Foursquare Rum Distillery Patrimonio. This is one of three Sherry finish/2nd maturation rums Foursquare have released this year. I have already reviewed Empery and Hereditas. Empery was part of the ongoing Exceptional Cask Series and Hereditas was an exclusive bottling for The Whisky Exchange’s 20th Anniversary celebrations.

Patrimonio is presented in the Velier style cardboard box and opaque bottle. It is one of the series of collaborations between Foursquare and Velier or Richard Seale and Luca Gargano if you prefer. Price wise like the other Velier collaborations this is more expensive than the ECS bottlings and other official Foursquare releases. Patrimonio retails at around £/€180. It’s crept up to just under £200 on Master of Malt should you still want a bottle.

The rum is a Single Blended Rum so both Pot and Column still rums from Foursquare Distillery only. It was distilled in 2004 and bottled in February 2019. 100% matured in Barbados. There were 6,000 bottles of this rum on its release earlier this year. It is stated as being aged for 14 years in ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry barrels. It has been bottled at 58% ABV Barrel Proof.

The actual maturation is that a percentage of the rum was aged for 10 years in ex-bourbon and 4 years in ex-sherry with the remainder being matured only in ex-bourbon casks.

Opinion over the trio of “Sherried” rums has been very much split amongst enthusiasts. Some found Hereditas a touch too sweet, others found Empery a bit woody. Most however seemed to agree that they are all very good rums. Opinion over Patrimonio that I have seen has been pretty unanimously in favour of it.

However its worth noting that I have seen more opinions on Hereditas and Empery in general. Some people either cannot or will not pay the price of the Velier collaborations. People expect a huge increase in the quality of the rum but it doesn’t really work like that.

Presentation wise it appears we have moved from the Red,White and Black colour schemes and are sticking with the Blue, White and Black first used on last years rather excellent bottling Destino. Other than that its all pretty standard for a Velier release as you can see from the photos. No fairy stories just cold hard facts.

Sherried rum round three….here we go.

In the glass Foursquare Rum Distillery Patrimonio is a dark brown spirit with a reddish/orange hue.

Nosed we are in familiar Bajan Barrel Proof territory with lots of coconut, oak spices, tobacco and some dark chocolate. Fruity notes of raisin and banana also make themselves known.

It’s a very rich, complex, warming nose. There is a really nice smoky note running through this rum which works beautifully alongside the rich fruity notes of raisins, currants and blackberries. The Sherry influence is there adding a nice amount of sweet fruit but it is less prominent than with Hereditas.

To me it is more similar to Empery but I feel that this has a slightly better balance and doesn’t have as much wood in the mix. It still has some wonderful oak spices but its not quite as woody as Empery.

Further nosing reveals a very slightly salty briny note – green olives. It’s very much a rum you can nose for hours.

Sipped, this is a very intense fruity rum – lots of sweet raisin and currants again on the tongue. There is a slight tart/bitter note a sort of sweet/sour fruity jam like note. Once you get past the initial intensity, the smokiness and the tobacco on the nose reveals itself again.

The mid palate and finish are where the rum gets quite woody and begins to burst with oak spices. This gives the rum a really great balance. Which is perhaps one thing Foursquare consistently offer – wonderfully well balanced rums. 

At 14 years of Tropical Ageing we are in danger of getting into a rum which is perhaps a bit too woody. Not in this case but I think we are pretty much near the edge in terms of ageing. The finish is long and smoky with lots of oak spice, white pepper and some chocolate raisins and some pipe tobacco.

This is definitely one of the more complex and challenging Foursquare rums. It is certainly not as easy going and accessible as Premise or Port Cask. It has an extra layer of smoke, tobacco and wood spices.

Another Foursquare rum that I will wish I had bought more of in future.