{"id":273131,"date":"2025-10-03T05:20:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T09:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/?p=273131"},"modified":"2025-10-02T11:23:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T15:23:52","slug":"spirit-of-the-week-sagamore-spirit-10-year-old-straight-rye-whiskey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/uncategorized\/spirit-of-the-week-sagamore-spirit-10-year-old-straight-rye-whiskey\/","title":{"rendered":"Spirit Of The Week: Sagamore Spirit 10-Year-Old Straight Rye Whiskey"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Sagamore Spirit 10-Year-Old Straight Rye)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When Kevin Plank, the assured founder of sports apparel powerhouse Under Armour, set his sights on whiskey back in 2012, it wasn\u2019t just another bold business move\u2014rather it was a love letter to his home state\u2019s long forgotten rye heritage. Plank, along with partner Bill McDermott, wanted to invest in Maryland in a way that resonated with the region\u2019s past. Their inspiration? The limestone-rich spring at Sagamore Farm, a thoroughbred horse racing estate Plank had purchased in 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That spring water\u2014long prized in whiskey-making\u2014sparked research that led them to uncover Maryland\u2019s 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A post shared by @boozeoftheday<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The early days were about building a foundation. While they steadied themselves, and built their distillery in Baltimore\u2019s Port Covington neighborhood, Sagamore Spirit initially sourced whiskey from Indiana\u2019s MGP. One of the largest rye producers in America, renowned for their 95% rye \/ 5% malted barley mash bill, MGP\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the beginning, however, one of the ways Sagamore distinguished itself was utilizing a unique mash bill philosophy. Instead of leaning solely on MGP\u2019s now-classic \u201chigh-rye\u201d 95% rye, Sagamore uses two recipes\u2014adding a \u201clow rye\u201d (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\u2019s spice but also a softer, sweeter profile. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to educate the consumer,\u201d Ryan Norwood, the brand\u2019s Vice President of Operations, tells Maxim<\/em>. \u201cAt the same time we\u2019re trying to bring bourbon drinkers into rye.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Sagamore Spirit 10-Year-Old Straight Rye)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Those barrels gave the fledgling brand a foundation while their own Baltimore distillery took shape. In 2017, steel and copper finally met in Sagamore\u2019s Patapsco River waterfront home, and the brand began laying down its own whiskey\u2014mostly 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\u2019s flagship Small Batch and Cask Strength expressions were fully Maryland-made\u2014an achievement the former only achieved last year, and latter earlier this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That approach comes to full expression in Sagamore\u2019s 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\u2014one of the last sourced barrels before the brand fully transitions to its own distillate. For Norwood, it\u2019s a fitting capstone: \u201cFor me, rye kind of has that sweet spot between about six and ten years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Sagamore Spirits Distillery on the Baltimore waterfront)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite being sourced from Indiana, Maryland\u2019s climate leaves its own fingerprint on the spirit. With humid summers and frigid winters, the state\u2019s seasonal swings push whiskey deep into the oak barrels\u2019 wood and back again, extracting flavor in bold strokes. Unlike Kentucky or Indiana, Norwood reveals Sagamore\u2019s 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 \u201csuper balanced\u2026 with notes of peach crumble, roasted nuts, rye spice, with just enough sweetness to round it out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 10-Year release is limited, and rye aficionados will likely snap it up for its SRP of $80<\/a>. But for Sagamore it\u2019s less about chasing hype than telling a story\u2014about water and wood, about Maryland\u2019s 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\u2019s to come as more of their whiskey carries the unmistakable mark of Baltimore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow our Deputy Editor Nicolas Stecher on Instagram at @nickstecher <\/a>and @boozeoftheday<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Baltimore whiskey brand’s latest Reserve Series marks a decade in celebrating Maryland rye.","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":273137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable_comments":false,"tpd_coauthor":[],"tpd_feed_delay":{"delay_type":"default"},"is_tpd_lists_single_post":false,"tpd_featured_posts_arr":"","tpd_franchise_content":"","hide_featured_img_single_post":true,"msn_featured_video":[],"_msn_custom_title":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-10-03T09:20:13Z","apple_news_api_id":"b9f7044c-134c-4337-8271-18e070e7f2ba","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-10-03T09:20:13Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AufcETBNMQzeCcRjgcOfyug","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"tpd_featured_video":[],"tpd_sponsored_post_logo":"","tpd_sponsored_post_logo_link":"","tpd_sponsored_post_logo_width":0,"tpd_sponsored_enable_nofollow":true,"tpd_disable_incontent_ads":false,"tpd_disable_right_rail_ads":false,"tpd_disable_after_content_ads":false,"tpd_disable_header_ads":false,"tpd_disable_sticky_footer_ads":false,"tpd_disable_video_ads":false,"tpd_disable_outbrain":false,"tpd_affiliate_disclaimer":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,43,75],"tags":[5015,24342,10034,1923,1924,22994,4936,50],"coauthor":[],"feeds":[],"class_list":["post-273131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-food-drink","category-news","tag-baltimore","tag-kevin-plank","tag-maryland","tag-rye","tag-rye-whiskey","tag-sagamore-spirit","tag-under-armour","tag-whiskey"],"apple_news_notices":[],"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Copy-of-Sagamore-10-Year-43-428x285.jpg","coauthors":[],"primary_category":{"term_id":1,"name":"Uncategorized","slug":"uncategorized","taxonomy":"category","url":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/uncategorized\/"},"fimg_url_thumb":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Copy-of-Sagamore-10-Year-43-428x285.jpg","featured_img_medium":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Copy-of-Sagamore-10-Year-43-788x444.jpg","author_name":"Nicolas Stecher","author_avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/86eca8d1d406e8daafa1be549d6051cb657139d948226b0ccebc25c83a19b5c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_link":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/author\/nicolas-stecher\/","post_categories":["Uncategorized"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273131"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":273200,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273131\/revisions\/273200"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273131"},{"taxonomy":"coauthor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthor?post=273131"},{"taxonomy":"feeds","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maxim.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feeds?post=273131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}