Sagamore Spirit Double Oak Rye Review

Sagamore Spirit
Double Oak
Aged 6+ Years
A Blend of Straight Rye Whiskeys
96.6 Proof
Batch 8A0
MSRP: $64
Review

Please enjoy our Sagamore Spirit Double Oak Rye Review!

The Sagamore Spirit Distillery

The Sagamore Spirit Distillery produces rye whiskeys in the old Maryland style. They are located in South Baltimore, in the newly developed Baltimore Peninsula neighborhood, a short distance from downtown Baltimore and a few popular Baltimore attractions. Sagamore is also just a “stone’s throw” from the large Under Armour campus (who knew that they were based in Baltimore?). The attractive stone facade of the distillery’s buildings adds a classic charm to the newly flourishing area.

Interestingly, the proximity to Under Armour’s corporate offices is not purely coincidental. Sagamore Spirit Distillery was founded by Kevin Plank, who is the CEO and founder of Under Armour. In addition to building the Sagamore Spirit Distillery in the Port Covington area, his company, Sagamore Ventures (formerly Plank Industries), is a major stakeholder in the ongoing development of the Baltimore Peninsula. However, in September 2023, the Italian company, Illva Saronno Holding, acquired a majority share of Sagamore Spirit.

Sagamore Spirit Double Oak Rye

Here’s what Sagamore Spirit says about their Double Oak Rye: “After aging our high-rye and low-rye whiskeys for 4 to 5 years in high-char new American oak barrels, our distillers blend them and finish the whiskey in toasted wave stave barrels for an additional 18 months. The increased surface area of the low-char, medium-plus-toast staves impart delightful caramel, toffee, hazelnut, and toasted coconut flavors to Sagamore Double Oak Rye. Our classic Maryland-style rye whiskey is reimagined through this innovative aging process and then proofed with limestone-filtered water from Sagamore Farm.”

What’s A Wave Stave Barrel?

A Wave Stave Barrel from Independent Stave (ISC) has a “waving curvature” cut on the inside surface of the barrel staves. These ridges are cut into the staves prior to assembling the barrel and prior to charring. The ridges increase the surface area of the barrel somewhat, to increase the amount of wood in contact with the aging whiskey. In addition, these ridges create a gradient in the degree of toasting, increasing the complexity of the barrel flavors. Sagamore Spirit uses the Classic Medium Plus Toast with Char #1 version of the Wave Stave barrel to provide (according to the ISC website) flavors of caramel, vanilla, and toasted marshmallow.

Tasting Notes – Sagamore Spirit Double Oak Rye Review

Let’s taste it:

🛏 Rested for 15 minutes in a Glencairn

👉🏻Nose: Dry sweet toasted oak, vanilla, brown sugar, burnt caramel, hints of sweet cherry candy & hot cinnamon gum; alcohol vapor appropriate for the proof
👉🏻Taste: Dry oak, tannins, mildly sweet dark caramel, vanilla
👉🏻Finish: Dry oak, brown sugar, hints of maple syrup, tannins, white pepper & cinnamon gum; mild char later on; fairly long with a moderate warmth

Right from the first sniff, you can tell this is a double oak whiskey. The flavors from that ISC Wave Stave barrel really shine through. There is plenty of dry, sweet, toasted oak mixed with vanilla, brown sugar & burnt caramel. In the background, there’s a fruit like quality, but it’s sweet, like cherry candy, yet with a touch of hot cinnamon, gum, too. The taste again brings plenty of dry oak, with tannins, mildly sweet dark caramel and vanilla. Heading into the finish, those flavors continue. There’s the expected dry oak and tannins, but yet some sweetness from brown sugar and hints of maple syrup are there, too. In addition, there’s some spice from white pepper and hot cinnamon gum. The finish is fairly long, with a pleasant warmth.

Summary

Double Oak Rye is one of my favorite whiskeys that Sagamore Spirit makes. It just hits all the right notes for me. If you enjoy rich barrel flavors, aren’t afraid of a nice amount of dry oak and tannins, and are a fan of rye, then this whiskey is one that you’ll definitely want to try! Have you had it? What did you think? Cheers! 🥃

Note: This bottle was graciously provided to me by the distillery for my review.

We hope you have enjoyed our Sagamore Spirit Double Oak Rye Review! If you would like to learn more about the distillery, then you’ll want to head over to our Sagamore Spirit Distillery Tour Review. To read more about some of their other whiskeys, check out our Sagamore Spirit Port Finish Rye Review and our Sagamore Spirit 6 Year Rye Review!

Would you like to learn more about distilleries and bourbon? Are you planning a trip to Kentucky Distilleries? Maybe you would like to live the bourbon life vicariously through us? If any of these are true, then check out BourbonObsessed.com today!