When Kevin Plank, the assured founder of sports apparel powerhouse Under Armour, set his sights on whiskey back in 2012, it wasn’t just another bold business move—rather it was a love letter to his home state’s long forgotten rye heritage. Plank, along with partner Bill McDermott, wanted to invest in Maryland in a way that resonated with the region’s past. Their inspiration? The limestone-rich spring at Sagamore Farm, a thoroughbred horse racing estate Plank had purchased in 2007.

That spring water—long prized in whiskey-making—sparked research that led them to uncover Maryland’s once-booming rye industry. Before Prohibition, more than 40 distilleries thrived in the state, their spicy, full-bodied ryes renowned across the country. By the 1970s, they were all gone, casualties of war, changing tastes (aka the infamous whiskey crash) and consolidation. So Plank and McDermott saw a chance to resurrect rye in Charm City with Sagamore Spirits.

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The early days were about building a foundation. While they steadied themselves, and built their distillery in Baltimore’s Port Covington neighborhood, Sagamore Spirit initially sourced whiskey from Indiana’s MGP. One of the largest rye producers in America, renowned for their 95% rye / 5% malted barley mash bill, MGP’s recipe built labels like Templeton, Bulleit, High West and Redemption, while also being used by the likes of Angel’s Envy, Smooth Ambler, George Dickel and more. 

From the beginning, however, one of the ways Sagamore distinguished itself was utilizing a unique mash bill philosophy. Instead of leaning solely on MGP’s now-classic “high-rye” 95% rye, Sagamore uses two recipes—adding a “low rye” (52% rye, 43% corn, 5% malted barley) to the mix. By blending this other rye that hovers close to a bourbon in its high-corn grain bill, Sagamore creates a whiskey with rye’s spice but also a softer, sweeter profile. “We’re trying to educate the consumer,” Ryan Norwood, the brand’s Vice President of Operations, tells Maxim. “At the same time we’re trying to bring bourbon drinkers into rye.”

Those barrels gave the fledgling brand a foundation while their own Baltimore distillery took shape. In 2017, steel and copper finally met in Sagamore’s Patapsco River waterfront home, and the brand began laying down its own whiskey—mostly replicas of those twin MGP high- and low-rye whiskeys which built the Sagamore name. But the team made a deliberate choice: instead of flipping a switch, they slowly transitioned, blending their own whiskey into the MGP juice until Sagamore’s flagship Small Batch and Cask Strength expressions were fully Maryland-made—an achievement the former only achieved last year, and latter earlier this year.

That approach comes to full expression in Sagamore’s latest Reserve Series release: a 10-Year Rye, bottled at just over 110 proof (55.4% ABV). Made from some of the earliest MGP stock Sagamore ever purchased, the whiskey is both a farewell and a milestone—one of the last sourced barrels before the brand fully transitions to its own distillate. For Norwood, it’s a fitting capstone: “For me, rye kind of has that sweet spot between about six and ten years.”

Despite being sourced from Indiana, Maryland’s climate leaves its own fingerprint on the spirit. With humid summers and frigid winters, the state’s seasonal swings push whiskey deep into the oak barrels’ wood and back again, extracting flavor in bold strokes. Unlike Kentucky or Indiana, Norwood reveals Sagamore’s rickhouses often see proof rise during maturation, adding another layer of character. The result in the 10-Year is a whiskey the VP describes as “super balanced… with notes of peach crumble, roasted nuts, rye spice, with just enough sweetness to round it out.”

The 10-Year release is limited, and rye aficionados will likely snap it up for its SRP of $80. But for Sagamore it’s less about chasing hype than telling a story—about water and wood, about Maryland’s forgotten past, and about a decade-long gamble slowly paying off. Beyond being Sagamore Spirits oldest rye to date, the newest addition to its award-winning Reserve Series is also both an ending and a beginning, a tribute to the barrels that carried them this far, and a promise of what’s to come as more of their whiskey carries the unmistakable mark of Baltimore.

Follow our Deputy Editor Nicolas Stecher on Instagram at @nickstecher and @boozeoftheday.

The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller.… regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” These remarkable words from James Truslow Adams’ The Epic of America have reverberated in the minds of aspirational citizens for more than a century. The American literary icon’s profound passage, which coined the phrase “The American Dream,” was first published in 1931, just three years before the 1934 founding of Steak ‘n Shake, the Midwestern burger chain credited with creating the steakburger.

Just as Adams crystallized the American Dream in his bestseller for future generations, Steak ‘n Shake’s franchise partner program cultivates it for today’s ambitious Americans. In fact, Sardar Biglari, CEO of Biglari Holdings, owner of Steak ‘n Shake, captured Adams’ sentiment in his characterization of the program. Biglari says, “Becoming a franchise partner does not involve great capital, but it does require great talent. The touchstone of our program is performance, an opportunity available to all based on ability rather than birthright, race, religion or any other arbitrary characteristic. Our ideals match up with the same ideals that built America.”

“Doubtless, a good number of our partners will become millionaires,” Biglari continues. “But make no mistake: We’re not minting millionaires but merely providing the means; they’re earning every penny.”

As opposed to a traditional restaurant franchise model, which requires the franchisee to invest $2 million or more before serving a single customer, it costs only $10,000 for a Steak ‘n Shake franchise partner to open a business with money-printing potential. The average Steak ‘n Shake franchise partner easily earns six figures, with some making upward of $300,000 in their first year alone.

Press McDowell, a St. Louis–based franchise partner, shared, “I earned in two months what I made in a year at my previous job.” When asked about the $10,000 one-time expense, McDowell stated, “It’s the best investment I’ve made in my life. I made close to 20 times that amount in the first year. Other franchises have a much bigger barrier with high investment costs. Steak ‘n Shake has a small upfront investment. Within the first month, I made that money back. I consider this investment a blessing.”

