Offerings from Foursquare Distillery this year have been a little like buses. You wait ages then two come along at once!
We’ve really been lucky in the UK this summer. Seeing a limited edition Foursquare Port Cask Finish and at long last, this mythical beast Doorly’s 12 Year Old.
Mount Gilboa is a triple distilled Pot Still rum. This in itself is fairly unusual, I think. I’ve heard little about multiple distillation in rum, unlike Vodka for example. That’s not to say it doesn’t occur just that is rarely mentioned. Mount Gilboa is a product of Barbados and from the name and product design you could be mistaken into thinking you are getting a cheaper Mount Gay product or a copycat.
Foursquare Rum Distillery, St Philip, Barbados really should need no introduction. Originally set up by Reginald Leon Seale the great-great grandfather of the current Master Blender and Distiller Richard Seale, the distillery has become the byword for classic Caribbean rum.
Any new release from Foursquare is always welcome. The 2012 UK release of Rum Sixty Six was a welcome edition to the Foursquare portfolio, which also includes R L Seale’s 10 Year Old and the Doorly’s series of rums. US drinkers may also be familiar with The Real McCoy range of rums. In 2015 (and in particular August) we have been well and truly spoiled here in the UK. Not only has Richard released the long anticipated Doorly’s 12 but has also decided that 9 years (quite an unusual age for a rum) has been long enough for us to wait for this latest offering.
Today I am reviewing an offering from the wonderful Foursquare Distillery, Barbados. The island often cites itself as the birthplace of rum. The oldest “official” (ie legal) rum distillery in the world is the Mount Gay Distillery, so its a fair enough claim to make. They also have plenty of other facts to back up their claims if you look into rums rich history.
Doorly’s XO Fine Old Barbados Rum. From the house of Martin Doorly no less. None the wiser? No me neither. The rum is produced by R. L. Seale at the wonderful Foursquare Distillery. So what does this Doorly fellow have to do with it exactly?
Well, in 1906 the Rum Duty Act was passed and this caused considerable changes to how rum was distributed in Barbados. The new law meant that distilleries had to obtain a licence and could only sell rums in bulk. Many of the distillers became bottlers instead. Of these Martin Doorly & Co. The growth of branded names began and Martin Doorly evolved into Doorly Macaw Rum and became the first bottled rum to be exported from the island.
Bacardi 8 rum was the “sole preserve of the Bacardi family for over one hundred and thirty years” it is a “unique blend of the finest Bacardi Rums matured for no less than eight years”. Whilst the first part of the of the statement may be slightly fanciful the second part indicates to me that ALL the rum in the bottle is at least 8 years old. Still this hasn’t stopped the Bacardi Bashers and the Rum Conspiracy Theorists (there are some absolute crackers to be found online) from suggesting otherwise…….
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Mount Gay Black Barrel was new to the UK Market in 2014. More Traditional Mount Gay drinkers bemoaned the addition of this new rum. Not only did it come complete with the newer “Mount Gay 1703 Barbados Rum” presentation but it also replaced the Eclipse Black which was bottled at 50% ABV.