Issue #38 | 01.16.26
Drink
One Bottle to Know
The Story: Aged 10 years in new charred American oak and distilled and matured in Tennessee, The Tennessee Ten takes the long route to depth. Produced in small batches and made to bourbon standards, it’s an oak-forward whiskey built for patience, not shortcuts.
The Pour: Vanilla and caramel lead, followed by toasted oak, cherry, and pipe tobacco on the nose. The palate opens creamy with custard, milk chocolate, and brown sugar. The finish is sweet and spicy and it’s unapologetically oak-heavy.
The Move: Drink it neat or with a few drops of water. This is a sipper, not a mixer.
The Mettle Take: Ten years aged, small batch, no shortcuts. A serious, oak-driven Tennessee whiskey best saved for slow nights around the fireplace. Around $70.
Not the bottle they expect. The one they remember.
Reviewed
Field Tested
Wholly Balls! Protein Bites
The Pitch: Peanut butter and honey-based protein bites built for on-the-go fuel or guilt-free dessert. Founded by Nick and Sarah in 2023 after Sarah's homemade protein balls became Nick's obsession on a South Dakota fly fishing trip. Wholly Balls! are full of clean ingredients and real flavor.
The Test: We tried six flavors and would happily demolish them all again.
Top three:
El Churrito – Churro-flavored perfection with cinnamon and vanilla. Crunchy, sweet, ridiculously addictive.
The Breakfast Ball – Pancakes without the guilt. Maple, peanut butter, chocolate chips. Nailed it.
The Loca-Mocha – Espresso meets hazelnut. Bold, coffee-forward, insanely good.
The Mettle Take: Wholly Balls! are legitimately excellent. Three balls deliver ~190 calories and 9g protein—enough to call it functional fuel, tasty enough to crave daily. Pre-workout snack, post-dinner treat, or desk drawer essential. Keep these stocked.
Tested. Trusted. Mettle-approved.
Fitness
Built To Last
Why Walking Uphill Might Be the Smartest Cardio Move
Running beats up joints. HIIT torches calories but burns you out. Incline walking delivers cardio gains without the wreckage.
Walking uphill elevates your heart rate while hammering glutes, hamstrings, and calves. A 180-pound person burns 450+ calories in 45 minutes at 15% incline—matching moderate running without the joint stress. Cardiovascular conditioning plus lower-body strength in one shot.
Recovery is easy, so you can do it often. Treadmill, hills, weighted vest—all work.
The Protocol: 30-45 minutes, 10-15% incline, 3-3.5 mph. Zone 2 heart rate (conversational pace, slightly breathless).
The Mettle Take: Stop destroying yourself to stay fit. Incline walking builds endurance and strength without the breakdown. Do it consistently, and you'll outlast everyone chasing intensity for intensity's sake.
Train with focus, fuel with purpose.
News
The Feed
This Week’s Sharp Clicks
Ready to splurge? Great Bourbons over $200 worth trying.
Are the Black Crowes the most underrated rock band of the past 30 years? Maybe. New album out soon.
New cyber thread - Hackers spreading malware through LinkedIn comments.
Who the heck put protein in water and why? Is it good for you?
Stay Sharp,
The Mettle Team
