Dead Reckoning “The Bosun’s Persuader” Barbados. Over the past few years Dead Reckoning have developed a bit of a reputation for bottling rums from Foursquare Distillery.

I would also argue that they have perhaps gained a reputation for bottling the BEST Independently bottled Foursquare Distillery rum. Don’t believe me? Well let me explain……..

Whilst the debate over Tropical and Continental ageing continues Dead Reckoning have quietly gone about getting the longest aged “bulk” Foursquare rum that is available on the market. So 8 Year Old Tropically Aged rum. Foursquare do not currently sell anything older in bulk.

It is then shipped to Tropical Adelaide rather than Sub Zero Liverpool or the slightly warmer and certainly more picturesque city of Amsterdam.

“Tropical Dry Ageing” as Justin Boseley the owner of Dead Reckoning terms it then occurs as the rum is matured again in another Tropical Climate. As we have seen from Foursquare’s own Exceptional Cask Series longer tropically aged Foursquare rum is a wonderful thing. Is Justin currently bottling the nearest thing to it on the planet?

I would say definitely.

So what have Dead Reckoning got for us to today? Well I would say this is a variant of the all ex-bourbon barrels ECS rums which began with the 2004 and have continued up to 2012 (I think)

Dead Reckoning “The Bosun’s Persuader” Barbados is a 14 year old ex-bourbon barrel rum. It has been aged for 8 years in Barbados and a further 6 years in Australia. All in -ex-bourbon. As with nearly all Foursquare rum it is a Single Blended Rum. Pot and Coffey Column still rum.

This is a single Cask Release I am drinking number 94 of just 200 bottles. The rum is bottled at a hefty 61% ABV.

No before anyone outside of Australia gets too excited – this rum has now completely sold out. It was pencilled in for a limited UK release but unfortunately due to demand in Australia this will no longer be happening………….

I don’t often review rum which is “unobtainable” but I had already started my review and notes when Justin informed me it had sold out.

For the curious amongst you a “Bosun” is a leader or supervisor of the Deck Team on a ship. The term is actually the phonetic spelling of Boatswain and is one of the oldest “ranks” still in use on board a ship.

So with that explained lets see if this Bosun can be persuaded…………

In the glass we have typical aged rum coloured spirit. A reddish/orange hue forms around the side. I do note that this appears quite a viscous rum. Thick and slightly oily.

On the nose you get some lovely wafts of vanilla ice cream, Creme Brulee and some slightly sharper winter berries.

Further nosing reveals traces of gingerbread, shortbread bisuit and some lighter summer fruits to go alongside the darker hints of raspberry.

At 61% it is an intense but not overpowering nose. The alcohol you might expect at this ABV isn’t as prominent as you might expect.

It’s a wonderful nose and really does remind me of those ECS releases mentioned earlier.

Sipped it is very drinkable. Almost dangerously so. It starts with some intense dark fruity notes paired with soft vanilla. You then get a nice warming hit of ginger and white pepper. There is a very nice hit of soft oak and some icing sugar.

As we move onto the second glass you’ll notice further development. On the mid palate especially you will get richer oak and smoky notes alongside some lighter summer fruits. A touch of strawberry alongside the stoned fruits such as Plum and Blueberry.

There is a lot going on with this rum and its surprising to my palate that this hasn;t been finished in something more exotic than an ex-bourbon barrel. Yes it is fairly “woody” and has a good hit of vanilla that sweet sour Bourbon tang but it also has a lot more going on.

FInish wise it is long and very satisfying with a lovely balance of warming oak and spice alongside light vanilla and some fruity notes. It is quite a dry finish which sets you up nicely for the next pour……

This is another excellent bottling from Dead Reckoning. No surprise it has sold out so quickly. With the sales being in Australia its unlikely many will show up on the Secondary Market in the US or Europe but you never know. Keep your eyes peeled you certainly won’t be disappointed.