Cadenhead‘s Foursquare 2007

Cadenhead's, the venerable Scottish independent, has bottled this 2007 Foursquare, drawing on the Barbados distillery whose no-additives, island-aged ethos sets the standard for serious Bajan rum. Bottled at 55 percent and unsweetened, it presents Foursquare at 16 years in Cadenhead's characteristically unadorned fashion.

The nose is spare and classic, a touch of glue and acetone over coconut, while the palate turns woody and peppery. The finish stays on wood and pepper. Distilled from molasses on Foursquare's pot and column stills and matured in oak, it is dry and additive-free, the wood given room to lead without dosage to soften it. This is a more austere, oak-driven reading of Foursquare than the rounder, dessert-leaning single casks, rewarding drinkers who want the distillery's character delivered straight and dry, with the spice and structure that long ageing brings.