The next bottle from Swell de Spirits at Hi Stranger SG comes from a distillery that needs little introduction. Hailing from what is widely regarded as the birthplace of Caribbean rum, Barbados, Foursquare is perhaps the island’s foremost rum distillery headed by the fourth generation of the Seale family, Richard and Gayle, both of whom are some of the most passionate and generous folks in the rum world. While the distillery itself is “fairly young”, founded only in 1996, the Seale family’s links to the rum trade can be traced back to 1896 when Reginald Leon Seale established his own merchant company, R. L. Seale & Co. Limited, which involved bottling and blending rums. This part of its history continues to live through its very aptly named R. L. Seale’s Finest Barbados Rum and its iconic black bottling.
In the present day, Richard presides over a state-of-the-art distillery, on the grounds of the historic Foursquare plantation and sugar mill in St Philip Parish. This modern distillery boasts a copper double retort pot still and a twin column still, the latter functioning under vacuum pressure. The distillates from the two stills are then blended prior to maturation, resulting in the creation of what is known as a Single Blended Rum.
This particular bottling by Swell originates from a rather distinctive batch of Foursquare rums from the year 2006, a vintage that seems to have been bottled by several other independent bottlers as well, including a splendid one by the Transcontinental Rum Line for La Maison Du Whisky Singapore’s 18th anniversary. This vintage draws its distinctiveness from its long tropical ageing, having spent a good 14 years in Barbados in an ex-bourbon American white oak cask, before it was presumably shipped to continental Europe for further ageing. It was eventually bottled in January 2022, with an outturn of 387 bottles at 60.6% ABV.
The nose was particularly curious, straying from the traditional profile of a Foursquare rum, and instead came across a tad more medicinal, yet surprisingly fresh, with wafts of mint and eucalyptus, followed by the bright, tangy notes of freshly peeled tangerines. The rum would eventually mellow, bringing with it the deeper aromas of thick, creamy vanilla, and even the slightest hint of rancio.
Conversely, the palate was everything I’d imagine of a good Foursquare rum. I was immediately greeted with the rich, opulent notes of vanilla, freshly baked almond cookies, and that sprinkling of desiccated coconut shavings. Perhaps describing its profile as an ANZAC cookie might just be most apt for the folks from Australia reading this. There was just the right amount of oak in the rum too, giving the rum a delicate, chewy texture, without going too far into the tannins. The finish was long, chewy still, with the red fruits and citrus becoming more pronounced, paired with little hints of tobacco smoke and milk coffee. Certainly a tasty and delightful Foursquare rum from Swell.
Your occasional rum addict!
