By Richard Thomas
Score: B+
Blood Oath Pact No. 8
(Credit score: Richard Thomas)
The Whiskey Reviewer is 11 years outdated now, so it predates a lot of the annual restricted version bourbon collection at the moment in the marketplace. So, when one thing like Blood Oath Pact No. 8 exhibits up at my home and I maintain the bottle in my hand, all I can do is suppose “Actually? It’s been 8 years? I nonetheless keep in mind Pact No. 1.” Possibly we should always do Blood Oaths as our subsequent “Greatest Bottles In The Sequence” characteristic?
Blood Oath is the place Luxrow Grasp Distiller John Rempe will get to flex his artistic muscle groups, drawing on the most effective aged inventory Luxco has in stock. This time round, that led to mixing three rye mash billed bourbons: a 14 12 months outdated bourbon, an 11 12 months outdated bourbon, and an 8 12 months outdated bourbon completed in Calvados casks. Calvados is an apple or pear brandy made in Normandy, distilled from cider. For many who don’t know the place Normandy is, it’s the area of France that Rollo (sure, Rollo from Vikings) took cost of and settled with Norseman. Therefore Normans.
The Bourbon
Pact No. 8 has a middling, reddened amber look to it, and the scent caramel sweet candy, with a present of pie spices and a touch of mustiness. I discovered the flavour was in a lot the identical vein, however with the spiciness taking over a minty word and the sweetness an apple one, so the entire thing was akin to a focus of apple bourbon mint julep, served in a musty wood cup as a substitute of a pewter one. The end ran mild, with wooden and spice.
The Value
Since I discussed Pact No. 1, eight years in the past this model went for $90. That’s now $120.
