Background: another one of those reviews with short titles. Really, Foursquare OBs are the only rums of which age I don’t bother to indicate in the title of my reviews. If you are reading this I take it for granted you know all the details of the Patrimonio. This is a sample I procured from my favourite local bar.

Nose: takes time to open up; typical Foursquare notes of wood, sugar syrup, and nail polish remover, this time moderated by lots of dark fruits; dried prunes; preserved plums; raisin bread; fatt gou, a Chinese palm sugar cake; boiling brown sugar; some savoury brine as the dominant base note; the brine mixes well with the dark and sweet notes to evoke the impression of salted maltose syrup; with time, the brine morphs into the savoury-sweet aroma of a burnt meat pie.

Palate: treacle; maple syrup on pancakes; fatt gou; red fruits, like in a cognac; rum soaked raisins; chocolate and liquorice; blackforest cake; papayas, from ripe to green.

Finish: medium-long; menthol; mocha with a good dose of baking spices; an amalgamation of liquorice, chocolate and green plants; the aftertaste is redolent with milk chocolate; the dark fruits from the sherry comes back in time before the aftertaste fades.

Conclusion: a sherried Foursquare, what’s not to love? It is more fruity than what I would expect a Foursquare to be, and it seems the sherry influence has made the rum more chocolatey and dessert-y. I do miss the darker and dirtier notes of Plenipotenziario, but there is no denying this is the better rum.

Score (assuming a normal distribution with mean 50): 84/100

Image Courtesy of u/zoorado. 

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