Foursquare 2005 12-Year

A nice touch of heat on the backend. Ultra ultra smooth. Very well balanced.

Cask strength at 59%, and single barrel with no added sugar. Let it breethe for 5 minutes, and zip...heaven appears

Her er en rom på 59% hvilket man mærker. Men med en fantastisk fylde

Richard Seale is known for producing the best Barbados rum in the world, this is why. Complex, peppery, brine? caramel nose. High ABV oaky, bourbon barrel aged with some chocolate, fruity flavors, dry but exceptionally smooth for the high ABV. No added sugar, this is a huge factor for where rum standards are headed. Now I also enjoy El Dorado 12, albeit with added sugar, but I still love it. I also love this and respect what Richard Seale is doing, Barbados is supposed the birthplace of rum and I generally only drink certain islands’ rum, Jamaican, Barbados, Demerara and Cuba/Puerto Rico. The history of rum is fascinating to me as a native of Florida, my heart belongs to the Caribbean and West Indies. This gets a 10 for many reasons but most of all the strength, rum is supposed to be strong and complex, I give high marks for pot still, and pot still is the true origin of rum. This is a combo of pot and column still, delightful!

Most see 2005 > 2004 but not me. They're pretty close but I'd give the 2004 the nod. The 2005 is still better than most rums on the market.

Botella Standard de Foursquare, para tales rones uno desearía una botella mas exclusiva. Lindo color del ron.
En nariz la madera se hace presente, algo de especias, vainilla, coco, piña y claro, etanol.
En boca exactamente lo mismo...increiblemente suave para tal volumen alcohólico. Me gusta mucho aunque su hermano mayor del 2004 es mas rico.

This 2005 is very similar to the 2004 that was also aged in bourbon casks and the nose is almost impossible to tell apart since I still have a bottle of the 2004 in my collection. The first sip is a doozy because of being 59% ABV but after the initial shock you are left with a very complex rum with hints of dried fruit and vanilla coming through with the oak but the natural sweetness balances everything out. I think this rum benefits for giving it a few minutes to breathe in the glass if you're not too anxious to sip it. Another solid rum from Foursquare!

Cask strength rum with peppery oak notes. Dry finish. A strong sipper at 60% abv.

By now, one must know that Foursquare never disappoints. Still, one can only be enamoured by the beautiful flavour profiles in rums such as the 2005. The sixth one in the Exceptional Cask Selection series, the 2005 is surely imposing at 59%.
It pours a dark golden colour with many thin and long legs, showing its low viscosity (no sugar or glycerol adulterants) and cask strength. Nosing the rum gives the first clear background notes that remain a constant throughout: oak, vanilla and butter biscuits. These show more complexity with the addition of a bit of mineral water - raisins, prunes and cinnamon seem to evolve from the vanilla/biscuit notes. Eventually some pleasant grassy aldehydic notes are also noticeable.
Tasting it at cask strength is not harsh at all. Woody, biscuity flavours with only a slight burn, evolving in mouth. I do find it (even!) more enjoyable with the addition of some mineral water, where the raisins and dried fruits come back into the flavour profile, with some hazelnuts and now almost imperceptible alcoholic notes. This medium-bodied rum has a very long and pleasant finish, in the same line, and the retrohale was sweeter (sugarcane, darker honeys).
At 60€ I can only feel fortunate to have found this rum. Worth every penny. The concept behind the rum is executed to perfection. As usual with Richard Seale, it's furthermore comforting to know that it has no additives, no added sugar, just real rum.

...to me the 2004 is a bit better yet the aroma explosion is quite the same and still very tasty.

The nose is a bit alcoholic, but does not reject the craving.

I like the complexity behind those sugarfree rums from the Foursquare Destillery

Solid 9.0