Foursquare Port Cask Finish

The Bottle: Very Foursquare. A no-nonsense kind of label that has a wealth of information about the liquid in the bottle. Age, wood types, blend number, bottling date...all fantastic stuff. If a scientist were running a distillery, this is the kind of label that you would expect. Also, a screw top! And I say that as a positive! A rare and welcome change. In the Glass: Bronze. I think that this stuff has gone through very minimal filtration, as there is some haze in the glass and I can see some sediment in the bottle. Minimal filtration is good. Minimal filtration translates to maximized flavor. On the Nose: Delicate, fruit sweetness. There's no brown sugar jackhammer or molasses whip-crack. This has a very pleasant sweetness to it with plethora of tropical fruits as the backbone. No added sugar to this, so what they distilled and aged is what you smell. This is far more subtle than most rums that I come across. Taste: How do I put this the right way... So it's not overly sweet, and a lot of the nose carries over into the flavor. But as an experience, it tastes like what I want a visit to the islands to feel like. Stay with me here, but it tastes like all of things that you want out of a relaxing stay on a tropical beach. A fantastic blend of tropical fruit and well-integrated oak that finishes off with coconut and banana. Ever had banana chips? This has that same kind of finish to it. This is a great rum. Foursquare is well known for their craft approach to their distilled spirits and it really comes across here. Great fruit and oak notes with just the right amount of sweetness. This is not overly processed, sanitized, sweetened or tricked-out. This is what a well-crafted spirit can, and should, taste like. I am highly looking forward to a bottle of the Criterion...

I picked up Foursquare Distillery Port Cask Finish in the Barbados airport after a whirlwind adventure with a close friend of mine. Admittedly, I bought this bottle on the label alone, since it sounded interesting to a whisky-biased person like myself. Aged in Bourbon barrels for 3 years and Port barrels for 6 years, this batch was bottled in June 2014. My initial nosing impression is "Helllllloooooo port!" With a couple of flashes of roasted coffee and tobacco, this aroma makes way to orange marmalade, settling to spiced raisins.  This rum is very smooth and rich. Cola, cinnamon, nutmeg, light pepper and oak give you a big hug as it coats the tongue. When I drink this, its nuanced tropical fruit sweetness transports me back to the island. I can taste memory flashbacks of enjoying fresh coconuts and bananas on the beach. If I close my eyes, I can hear gentle waves caressing the shore. This has a dry, tannic finish that is actually quite enjoyable.  This is a great sipping rum that I wouldn't dare to mix. I highly recommend this to whisky drinkers who don't mind a sweet flavour profile in their spirits.  8.75/10

The nose is standardly rummy without being sweet. The palate has a lot of fruit and minerals up.front with some light caramel to it. There are some spices, which do include cinnamon, but are not terribly harsh. Some Earth and smoke flavors are present, but they are subdued. The whole thing is balanced enough, but it's also quite bland. It's quite weak, which is pretty disappointing. There is a bit of a bitter note, which balances the sweetness but is too monotone. There's a little coffee tartness that balances with some chocolate and the wood well, but the alcohol still shows. There's something vanilla and the mineral flavor brings in something generically fruity, but it's not terribly exciting. A hint of butterscotch makes it in. It's just not punchy enough to be really enjoyable. It's balanced enough, but despite being a great mixer, it isn't an exciting sipper. The flavor is quite solid, but just way too subdued.

Fantastic. I love this offering, and the notes added by the port cask finish really transform an already top quality rum into an experience. Incredibly smooth. Sweet and rich, but Foursquare doesn't add sugar. One can taste the ripe, deep fruit flavors without anything seeming raisiny.

A very excellent Rum, Sweet, smooth and one of the best I’ve ever tasted. My favorite rum seems to be whatever four square rum I’m enjoying at the time. Simply wonder neat.

Delicious. Sweet (but not sugary like Zacapa, Zaya, Diplomatico...) and rich, with a woody finish.