Blood Oath Pact No. 2 Bourbon Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B

Luxco released the second installment of its premium Blood Oath brand six months ago, but there are still bottles of the product available. Like Pact No. 1, this second Blood Oath is a blend of bourbon stocks: an 11 year old, standard rye mashbill bourbon, an 11 year old wheated mashbill bourbon, and a 7 year old, rye mash bourbon finished in Port barrels. The mix was bottled at 98.6 proof (49.3% ABV) in a large, but limited release of over 22,000 bottles.

The Bourbon
In the glass, Blood Oath 2 has the look of brightly polished, brand new copper. The whiskey leaves a thick coat on the glass, one that is quite reluctant to drop its legs.

The scent of this one is musty, most likely from the Port pipes, with spiced notes of cloves, all spice and licorice, as well as hints of dried fruit. The nose certainly picked up more from the Port cask than most bourbons finished so, and this suggests that the that 7 year old makes up most of the blend.

The palate is buttery, almost nougatish in fact, but occupying center stage is a dry, musty current of oak with an accompanying dash of pepper. There is a fruity element there, modest notes of golden raisins and apples sitting in the background. The finish goes down plain, but not clear, leaving a warm, tingling afterglow.

I’m a big fan of what a Port finish can do, but in this case I think it overpowers rather than supplements the bourbon.

The Price
The official price is $100, and that is what a sampling of online retailers reveals it generally goes for. Some, however, have it slightly discounted down to $90.