Sagamore Spirit 'Sagamore Reserve' Double Oak Rye (2017 Limited Edition Release)

A lot of flavor, very spiced but still smooth. Warms you head to toe. Proud to be a local to this distillery!

Sagamore Spirits is a brainchild of Kevin Plank, the CEO of Under Armour. He was inspired by his 530-acre horse farm in Maryland that sits on top of a limestone aquifer and the idea of using the water from the farm to proof down the whiskey. Sagamore is not shy about admitting that they source their whiskey from MGP (Midwest Grain Products) out of Lawrenceburg, Indiana and actually blend their high rye and low rye mashbills together. Their actual distillery officially opened in 2017 in downtown Baltimore but it will be at least couple of more years before their stock is done aging. I'm definitely looking forward to picking up some bottles when they start bottling as they are triple-distilling the whiskey at their Maryland location. For this "Double Oak" expression, Sagamore takes their standard four year old rye out of Indiana and finishes it for additional 6 months in "wave stave" barrels that have grooves etched into them down the length of each stave. This type of barrel creates more surface area and has different char levels as well. I'm not certain if the finishing period occur at their location in Maryland or is done in Indiana. They also bottle it at 96.6 proof instead of the usual 83. On the nose you get toasted oak, brown sugar, caramel, and vanilla. On the palate there's a very well balanced flavors of baking spices such as cinnamon and cloves, toasted nuts, and molasses. The texture is fairly watery and finishes with some spice, honey sweetness, and slightly woody note. The flavors here are quite different from those that most people associate with rye whiskey. There are no herbal, dill, or grassy notes. If you're looking for particular flavors that rye is known for be prepared to be surprised. I quite enjoyed it and currently have it on my "repurchase when gone" category.

Only slightly better than Michter’s Toasted Sour Mash but, not by much. I’ve learned I don’t really care for any of these secondary oak finished expressions, except WR Double Oak. They got that one right.