It’s not every day that I spend time in Barbados with a group of friends and family. People who I love and cherish. They came from the Netherlands, Canada, the US, UK, Colombia, Germany, Finland and Barbados. Thanks to the geographic challenges, a lot of them had never met each other. Therefore, one of the things I looked forward to most when planning my Barbados wedding, was this group getting to know each other. A clash of cultures! Lots of diversity, just like in rum. Everything went very well. New friendships were formed. It was magical. Despite this event providing us with an incredible high, I’m not planning on doing it again, for obvious reasons.
You might be wondering why I’m telling you this non rum story?! It is because there were a few esteemed guests from Barbados at the wedding. Which resulted in me getting a bottle of Foursquare Absolutio as a wedding gift. Naturally, I was very happy with this. Also, I rented a bus and took part of the group to Foursquare Distillery and Mount Gay. We were lucky enough to get a tour from Foursquare owner Richard Seale himself. He took us through the whole distillery and we got to taste fresh cane juice. Yum! Before ending the visit by having Barbadian doubles for lunch, Richard let us taste a plethora of rums. From the not yet released LFT 2 to 2006, Destino, Raconteur and Doorly’s 14. Quite a few members of the group had never tasted these. What a treat! Here are a few photos of that visit:
Let’s get into Absolutio. The latest collaboration between Velier and Foursquare. A 15 year rum that has spent 10 years in ex-bourbon cask and an additional 5 in ex-port, bottled at 62%. Richard told me the name means “perfection”. No pressure! When asked about the port cask he mentioned the following:”Not sure of the exact age, but from an Adega, not seasoned casks. Probably around 20 years old. Very rare”.
Since this rum is called Perfection, my expectations are high!
Nosing
Raisins are strong on this one. I’m also getting cherry, dates, oak, vanilla, coconut, wood dipped in chocolate, tobacco, nutmeg and light red wine.
This is one of the best Foursquare noses so far.
Tasting
Strong on raisins, lots of red fruit, oak, vanilla, coconut, chocolate, light red wine. After standing for a little longer, a ton of leather and tobacco comes forward. I feel like I’m in a tobacco store where the local motorcycle club has just walked in for some shopping. This rum keeps giving the good stuff. The finish is long and solid with tons of fruity wood spice. Bitterness is kept at bay mostly.
Conclusion
This rum should turn into an instant classic. The nose is about the best I’ve experienced from Foursquare so far. Don’t need to drink it to have a great time. On the palate it’s a very expressive rum. It offers a lot of different flavours right from the start. This makes it easy to dissect and review. Nothing is dominating the profile, everything is nicely lined up in great harmony. A perfect medley of flavours.
I’ve had some bad port cask rums (not done by Foursquare), but this is a whole different story. I consider this to be one of the best rums they’ve made. My only doubt is the score. Should I give it 94 points, on par with 2006 and Triptych, or 93, like Criterion? This is clearly a first world problem that nobody will lose any sleep over! I don’t know about perfection, but it’s damn good. 94 it is!
Happy hunting everyone!
Score
Foursquare Absolutio – 94
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