B-21 Top Recommendation
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Baltimore's Sagamore Spirit has quietly been making a name for itself for several years among the most clued-in rye enthusiasts and aficionados, but it's not just a new-fangled fad. Maryland rye whiskey has a long and storied history, and Sagamore set out to honor that history from the outset. Founded in 2013 by Under Armour chairman Kevin Plank, they started off sourcing and bottling top-notch Indiana rye from Ross & Squib, but these days their distillery is up and humming, their stocks are coming to maturity, and they're hitting one homerun after another.
The entry-level 92-point Small Batch Straight Rye is easily one of the best values in the category from anywhere. Made entirely from 4- to 6-year-old Sagamore distillate, it's a super-friendly, forward rye expression that delivers just the right level of zip along with sweeter undercurrents to make it approachable for any audience and any use, including neat, and at a market-best, sub-$25 price, you've got every reason to swap out the Rittenhouse and give it a whirl. The 93-point Double Oak Straight Rye is "quite an achievement for the style." This is one of the few bottlings from Sagamore that still contains a small amount of Ross & Squib juice, but the Sagamore distillate is still the heart and soul of everything going on here. Aged in new, high-char American oak, it's finished in toasted wave stave barrels for 18 months to create a profile that doesn't miss a single beat. Our own spirits buyer Andrew Kitz explains, "I’m generally skeptical of double oak expressions as I’ve seen so many of them go off the rails and lose all sense of their own personality, but Sagamore’s top-tier rye juice handles the treatment incredibly well."
Finally, the 10-Year-Old Straight Rye is a fantastic offering that shows the distillery and its spirits entering a new phase of maturity. It's "another excellent example of how well Sagamore’s rye distillate takes to wood [and] is a killer buy in the age-stated rye category," notes Andrew. Bright, effusive, and intense, this is classic aged rye that's only giving a hint at what's to come from this excellent facility as their stocks come to maturity. Here's hoping they keep holding some back for several more years.
We can't overstate how much quality-to-price is available across the spectrum in these Sagamore bottlings, and you don't even have to be a rye fan to appreciate them. Sure, there's more than enough serious rye personality to satisfy the purists and maintain their authenticity, but each one is just a flat-out pleasure to drink, so if you're not a rye enthusiast already, you'll be on your way once you discover these gems. | 
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