The Duppy Share XO. I’ve been waiting a while for this release. I first heard about it a few months back. It’s a rum which I think will appeal to a lot of consumers.

Presentation wise its certainly very interesting. Combining the classic Duppy Share stubby bottle with a new colour scheme (which proves a little tricky to photograph but is very striking nonetheless).

However, it will be the liquid which will perhaps generate interest particularly from the “enthusiast” crowd. The Duppy Share XO is a blend of rums from Barbados. The rums in the blend are aged for 5,8 and 12 years. Matured in ex-bourbon barrels. The rums all come from the acclaimed Foursquare Distillery.

From what I understand supermarkets such as Tesco and Morrison’s will be stocking this. It is also available online and Master of Malt have it £39.95. It is bottled at a respectable 40% ABV. The only think I will add is that it is “dosed” 3.5 g/L of sugar have been added. Which in the grand scheme of things isn’t much. I often wonder why anyone would bother adding such a small amount but I’m not a rum blender.

So this should be a fairly readily available Foursquare rum at a price point which is unlikely to put many people off. Over the past couple of years even getting the regular Foursquare line up has been a little more difficult than usual – due to Brexit and then COVID-19. So its good to see a bottling which will be easy to get a hold of.

I’ve reviewed so much Fourquare rum over the years that I really struggle to write anything new or interesting about the distillery so I think we may as well just cut to the chase and see what the juice in the bottle is like………

In the glass we are presented with a quite dark brown liquid. Suggesting that this rum has been well aged as outlined by the description of the components.

On the nose I’m getting quite a lot of cask influence. It seems quite balanced in terms of pot/column – its not overly sweet and I’m getting a fair amount of oak and smokiness on the nose.

There is a sweetness to the rum but its not overpowering. I wouldn’

t have suspected any adulteration had I not been told about it. The coconut and vanilla notes are subtle with more of a hit of icing sugar and a hint of saccharin.

The nose is pleasant and familiar – quite similar to Doorly’s XO. It has a slightly fruity sweet note – touch of cherry and blackcurrants.

The ABV is lower than a lot of the Foursquare rum I have been drinking lately. However I’m finding my bottle is emptying rather quickly.

This is a really good introduction to Foursquare. I think its priced really well and presentation wise it is something which will be gifted quite a lot.

It is in many ways an “every day” kind of sipper. It’s quite easy going. On the initial sip you get a nice hit of oak and spice but it is followed by a very balanced array of fruitiness and a hint of coconut.

The mid palate moves more towards the vanilla and ex-bourbon notes. The finish is relatively short but that is probably due more the lower ABV and my palate being used to something more fiery. I dare say a lot of people will be very comfortable with this at this strength.

I’ve always been a little bit miffed about the lack of love the Original The Duppy Share Caribbean Rum seems to get in rum circles. I’ve even seen people suggest they haven’t tried it because they don’t like Spiced rum????? I don’t know if that is due to the presentation but a lot of people I know have dismissed as being Spiced or heavily adulterated.

This particular offering should sell like hot cakes. For me its a Radio Friendly Unit Shifter. Ticks a lot of boxes for a huge cross section of rum drinkers.

This will be a rum which will be in regular rotation in this house. It works nicely as an a sipper and it really make a rather splendid old fashioned.

The Duppy Share XO is great stuff well worth the money!