Background: my first bottle of IB Foursquare from some time ago. I remember it being a very sippable rum. Aged tropically in ex-bourbon casks for 11 years, then continentally in ex-rum casks for 2 years. 

Nose: very sweet; varnish and simple sugar syrup; toffee; charred sugar-encrusted wood; butter cookies; coconut milk and coconut shavings; bunch of top notes I associate with Foursquare really; left to rest for some time, some of the sweetness gives way to a more vegetal slant; fresh sugarcane; leaf compost; burning grass; curry powder; shiitake mushroom.

Palate: hot; spicy and woody on entry; pepper; masala black tea; maraschino cherry; raisin bread; cumin; unsalted butter; whipped cream; coconut shavings.

Finish: mint; sugarcane juice; a hint of overripe papaya; some olive brine; the varnish note lingers in the mouth for a long time.

Conclusion: varnish and butter at the front, mint and brine at the back. Yes this is a Foursquare rum, alright. The sweetness here upsets the balance quite a bit, and there is too much varnish for my liking. Still very sippable, but not quite on the level of Plenipotenziario.

Score (assuming a normal distribution with mean 50): 79/100

Image Courtesy of u/zoorado. 

u/zoorado