Sneak Peek: Sagamore 10 Year Old Rye Whiskey Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: A-

Baltimore’s Sagamore Spirits has unveiled their oldest expression to date in a limited edition offering in their Reserve Series: a sourced 10 year old rye. The whiskey in question must have been drawn from the sourced stocks acquired by the company prior to the opening of their distillery, because while the company was 2013, the first bottling did not reach shelves until 2016 and the distillery was not opened until 2017. Early on, Sagamore was known to rely heavily or entirely on stocks of MGP’s two rye whiskeys (their 95% rye and their Kentucky style rye), but this may have changed with time. This follows last year’s release of a 9 year old rye, so perhaps Sagamore will release an 11 year old next year.

The Whiskey
Even though this was bottled at 110.8 proof, which is strong but not especially potent, I still found the nose had some heat. So, in went the water. The description that follows is after some drops of water were added.

The pour had a middle amber coloring in the glass, but this dulled with the water. Not cloudy, mind you, just not bright. The nose, once tamed, led with pine and mint. Behind that was a thick mass of caramel with a dusting of cookie spices, hand in hand with a sharp apricot note.

The palate flipped the script and led with its sweeter aspects. The caramel aspect largely disappeared, replaced with candy corn coupled to that apricot. The mint and cookie spices continued, while a sliver of oak brings up the back end. The finish began nutty, fading to oak and spices.

The Price
Expect to pay $80 a bottle, which is actually a good bargain for a 10 year old rye whiskey.