Les Rhums du Sud Foursquare Rhum Extra Vieux De 2013

Foursquare, Richard Seale's St Philip distillery, is the critics' darling of Barbados, working a double-retort pot still alongside a twin-column Coffey and blending traditionally with a strict no-additives policy. This independent bottling from Les Rhums du Sud takes 2013 Foursquare distillate and gives it a wine-cask finish, drawn as a single cask at a natural 48 percent. At 8 years old it shows the house balance with an extra layer.

Matured from molasses in oak before its wine finish, it opens with coconut, tropical fruit and a faint glue note alongside the wine influence, then moves to caramel, red wine, vanilla and red fruits on the palate. The wine cask pushes the profile toward berry and grape rather than the usual toffee-and-banana register, an everyday-drinking Bajan with a twist. The finish carries the fruit through. One for Foursquare followers curious about its wine-finished side.