Foursquare Rum Distillery Sagacity. Another rum from Foursquare and another exceptional cask. Which is fine with me as these rums have been amongst the best and most affordable premium rum releases over the past few years.

Sagacity, please note it’s not Saga-City but Sag-assity as it’s old school French/Latin in origin. It means “the quality of being discerning, sound of judgement”. To be fair anyone who has been buying these Exceptional Casks releases over the past few years has certainly been exactly that. “Knowing good judgement” is the tagline on this bottle.

Sagacity is the eleventh release in the Exceptional Cask Series. Like Premise before it and the Port and Zinfandel Casks rums released even earlier this is a lower proof rum. The rums have crept in ABV but this has not been released at Cask Strength.

The rum has been bottled at 48% ABV. We have a blend of Pot and Coffey Column distilled rums aged for 12 years. A portion of the rum in this blend is aged for the full 12 years in ex-Bourbon casks the other in ex-Madeira casks. In the UK you can pick this up at the likes of The Whisky Exchange for around £48.

As with all the Exceptional Cask releases the rum comes in the familiar stubby Foursquare bottling. There have been some slight tweaks to the bottles with Foursquare branding on the neck label and a pendant also around the neck. The corks have all been updated to synthetic corks – due to the number of complaints of the “real” corks breaking. Which to be fair was not a problem confined to Foursquare’s releases.

As mentioned already I have been a big fan of these “type” of finished rums with a slightly lower ABV than Cask Strength. Whilst the demand for Cask Strength and the type of rum that takes your face off is strong in the enthusiast world – the overall demand for such rum probably isn’t as big as some may think. A lot of people struggle drinking any spirits neat even at 40%. There is really only a small niche of drinkers who go Cask Strength. Being in a bit of a bubble, I think us enthusiasts sometimes forget that.

So how will this rum fare when rated against it’s predecessors? Pretty stiff competition after all.

In the glass Foursquare Rum Distillery Sagacity is a dark/golden brown with orange and red flashes.

Nosing Sagacity reveals a real fruity sweetness. Bright red berries and some blackcurrants. It’s very fragrant and slightly floral on the nose.

Further nosing reveals toasted coconut, a very slightly smokiness and a complex array of rich warming oak spices. Balance wise this is pretty much perfection. There are no off notes or anything spoiling the overall experience.

Sipped Sagacity is drier and more complex than the nose suggests. Initial sips are quite spicy with lots of oak spice and ginger. A touch of red wine and some port make an appearance as you move into the mid palate. Red grapes and rich warming oak spices with just enough bite to keep things interesting. At 48% ABV it is amazingly easy to sip on.

The Madeira cask influence gives a less sweet rum than the Port of Zinfandel casks rums. It has a bit more bite and more complex flavour than Premise. Particularly the wood influenced notes.

Finish wise it has a real zest to it. With a fair hit of orange marmalade mingling alongside the spicy ginger and fiery black pepper notes. The oak notes are robust and slightly tannic with lots of red wine tingling the tongue. It’s a very long complex finish. Very satisfying.

Foursquare have laid down a lot of aged stock – clearly a long term strategy, which is now beginning to really show the fruits of its labour. There are no other rum producers currently capable of putting out this much quality rum. Whilst the differences in each release may not seem all the great – the finished rums are certainly worth what we are being asked to pay.