Once upon a time Maryland was rye whiskey country. These days not so much but there is significant momentum to bring it back.
Chief among those leading the Maryland rye revival is Sagamore Spirit. Here’s a straight up take on my visit to its distillery as my Taste Baltimore series continues.
Water for Sagamore Spirit is sourced from a spring at Sagamore Farm, an American Thoroughbred breeding farm about 30 miles northwest of Baltimore. The farm and the spirit are both owned by Kevin Plank, founder and CEO of Baltimore-based sportswear manufacturer Under Armour. The water gets trucked down to B-Town to be distilled at waterfront facilities that just before my tour around town had been opened to the public. Everything was shiny and new and designed with a memorable visitor experience in mind.
I really enjoyed the experience. I can’t say I learned much about whiskey or distilling that I didn’t already know. But I was surprised to discover how prominent rye whiskey had been in Maryland’s past. The state was right up there with Kentucky in terms of number of distilleries and volume of production but the industry fizzled during Prohibition and never made much of a comeback. Until now maybe? Sagamore’s got a big reputation (especially for a brand that’s just a couple of years old) with big money behind it, but it’s far from the only whiskey in the state.
I loved the chance to taste Sagamore Spirit for the first time as much as the opportunity to check out how and where its produced. As part of my tour, I got to taste Sagamore’s two key whiskeys: Signature Rye Whiskey and Cask Strength Whiskey. Both were yummy, but Cask Strength definitely stole the show with its more complex profile and longer finish.
When there, work was underway for a new onsite restaurant with James Beard award winning chef, Andrew Carmellini, to be its Executive Chef and an opening date of sometime this year.
Sagamore Spirit Distillery is located at 301 East Cromwell Street, 21230. Find out more at sagamorespirit.com.
More Taste Baltimore posts coming soon.
