Sagamore 9 Year Straight Rye

Amazing sweet, Christmas, full rye sweet, maple syrup

Nose is complex and well integrated with rye spice, gingerbread cookie, lemon zest, honey, soft sweet oak, apple, white pepper, dill, and sage. Ethanol amazingly low for the proof. Palate keeps the balance high with the gingerbread from the nose along with vanilla, lemongrass, nutmeg, cereal grains, orange, toffee, and floral honeysuckle. Flavors are punchy as hell. Lengthy finish brings mint, sea salt, pepper, burnt marshmallow, cocoa powder, and dusty toasted oak. Mouthfeel is full bodied and unctuous which helps evaluate this to another level and keeps the spicy finish from being harsh on the tongue. A spectacular rye with a near perfect balance of sweet, spicy, and herbal notes. I must compare it to last years 8 year release; I found that one to be “brighter” while this has more “dark” notes. 2023 wins by a sliver, but at $79.99, this is a stupidly good value. I’d grab another, but poof! its gone already in my area.

Right now belongs in the good, but not great territory. It's a smooth base hit that could be confused for a bourbon with slight oak backbone, cherry notes, but nothing overly complex. It doesn't impress nearly as much as the Heaven Hill Grain to Glass rye, which is just a little more in price.