Under Armour CEO Is Now In The Whiskey Business

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Under Armour founder and CEO Kevin Plank is doing a little cross-training. He already runs a wildly successful sporting goods empire, but now he's dipping a sneaker-clad toe into the world of whiskey.

This month, bottles of his new Sagamore Spirit rye whiskey, named after his horse farm just outside Baltimore, hit the shelves.

The ground was broken for a new, five-acre Port Covington distillery in October. Right now, it's being produced at City Garage.

Plank's new project will be the exclusive rye whiskey at the 141st Preakness Stakes this weekend.

Rye whiskey has a history in Maryland, almost as strong as Kentucky's tradition of bourbon whiskey, and it will be made from spring water sourced from Sagamore Farm.

"The origin of our spirit is nestled beneath a 100-year old spring house at Maryland's Sagamore Farm – uniquely pure and naturally filtered spring water, fed from a limestone aquifer," the company says in promotional materials. "This iron-free and calcium-rich water cannot be found anywhere else in the world, creating a revolutionary spirit, as bold as the thoroughbreds that race on our tracks."

The company has even released a few signature recipes, which WJZ's Ron Matz learned more about on a visit to Sagamore Farm.

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