Foursquare 2004 Rum. I’ve raved about the incredible-ness of Foursquare products before, and this one is no exception. This is a cask strength rum aged in ex-bourbon barrels for 11 years. At 59%, this is on the higher side to sip on its own, but water/ice or without, the flavor and quality of this are TOP NOTCH. For a whiskey drinker who really appreciates cask-strength options and has never given rum much thought as a spirit to enjoy straight, this is one to try that may change your outlook. 😉 Check out other great “sipping rums” at 4| Aged (Sipping) Rum.

So, about ex-bourbon barrels…as interesting as it sounds, actually most all #rums are aged in used bourbon barrels, even when it’s not explicitly called out. Not only do used #bourbon barrels produce delicious rums, it’s also largely economical. Regulations for a product to be labeled as “bourbon” require that it’s aged in *new* charred American oak barrels only. Ok….great…but once you make a batch, what happens to the barrel? Since wooden barrels can feasibly be reused many times to provide flavor benefits during aging, many other spirits (rum included) adopted the usage of used bourbon barrels for aging.

Although the ability for the wood qualities to transfer and interact with the spirit will lessen over time/reuse, it’s good for quite a few more uses than a single round of bourbon production, and is also why we often find other bourbon barrel-aged products on the market – anything from beers to maple syrups to cocktails.