Sagamore Spirit is marking a new entry into the American whiskey marketplace with the introduction of its premium Sagamore Spirit Straight Rye Whiskey in three major markets in the United States—Maryland, Washington, DC and Delaware with New York to follow shortly.

“Maryland has a deep history and heritage with distilling rye whiskey that dates back to before Prohibition,” says Brian Treacy, president of Sagamore Spirit. “Maryland was home to more than 40 distilleries and we honor that tradition by making a spirit worthy of our state’s distilling heritage.”

To help create an innovative and beautiful package which would adhere closely to the new premium spirit’s quality taste and smooth finish, it called upon Saxco International LLC (saxco.com) of Horsham, PA, world-wide packaging specialists for the wine, spirits, beer and food industries and its vast global resource network to assist. “Our role was to help create an attractive and colorful new package that would also deliver a prominent and distinctive shelf presence and bring the project to a successful conclusion,” states Beth-Anne Kline, regional sales manager for Saxco International, who coordinated on the project with Saxco’s Eric Guli, supply chain project manager.

Working closely with Sagamore’s brand management team, along with creative collaboration between Sagamore Creative, of Baltimore, MD and Ptarmak, of Austin, TX, Saxco helped create a high-quality custom mold. The mold included a diamond shaped 750ml flint bottle with flat shoulders and embossed logos on the front, back and heavy glass bottom. Saxco then provided a reliable, time-tested overseas source to produce the bottle which incorporates embossed 1909 logos on the front and back and a three diamond logo on the bottom. The 1909 logo signifies the year the Sagamore Farm Springhouse was built, where Sagamore Spirit draws water to cut their rye whiskey to 83-proof. “The farm is built on a shelf of limestone rock and limestone water makes for some of the best rye whiskey you can have,” explains Treacy.

Saxco also supplied a rich looking custom black wood top natural cork assembly for the bottle’s closure from a longtime quality supply source in Portugal. The wood top has a three diamond logo imprinted on the top. The closure was over fitted with a burgundy and black capsule from one of Saxco’s long time trusted suppliers in California.

The tricolor pressure sensitive labels were completed by a Sagamore Spirit source and hand applied to each bottle. Every bottle is hand labeled with a batch number, bottler number and signed by the bottler.

Sagamore Straight Rye Whiskey is 83-proof and 41.5 percent alcohol by volume and is being bottled in Baltimore, Maryland. The distilling team blends two different mash bills, a high rye and a low rye and then adds the Sagamore Farm spring-fed water to cut the whiskey to proof.