Every year, Lux Row Distillers Master Distiller John Rempe seals a new pact with bourbon drinkers — a solemn promise of craftsmanship, complexity, and a secret recipe he’ll never reveal. Pact 12 is his most ambitious chapter yet. For the first time in the Blood Oath series, Rempe turns to not one but two Italian wine casks, layering the dark, brooding depth of Montepulciano with the sun-drenched savory elegance of Sangiovese. The result is a Kentucky straight bourbon that speaks with an Italian accent.

Pact 12 brings together three carefully selected ryed bourbons: a 9-year, a 12-year, and a 7-year — the last of which undergoes a rare sequential double-finish, resting first in Montepulciano casks from Italy’s Abruzzo region, then transferred to Sangiovese casks from Tuscany. This isn’t blending for the sake of novelty. It’s precision layering — each cask contributing its own character at a different stage, building depth that unfolds from the first sniff to the last sip.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Ripe red fruit, dried herbs, and a whisper of sun-kissed tomato leaves — lifted and aromatic, with Sangiovese’s signature savory elegance leading the way.

Palate: Stone fruit and caramel arrive first, soft and inviting, balanced by a grounding note of vanilla. The mid-palate deepens into cocoa, supple leather, and toasted oak — the Montepulciano influence showing its hand.

Finish: Long and satisfying, with warm baking spice and a final flourish of ripe black cherry that lingers well past the last sip.

The origin of the bourbons? That stays between Rempe and the barrel. That’s the pact.