Four Square Bottled by A.D. Rattray Indelible Rum 11 year old

From the original Zinfandel and Port barrel releases to the stellar Madeira-rich Sagacity, we've long loved Foursquare's softer releases that trade in some of the cask strength oomph for impeccable balance of blending and barrel finishing. With Indelible, the 18th release in the "Exceptional Cask Series", master distiller Richard Seale is returning to Zinfandel aging - the original version of which converted quite a few folks to the pleasures of a truly complex rum, and indeed left an indelible mark upon their palates.

As with all of Foursquare's regular releases, this is a blend of rums from their double-retort pot still and traditional twin-column coffey still. Additionally, this is a blend of two batches of those rums: One that aged solely in ex-bourbon barrels for 11 years, and another that first aged in ex-zinfandel casks for 5 years before being transfered to ex-bourbon for another 6. Wine barrel aging can be a very heavy-handed tool - but in Richard Seale's detail-obsessed hands, it seems to always work as a perfect supporting device to Foursquare's signature.

On the nose there is dark chocolate, brown sugar, cola, toasted coconut, figs, tart cherries, and woody notes of vanilla and varnish. The palate shows a full mouthfeel - not quite a viscous oily monster like some of the distillery's cask strength releases, but certainly no slouch in terms of presence. The flavors on display reflect the nose nicely, with figs and raisins up front with some sweet-tart berries, dark chocolate ganache, a hint of cooked banana, and brown sugar. The finish shows a bit of spicy black pepper and a bit of that coconut from the nose, lingering pleasantly before inviting you back for more. Bottled at 48% abv with no additives of any kind.