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. Continue reading →

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. Continue reading →

Alright, by popular demand—by which I mean that one person put in a request—let’s do a week of rum reviews. It’s been a year and a half since my last rum review and two and a half since my last review of a rum from the great Barbados distillery, Foursquare. Well, all of this week’s reviews will be of rums from Foursquare. Once upon a time, not so very many years ago, Foursquare was a very good value proposition but now prices for most of their releases have crept up quite a bit and the releases have become harder and harder to find—at least in Minnesota.

First up, I have for you a 12 yo released for the LCBO in Canada (the other reviews this week will also be of store picks). It’s a mix of rum matured in ex-bourbon and sherry casks (the last one I reviewed was from ex-bourbon and madeira). Let’s get right to it. Continue reading →

To close out Rum Week here is another Foursquare (see here for the previous). I have to admit I am not really on top of Foursquare’s special releases. I know that in addition to the vintage releases they put out some others with names that probably make the marketing braintrust at Dalmore gnash their teeth in envy. This one here is one of those non-vintage releases from 2020. It’s made from a blend of pot still and column still distilled rum. All of it is 14 years old, apparently, but some was aged entirely in ex-madeira casks and some in ex-bourbon casks. Was it half and half? I’m not sure. Anyway, this might be my first wine-bothered rum. I hope I enjoy it more than I do most wine-bothered whiskies.

Foursquare Redoubtable (61%; ex-bourbon and madeira casks; from a bottle split)

Nose: Rich with a mix of rummy and winey notes. As it sits the wine seems to trump the rum and there’s more leather and spicy wood. Begins to soften as it sits and there’s toffee and caramel and the whole gets sweeter. Rummier with water; the caramel darkens a bit, the toffee expands and there’s a bit of maple syrup too. A bit more water and it gets a bit dusty but also develops some orange peel. Continue reading →

It’s been a while since my last review of a rum; a year in fact (this Worthy Park). And it’s been even longer since my last review of a rum from Foursquare, the Barbados distillery. That was of the 11 yo release of the 2004 vintage, a bottle I liked a lot—enough in fact to buy several more of after that first encounter. Today I have for you a review of the release of the 2005 vintage. It’ll be the first of three rum reviews this week. Like the 2004 it was bottled at 59% abv and made without any addition of sugar or other additives. And it’s also a blend of pot still and column distilled rums and matured in ex-bourbon casks. It is, however, a year older. Will that make for a big difference in the profile? Let’s see.

Foursquare 12, 2005 (59%; from a bottle split)

Nose: Comes in sweet with caramel and molasses; just a hint of aniseed in the back. Some toffee too on the second sniff and the aniseed expands and picks up some herbal backing (sage). Gets sweeter as it sits (ripe plantain). Brighter with a few drops of water and there’s a bit of milk chocolate now along with an almost smoky note. Continue reading →

Speaking of things I have been buying but not reviewing, here is a rum. I’ve not reviewed very many rums and most of those that I have have been insane Hampdens from Jamaica. This is a rum from Barbados. Foursquare—like Hampden–is a working distillery but unlike it, has an official presence in the US. A number of rums from the distillery have been released here and they’ve been fairly  priced. This 11 yo from 2004 is still available and can be found in the $60 range. That may seem like a very high price to those who’re accustomed to thinking of rum as a rough spirit to be mixed with Coke but this is a good sipping rum, and the price is very good compared to a lot of single malt whisky. The Springbank 12 CS, for example, goes for $80. This rum is, I believe, a blend of pot and column still distilled rums and like all of Foursquare’s rums is made without the addition of sugar or any other sweeteners prior to bottling. It’s one I really enjoy and it’s about time I posted a review.  Continue reading →