Rye whiskey has become very popular over the past decade thanks to high-quality releases from distilleries like MGP in Indiana, which produces whiskey for many other brands, and the James B. Beam Distilling Co., Heaven Hill, and Buffalo Trace in Kentucky. But rye whiskey has historic ties to the East Coast, particularly states like Pennsylvania and Maryland. One of the best newer distilleries to call the latter home is Sagamore Spirit, and it just released a new cask strength rye whiskey that is worth checking out.
Sagamore Spirit was founded more than a decade ago by Under Amour founder Kevin Plank along with some other investors (Italian company Illva Saronno Holding S.p.A. acquired a majority stake in the distillery in 2023). Its core lineup consists of rye whiskeys that are sourced from MGP—a blend of higher and lower rye mashbills that are aged for about four to six years. But over the past few years, the distillery has also been releasing expressions made up of liquid that was distilled and matured in-house at the Baltimore distillery, including a few excellent bottled-in-bond whiskeys. The latest Cask Strength expression falls into this category as well.
The distillery calls this “100 percent Maryland-made,” indicating that this whiskey was produced at Sagamore without any sourced whiskey in the blend. It was aged for seven years in new American charred oak barrels, and bottled at cask strength of 61.5 percent ABV—that’s strong, but thankfully nowhere near hazmat level. Like other Sagamore expressions, this whiskey is a blend of two rye whiskey mashbills—one with a higher percentage of rye than the other—something that makes it stand out from whiskeys produced at MGP or the “barely legal” style associated with many Kentucky distilleries. It’s made in relatively small batches of 23 barrels and non-chill filtered. We did not get to sample this whiskey yet, but official tasting notes describe dark chocolate, black cherry, freshly cracked black pepper, caramel, and honey on the palate, followed by a leathery oak tannin finish.
Of course, if cask-strength spirits are not your thing, more power to you—and there are plenty of other options to try from Sagamore Spirit. The core expressions are quite good, and over the past few years there have been some interesting cask-finished whiskeys as well including port, sherry, tequila, rum, beer, calvados, and even barleywine. Definitely check out the Manhattan Finish expression, part of the Reserve Series, which was finished in vermouth, bitters, and cherry brandy barrels before being blended together to evoke a classic Manhattan cocktail.
You can find the new Cask Strength Rye Whiskey (SRP $70) available at retailers around the country now, or check ReserveBar to see if the latest release is available in your state.
Authors
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Jonah Flicker