Foursquare Empery Exceptional Cask Selection
Foursquare · Foursquare Distillery
Richard Seale's Exceptional Cask Selection bottlings are the gold standard for aged Barbadian rum, and Empery — aged in bourbon and then Madeira casks — demonstrates how sequential cask maturation can create layers without muddying the spirit. Fourteen years in wood have produced something that rivals the best aged spirits in any category.
Nose
Immediate toffee and dark chocolate give way to orange peel and dried fruit. There is a cedar-like oak presence and a vanilla sweetness that suggests well-managed bourbon cask influence. Beneath it all sits a molasses-rich core that anchors everything.
Palate
Full-bodied and commanding at cask strength. The oak influence is deeply integrated — toasted coconut and vanilla from the bourbon barrels, dried fruit and sherry-like richness from the ex-sherry casks. Leather and tobacco develop through the mid-palate, while a roasted coffee note adds bittersweet balance.
Finish
Exceptionally long. Toffee and dried fruit linger, with oak spice and a whisper of leather trailing off slowly. No harsh edges despite the proof.
- Base Ingredient
- Barbados molasses
- Distillation
- Blend of pot still and column still rum
- Country
- St. Philip, Barbados
Food Pairing
Dark chocolate truffles dusted with sea salt and espresso
Master distiller Richard Seale crafted Empery at the family's Foursquare Distillery in St. Philip parish, aging a blend of pot and column still rums in ex-bourbon barrels before finishing in ex-Madeira casks.
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