Here’s another saved sample from a bottle split. This is not a whisky but a rum. And it’s a partner to the last rum I reviewed. That one was the third of three store bottlings of Foursquare I reviewed in February, the first of the so-called Master Series releases for Total Wine, the major American booze chain (the other two were bottled for the LCBO in Canada and the Whisky Exchange in the UK). The first Master Series release was a blend of three 12yo rums aged in bourbon and sherry casks. So was the second, but the Total Wine pre-arrival page listed a little more information for this one: it was put together from one rum matured full-term in ex-bourbon barrels, one double matured rum that spent three years in ex-bourbon barrels and nine in ex-oloroso casks, and one that spent 10 years in ex-bourbon barrels and two in ex-oloroso casks. How many total casks there were or what the ratio of cask types was, I do not know. I do know that I liked the first one a lot. My notes below may make it seem like I tasted them alongside, but in fact, they were recorded many months apart—I merely referred to the first set for comparison while writing the second. Anyway, let’s get to it.

Foursquare 12, Master Series 2 (62%; for Total Wine; from a bottle split)

Nose: Lots of caramel off the top of this one as well—not quite as much molasses as in the other. Quite a lot of ripe banana too along with some cloves. As it sits there’s some cold over-brewed black tea and hints of sage and mint. A few drops of water emphasize the herbs and spice.

Palate: Sweet arrival here as well with some oak in the mix. Big bite at full strength as expected but not unapproachable; full texture. Spicier with each sip and there’s a little more tannic grip. Sweeter with more time, with some maple syrup coming through. More herbal and spicy with water here as well.

Finish: Long. The oak and spice expand here. Just a hint of sherry separation at first but then it comes together nicely. As on the nose and palate with water.

Comments: Despite the fact that two of the three barrels that went into this had significant sherry interaction, there isn’t a huge amount of obvious sherry character to this. Indeed, it reminds me more of single barrels of Knob Creek bourbon (I’m thinking particularly of the one I picked for my local group some years ago). But it’s obviously a rum through and through, and a wonderfully balanced one at that, even as it becomes spicier with water.

Rating: 88 points.