Let’s bring Foursquare week to an end with one last store pick (see here for Wednesday’s release for the Whisky Exchange, and here for Monday’s release for the LCBO). This was an American release and the first of at least two releases for Total Wine in the US. I’m not sure how widespread the release was: I didn’t see it in my local Total Wine (which is not to say that I was looking for it). I’m also not sure what the cask makeup of this release was. If you know, please write in below. Okay, let’s get right to it.

Foursquare 12, Master Series 1 (62%; for Total Wine; from a bottle split)

Nose: Molasses and caramel off the top with dried orange peel coming up from below; some leafy notes as well. Sweeter as it sits with some red fruit (cherry) emerging as well. With time the toffee emerges strongly here as well. A few drops of water soften it up further, bringing out more of the toffee and pushing the caramel back; the leafy notes are gone too now as some oak emerges.

Palate: Comes in sweet with the caramel joined by quite a lot of toffee. Comes in very hot as well, unsurprisingly; decent texture. Some bitter oak extract emerges after a bit. More dried orange peel here with time and it also becomes more approachable; still, this needs water. Ah yes, even better with water: the bitter oak gets pushed back and there’s some creme brulee now and some apricot to go with the orange peel.

Finish: Long. The caramel is the top note here, getting darker as it goes. Sweeter notes join the bitter caramel with time. As on the palate with water, for the most part; some caramelized plantain shows up here.

Comments: My favourite of the three. I will say that the sherry influence—though not obtrusive—seems to have taken this closer to heavily sherried malt whisky territory. It’s very obviously rum, of course, but there are crossovers with better (and much older) Glendronachs and other malts of that ilk that doubtless make me like this more.

Rating: 88 points.