Blood Oath Pact 5

American WhiskeyReviewsBourbonBlendedLux RowBlood Oath

Mar 4

Blood Oath Pact 5 is the first Pact I remember hearing about when my whiskey journey really took off. To be honest, the reviews were mixed at best, and I’m talking anecdotal reviews not formal ones. Maybe I’m making this up, but I feel like rum cask finishing gets more mixed reviews than others. Just a feeling I get.

This is also where Lux Row starts getting, shall we say, a little more flowery with its descriptions. Three age-stated bourbons make up this blend: the first is a “13-year mahogany bourbon”, whatever the hell that means. The second is an 11-year-old wheated bourbon, and the last is an 8-year-old ryed bourbon finished in ex-dark Caribbean rum casks for another 6 months. No word on what rum producer the casks came from.

This was expectedly fruity, leaning more citrus than tropical. I’m not sure how much the rum really adds, though. Comparing apples and oranges, rum adds considerable sweetness and body to Angel’s Envy rye, affecting multiple sensory pathways. Here, there’s added sweetness that could just as well be a distillery profile rather than a full-on finishing. It’s fine, but can’t stand up to its earlier brethren.

Blood Oath Pact 5: 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 5 Price: $100

Official Website

Blood Oath Pact 5 Review: Tasting Notes

Eye: Orange amber. Very thin rims and quick, syrupy legs.

Nose: Fruity - Nerds candies and SweetTarts. The rums adds fruit but is by no means dominant. Orange zest.

Palate: Fruity and oaky, spicy, too. The rum is stronger here but so its the oak, which comes out astringent verging on woody. Mouthfeel is light-to-medium, spicy on the tip of my tongue, but warming the rest of my palate.

Finish: Short-to-medium, orange zest-forward, some caramel and fruit lingering.

Overall: Fine, but not as good as the previous Pacts. A good finished bourbon but nothing outstanding or that unique.

Final Rating: 6.2

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)