Rum Stories: Foursquare 1998 Exceptional Cask Selection

Foursquare Distillery is often touted as one of the most revered names in the world of rum, and for good reason. Respected for its commitment to quality and transparency, it's earned a reputation as a key player in the ongoing ‘rum revolution’. At the heart of it all is Richard Seale, master distiller and blender, known for his uncompromising stance on purity and his detail-driven approach to creating high-calibre, unadulterated expressions.

The distillery is owned by R.L. Seale & Co, a family company with a traceable history of rum making in Barbados that stretches all the way back to 1820. The R. L. Seale brand began life in the early 1900s as a small distribution outfit, sourcing rums from names like the West Indies Rum Refinery for blending. It was only a matter of time before they took matters into their own hands, moving from respected rum merchants to producers in their own right.  

In 1995, Sir David Seale took a risk by staking on a mostly decrepit sugar factory tucked away on the southern countryside of Barbados. It may have seemed an unlikely home for a world-class distillery at the time, but with refurbishment and the installation of custom-built stills the following year, Foursquare Rum Distillery was reborn and its first spirit was produced. Today, Foursquare is known for its production of Single Blended Rum, combining both pot and column distillates both before and after maturation.

Introduced in 2008, the Exceptional Cask Selection (ECS) series has become a beacon for rum enthusiasts, showcasing the very best of what Foursquare can produce. While the distillery continues its regular bottlings under the R.L. Seale and Doorly’s brands, the ECS range is a another string to their bow, allowing Richard's creativity to take the lead by experimenting with a variety of unique wood finishes and blending styles. Seale says that the range was inspired by his desire to practice a more dynamic approach to rum-making. In true Foursquare fashion, all expressions are non-chill-filtered and entirely free from caramel colourings, sugar and other adulteration. The experimental nature of these expressions means that they are produced in limited runs, with new selections  released on an annual basis and arriving to much anticipation from global spirit lovers. 

The very first release in the series was the 1998 Bourbon Cask 10 Year Old, launched in 2008. According to the back label, this rum was matured in ex-bourbon white oak casks for around eight years, then reduced in strength, returned to cask for a second maturation, and finally hand-bottled and labelled when deemed ready. A meticulous and hands-on process, emblematic of Foursquare’s entire philosophy.

Unlike today’s ECS releases, which are classic single blended rums (meaning they are produced from both pot and column stills in one location), this inaugural bottling is exclusively from the traditional column still.  Richard explained to us that at the time of this first release, column-still rum was far more popular among their customer base because of the lighter profile and more naturally sweet and soft characters it imparts with the rum.

Though the label reads “Cask #2807,” this was actually one of many casks used in the 15,000 bottle run. All were bottled under the same number, leaving some mystery as to which cask each bottle truly came from.

Fifteen years on, this bottling has become almost mythical. You won’t find it on retail shelves and it appears only rarely on the secondary market. It's believed that most bottles were opened and enjoyed as rum lovers seized the opportunity to try Foursquare’s first foray in a new direction with their first branded vintage release. That, in itself, adds to the allure. Its scarcity, combined with its historical significance and rumoured quality, has earned it a place among what collectors now call ‘endangered rums’.

With thousands of rums consigned through our doors, we've only ever seen a handful of bottles of the Foursquare 1998 Bourbon Cask 10 Year Old come to auction. With so few spotted 'out in the wild', each appearance offers an exciting and rare opportunity for rum enthusiasts and collectors to secure a truly coveted piece of Foursquare history.