Part of Foursquare’s “Exceptional Cask” Series, Foursquare Rum Distillery 2005 appears to be a rather simple bruiser of a Barbados rum on first glance. Coming in at a hearty 59%, this rum was distilled in 2005 from both Pot and Column stills. It was then aged for 12 years in ex-Bourbon casks stored in Barbados heat, before finally being released in October 2017. While it may appear to be a relatively simple rum, the truth of the matter is that this bottle, like many in the “Exceptional Cask” series is some of the most impressive rum you’ll ever taste. As you’ll see below, sometimes there’s no substitute for doing the simple things exceptionally well.
Foursquare Rum Distillery 2005
- Vintage: 2005
- Country of Origin: Barbados
- Age: 12 years
- Cask: Ex-Bourbon Casks
- Distillation: Blend of Pot and Column
- Proof: 118 (59% A.B.V.)
Sight: Tawny.
Smell: The nose is instantly complex with bursts of black pepper, white pepper, baking spice, and caramelized grilling tropical fruits. They open up with a dried date and white oak note laced with caramel sauce. A vanilla bean aromatic explodes like someone dropped a full tablespoon of vanilla paste into the rum. Golden raisins, butterscotch, vanilla ice cream, papaya, and spicy oak all show up. As the rum sits, the nose just continues to evolve and expand all it’s aroma.
Sip: Instant flavor explosion with spice and caramel mixed with fermenting roasted tropical fruit. Big bursts of vanilla, spice, oak, and just short of ripe pineapple come together. There’s an amazing sweetness that underpins it. The richness is luscious, and it continues pull in nuttiness, preserved tropical fruits, and ginger-nutmeg notes. Milk chocolate rounds things out, and it drinks nowhere near the 59% A.B.V. it posesses.
Savor: The finish is loaded with spices, caramel, light rum funk, and a beautiful subtle dried caramel – vanilla. The finish emphasized the chocolate notes, and really shows off the cask influence from the bourbon. The finish lingers for what seems like an eternity (in a very lovely way).
Foursquare Rum Distillery 2005 is nothing short of completely exceptional (no pun intended). The flavors are complex, layered, and balanced. The cask doesn’t overwhelm the rum, and instead everything is enhanced – balancing spice and funk with tropical fruit and vanilla. The slightly nuttiness and milk chocolate notes combine with the tropical spice and pepper to make something alluring and sultry. This rum shows a deft hand, and you should savor its depth as you enjoy it.
In Cocktails
You’re almost certainly not planning on turning this bottle into cocktails, but here we are. So if you’re curious what it’s like in a Daiquiri, here’s the answer. While it’s beautifully balanced and displays the same exemplary vanilla, spice, chocolate, fruitiness, and a creamy butterscotch. The spice, ginger, nutmeg, and funk gets in there, punching the lime around, which fights back makings this green tea, matcha note. It’s an incredibly complex and overwhelming drink, that is somehow more aggressive with the simple and lime than by itself. So in summary, if you want to make a rum enthusiast cry, make drinks out of this.
In Review – Foursquare Rum 2005
Foursquare Rum Distillery 2005 is an unbelievably deep rum. It’s complex, well balanced, and more than the face values of bourbon casks and high proof. It explodes with flavors, shows the influence of both the rum and the cask in spice, vanilla, tropical fruit, funk, and so, so much more. That said, you’d be mad to turn this into drink. Can it work, sure. But why would you do it? It doesn’t make a better drink than a mid level rum like Doorly’s X.O. (remember you can combine rums to make more complex flavor profiles in cocktails – like adding Plantation’s Barbados Rum to Doorly’s), but it is a way better sipper. Buy this rum if you’re into rum neat or want to explore that area of spirits and enjoy every last delicate, intricate sip.
