Foursquare ECS XIII 2008

This is a vintage release from Foursquare's ECS range, the distillery's numbered run of cask strength single blends bottled with no additives. It marries heavy double retort pot still rum with lighter column still spirit, all made at Richard Seale's St Philip distillery, and presents it at full proof straight from ex-bourbon oak rather than a secondary wine cask.

The result is a dry, bourbon-style Barbados rum built on vanilla, toasted coconut and caramel with a firm spine of oak spice. Twelve years of tropical ageing concentrate the spirit and give it an oily, mouth-coating weight, while the 60% strength keeps it intense and structured. The series has become a benchmark for aged Caribbean rum precisely because it shows the distillery cleanly, with nothing added to round it off, so the depth on the nose and the power on the palate come from spirit and barrel alone. A few drops of water help it open.