Foursquare ECS XVI Shibboleth 2005

The best Foursquare I've ever tasted ❤️

Reminiscent of all vintage bottling, only that this is rounder and more intense. The 16 years stand him well. Longer, however, it should not be. Fortunately, I was able to get hold of three bottles.

Great and Idiomatic (to stay in that peculiar semantic field Richard seems to enjoy so much) Foursquare even if, dare i say it... it's even better with a dash of water. I miss some perfectly interwoven layers like in the Criterion to score it even higher. Edit : forgot to mention the delicious Banoffee Pie. One more point.

Exquisitely versatile and yet not overwhelming! Sweet vanilla-almond-date aromas with underlying wood and chestnut hints. Subtle malt, carefully integrated alcohol. A fine example of the ECS series!

Again a really good Foursquare.

My personal winner of todays FS tasting shibb>2009>empery. This one has the best round overall feeling. Alcohol is integrated better than in others. All in all, all three are very similar in tastes/smells. Nose: solvents, dried fruits, coconut, raisin, carmel, butterscotch, woody, oak, roasted nuts, cashews Mouth: dry, sharpness, round, elegant, full bodied, complex, balanced, coconut, raisin, dried fruit, caramel Finish: Medium, dry, round, dried fruits, sweet, caramel, oak(barrel), vanilla, roasted nuts, cocoa, dark chocholate roasted

An elegant and intense Foursquare, a beautiful selection

Schöner Foursquare hier. In der Nase haben wir eine schöne Mischung bestehend aus Vanille, Kokosnuss und Holz. Am Gaumen ebenfalls angenehm süß, zur Vanille gesellen sich hier Karamell und Schokolade, außerdem wieder Holz und Kokosnuss.

A soft, delicate Barbados in which the wood recedes into the background and lighter notes of dried fruit and vanilla stand out. Of course, there is no shortage of coconut or chocolate, and although I'm cutting back a bit in the rating, I still consider this rum one of the best "normal" Foursquares.

Un excellent FS.. manque juste un peu de longueur.. Bon côté fruité et ce côté fraîcheur très intéressant.. Belle réussite..

On the nose, vanilla caramel alternates with spicy wood. Sometimes a hint of fruit or chocolate shines through, but the fruit is more discreet compared to the FS 2008. Very tasty profile! Rather less spicy in the mouth, despite 56%. Still naturally spicy, woody, chocolaty, fruity. Now far too expensive, a very good rum anyway.

Rounder on the nose vs ECS 2008 and 2009. Overall a little more elegant (some additional years in the barrel(s) seem to pay off here), but otherwise more or less on par with his brothers.

A very nice and well balanced rum especially thinking about how well the wood has been integrated without being dominant. Lovely rum that is already hard to obtain. Price to quality is not so good, but still a good rum.

Surprisingly mild - alcohol well integrated, plus a fruit note rather unusual for Foursquare. No revolution in taste, but a good representative. If with increasing age actually further flavors in the known spectrum, one can hopefully look forward to further releases of similar (tropical) maturity. I like it well.