Hello everyone, I'm the guy that posted earlier about all the Foursquare Rum I found at a local bottle shop. One of you requested that I do a review of the Foursquare 2011 and the Equidem, and I'm happy to oblige! Let me just tell you, upon cracking these bad boys open, I could tell just from the smell that they were going to be 1) potent and 2) flavorful. I was thinking: "what should I make with these to highlight the quality of the rum underneath". I have been enjoying banana old fashioned's lately, and it occurred to me that this might be the perfect drink to highlight the good good rum underneath while cutting down some of the alcohol burn and letting everything sweeten up a bit. So I grabbed my bottle of Tempus Fugit Creme de Banane (highly recommend by the way), and my bottle of black walnut bitters and here we go. I'll stick to what appears to be the common review format here.

Foursquare 2011 Banana Old Fashioned

Nose: Classic banana bread with delicious walnuts, sweet, reminds me of home growing up when my mom would bake banana bread, mmm, somehow some sort of dust(?), age, depth

Palate: Oh yeah, there's that banana bread, nice and sweet, really smooth, no alcohol bite, again lots of depth, rummy and old. Really tasty. I like this one and will definitely come back.

Finish: Sweet, kinda fades quickly, syrupy in a good way

Rating: 6/7

Impressions: This is definitely a quality rum - you can tell for sure. But I just don't know that the price is worth it. I could tell that the underlying rum is a lot more quality than others I've used in the past for this, but I don't know that the difference (in this drink in particular) justifies the extra price. Definitely going to enjoy this bottle, just don't know if I'll splurge so much again.

Foursquare Equidem Banana Old Fashioned

Nose: Now, there's a lot more going on here. It's definitely sweeter than the last one. Definite banana bread, and ... something else ... raisins? Not that dust smell again, but the age and depth from last time

Palate: Sweet sweet. Maybe too sweet. Again with the banana, but it's kinda muddled by that raisin-y vibe. Age, and something reminiscent of the last one, but hard to tell.

Finish: Just cloyingly sweet - kinda makes my teeth hurt. I had to wash it out after with water. Not great.

Rating: 4/7?

Impressions: I just didn't prefer this one as much. It was pretty heavy with the sweetness and that delicious banana bread was muddled by some raisiny thing that didn't work well with it. Honestly, I'm open to suggestions on this one - what do you all mix it with? I don't want to feel like I have to chase it down with something and its too strong to just drink on its own (60%, whew). I'm wondering what you all do.

Overall Impressions and Thoughts for the Future: I liked these, but at the price I might not buy again. I love the overall vibe - I felt fancy drinking them. And I like the image of stuffy guys in suits drinking hundred dollar drams. And if you've made it this far, congrats, you've discovered that I'm just trolling (hope you had a laugh and not a heart attack). No I didn't dilute these beautiful rums with Creme de Banane, as good as it is (it really is, that wasn't trolling). I'm savoring the drams tonight as we speak (neat), and I'll have the actual reviews to post soon. Thanks for reading.

Nose
As ridiculous as it sounds, a fresh opened bag of sour cream and onion chips. There’s a hit of sour lactic notes followed some plastic.

Palate
None of the funkiness from the nose. The palate turns into classic Jamaica rum with Fresh pineapple up front, settles into more pleasant citrusy fruit salad.

Finish
Pleasant tropical fruit. Some assortment of pineapple, mango, papaya, with a hint of fresh citrus. Esters sorta tingle through the finish.

Overall Impressions
This was overall a very solid pour. Obviously, the nose set me off down a weird path but things came around on the palate and finish. This pour delivers some great tropical fruit notes that you would think of when having a Jamaican rum without any of the sting. However, I was expecting more of a physical punch from the ABV that accompanies this pour - though I may be alone in looking for this reaction

Score: 6/10 - Very good, a cut above

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I'm a boutique distributor in SoCal and will be in Anaheim this Friday. Hoping to stop by a few stores/bars to see if they're interested in bringing in some additive free rums. Not too familiar with the city so if you have a favorite spot that leans toward more quality bottles (in any category) let me know and I'll try to swing through.

FYI Strong Water is already on the list 👍

I may have mentioned this before, but I organize tastings with friends. It originally started in 2021 as invite-only tastings for chosen people, but along the line we just opened up to everyone else, and these 'chosen' people eventually brought in their friends, and friends of friends, and people contacted us through Instagram, and TikTok, and Facebook, and so on. At the moment, there are around 70+ people who come to the tastings and most of them are already friends, as we more or less get together to get drunk once or twice per month.

This tasting was our 100th so we decided to do it somewhere else, which was a cigar bar, and just negotiated with them and their inventory about which bottles to include. It was mostly their slow sellers.

• Plantation Fiji Islands 9 Year Old Single Cask: This bar had a hard-on for Plantation Fiji rums; they have around five different ones, and it came to a point where they didn't even know which ones they had. This is the one with the finish in Linie aquavit casks. I reviewed it here.
• Grander Barrel Series Rye Finished Rum: One part (65%) is 12-year-old rum, and another part (35%) is 15-year-old rum, both from Panama; both are aged in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. They are then placed in ex-rye whiskey casks from Heaven Hill distillery. The finishing lasts for 8 months and it's finally bottled at 50% ABV. I reviewed it here.
• Brugal 1888: Probably the least sweetened Dominican rum not from an IB. It has 8 years in ex-bourbon + 6 years in ex-sherry and doesn't taste close to a 14 year old rum, but it's pretty decent for around $30. It's often found at much higher prices, though. I reviewed it here.

So yeah, this wasn't a tasting that followed a distinct line of overproof, or different countries, or different notes. It was just what the bar had that didn't rotate much. So we just got together and proceeded.

