Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/912565
8 / the tasting panel / december 2017 A Thing for Horses Founded in 1925, Sagamore Farm was a 21st birthday gift to Alfred G. Vanderbilt from his mother that was inspired by his passion for horses—an itch shared by Kevin Plank. (Mother Vanderbilt was an heiress of the Bromo-Seltzer fortune, another famous Baltimore brand.) Plank acquired the 530-acre estate in 2007 and has refur- bished and maintained it with the same passion and commitment to detail we'll later witness at the Sagamore Distillery in Baltimore. The stable of famed 1950s racehorse Native Dancer is kept intact. Called "the Grey Ghost" and notoriously difficult (he would only work with one trainer), he won 21 of 22 starts. The Sagamore team will tell you in no uncertain terms that Native Dancer was cheated of the Triple Crown by a foul that would have been caught had instant replay existed in those days. Racing history is in the air here. Rye whiskey is also in the air, espe- cially around the 2,000-plus barrel-aging barn where the Sagamore Spirit Rye spends time in Maryland white oak before bottling. A second aging barn also located in the Baltimore area gives the brand a capacity of more than 22,000 barrels at this stage. Cook gears down the farm's plucky little off-road 4x4 (notepad in hand, I get to play rough rider in the bumpy rear bed) and we head down the lane to the property's stone springhouse, built in 1909. Inside the picturesque building, water bubbles up from a natural aquifer that's filtered through the area's porous limestone substrate—the very reason dozens of Maryland's 44 pre-Prohibition distilleries were located nearby. The limestone water, which runs a cool 52 degrees year-round, slakes the thirst of the 100 possible future Preakness winners on the farm (the famed race is run just down the road at Pimlico Race Course, also once owned by Alfred Vanderbilt). It's also used to cut Sagamore Spirit Rye to proof at the distillery; with conservation always in mind, Sagamore uses just 0.1 percent of the aquifer's flow. The burgundy-colored triple-diamond Sagamore emblem appears here at the springhouse (added by Plank and team) and at strategic locations on the prop- erty, acting as a hallmark for Maryland quality. The original farmhouse on the property is used for special VIP events. While the origin stories behind many spirits brands can seem like nothing but marketing, Cook looks around at Sagamore Farm and reminds us, "This is really real." Make No Little Plans As Maryland's largest and most impor- tant city, Baltimore has an illustrious past. The words to "The Star-Spangled Banner" were penned by Maryland-born Francis Scott Key during the 1814 British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor. Celebrated American writer Edgar Allen Poe called Baltimore home and was laid to rest in the city's historic Westminster Burying Ground. The deep-water port of Baltimore is still one of the busiest and most important in the United States. Like Detroit and other industrial American cities, downtown Baltimore fell upon hard times in the 1980s. Developments like those along the Inner Harbor waterfront in Fell's Point and elsewhere, however, are helping turn the city around. The showpiece of Fell's Point is without a doubt the stunning Sagamore Pendry Baltimore hotel, another Plank project that debuted earlier this year. Located in an imposing 1914 Beaux-Arts brick cargo-storage building on Recreation Pier, the destination luxury hotel stands proud as a symbol of everything Plank and his team are trying to bring back to Baltimore. Meanwhile, the Sagamore team has even bigger plans for Baltimore's Outer Harbor not far to the south, where the impressive Sagamore Spirit Distillery is located. Designed by Baltimore-based architecture firm Ayers Saint Gross, the five-acre campus houses Sagamore Spirit's 27,000-square-foot processing facility and 22,000-square-foot-distillery building. A 125-foot water tower, with its three-diamond Sagamore emblem, is a landmark visible for miles around and holds spring water trucked in from Sagamore Farm. Finally, to seal the destination appeal, the stellar restaurant Rye Street Tavern opened its doors in September. At the heart of the distillery, and vis- ible from the exterior, is the magnificent 40-foot-tall mirrored-finished copper column still manufactured by Vendome Copper & Brass Works. In Sagamore Spirit's unique triple-distillation process, the fermented "distiller's beer" is first run through the main still before passing through two "doubler" stills beneath it. More than two miles of pip- ing connect all parts of the operation. Unsurprisingly, Plank grew up playing sports, so teamwork is an essential ingredient in the success of all of his projects from Under Armour to The "distiller's beer" runs through the two doubler stills after passing through the 40-foot-tall copper column still made by Vendome Copper & Brass Works.