Day 9

Sagamore Rye Barrel Select by Belly Bourbon

Style: Indiana Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey

Mashbill: Blend of: 95% rye, 5% Malted Barley and,
51% rye, 45% corn, 4% Malted Barley

Aged: 9 Years

Proof: 110.0

MRSP: $85

Why I chose it: On the 9th day, we get to taste this 9-year rye whiskey. This is a pick from the Belly Bourbon restaurant group, purchased at their Burger Social location. The restaurant is a favorite of mine, and I wanted to include one of their bottles. I started the tasting with a pour of Thomas Handy (one of my favorite ryes) and then tasted all their available options to see if I could find a purchasable alternative. This bottle was the winning bottle in the lot. Didn't know much about it other than it was my favorite of the day. Here's what I've since learned:

Sagamore Distillery in Baltimore, Maryland, was founded in 2015. They opened by buying MGP* juice from Indiana and began distilling their own 'spring-fed' ryes in 2017. So this barrel is a blend of two of MGP's classic rye distillates (the 95/5 and the barely rye 51/45/4). The barely rye mashbill represented 90% of Day 4's blend, so this is the second time we've tasted it. Maybe next year we'll try something from Sagamore's own distillate?

Distiller's page: https://sagamorespirit.com/spirits/

*The curator of this calendar owns shares of MGPi stock. He should have sold years ago, but retains comfort knowing each purchase is potentially helping himself out in some small way.