dhsilv2
Blood Oath Bourbon Pact No. 6
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed
May 13, 2020 (edited June 23, 2020)
Nose - At first I really can't get past the dusty oaky and nutty notes. Instantly has me thinking Jim Beam though Heaven Hill isn't impossible either. However if you dig down you get into a really rich leathery sweetness. There's some classic bourbon but it's being shifted and sweetened by the XO casks. They really do come off rather nicely here.
Taste - Up front it's smooth and light, almost instantly the XO sweetness picks as it moves back. I've let this open a bit and the oak and dusty/nutty notes that make me think Beam are already fading, still there and there's still peanuts and corn nuts. But the real showcase is the bourbon vanilla notes and the xo sweetness. The finish I feel is fairly decent despite some other reviews. The dry nutty oak comes and goes a few times while the sweetness admittedly drops off but finds a way to come back as well.
A surprisingly rich mouth feel on what is a somewhat thin bourbon...I know that sounds odd but it's one of those bourbons where you can tell you're drinking a thin bourbon BUT it's oily and viscous which gives it a really creamy mouth feel too.
There's a part of me that was hoping for a bit more given the use of 14 year old bourbon and my just general love of XO finished bourbon. There was also a part of me praying it wasn't another batch 5, it's not. Anyway I'm going with a firm 2.75 with this one. Very nicely done, clearly a step above average bourbon, but I'm reaching for any deeper notes or complexity that isn't more or less beam with xo casks at an OK but not great proof.
108 bucks and for that, it's not a must buy but if you're into these kinds of finished bourbons I don't think it'll upset you either. It's funny how I'm becoming more and more forgiving of over priced bourbon while getting ever more frustrated with younger scotch prices.
108.0
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per
Bottle
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@BDanner My brother and I bought a Laphroaig Quarter Cask on April 30 before it went up $15
@jonwilkinson7309 I kept waiting on others to follow suit after the Lag16 jumped in January and did see a few. When the Laphroaig held steady at it's normal $55 I was hoping maybe they were absorbing costs. Hopefully these will eventually go away?
@BDanner. Ouch. I expected the tariffs to impact prices sooner than they did, so I bought some extra bottles in October. In the meantime, I had been starting to wonder if that 25% was being absorbed somewhere in the supply chain. But recent developments dashed that belief - apparently it took 6-8 months before pre-tariff inventory was depleted.
@jonwilkinson7309 I'm just glad I got my annual bottle of Lagavulin 16 at $89 before it jumped to $119!
@BDanner Those prices are painful. Our state liquor store here in NH is often not very price competitive but has still has the 10 for $50 and the Select for $40.
@dhsilv2 My expectations of "normal" may have to make an adjustment. Went to the ABC Store today to find that the Tariff Fairy finally paid a visit to Laphroaig. The Lap10 went from $55 to $75 and the LapSelect (which I've been pouring in Coke due to its bargain price) went from $35 to $50. It was a sad day.
I had a friend buy the lag 25 for roughly store cost. He still paid about 1,000. I'm sure someone's making money on those but it isn't the stores.
@WhiskeyLonghorn most is markup I bet. My wife probably said it most simply: “ so...your paying HOW MUCH for malted barley in a fancy bottle??!!”
@PBMichiganWolverine I saw that Lag at the store yesterday in the fancy case. $1200 retail. Wonder how much of that is markup since HP and Talisker 25 go for less than half of that, and Glenfarclas 25 is something like $130 around here.
@BDanner wait till you drop 550 on 25 year that was bottled 15 years ago, and you're EXCITED about how it was "cheap".
The last couple months have seen me purchase a couple $60 plus bottles of bourbon and a $70 plus bottle of scotch and not bat an eye. What have I become?
@dhsilv2 👍
@PBMichiganWolverine best to keep those thoughts to like minded people and avoid wars over nothing.
@dhsilv2 yeah...As much as I agree with that logic, I think I’ll refrain from using it...at the risk of having my ass and my bottles kicked out to the curb 😀
@PBMichiganWolverine i mean, you can drink a whisky. Rings are useless...I hear if you cut glass with one it hurts it.
@WhiskeyLonghorn i had that “ what have I become” when I bought the most expensive whiskey in my collection some years back: Lagavulin 25 200yr Anniversary. It occurred to me that 17 yrs ago, at the same price, I bought my wife an engagement ring for the same price. Of course...I didn’t tell her that...
I spent $80 for a bottle of bourbon last week. It was one of those “what have I become” kind of moments. Damn good bourbon though...