Yahoo Lifestyle The Latest Edition of the Highly Collectible Blood Oath Bourbon Series Was Finished in Tequila Barrels
Another month, another limited-edition and highly collectible bourbon hitting liquor store shelves. This one is the latest edition in the Blood Oath series from Lux Row Distillers, which varies every year as far as makeup of the blend and secondary maturation. The 11th edition, or pact as the brand calls it, was finished in añejo tequila barrels to give it an earthy, agave-forward twist to the palate—a first for this whiskey-collector favorite.
Lux Row master distiller and master blender John Rempe created Blood Oath in 2015, sourcing bourbon from various distilleries and often giving the whiskey an interesting secondary maturation (the first release was a high-rye bourbon that was simple in comparison to many future expressions). Lux Row is part of the Luxco company, which merged with Indiana’s MGP Ingredients in 2021. MGP announced last fall that it was scaling back production due to the softening whiskey market, but it is still putting out releases under its in-house Ross & Squibb division and is still the source of whiskey for many other brands.
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Blood Oath Pact 11 is a blend of three different whiskeys: 14-year-old bourbon with a rye mashbill, 10-year-old wheated bourbon, and 7-year-old rye mashbill bourbon that was finished in barrels previously used to age añejo tequila. The blend was bottled at 98.6 proof, or 49.3 percent ABV. Rempe doesn’t reveal the source of the bourbons or the tequila barrels, but given the brands under the Lux Row and Ross & Squibb names there are certainly plenty to choose from. “By utilizing the añejo barrels for this year’s Pact 11, we brought our bourbon full circle while picking up all of the best attributes and flavor notes along the way,” said Rempe in a statement.
We did not get to try the new whiskey yet, but Rempe says it’s one that will appeal to both tequila and bourbon fans, and his tasting notes sound pretty intriguing. “[It] begins with the warmth of vanilla and black pepper, sweetly infused with spice and oak,” he said. “From there, notes of cherry and citrus subtly emerge, guiding towards a velvety finish highlighted by black cherry and decadent dark chocolate.”
As usual, the new Blood Oath comes in a fire-branded wooden display box. 51,000 bottles are being released, 1,400 of which will be used for the next Trilogy edition that will include Pacts 10, 11, and 12. Pact 11 doesn’t come out until April 26 when it will be available to purchase in person at Lux Row Distillers in Bardstown, Kentucky, starting at 9:30 a.m. for $130 per bottle (limit one per customer). After that, it will start to ship out to retailers around the country. If you are looking to complete your collection or catch up on past releases, you can find them for sale now at websites like Flaviar.
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