Vanilla nougat | Burnt marshmallow | Peanut brittle | Brown sugar | Cinnamon cake | Charred oak

Rye spice | Baking spices | Red Hots candy | Bitter orange rind | Sharp oak | Brown sugar | Black peppercorn | Dill | Cilantro

Rye spice | Brown sugar | Faint bitter orange rind | Cinnamon stick | Black peppercorn | Lingering spice | Fresh dill

Sagamore Spirit is a five-acre waterfront distillery located in the Baltimore Peninsula neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. The company was founded in 2013 by Kevin Plank, executive chairman of the sports brand Under Armor. In September 2023, Illva Saronno Holding S.p.A., an Italian company known for the Italian liquor Disaronno, purchased a majority stake in Sagamore Spirit. The company released a version of Sagamore High Rye Bourbon last year that was 10 proof points higher and was sold only at the distillery and select retailers throughout Baltimore. This latest release of Sagamore High Rye Bourbon joins the company’s core collection of whiskeys and will be available nationwide.

When Sagamore released High Rye Bourbon last year, I found it to offer a great sip at a reasonable price. Raising the price by only a dollar and lowering the proof has resulted in a bourbon that doesn’t reach the same level of satisfaction as last year's release. The aroma delivers sweet scents along with charred oak, while the midpoint focuses more on various spices, along with a bitter orange rind note that seems out of place. More troubling is a dill-and-cilantro combination that throws things off balance. While faint bitter orange rind makes a brief appearance in the finish, the dill is much more prominent. Additional spice with a dash of sweetness joins in before the bourbon rides on gentle lingering spice and bitter dill.

Last year’s release was truly great and a boon for consumers who could get their hands on it. Unfortunately, this new national version contains a funk, thanks to the aforementioned dill and cilantro, that pulls everything down. It’s almost like drinking a different bourbon entirely, as these notes weren’t present in the Maryland-only release from last year. It’s a miss for Sagamore Spirit, which will hopefully course correct in the future.

The bourbon in review is from Batch No. 2B, Bottle No. 4872.