About time I got round to the Foursquare Premise review!

What is it? Single Blended Rum (Molasses based Pot and Column still from the same distillery) from the Foursquare Distillery in Barbados. The rums are distilled in their various stills and blended at new make spirit, prior to ageing. This allows the distillery to chose the type of rum they want to end up with, flavour profile wise, before ageing it. The resultant blend is then put into ex-bourbon casks for 3 years, after which it is moved into ex-sherry casks for 7 years, giving a total age of 10 years old. All ageing is done tropically.

The rum is limited to 15,000 bottles and makes Mark 8 of the Exceptional Cask Selection rums from Foursquare. Reviews of the other Exceptional Cask Selection rums can be found on my Rum Reviews page here.

The rum is coloured, chill-filtered and bottled at 46% abv.

Sugar? Don’t be daft.

Nose: Yep, I’ve definitely poured a Foursquare product into my glass, no doubt about that! Quite oaky at first and a lot of bourbon cask influence initially with coconut, vanilla, caramel and clove. Once accustomed it’s easy to pick out the sherry wood; soft, warm leather, figs, raisins and black plums. There is a hint of orange rind, some black peppercorns and fresh liquorice root in there too. Right on the back end of the nose I’m picking up varnished wooden furniture and the smell you get on your hands after reading an old book. A few musty cardboard boxes appear too – it’s a good smell, they’re not too musty and just add a further depth of age to the nose.

Palate: Really good weight in the mouth. Spicy, a lot more so than I was expecting actually, and very very dry and tannic. Immediate sherry notes here, dry roasted peanuts, very dark chocolate (90% stuff), cold tea, dates and currants (the small and slightly bitter ones). A little engine oil type note, the taste of licking the back of an envelope or stamp, ink and old leather. A quick grind of black pepper just to finish off.

Finish: Medium, shorter than I was hoping for. Spicy here too! Again very dry indeed, tannic with breakfast tea, that dark chocolate again and a chewed pencil (lead included). Not really much to add to from the palate notes and carries the sherried dried fruits into the finish with the figs, raisins and plums. Bone dry as it goes on.

Thoughts? Another great rum from Foursquare, it reminds me a lot of Rum SixtySix actually but with a concentrated dark fruit element, which certainly aint no bad thing. The sherry casks work well with the Foursquare profile, which I’m assuming was a dry sherry such as Oloroso. If you don’t mind a very dry rum then it’s easy to drink and quite complex. If you prefer a sweeter style than this one may not be for you and will be a step too far.

Personally, I don’t find this rum as good as the Criterion – but then that was incredible and a much higher abv – it’s unlikely it was ever planned as a contender for it. The Premise sits easily on a par with the Port Cask from 2015. If I was picking at anything then I’d rather have a bit less oak and a bit more fruit, but they really are minor details.

£45? Yes please!