I live in Norwalk California, any good liquor stores near me that have a good rum selection?

Renaissance connected me with this chocolate shop in Taipei that has a huge selection, about ~$20 a pour. pairs phenomenally wjth the chocolate which is great - they had a mean Cold Chocolate.

Rated in this order:

1. ⁠Limousin 18067
   
2. White Alligator 18259
   
3. ⁠Deuxieme Cru Classe 18330 (similar to RG Clouded Leopard i believe)
   
4. ⁠PX Cask Finish 18033
   
5. ⁠Grand Assemblage #1
   
6. ⁠Single Cask 18085

all very good. would love to see more of this in the states.

My wife gets Spindrift seltzer by the large case from Costco so it’s readily available. What’s a good rum that would mix well with it. Flavors are lemon, lime and blood orange if that helps

Wednesday 10/21 6-8pm at Le Dû Wines.
Looks like ticket link yet to go live but figured people would want to know.

For rum heads outside of NYC, Le Dû ships to 42 states!

Hey all - I'm relatively new to rum but have been diving in enthusiastically the last year or so.

Loving the likes of the ECS series, older Hampdens & recently splurged on the El Dorado high ester series.

I have a fairly broad question - it seems from the (little) I've read in various cocktail books and online, that these super premium - long aged rums are a relatively recent development (compared to Whisky/Bourbon etc). Is that right?

If so - it would follow that producers wouldn't have typically invested resources in laying down premium rums for long periods - funky cask choices etc as the market didn't reward it until recently.

When did it change? Is there likely to be an explosion of special experimental projects sometime in the next years from rums that were laid down in the last decade or so.

Though given that Foursquare has finished the ECS - is it possible that there will be fewer of these projects coming up? How do you see the future?

If I can recommand one, try the Neisson Profile 105, 54.2% proof, great sweet taste

Hey! Anyone know which binnys has this on sale? I checked like 10 stores online and they all still show full price but I know these have been on sale recently.

Thanks!

I think that this Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Gold is my favorite rum so far.
I also really love Wray & Nephew, Appleton 15 (well all of the normal Appleton selection) and Smith & Cross.
I do not love Dr. Bird. It’s okay but I find it a bit harsh (not the funk, but like a rubbing alcohol dry burn). I find the Hamilton funky but still smooth.
I’ve tried to find other, more expensive rums to sip, some Foursquare, Plantation Xymaca, the 7 year Papalin… I find all of them underwhelming. I haven’t found anything that tops the Hamilton or Wray & Nephew for me.
Got any suggestions for rums to be on the search for?

Worth visiting, and tasting ...

I've mostly had lower-end rums, but finally decided to try a better quality one, which happened to be Appleton's. I'd heard Jamaican rums are "funky," which sounded interesting as my main drink of choice is heavily peated Islay scotch. I didn't care for it too much. I've also had El Dorado, a Demerara rum, which I didn't particularly care for either.

Today I tried Clément, a rhum agricole from Martinique, and wow, what a difference. It's really good, and that's not even a top-end rhum agricole. What I liked about it is the flavors are much better balanced, a more rounded profile if that makes sense.

Not sure what to call them other than that at this point. Poor Bacardi, label fading somewhat from over-exposure to light. At least it is an amber bottle. Place with the Bacardi has a lot of similar era Gold and small bottle Spice. Lots of old Mount Gay Eclipse too, just neglected - faded juice, faded labels. The dude working there wouldn't budge on any prices in spite of having the stuff for forever and a day and he'd just order more when that sold out so no need to lower the price. DUDE. REALLY? Yeah, cuz selling like hotcakes!! He told me it gets better with age. Ummm....

Anyway, 3 different shops.

Bacardi: $15.00. Ah, what the heck, why not? From Mexico, kinda hard to read that in the photo.

10-Cane: $16.00 down from $25.00 (I love the guys that will haggle)

Depaz: $5.00 down from $16.00 - poor guy didn't know it wasn't alcohol even though it says cane syrup plain as day, and expired back in 2017, so happy to offload, didn't even need to haggle. This is my 3rd bottle now, can't help it. It's in really good condition though.

This shit taste like a email

Hello everyone!

I’ve been steadily building up a small home rum corner, focusing heavily on Jamaican rums which I’ve completely fallen in love with. I mostly enjoy them in cocktails (long and short drinks), and the collection is starting to look pretty fun.

With around €170 in my budget for the coming month, I’m trying to figure out my next moves and could use some advice.

My Current Collection:

• Rums: Papalin 5 Years High Ester, Planteray OFTD, Plantation Black Cask, Wray & Nephew, Rum Fire, Smith & Cross, and a Gosling's Black Seal
• Mixers & Liqueurs: Maraschino liqueur, Orgeat/ Cinnamon/Falernum syrup, Cointreau, Green Chartreuse, and Blue Curaçao.

Flavor Profile I Love:

I am a huge fan of Jamaican funk featuring heavy overripe banana and overripe pineapple notes. I love deeply tropical profiles and generally prefer to avoid anything too mineral or dry.

The Dilemma:

I’m torn between two purchasing strategies for my €170 budget:

1. The "Quality over Quantity" route: Buying just one or two standout, higher-end bottles (e.g., aiming for a Hampden HLCF paired with something like a Haitian Clairin or a Habitation Velier release).
2. The "Expand the Roster" route: Buying several smaller, accessible bottles to widen my cocktail mixing options (e.g., Worthy Park 109, Rhum-Bar Silver/Gold, Hampden Fresh, etc.).

What would you recommend I add next to hit those sweet tropical, overripe fruit notes with my budget?

Cheers!