Foursquare Doorly’s XO Fine Old Rum

Doorly's is the everyday face of Foursquare, the Barbados distillery run by Richard Seale and held in high regard for its refusal to add sugar, colouring or flavouring. Foursquare works in the classic Bajan manner, marrying rich double-retort pot still rum with cleaner column distillate, and the house style sits between the light Cuban tradition and the heavy Jamaican one: balanced, elegant and approachable.

Aged in ex-bourbon oak and bottled at 43%, this XO leans woody and dry, with vanilla, caramel and dried fruit folded into nutty oak and a peppery, spice led finish. There is no dosage smoothing it over, so the texture and sweetness come from the cask and the spirit alone. For anyone moving on from sweeter rums toward something honest and Barbadian, it is a clean, unadulterated reference point that stays gentle without going soft.