Sagamore Reserve Manhattan Finish Review

Take some specially blended MGP rye, age it a variety of barrels and you end up with this: Sagamore Reserve Manhattan Finish. The color and sweetness definitely come from the ex-Cherry Brandy Barrels, but the vermouth and bitters are unmissable and quite present… all of which we’ll get to below. Now’s let’s get to drinkin’ and see what this is all about because I don’t have much more to cover in the opening.

Sagamore Reserve Manhattan Finish – Details and Tasting Notes

Whiskey Details

Region: Indiana, USA

Distiller: MGP
Bottler: Sagamore Spirit
Mash Bill: At least 51% Rye + Corn + Malted Barley (blend of MGP’s high rye (95%) and low rye (51%) mash bills)
Cask: New Charred Oak, ex-Vermouth, ex-Bitters, ex-Cherry Brandy
Age: 4+ Years
ABV: 51.5%

Cask Strength | Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color

Batch: 2020

Price: $66*

White background tasting shot with the Sagamore Reserve Manhattan Finish bottle and a glass of whiskey next to it.

“Awarded 94-points from the Beverage Testing Institute. We finished our straight rye whiskey in vermouth, bitters, and cherry brandy barrels to create a unique Manhattan Finished Rye Whiskey. Herbaceous undertones and fresh cherry sweetness make this an incredible whiskey to mix into its namesake, or savour on its own.” – Sagamore Spirits

Tasting Notes

EYE
Deep ruby

NOSE
Vermouth, cocktail cherries, copper, spice, leather, sugar and a touch of oak. Just so overwhelmingly sweet. It smells like a pre-made cocktail, as good, high quality, pre-made cocktail, but a cocktail nonetheless.

PALATE
Vermouth, cocktail cherries, copper, spice, orange peels, angostura, leather, sugar and a touch of oak. If you handed me a glass of this Sagamore Reserve Manhattan Finish on ice and told me you’d whipped up a cocktail I wouldn’t question you for a second.

FINISH
Med -> Sticky sweet with some bits of oak, bitters and orange peel.

BALANCE, BODY and FEEL
No, syrupy, syrupy

Sagamore Reserve Manhattan Finish – Overall Thoughts and Score

As a whiskey I don’t like it. I wouldn’t ever drink it neat, it’s just too sweet syrupy for my tastes and has very little of the underlying whiskey profile making any form of a bold presence. However… as a “cocktail in a bottle” it’s really quite nice.

I took my own assumption and just poured it over some ice, garnished with an orange peel and voila, it became an awesome sipping cocktail. The expressed orange peel added a nice citrus pop to that held cut the sweetness a tad and the slowly melting ice helped to further break up the sweet notes and it made for a pleasant drinking experience till the last sip. This Sagamore Reserve Manhattan Finish is going to be a killer summer, iced, drinker and highball maker. But as a standalone, neat drinker (which everything is judged by here)… nope.

SCORE: 2/5

*Disclosure: The sample for this whiskey review was graciously sent to me by the company without obligation. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.