Foursquare, 15-Year-Old, Berry Bros. & Rudd Private Cask Selection, Rum, Barbados (55%)

To work with Richard and Gayle Seale and their team to create this delicious bottling of Foursquare was a distinct honour. Their distillery consistently produces rums that are amongst the truest yardsticks for others to aspire to. This bottling was born out of a conversation in 2020, just before the tumult of a global pandemic cast its dark shadow. Over the following four years, various casks have been earmarked, slumbered, developed, been sampled, and, after much tasting, eventually accepted for this Master Distiller’s personal and deviously secretive assemblage.

The nose is assertive, with maraschino cherry, macerated apricots, sweet spice and the gleefully powdery sweetness of a freshly opened packet of marshmallows. Oak emerges, particularly on the palate, and then is quashed by a gooey wave of sticky molasses. Exquisite touches of plum and pipe tobacco flit around a finish that surprises with bittersweet apple and orange oil, only to then comfortingly reassure with the return of that treacly tide.

Rob Whitehead, Spirits Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd