USA Archives - More Drams, Less Drama

In the past, Maryland played a significant role in rye whiskey production in the United States. Before the era of Prohibition, the state was home to 44 distilleries, with 13 of them situated in Baltimore. Unfortunately, many of these distilleries were unable to recover from the impact of Prohibition. However, in 1936, Maryland was still able to produce 14.1 million gallons of rye whiskey. Some of the distilleries that managed to reopen during World War II shifted their focus to ethanol production. After the war, only a few distilleries resumed the production of rye whiskey. Fast forward to 2015, and Sagamore Spirit company initiated the construction of a 22,000-square-foot distillery in Baltimore’s Port Covington neighbourhood. This marked one of the first distillery establishments in Maryland since the era of Prohibition. Sagamore Spirit only produces rye whisky, and we’re reviewing today the Sagamore Spirit Double Oak Straight Rye Whiskey.

Rebel is one of the four brands of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskeys coming from Lux Row Distillers in Bardstown, Kentucky. You can trace back the history of Lux Row back to 1843 when David Nicholson, a St. Louis grocer, began making and selling whiskey in his general store. The Rebel Yell recipe was invented in 1849, but the Rebel Yell brand itself (though since then the Yell has been dropped) was created only almost a century later, in 1936, by Stitzel-Weller Distilling Co. to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the Weller company. While this article is part of a Lux Row Distillers Flash Blog event for the launch of their third release in the Kentucky based brands limited edition cask finish series, we won’t just taste and review it, but also put it against their Rebel 100 bourbon.

More Drams, Less Drama

USA

Sagamore Spirit Double Oak Rye

Rebel Bourbon 100 & Tawny Port Finish