Blood Oath Bourbon Pact No. 9

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.

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.

The Blood Oath line has always garnered some serious hype. The one and only pact that I've tasted until today was Pact 7 and although that selection was a fine bourbon in and of itself, it left me feeling underwhelmed. I felt that it was just a bit overhyped and overpriced for what it offered. As I'm perusing one of my favorite local spots for their Black Friday specials, I came across Pact 9 at $149.99. Which is seemingly a pretty solid price. At approximately half the price that many other retailers in my area are asking, I thought it would be worth a taste. The nose mingles rye with sherry quite well. Initially, some dark cherries and vanilla swirl on top of leather and baking spice. It is just balanced enough to not lean too heavily one way or another. The taste opens creamy and sweet. Throughout the taste, the mouth feel of this bourbon is exceptional. Thick and oily - it really coats the tongue. Vanilla and caramel make a brief appearance to open the taste but quickly blossom into tongue tingling cinnamon candy. As that spice sits on your tongue, some leather and tannic oak slide in from the higher rye content. The finish remains dry and as is the case with drier, slightly higher proof whiskies; the mouth feel goes a bit powdery. Along with that, a faint hint of dark cherries creeps in, settling nicely with the leather and oak from the back of the taste. What a well rounded bourbon this turned out to be! But alas - now I'm going to seek out some of the previous Pacts that sound like they'd be right up my alley which can be an expensive proposition. RIP to my bank account.

I didn't think I'd see one of these in the wild again. It has been years since the last one I've had. So when I saw a couple at my local I snatched one up immediately. The price wasn't too harsh. Maybe $40 over msrp. But well worth it in my humble opinion. The sherry was the first thing I noticed when sniffing my glencairn. Following close behind was the cow hide. This alone sparked my interest. As I began to sip, a medley of flavors ensued. Caramel landing first that melded into said leather and dark fruit. The semi-long finish yielded a touch of earth/corn with a whisper of cocoa as it tapered off. Very smooth with little to no ethanol. At least for me. This was such a treat and am quite happy to see this in distro once again.

Last of this year's birthday pours, not a neck pour this time. Orange and a strange oak note are the main smells from the nose. The oak smell is almost burnt but maybe it is peat coming through? The taste follows the nose in a smoky peat & oak flavor into a orange with spice, like a orange cider. The orange comes with a sweetness that mellows out the rest of the whiskey. Taking addition sips the flavor changes a bit from the orange to more of a focus on the spice. The finish is mild with the orange notes lingering with it. Overall, there is complexity here that is tasty but doesn't follow my palete. The peat is not something I enjoy.

Cracked the bottle to try with @Looneyhead in rockport. Tried neat. On the nares its sweet with notes of vanilla, clove, spice, cinnamon. On the palate its sweet and spicy with notes of pepper, vanilla, carsmel, cocoa. Yum