Blood Oath Bourbon Pact No. 9

I’ve had Pact 5-8. Each one was better than the last, culminating with the masterpiece #7. Until I got to 8, which was good, but underwhelming and didn’t compare to its predecessor—or even close. So here’s to hoping Pact 9 turns this ship around. Nose: Gala apple, cranberry, golden raisin, and dried apricot. Toffee, caramel, vanilla, and brown sugar. Mint chocolate. Toasted almond and pistachio. Cocoa, pipe smoke, black tea, and orange citrus. Black pepper, clove, nutmeg, rye, and oak. Palate: Gala apple, cranberry, golden raisin, and dried apricot. Brown sugar, vanilla, milk chocolate, and toffee. Mint/raspberry chocolate. Saltwater taffy. Orange peel. Pipe smoke. Ginger. Rye spice. Irish soda bread and rye bread. Cinnamon, black pepper, clove, nutmeg, and oak. Finish: Heaps of rye spice. Cocoa, pipe smoke, and black tea. Peppercorn. Ginger. Orange peel. Lemongrass and dill. Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, black pepper, and oak. Moderate-long. Now that is a good whiskey. High-rye bourbon whiskey aged in Olorosso sherry casks. I’m not even certain that is high-rye, but the profile paints that picture. All kinds of spice, sweet, and bready notes. It’s layered, and it’s a well-woven quilt. Blood Oath is back. It’s also more expensive. This ran me $225 (I think I had some store credit that brought this down significantly, but I judge these based on the original price,) which is more than double what I paid for Pacts 5-6. It’s clearly better than those, and is on par with the vaunted Pact 7. I’m inclined to give this a perfect 5/5. It’s simply outstanding—outside of my gripes with price. Well done to Lux Row.

This is my 4th blood oath, never been impressed, but always found them interesting and even the rum finished didn't leave me feeling it down on these (maybe over priced). I'd decided I was done however....and then they did Oloroso Sherry AND used 16 year old bourbon? Well ok...lets give this a shot. 150 seems to be the standard price, not sure why distiller thinks MSRP is 130. Costco Price? To do this I like I tend to do....poured all my blood oaths to make sure I could provide a more nuanced difference. I have 19, 20, 21 and 23 here. Nose - Light on fruits with a big milk chocolate coco powder over rich leathery oak. Honestly, really exactly what I'd wanted here. I've always found the blood oaths are over the top on oak, especially given they use sub 10 year bourbons in the blends. But Oloroso and oak are a really nice combo so I knew this had potential. Light raspberry vanilla undertones as well. Vs the rest - this is by FAR the driest and most oak forward. The others all seem to have their own style of sweet. This one leans to that coco powder for sweetness while letting the back end carry a nice bourbon sugar note. This one just comes off more sophisticated. Taste - Flat on arrival yet silky smooth. Quickly however is erupts in flavors. But there's a clean sweetness up front. Followed by this kinda soapy note I get on nearly all of these blood oaths (especially the cognac....of course the other "normal" cask finishing). Oaks and leathers then rise up, a lot of tannins. Then on the back end red fruits, raisins, prunes, figs, all come forward. Really setting this apart from most bourbons is a clear 3rd if not 4th wave of flavors on almost what I'd call the after finish. This is an exceptional sign of quality. I'll get back to final thoughts however. The comp? Well the Cognac which I really have liked today is coming off really soapy bitter, i mean it's still sweet as heck xo cognac here too but theres this note I can't get past. Good mouthfeel, more oily than dry. Good. The Sauternes is drinking so weird I think I mixed up the rum and sauternes. But yeah...it's not coming off like there's much of a finish. Drying, over oaked, poorly blended bourbon vs the others. Rum - again I can't believe I didn't mix these up but I'm digging it. OK maybe a hint of a flintstone vitamin giving me some sour fruits. But it's pretty good. So overall and vs the others. I like this one a lot. 150 bucks good? Yeah, I think in 2023 with today's prices this is about right. It isn't a wow bottle and it isn't a must get. it's a reasonable value that gives you a really nice complex experience but I'm not sure it all comes together to be the sum of all those fun parts. Where the vs comes in is that compared to this all the others had seemingly overt flaws that can be off putting. This one...it's just good. I'll have to go back to the Sauternes when it's not next to some of these more active casks, I recall that one being much better. Anyway if you're into big oak and sherry bourbon, you really should get one of these if it's in the budget. For everyone else, get a bar pour and call it a day unless 150 isn't an expensive bottle to you. I'll go 2.75. Average is 2.0. 3.0 is exceptional. 4.0 is perfect. And 5.0 is life changing.