Foursquare Rum Sponge No. 18 2000

Rum Sponge No. 18 is a Decadent Drinks release, a 2000 vintage Foursquare aged twenty-two years as a single cask. Foursquare is the critics' darling of Barbados under fourth-generation distiller Richard Seale, working a double-retort pot still and twin-column Coffey with a strict no-additives stance. An independent single cask at lower proof offers a quieter, more contemplative side of the house than its cask-strength prestige bottlings.

Distilled from molasses on pot and column stills and matured in ex-bourbon oak without added sugar, it keeps that clean integrity while taking an unusual turn. The aroma is woody with coconut, vanilla and tropical fruit, the palate brings a medicinal, herbal edge alongside vanilla, spice and dried fruit, and the finish stays woody and spiced with caramel and vanilla. The fruit-and-pastry character is there but drier and quirkier than the classic profile, an easy-drinking yet atypical Barbados rum that wears its 47.6% gently.