Blood Oath bourbon (Pact No. 1) comes to us from Luxco, the St. Louis-based spirits company.  They are best known for Rebel Yell and Ezra Brooks.  Blood Oath is their first entry into the super premium bourbon category.  The ‘oath’ mentioned in the name is a promise that each release will be unique.  This particular release, Pact No. 1, is a blend of three sourced bourbons: a 6-year-old wheated bourbon, a 7-year-old rye-based bourbon and a 12-year-old rye-based bourbon.  It’s bottled at 98.6 proof – the temperature of the human body.  A nice little way to tie it back to the brand and marketing.  My review sample came to me in a nice wooden box containing the bottle of bourbon, a glen cairn glass, and an information booklet.  Beautiful presentation, but more importantly, how is the liquid inside the bottle?

The nose starts out strong with some fiery alcohol fumes.  There’s a big rye spice aroma, with some caramel and vanilla providing some sweet notes that get more dominant as the glass sits.  The rye note smells a little young here.  Taste-wise, there’s an initial young rye note accompanied by a little welcomed heat on the entry, developing into big caramel and vanilla flavors tinged with a bit of spiciness and mint.  I detect a little oak in the back palate.  It’s almost as if the qualities of the young rye-based bourbon hit you first, calming down with the arrival of the wheated-bourbon, and finishing in the back of the palate with the 12-year-old rye-based bourbon.  The high proof provides a nice warm bite.  Blood Oath finishes with a long lasting semi-sweet & slightly spicy finish that turns a bit dry.

Overall, this is a nice bourbon.  It started off okay, but got better with each passing sip.  Blood Oath is not overly complex, but there are some interesting flavors here.  My only complaint is it seems a bit overpriced for what’s here, with an SRP of $89.  Still, if you’re curious and your wallet can afford the hit, give it a shot.  This is a one time release limited to 15,000 bottles, or 5,000 3-bottle cases.