Foursquare 2006 Redoutable 14-Year

Udgivet i September 2020.

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

I’m a huge fan of Foursquare and always look forward to their new releases and Redoubtable is no different.

On the nose you get both sweetness and spice with vanilla being the strongest note. However the first taste the spice and oak come through very strong with the sweetness of the Madeira coming through along with chocolate. The finish isn’t as strong as I anticipated with the ABV. Another great release!

Updating my ratings tonight after sampling some older Foursquare. Nobiliary, 2008, Detente and Redoutable, in reverse order. This one stays the same. Right off the bat this 14 year old full cask strength let’s you know it. Without any breathing this great rum packs a punch with lots of lingering flavors. In comparison Detente is much easier to drink. This one is much more special, a small cube of ice mellows it out to a superb taste. I’m not sure why Florida is lagging so far behind in new issues, have had to order the past offerings out of state.

I love Foursquare products for many reasons: They're delicious. They don’t use additives. They embody the true essence of rum distillation.

Redoubtable 14 year Madeira cask is an amazing expression in Foursquare’s lineup. It features ex bourbon and ex Madeira cask aging and a rich golden color.

On the nose, the high ABV is immediately noticeable, so letting this rum rest a bit is wise. After it settles, the sweetness of the Madeira mixed with the honey and molasses notes make me want to dive in and drink it. There’s a hint of pepper and some spice as well.

On the palate, the fruity and spice combine with sweetness and a strong burn that I enjoy. Definite honey and molasses notes linger as well as the pepper.

The finish is relatively short for a rum this strong. Most notable is the honey a cotton candy flavor that lingers in your nose.

Of the Foursquare products, this is in my top two, challenging Empery for top honors.

You can’t go wrong with this bottle.

N - honey, spices, clove, fragrant, cinnamon,
P- warm, light green banana, spices, honey, dry, light oak
F - banana chips, perfect warmth keeping the spices and flavor going

In overall FS deliver high standard and this is also one of them. I think it is a bit “sweet” compared to other FS and it doesn’t feel dry compared to other FS i have tasted. Quite pleasant thinking of high ABV 61. Nose i sense black tea, Orange and salty caramel. I taste sour notes, dried fruit, some pepper spices. One of the more interesting from the ECS series i think.

Aroma is wooden and fruity - need some time to breath. Taste is nicely sweet (natural only) with tropical fruits and wood. After comes the burning and taste become more dry. Aftertaste is long and nice. The taste is similar to FQ 2008 but bit more burning. Another gem from FQ Exceptional Cask Serie 🤩 9.5 points.

Dnes jsem měl možnost ochutnat tento rum z palírny Foursquare. Při jeho síle 61% je dobré jej nechat dosti dlouho vyvětrat ve skleničce. Pak se rozvinou krásné vůně, ve kterých cítím něco jako višně v čokoládě, dřevo sudu a něco k tomu. V chuti je to velice podobné a vzhledem k síle 61% jsem očekával vetší lihovost, která se však nekoná. Rum je takový uhlazený a svoji sílu nedává moc znát. Chuť višní v čokoládě tam cítím pořád v takové jakoby komplexní chuti. Rozhodně se zařadil po bok mojí oblíbené 2008 a jejich přímé porovnání budu muset v budoucnu provést. Jednoduše jsou to výborné rumy.

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*

I love this one. It was my favourite at the distillery and my only regret is that I didn’t but two.