Foursquare 2008

Vibrant and rich nose with bourbon-like notes with brown sugar, baked bananas with caramel, coconut, vanilla, apple, spice, and slight acetone. Pretty complex nose. Nice sweet notes of oak, cherry, red fruits, spice, and slight vanilla and leather on the palate. Exceptional rum that Bourbon lovers will love.

New to sipping rum Nose is brown sugar, vanilla cream cookies, butter, and dates. Taste is burnt sugar, vanilla, raisin cookies, and subtle oak. The mouthfeel is extra viscous and sticky Finish goes on and on with a great alcohol heat and sticky stewed fruits

Darker and richer in the traditional "rum flavors" than the 2007 edition, which I appreciate although '07 is great in its own right. Try it uncut and with dilution to fully appreciate. I add 1 tsp. filtered water to 1 fl oz for a 101 proof dilution that goes down the hatch for the full throated finish much more nicely. Maybe even go down to 90 proof with 2 tsp water without too much loss if that's too hot.

Pours like a viscous Scotch but with a deep dark amber hue that makes you think of rich mahogany and leather bound books. The smell wafts from the glass as you begin the descent of your nose. Sticky pineapple upside down cake, clove, cinnamon, vanilla icing, and leather all jump into your senses and warm your soul. The richness and depth of the nose make you hesitant to sip as you just want to swirl and admire a bit longer. The taste is full, rich and hits everywhere on the palate. It does not dance it lays down like a warm blanket of molasses, cocoa, coconut, and rich vanilla bean. As you sit with it the savory notes burrow in with that leather note from the nose along with tobacco and dark chocolate. The final chapter does not disappoint as the finish hangs like a dense cloud from a fancy pipe. That pineapple note pokes through the aforementioned savory notes and reminds you this is rum and surprisingly not a top shelf Scotch. Bravo. If you ever see Foursquare Rum grab it.

2007 Foursquare is one of the finest rums that I have tried. I have heard 2008 is better, but I hate hype so let's see how it lives up. The aroma here isn't all that enticing. It is heavy on the alcohol as you might expect at 60%. Maybe a hint of sweetness on the edge, but hard to get passed the fumes. Hopefully it goes down more smoothly. First sip is much better than the nose. There is a LOT going on here. There is almost a peanut brittle sweetness on the front end as the sugar washes over you tongue and the 120 proof heat rolls in. The finish is a pretty significant burn. Overall this isn't quite as nice as 2007. That dram sold me on Foursquare, but this 2008 edition may have reached too far on the punch. It is still a damn fine rum that stands far apart from most of the stuff on the local store shelf. Just falls short of the hype in my book.

Very fruity, brown sugar and coconut with a long finish. Goes down easy for 60% definitely worth the buck. I’m a whiskey guy and this drinks like a whiskey but it’s a good change of pace