Blood Oath Pact 1 Bourbon
Released in 2015, Blood Oath Pact 1 announced a new specialty product line for Lux Row Distillers - the batches, or “Pacts”, would be annual, each proofed to exactly 98.6º. To me, the most interesting part of this series is that each Pact would be a blend. Since Lux Row is still (or was still) sourcing all of their distillate at this point, they’re coming at this from a strong position.
Pact 1 - a blend of straight bourbons - is all about the blending. No finishes or high proof to hide behind, just the taste in the bottle. And I have to tell you - John Rempe, creator of the Blood Oath bourbon series and overseer of much of Lux Row’s portfolio - could pass for a Scotch blender. This is quality.
Blood Oath didn’t release ages for this blend, just saying it is a blend of “a spicy bourbon with a mash bill favoring rye, barrel aged for a subtle woodiness”, “a smooth, but never soft, wheated bourbon of memorable curves”, and “a more experienced, oaky bourbon with a rye-based mash”. This reads to me as a relatively young high-rye, a wheated bourbon (no inferences on age), and 10-year or older high-rye bourbon. I’m also basing these guesses on subsequent batches where age statements are added.
This is a great blended bourbon, and proof that “blend” is no longer a dirty word in the bourbon world.
Blood Oath Pact 1: Specs
Classification: Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskies
Origin: Lux Row Distillers, Unknown Source
Proof: 98.6 (49.3% ABV)
Age: NAS
Location: N/A
Blood Oath Pact 1 Price: $110
Blood Oath Pact 1 Review: Tasting Notes
Eye: Liquid gold. Rims disappear, leaving droplets and droplet legs.
Nose: Fruity and grain sweetness - almost Scotch-like before the corn kicks in. The fruitiness is orchard fruits and walking through an orchard in September with fruit littering the ground. No proof or oak on the nose.
Palate: A little oak spice up front, lots of malty fruit and orchard fruit, including some cognac-like notes towards the end. Mouthfeel is deliciously smooth and creamy - just a hint of proof. Butterscotch keeps building with orange zest and orange wine bringing up the rear.
Finish: A tough spicy from oak, long and coating. Chocolate opens up here.
Overall: Blood Oath Pact 1 is an excellent blended bourbon - the mashbills are well-balanced without any one overtaking the other or being subsumed. The creamy, chocolatey notes from the wheated mashbill temper the spice and red fruit tartness from the high-rye mashbills, while the oaky woodiness from the older bourbon never overtakes the more delicate, younger ingredients. A fantastic example of American blended bourbon whiskey.
Final Rating: 8.3
10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)
9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)
8 | Excellent | Exceptional (12+YO MGP Bourbon, Highland Park Single Barrels)
7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)
6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)
5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)
4 | Sub-par | Many things I’d rather have (A.D. Laws Four Grain, Compass Box “Oak Cross”)
3 | Bad | Flawed (Iron Smoke Bourbon, Balcones)
2 | Poor | Forced myself to drink it (Buckshee Bourbon and Rye)
1 | Disgusting | Drain pour (Virginia Distilling Co. Cider Cask)
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