Blood Oath Bourbon Pact No. 7

I started my Blood Oath journey at Pact 5. That one was solid, and Pact 6 was even better. Here's to hoping this one continues that upward trend. My only other experience with Sauternes cask-aging is Glenmorangie Nectar d'Or (and its replacement.) That will likely be little help in helping me assess this one, but I enjoyed that for what it's worth. Onward to Pact 7. Nose: Vanilla, toffee, brown sugar, and caramel. Ginger snaps and Nerds candy. Granny Smith Apple and white grape. Vanilla frosting and marshmallow. There's a couple different flavored Jelly Beans in there. Cinnamon, but not really spicy. More like a Cinnabon in that regard. Some plum is also detectable, representing the Sauternes cask. It's confectionary sweet, and very enjoyable. Palate: Toasted almond and walnut. Caramel and vanilla. Cocoa, black pepper, black tea, and tobacco smoke. The Granny Smith apple is again present, and now, there's a green apple Jolly Rancher quality to it. Milk chocolate. Raisin, fig, and date. Golden Teddy Grahams. A touch of sawdust. Clove, nutmeg, and oak. This has a lot of the confectionary sweetness of the nose but with some spicier and more bitter notes. Just as good in its own way. Finish: Black tea, black pepper, tobacco smoke, and cocoa. Ginger snap. Walnut and toasted almond. Clove, nutmeg, and oak. Moderate-to-long finish, leaning toward the latter. This exceeded my expectations based on my previous experiences with Blood Oath. And Sauternes-aged whiskies for that matter. Absolutely amazing. This beats everything aforementioned by a mile. It's one of my favorite bourbons. The notes were weird. When I review my tasting notes, it reads like a third grader's meal-plan. And yet, it hits every mark as an adult beverage. This is a fun whiskey. It breaks the mold in a lot of ways, and simultaneously delivers at every level. The dichotomy between the nose and the palate was incredibly interesting. And the finish served as a nice intermediary between the two and a solid cap to the experience. At $120, this hurts the wallet. yet, despite the extra $20 this ran me over Batches 5/6, this still bested both of them by a decent bit in the VFM department. This one is bullet proof from every angle. My only concern is that it set the bar too high for Batch 8. As for this one, it earned top-shelf marks. 5/5.

I can't disagree more with some of the reviews on this! So I'm not a fan of this series. They are odd bourbons finished in casks to save what seem like really off bourbon. Does 7 change my mind? Nose - So the first note is just sweet. And that might not sound like a note but the other blood oats are often bringing harsh bourbon oak notes, this is clean and sweet. It's candy sweet with some heaven hill over the top oak, but nothing too extreme. The overall impression is sweet candy classic bourbon rich higher proof notes and some nutty oak finish but subtle. Once it opens it's oak, nutty and sugarcane sweet with white wine notes. As it opens more white wine and sweet bourbon comes out. It remains a bit alcoholic for the age and a bit acidic. Overall, though I'm happy and it's uniquely nice. Taste - OK so I hate to say it but smooth. It just opens wonderfully sweet, subtle and smooth. It's a soft bourbon with some wine notes and it's watery. But then omg the finish comes and it's a BIG bourbon. The oak and nutty notes come in strong with the wine casks not leaving but getting over shadowed over time. The final product is heavy oak, decent white wine, and classic bourbon notes. 100 bucks? This is where I'm confused....it's better than a LOT of over priced bourbon I have. Given the market I get it. Would I buy another for 100 if I could? I don't think so. Will I buy the next batch? AT retail yeah....these are fun. Anyway 2.5, I really like what they did here but it's not great. This isn't as good as last year's batch. But it's close and better than the rum cask.

I tried my first Blood Oath bourbon while out with business partners at a nice steak house this past week. Granted, it was served neat in a whiskey glass... for something in this league I would have preferred a Glencairn. Spicy cinnamon and vanilla make their appearance very known on the nose, with a slightly fruity edge. But not so much tart red fruit... more like sweet and soft peaches and pears. The taste follows the nose with tongue prickling cinnamon and a hint of canned peaches with quite a "full" mouthfeel. The finish on this one is loud. Spice and bitterness pull the taste off the sweet train. You get hits of dark cocoa powder that flourish into rye spice at the very end. This was a halfway decent bourbon but, perhaps because I'm scoring it against the hype and prices that Blood Oath bourbons command, I actually wasn't all that impressed. I haven't ruled out Blood Oath though, perhaps I just started with the wrong one?

The Sauternes barrel is really showing up on the nose for me. Caramel dipped peach and honeydew melon with some honey and white flowers. There's a good amount of oak and pine resin here too. A nicely aromatic nose showing the influence of Sauternes. Apple and pear on the initial palate followed by sweet oak, peach cobbler, black pepper, and vanilla frosting. It is quite sweet and has a nice viscosity but is nothing special. Finish is dominated by peach and brown sugar with some oak lingering at the tail end. Nice length too. Maybe the most impressive thing about this finished bourbon. Loved the finish on this! Sauternes plays quite well with bourbon flavors. Well balanced and delicious.

NOSE Oaky, peanuts, dried df, stewed apples, baking spice, blackberry taffy, leather and a bit of citrus and candy sweetness. Warm inviting aroma that stays on the darker side with some lighter fruit and citrus pops, but most interesting is the leather. PALATE Peanut brittle, oak, baking spice, biscuity, copper, dark fruit taffy, dried orchard fruit and touches of leather, candy sweetness and pepper. The richly nutty aspect grows along with the spice as the Blood Oath Pact 7 opens. It’s a warm and lovely whiskey but the oak is oddly muted compared to the aroma. FINISH Med-long -> Oak, peanut brittle, and dark fruit fade to herbal spice

Nose: caramel and fruit. A lot more fruit than I thought. Not much more complex than that. Palate: initial sweet and then herbal notes kick in. Kind of dry and a dark fruit flavor as well. Irony taste but I’d imagine that’s the spice. Finish: dry and short. Overall: unique of course. But honestly nothing amazing. The past few releases have been decent but nothing to spend $100 honestly. Unless they come out with a non-finished bourbon, I probably won’t buy another in the future. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good finished bourbon but this one just doesn’t blow me away like some others.