Sagamore Spirit is bringing back the historical style of Maryland rye whiskey which is typically sweeter. It was throughout the 1800s that the style came into its own and grew immensely popular. The spicier rye boasting the flavour profile more commonly recognised today as straight rye whiskey was known as Pennsylvania rye at the time.
Though it was nearly lost to history, Sagamore Spirit is bringing the tradition back, opening the distillery in 2017 on the banks of the Patapsco River. The distillers make two batches of whiskey – one made with a mash bill of 95% rye and 5% malted barley, and the other with just 52% rye and the rest mostly corn, which is sweeter – and blend them together. Then it’s all brought down to bottling strength with limestone-filtered water from Sagamore Farm.