The Blood Oaths maintain coming, and 9 years in, the operation from Lux Row Distillers returns to that previous standby Oloroso sherry casks so as to add a bit salt and pepper to the expertise. As with different Blood Oath bottlings, it is a mix of bourbons, together with a 16-year ryed bourbon, a 12-year ryed bourbon, and at last a 7-year ryed bourbon that’s completed in these Oloroso sherry casks.
The outcomes are wholly memorable, if not earth-shaking in uniqueness. Expectations are readily met because the whiskey’s aromas emerge from the glass: Brisk vanilla, cocoa powder, and a light-weight dusting of wooden present instantaneous engagement, with gentle notes of contemporary herbs and a touch of mint including a sprinkle of nuance that enhances the run-up nicely. On the palate, a soothing, just-right sweetness evokes vanilla pudding, caramel, and a observe of toasted coconut to spherical issues out. Hints of tea leaf and a contact of bergamot arrive fairly late within the recreation, giving the end a soothing, rounded high quality. Bottled on the traditional 49.3% abv, it hits nothing however excessive notes from begin to end and grips the palate at simply the best degree of warmth.
If I’ve any grievance about Blood Oath 9 it’s that the sherry affect isn’t readily obvious. Whereas I’m certain the ending has had some delicate affect right here and there, it’s misplaced amidst the gathering of well-crafted, older bourbon inventory that’s doing the heavy lifting. I labored by a few glasses over 90 minutes and whereas that orangey bergamot observe does slowly develop in prominence, pegging it to any sherry involvement could also be a stretch.
That mentioned, I don’t actually care. That is top-shelf stuff, as is usually the case with Blood Oath, and you need to drink all of it the identical.
98.6 proof. 51,000 bottles produced.
A / $130 / bloodoathbourbon.com
Blood Oath Bourbon Whiskey Pact 9 2023
$130
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