FOURSQUARE CRITERION
STYLE: RUM
ABV: 56%
DISTILLER: FOURSQUARE DISTILLERY, BARBADOS
AGE: 10 Year (3 years ex-bourbon barrels, 7 years ex-madeira casks). Bottled April 13, 2017.
BLEND: Pot and Column
Criterion is the fifth release in the Exceptional Cask series by Foursquare Distillery with only 2,000 bottles available to the U.S. Market. As you may have read already in my previous review of the Foursquare Port Cask Finish; Foursquare is a rum distillery from St. Philip, Barbados and owes its success to Richard Seale and his dedication to pure rums and transparency to a very loyal customer base.
One of the things that drew me to this release was the use of madeira casks for much of the maturation period. Often you find the use of madeira casks (seldom at best) in the finishing of scotch and rarely with bourbon (Belle Meade being a successful example). Never have I seen it used for rum.
I reached out to Richard Seale to ask him why he decided to use madeira and he was kind enough to respond back informing me that:
Madeira has a strong connection to Barbados as it was a vital port in the European trade route. Because of this, rum would have historically been aged in fortified wine barrels. So again, like years before, we reused high quality madeira casks.
This stands to reason. It’s not as if there was an excess of used bourbon barrels coming out of colonial America for rum producers to use. In addition to that, Madeira has a reputation from being almost indestructible. Madeira is typically fortified to nearly 20% abv. This not only allowed it to survive its journey from Portugal through the Equator; but as the wine is exposed to the high heat of the region, it intensified the notable caramelized nut profile of the wine.
Color: Spessarite Garnet. It’s a thing. I looked it up.
Nose: Despite the higher alcohol, I am greeted by warm brown sugar. Underneath there are intoxicating layers of toasted coconut, tobacco, maritime and burnt marshmallow sugars.
Palate: A wash of creamy burnt vanilla sugar. That richness is then immediately followed by the tongue tingling spice of Grains of Paradise, Fresno peppers and ginger.
Mouthfeel: Buttery smooth.
Finish: As the peppery spice fades, I am left with notes of dried pineapple, sugarcane grass and almonds. From there it is becomes wonderfully tannic, pulling the moisture from my gums.
