Reviewed by Jane Warwick

I received a rectangular cardboard box with my bottle of whisky tucked safely inside a thick bubble wrap plastic container.  I then realised my mistake as this is an American whiskey so has an additional ‘e’ in the word.  The bottle is heavy to hold and of an attractive hexagonal design with the name Sagamore raised in the glass on both sides of the bottle together with 1909 at the top of the front of the bottle between two of the hexagonal sides.  The colours of the labels on the glass bottle are blue and orange gold and these colours give this product a luxury feel.  Near the bottom of the front of the bottle is a label which give the batch number, bottle number and the initials of who bottled it, which show how special it is.

On the company’s website I am informed that since April 2017 they have been distilling and aging their straight rye whiskey from a distillery on Baltimore’s waterfront.  (This is an award winning five-acre waterfront distillery).  This takes 4 – 5years with the whiskey then transferred into toasted wave stave barrels for another 18 months, making the whiskey an old whiskey!  The increased surface area of these toasted wave stave barrels provides this whiskey with many of its additional smells and tastes.

Sagamore Spirit has been awarded a Master medal for this Double Oak Rye at the Drinks Business and the Spirits Business Spring Blind tasting 2021. This is an impressive accolade for the whiskey.

Now to what you have been waiting for, the taste.  I will let you into a secret; I am not a whiskey drinker, but my husband is so we both sit down to try this drink, pouring a small amount neat into our cutglass tumblers.  The colour is beautiful, a rich transparent amber and golden caramel colour.  The smells that greet my nostrils as I aim to taste the whiskey are lovely, rich caramel and pecan.  I then take a sip and I am greeted by honey, heat, and fire together with dark chocolate.  My gums and palate are numbed by the heat.   I take some more sips and liked what I am drinking, though I do not get the hazelnut or coconut flavours as mentioned on the company’s website.  I liked the richness of the caramel and honey and I certainly could get very used to having a glass of this in an evening especially as the nights are drawing in.  A convert.

I noticed on the website that there are several cocktails which can be made using this whiskey so decided the next night to try a couple of these.

The first cocktail I tried was Sagamore Cider Cold.  This was made up of Sagamore Spirit Rye whiskey, apple cider (obtained from a local cask cider farm), lime juice, syrup (sugar and water), with a couple of cinnamon sticks and slices of apples (from my own garden) as a garnish.   I always think cocktails look attractive and this one was no exception with the help of the garnishes.  Compared to drinking neat whiskey, I was surprised that the drink was mellow with no fire, and it was neither sharp nor sweet on the palate.  Like drinking neat whiskey, you can only sip this drink rather than guzzle it.  I liked the subtle yet tasty flavour, but my palate unfortunately is not good enough to be able to recognise the tastes.  The next cocktail I tried was the classic Sagamore Sour.  This was made of Sagamore Spirit Rye whisky, honey syrup (equal parts honey and water), fresh lemon juice with a slice on lemon as a garnish.  The smell here unlike with the previous cocktail I tasted was the fire smell of the neat whiskey.  The taste initially smooth and citrusy in the mouth but the sourness was a strong flavour after swallowing.  This initial sharp sour went after a few sips and was just a sour but not sharp taste with a roundness of the whiskey.   I could have tried all the cocktails were it not for the fact it is 48.3% alcohol. The website provides you with the recipes for 22 cocktails so you can have a lot of fun.  The next two I will be trying are:

“Pumpkin Spice Sipper” as this seems unusual with pumpkin puree and condensed milk and the other is a Sagamore Apple Butter with unsalted butter as garnish. 

The downside to this whiskey is the price but certainly it is a treat I enjoyed and ideal for a celebration. 

Rating: 4.5/5

RRP: from £74.50

This product can be purchased from The Whisky Exchange here or Master of Malt here