Sagamore Spirit 8 Year Rye (2021 Release)

NEAT NOSE - Initial hit of spearmint that gives way to notes of brown sugar, caramel, cinnamon, orange peel, and a faint cherry. PALATE - Balanced, smooth, and beautiful mouthfeel. It’s not mouth coating or sticky, but it is still a nice and full mouthfeel nonetheless. The strongest note on the palate is the spearmint up front and then all of the other notes that I picked up on the nose follow through with the exception of the cinnamon. My dissapointment are those other notes are pretty muted and much less pronounced than the nose would suggest. It’s a shame and it’s why I gave this a 3.75 ⭐️. Nonetheless, its a smooth and enjoyable rye whiskey, but I was honestly hoping for more. FINISH - Medium in length. Cherry and a pleasant, non-tannic oak. BUY?- Because I believe this is an excellent value from a craft distiller who I love, I’d still recommend this bottle if you come across it. Your mileage may also vary. BUY AGAIN? - No, but I did pick up the 9 year a month ago and look forward to trying that one to compare to this one.

I’ve never met a Sagamore Spirit I didn’t like. When their spirits say, boo, I say, come on in. Kidding. Oddly enough, though this 8 Year gets touted as being great, it’s been my least favorite. Not because it’s bad. It’s actually quite good, and amazingly dangerous. It’s 115 proof or so, but it drinks like 90. It’s smooth, doesn’t have much of an alcohol bite, yet it’ll hit you if you have too much. I cracked it on Thanksgiving, served a dram to my dad, he loved it. I should also say, I love it. It’s just Sagamore is so good at finishing that this seems a bit one note. Sagamore’s specialty seems to be the finishes. Cognac, Tequila, Double Oak, Rum. I’ve had the Cask Strength and that was great. In fact, that one was 4 year and I liked it better than this, the 8. Not that I dislike the 8. It’s great. It’s really an odd reason I don’t do cartwheels about this one, and that reason is, it tastes a lot like Templeton 10 Year Cask Strength. This is the closest Sagamore has ever come to tasting like something I’ve had already, and things is, that Templeton was also awesome, but it wasn’t as good as the Sagamore Double Oak (perhaps my favorite) or the Tequila Finished (my second) or the Ale Cask (my third) or the Cask Strength (my fourth). This is much ado about nothing. I’m complaining because a great whisky isn’t as great as other great whiskies by the same brand. Nose is great on this: spiced banana nut bread with vanilla pudding and cinnamon. Palate is golden raisins and all spice with maybe a little candied orange. Finish is long and peppery like most Sagamore with quite a bit of slated caramel. It’s just, well, it’s just not got the special thing Sagamore does, which is some kind of curve ball that is barrel finishing. I’m complaining about nothing. I should flog myself for taking issue with such a good bottle. In fact, I have no issues. This is good stuff. This is great stuff. This is fantastic. It’s just not my favorite Sagamore and Sagamore might be my favorite American whisky distiller right now. I’m complaining about nothing.

Batch 1a - Picked up at the distillery in Nov 2021...Nose is a bit tight, but a grassy rye spice is there...water helps a skosh and brings out some baking spices and some vanilla/caramel, but it remains relatively light, and left me wanting a bit more. Flavor is notably better (and pretty damn good) with a full rye profile - plenty of spice, earl grey tea, and more vanilla up front than I might have expected. An easy sipper with or without water, this is nice and warming with a more-than-respectable finish. I really enjoy this pour...just feel like its holding itself back a bit, even with some shelf time...but at the same time I would happily buy this again

A gift, from my employer. Jan 1 2022. Cask strength (114.9 pf). 8 year, high rye (95% i believe). mgp sourced. This is the favorite bottle i currently possess. Spicy, earthy, oily; a straight Rye thru and thru. long, warm, deep after-taste. fades fondly with grass and oak char. Seek it, find it, buy it, SAVOUR IT. from me: nothing but love and admiration for an mgp rye a cut above most.

Rye | Baking Spice | Tea | Caramel | Vanilla | 🥃

Aroma - Very uneventful. Nothing really standing out on this. Some rich caramel and rye, hint of cinnamon. Lot left to be desire here. Alcohol definitely present here as well. Taste -Chocolate, rye spice, slight touch of baking spices just enough to make their presence felt. Vanilla and deep caramel tones here. Getting slight hint of black tea. Balance is really nice here. Medium to long finish.. more on the long side. Really nice. This is super unique because I’m finding all the flavors to be popping at the very beginning but they all show up again during the finish. Not getting a whole lot mid palate other than the black tea note. Overall - it’s awesome.. The finish on this were this one shines. Worth the purchase and then some. 4.35

Done well.