Sagamore Spirit Names Ryan Norwood Its First Master Distiller
Norwood, who has been with the brand since the early days, now leads innovation and manages production
October 10, 2025 –––––– Danny Brandon
From its earliest days, the culture at Baltimore-based Sagamore Spirit has always been about teamwork. The distillery is somewhat unusual in that it has never had an official master distiller; instead shining a spotlight on the entire production team over the years. But now that’s set to change. Effective immediately, brand veteran Ryan Norwood has been named master distiller and will oversee production.
Norwood was hired by Sagamore Spirit in 2016, the same year that the brand debuted its first whiskey. He was brought on as director of quality and was tasked with overseeing part of the production process, working alongside many others, most notably former MGP master distiller and rye pioneer Larry Ebersold, who helped create Sagamore’s core recipe and managed contract distillation. Over the years, Norwood would play a larger role in the brand’s production process. A few months after Sagamore Spirit Distillery opened its doors in 2017, Norwood was promoted to director of operations. He held that position for a little over five years before being promoted again to vice president of operations.
As master distiller, Norwood will lead Sagamore’s 24-person production team, drive innovation, and oversee the entire production process. The brand says that while distilling will remain a collaborative effort, Norwood will have direct responsibility for creating new expressions. And we’ve already seen him in action on that front: Sagamore credits him for developing some of its latest releases, including 10 year old Reserve Series rye, high-rye bourbon, and the Festivus Maximus rye released in partnership with the Baltimore Ravens football team. The brand also teased that next year it will be releasing the very first whiskey bottled from liquid produced on its 250-gallon pilot system (a small-scale brewing setup that beer makers typically use for smaller, experimental releases), which was also made under Norwood’s guidance.
Before entering the whiskey industry, Norwood’s background was in beer. After earning a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from Colorado State University in 2007, he found work at the Fort Collins, Colorado-based New Belgium Brewing Co.—best known today for its Voodoo Ranger IPA brand, which debuted in 2017. Norwood stayed on with New Belgium as a microbiologist for nearly nine and a half years, before leaving in 2016 and relocating to Baltimore to join the fledgling Sagamore Spirit.