Howard Readus, an Indianapolis-based partner, added, “This program is unique. There isn’t any other restaurant program I can think of in the country that allows you to be an actual owner-operator of your own brand. My wife and I have been able to become homeowners. I feel like this is one of the greatest accomplishments of my life. It’s hard work, but it pays off in the end.”

“I wanted to own a restaurant and achieve the American dream,” shared Todd Baumann, also an Indianapolis-based partner. “Getting started was tough, but I knew at the end it would be worth it to achieve my dream of owning a restaurant. I have the freedom to run my business the way I want to, and I still have a team that can help me.”

But a thriving business requires both the dedication of hard-working operators and a great product. And in the burger market, Steak ‘n Shake has the best product, according to none other than “New York Times”- bestselling cookbook author and culinary influencer Joshua Weissman, who taste-tested and definitively ranked 18 offerings from the largest and most storied hamburger hot spots in the United States.

“It’s beefy—you immediately taste the beef—followed by the gooey cheese,” Weissman said upon trying Steak ‘n Shake’s Original Double Steakburger with Cheese in his popular YouTube video, “I Tried Every Fast Food Burger in America.” “You get a solid crunch from the pickles. It’s acidic, but not too acidic. The best part of the burger is easily the meat—a burger should be tender and melt in your mouth. It should be the filet mignon of American sandwiches.”

“This is the one burger that broke it all up.… They made a burger that should be a burger,” he concluded for more than 4.7 million viewers and counting. “That means that Steak ‘n Shake wins!” It’s only fitting that “The Best Burger in America” is being served by the restaurant chain that empowers its operators to achieve the American Dream.

$10,000 To Millionaire?

Franchise Opportunity Based On Talent Not Money

Presented by Luke Lintz

Starting a business with your best buddy might sound like an excellent idea, at least in theory. Two (or more) people who know how another person thinks at any given moment is a huge benefit. But the rule is that business and friends don’t mix well, as things can get tricky if everything does not go to plan.

Former Harvard Business School professor Noam Wasserman studied over 10,000 startups and discovered a shocking statistic: 40% of founders were friends before they went into business, but friends only increase the chance of failure (with each friend on the founding team, the opportunity to fail increases by a stunning 30%). However, as every rule has an exception, so does this one.

Many successful companies were born when friends jumped head-first into business only to completely disrupt their respective industries—Airbnb, Ben & Jerry’s, and Harley-Davidson are just some examples. A power duo from Texas—Michael Kmetz and Jake Swaney—are also on that list of successes. Two friends were fed up with 9-to-5 jobs and decided it was time to make a living elsewhere. They knew one thing: they never wanted to go back and work for someone else, and entrepreneurship was the only way.

But their entrepreneurial journeys, albeit separate, started long before. Michael Kmetz has had a deep-seated passion for entrepreneurship since he was a kid. He learned the basic skills of running a business growing up, as he used to sell custom nerf darts on eBay back in middle school. But the tipping point was when Kmetz received the Future Business Legend Award from the Texas Business Hall of Fame.

“Selling on eBay taught me much about customer service, marketing, and basic finances. From there, I expanded into hosting and emceeing events in college, where I also dabbled in stand-up comedy,” says Kmetz. “But the wildest moment happened in 2016 when I was awarded the Future Business Legend Award from the Texas Business Hall of Fame. Interacting with Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger was pretty crazy as a 21-year-old kid.”

On the other hand, during his early years, Jake Swaney was exposed to the energy sector through his father’s work. Over the years, Swaney learned how impactful the energy space could be on a global level, and his interest only grew. “Upon graduating high school, I was specifically interested in the Finance and Energy Commerce programs at Texas Tech University. The Energy Commerce program was one of the newer, emerging programs that offered an extensive curriculum analyzing the overall energy market, fundamental driving factors of oil/gas, and principles of land acquisition.”

Jake Swaney and Michael Kmetz met in college, and after graduating, Swaney started to work for Pioneer Natural Resources, a major operator in the energy space. Meanwhile, Kmetz took a job in oilfield sales. But after spending two and half years in the industry, the idea of pursuing entrepreneurship began to swirl around in their brains.

One night, while the duo was out drinking and having fun, they got this brilliant idea; they would combine their strengths and find a company to buy and sell oil-rich land in West Texas. The plan was ironclad; they had the necessary knowledge, dedication, and a burning desire to prove they could win. The only way they could go was up.

“We both had different skill sets but were very compatible in business. It quickly became evident that we should look at this more closely,” says Swaney. “The longer we researched and continued leveraging our contacts/network, the more the dream became real. One night over drinks, we had an honest conversation. It went something like this: “If all these other people can do this, then why not us?”

And their decision proved to be a huge success. Within the first several months of running their oil and gas acquisition company, they started to earn some serious money. In the end, they built a multi-million dollar business, but in 2021 they decided to pivot into the real estate industry. As already established business people and entrepreneurs, they saw the opportunity to enter the booming industry. And yet again, using their skills and knowledge, they quickly expanded as their real estate company, DH Capital, currently has a diversified portfolio and is sponsoring large development projects in-house.

As Kmetz explains, they owe their success to the fact that they always believed and supported each other and never took their eyes off the grand vision. “The biggest skill is being open-minded and having courage. Anything is possible. The problem with many young founders is that they can’t bring themselves to commit to one business idea for a time if they don’t see a 30-year vision,” says Kmetz.

“But I must admit. I couldn’t have achieved any of this without Jake. He’s good at moving projects along and is impeccably consistent. And most importantly, he has always supported my huge business goals that many people initially laughed at before we found success.”