Dràm Mòr Single Cask Rum Foursquare Distillery Aged 13 Years. The success of the Foursquare Distillery is ongoing. Bottles in the Exceptional Cask Series are now being available only via a ballot at some of the bigger UK retailers. To be honest the very idea of a ballot, whereby you enter a raffle to actually spend your own money is pretty mind boggling in the rum world. However, it has been fairly common place for some time in the world of Scotch Whisky.

As a result of this popularity I am noticing an increasing number of Independent bottlers are releasing single cask bottlings.

Now until recently I haven’t taken that much notice of such bottlings. I’ve certainly not attempted to collect them all or anything like that! Having said that I’ve still managed to review a fair few. Thanks mostly to samples from friends and other enthusiasts.

In fairness Independent bottlings have usually been a more Premium price than Distillery bottlings. For example a few years ago you could pick up a bottle of R L Seales 10 Year Old rum for around £35. A similarly aged rum from an Independent bottler would have set you back in excess of £50.

Whilst it isn’t the case for a lot of distilleries – I am beginning to see an increasing number of Independent bottlings from Foursquare that are very keenly priced in comparison to “similar” distillery bottlings. I use “similar” in quite a broad sense.

Today I’m reviewing a 13 Year Old Rum from the Foursquare Distillery, Barbados which has been aged in ex-Bourbon barrel and an ex-Scotch Whisky cask. It is noted as being cask number #3 and it has been bottled at 60.9% ABV. The rum is a blend of Pot/Column distilled rum as is very much the Foursquare style. There were 277 bottles released.

It has been released by Dràm Mòr Group an Independent bottler of Scotch Whisky and now rum from Dumbarton, Scotland. The group have been in operation since early 2020. They are a small company ran by Viktorija and Kenny MacDonald.

I was going to review Foursquares own recently released 2009 but its pretty much sold out everywhere. So as you can still buy this bottling (and can even pick up 2 at the same time) I thought this review might be more useful?

Currently you can only order this rum via the wonderful people at The Good Spirits Co. You can order online or pop into one of their Glasgow stores if you are in the area. Heck you can probably ring them up and order over the phone as well, I’m sure.

Dràm Mòr Single Cask Rum Foursquare Distillery Aged 13 Years is priced at £64.50 which in todays market I don’t think is bad at all. Refreshingly the rear label of the bottling also reveals more details about the ageing. So it has been aged for 8 years in an ex-bourbon barrel in Barbados and a further 5 years in an ex-Scotch Whisky cask in the UK.

So lets see how this particular Foursquare offering is.

In the glass we have a slightly hazy medium golden brown liquid. It’s not especially vibrant and doesn’t have any hue around the edges. In all honesty I don’t worry too much about what a rum looks like. Unless its green or something. Then I might worry.

On the nose – it’s about as Foursquare as Foursquare can be. Instantly recognisable. So we have some light oak spices and some bourbon like notes from the time in the barrel. There is also a slight savoury/scotch like note as well. These aromas are held together by the familiar coconut notes attributed strongly to both Foursquare and Mount Gay.

Further nosing reveals some milk and dark chocolate notes, a touch of cocoa powder and little icing sugar. There are some fruity aromas – a touch of sultana and some red plum. There is also a white pepper note which really tingles the nostrils.

So far so good.

Sipped it is a little more fiery than I was expecting from the nose. I’m trying it initially at full strength. I may need a drop or two of water. We’ll see.

It has a hot, quite spicy entry. It’s quite peppery and has a youthfulness about it I wasn’t expecting. It doesn’t seem quite as integrated and balanced as usual for a Foursquare.

It’s quite woody and pretty dry on the mid palate. It’s not a very sweet rum. There’s quite a of influence from the oak.

Finish wise it has a nice gentle fade out and is a good length. More of the coconut and some hints of banana are present.

I’ve quite enjoyed this rum at full strength but I am wondering if a couple of drops of water might be in order with this bottling. I feel like something is missing.

A couple of drops maybe a teaspoon seem to be doing the trick. The rum is visibly lighter and less cloudy in the glass now and I’m getting much more of what was promised on the nose.

The entry in particular whilst still keeping its spicy heat is much better as it is now getting a good blast of those coconut and chocolate notes. A little bit of cinnamon and some toffee was well as we move onto the mid palate.

Finish wise – it is perhaps a touch shorter but the improvement to the rest of the experience means I’m not so bothered about it. I’d thoroughly recommend anyone who buys this bottle does add a drop or two of water. It’s not always necessary or indeed beneficial but it really does work well with this bottling.

It is interesting to try this rum bearing in mind it has spent some time in an ex-Scotch Whisky cask. I’m not the biggest Scotch Whisky fan and whilst it does have a little impact on the profile it is not for me, hugely noticeable. It’s perhaps slightly different but nothing radical.

A really nice bottling at a really good price.