll be impressed.
******
PREDICTION – Texas gets a commitment from Jaylon Guilbeau and …
Former UT commitment Jaylon Guilbeau is down to Texas, Texas A&M and TCU but he admits that the Longhorns and Horned Frogs are being more aggressive in their pursuits, and he wants to decide soon. After Guilbeau was in Austin for the Louisiana game, I’m keeping my pick on Texas. The interest in TCU is legitimate, but committing to a program whose conference status is unknown over a program like Texas that’s headed to the SEC would be a real head-scratcher for me.
While I’m at it, I’m going to stick my neck out a bit and pick Justice Finkley to commit to Texas on Thursday as well. As I mentioned earlier in this column, any predictions with Finkley are a bit of a guessing game but I keep hearing enough UT chatter that I’ll take a chance at the upset pick.
Last edited:
