Foursquare Exceptional Cask Selection Mark VII – Dominus. While I am sure you heard about the Foursquare ECS releases hundreds if not thousands of times and it definitely doesn’t need my ‘Seale’ (sorry not sorry) of approval, I will still review it… just because I can. Try and stop me!
Now the Exceptional Cask Selection releases are limited and focus on pretty much one thing – pure rum. Or to be more precise – supercalifragilisticexceptionally good pure rum, no additives, flavorings, no blenders (TTB?) or colourings. Yes, I will happily admit that I am a Foursquare ‘fanboy’. Foursquare Distillery uses a twin column Coffey still for lighter distillates and a copper pot still for heavier distillates. Most of the rums produced by FS are a blend of both pot and column stills, but there are exceptions. The ageing process is mostly done in ex-Bourbon (Tennessee) but there are plenty of other barrels that Master Blender Richard Seale has played with, like lets say… uhm… ex-Cognac casks.
My bottle, the Foursquare Dominus is also a blend of pot and column stills (molasses based) aged for 3 years in ex-Bourbon casks and 7 years in ex-Cognac casks in the heat of the tropics. It’s bottled at 56% ABV and that’s it, I just want to have some now.
On the nose is fruity with sour cherries, dry plums, raisins, red apples, raspberry jam with a musty aroma (but not unpleasant). A bit of sulfur dioxide (my new fancy way of saying ‘burnt matchstick’), cocoa, burnt oak, marmalade, a lot of citrus – oranges, mandarins and some pink grapefruit. The standard vanilla and caramel are here too along with a bit of anise.
On the palate, oh boy, the mouthfeel, it’s like eating custard and a sponge cake filled with candied cherries, and I am including the texture as well… it’s creamy and fluffy, I can almost chew it. Initially quite fruity with ripe red apples, marmalade, raspberry and strawberry jams, raisins, prunes. Red wine, oaky spices, maple syrup and a bit of Angostura bitters (I really want an Old Fashioned now). Ginger and vanilla, black pepper, hints of glue, chocolate, it’s just so much going on it’s hard to pinpoint them. Overall I can say this is more fruity than the 2005 (my favourite), the Cognac cask influences coming upfront and then the Foursquare signature rum flavors afterwards and then they blend together towards the end. On the finish you get red fruits along with charred oak, spices, vanilla and maple syrup.
Yes, yep and yeap. Really good as I said at the beginning (shocking, I know), good value for money and I would recommend this from the bottom of my heart. But you don’t have to listen to me, there are plenty of people out there more qualified than me that will tell you the same thing.
Foursquare Dominus – Mark VII score:
Flavour/taste: 59/70
Value for money: 15/15
Transparency/purity: 15/15
Overall: 89/100
Cheers!