Foursquare 2006 Redoutable 14-Year

I'm an admitted Foursquare aficionado and more than that a fan of their fortified wine casks releases which have all been spectacular. To say I was looking forward to this one is an understatement.
Sweet cherries, oak, red wine, blackberries, plums(all the dark fruits!).
Smokey wood, lemon...WOW! Spectacular! At 61% you would think that it would be hot but is very drinkable. Made for me.

Udgivet i September 2020.

Den smager godt, men den er også stærk og så brænder den lidt til sidst.

I would give this a 9.5 if I could. Truly a great rum

Tasted May 5, 2021 at Laka Lono. Tasted solo and then made into a Daiquiri
Notes:
A fine Barbados rum (smiley face)
Aroma: pancake syrup
This is a mouth-drying rum
61%, yikes
I like! I like it!!

This is very good rum, maybe just a bit too strong for me, but I love the smell of vanilla, raisin and wood smoke. I absolutely understand its amazing rum just maybe not for my taste.

Tasted at Laka Lono. Unusual aroma in the lack thereof- a mild burgundy perhaps. The Flavor explosion is the treat here: heavy notes of chocolate, coconut, wine-like raisins, vanilla, dates. Reconstituted trail mix in a cognac barrel. Love it!

Foursquare Exceptional Cask Series - one powerhouse after the next.
The numbers: 14 year old, Bourbon and Madeira Cask, 61% (!), no sugar, no colouring, unfiltered.

Dark copper colour
Nose: Fruit notes dominate, the Madeira shines, like the Port and Zinfandel brothers. Raisins, baked apples and subtle toffee notes with some understated wood.
Mouth: it takes a moment and then the aromas explode. Again the fruit dominate unless you have something sweet with it, which lets the woody notes take over. The alcohol kick is big but not as big as expected. A drop of water is good, but not necessary.
Throat: That's were the 61% make themselves felt, a pronounced burn with a medium - long finish.

Summary: Big, pure, superb craftsmanship.
I give it 9, not 10, because the alcohol hit is massive. 44-48% is my comfort zone, but what a rum!

i haven't experienced many cask strenght rums and this one blew me away. it has to breath to be enjoyed at it's best, personally i enjoy things like centenario 30 and unhiq xo more, the smell and taste are both great and the finish is wonderfully long but weirdly enough the alcohol is just a bit much for me to give it a perfect 10.

My expectations of this Foursquare product is high given that Rumratings has it rated higher than FS2008. Let’s see…

The nose is so nice, a sweetness achieved from expert distillation rather than added sugar, that’s for sure. Ohhhh, soooo goooood. Like my mouth is having an orgasm right now (lol) the flavours are unbelievable with long finish. Just like that Redoutable has dethroned FS2008 in my books as the best rum I have ever tasted.

Defnitely need to acquire a few more of those.

This rum is tropically aged Pot and Column blend aged for 14 year in ex-bourbon and ex-Madeira casks. Per Richard Seele’s directives it contains no additives whatsoever…blah, blah, blah. I am pretty sure y’all know about Foursquare and what they do.

After resting for 15 minutes, taking a whiff from the Glencairn brings a rich fruitiness, though not of the Jamaican sort, nor of the Cuban variety for that matter. I get an almost overwhelming nostril tingling wave of chocolate cherry bonbons followed by fresh red apple slices, and mangoes. Behind that is acetone along with a very faint hint of coconut. It’s fruity but hard to put into specifics.

The palate on the other hand truly is a tale of two stories: with and without dilution.

Straight I get a powerful classic rum note front and center followed by “chewing on a cigar” accompanied by sugar in the raw. Encompassing those notes is deep, overpowering oak. In the background I get allspice, cracked black pepper, and black cardamom pods (the black smoky kind you find in homemade Indian dishes)

But that is only the tip of the iceberg as I came to find out, and not the droids I was looking for. You see the more water I add, the richer and more vibrant the palate becomes. It’s almost like in its “pure” form the rum is masking its true personality. With the copious addition of water, tropical fruits starting bursting through the cracks in the facade. With water I get deep rich maple syrup with Guava paste like that found in Cuban pastelitos and rich juicy pineapple like if you just bit into a perfectly ripe oversized chunk. It’s incredibly rich and you would never know if you didn’t drown this rum in water first.

The finish is endless on this rum and remains the same with or without water. The finish starts with deep oak, cigar tobacco, and chocolate cherry bonbons. Then it morphs into mineral spirits and menthol in the throat. After setting the glass down for a while I get unmistakeable Guava that lingers for days.

This is an odd rum, which is a strange thing to say about a Bajan I feel. Taken straight it has some fascinating notes (black cardamom?) but it is way too overwhelmingly dominated by oak. So much so that I compare it to sucking on a charred barrel board that once held rum.

However, add copious amounts of water to this rum and watch it absolutely explode into magnificence in a very unexpected way. It goes from way over oaked to tropical fruit packed bombshell in short order. The extent of the transformation almost difficult to comprehend. Drink this rum straight and you are truly missing out. Straight it’s nothing to write home about; with water this does indeed become an all time Bajan favorite

Short Description: a tropical fruit bomb deftly concealed within oak extract. Just add water! (exclaimed in a 80s TV ad voice)

Nose: (very fruity), chocolate cherry bonbons (strong), fresh apple slices, mango, acetone, very faint coconut (with water, chocolate note becomes very present along with long aged scotch)

Palate: powerful classic rum note, tobacco (strong), sugar in the raw, oak (strong), allspice, cracked black pepper, black cardamom pods,
(With water much, much brighter), maple syrup, guava (strong), pineapple

Finish: long, deep oak, cigar tobacco, chocolate cherry bonbons, mineral spirits, menthol in the throat, long after guava

ABV 61%

Country of Origin: Barbados

Distillery: Foursquare

Final Rating: (diluted) *9*, (straight) *7*