Spinnaker Rum - Barbados FS 2014 (Foursquare)
Reviewer: Pickwick
Distillery: Foursquare
Origin: Saint Philip Parish, Barbados
Bottle Size: 375 ml
Bottle Count: Exact number not given; website states “under 300” sets
ABV: 58.4%
Distilled: 2014
Base Material: Molasses
Still: Pot/column blend
Aging specs: 8.2 years in an ex-bourbon cask at origin; 2.7 years continental (Netherlands); 0.4 years in Texas, recasked in Still Austin ex-bourbon
Bottled: 2025
Nose: Vanilla bean, oak, apple brandy, leather
Palate: Molasses, ginger, cream soda, stone fruit
Finish: Root beer, oak barrel, cinnamon
Rounding out our four reviews in four days of the inaugural Spinnaker rum release is their FS 2014, which has to be the least surprising distillery included in the set: Foursquare out of Barbados. If you’re at all conversant in the rum world these days, you know that Foursquare is generally viewed as a favorite of whiskey drinkers - the brand that converted a thousand bourbon snobs. In some ways I think this is oversimplified, but broadly it’s said for a reason. Foursquare rums tend to have a certain profile, and while that profile is rum, it’s a lot closer to whiskey than most rums I drink, that’s for sure.
Which is why I was pleasantly surprised to have this hit my tastebuds with a clear rumminess. There’s a bit of an overlay where I’d say I can taste the bourbon in a similar fashion to the other rums in this series, but there’s molasses right up front here, followed by stone fruit and spice. The mouthfeel is dense enough to help contribute some cream soda vibes, which also meld with a few other notes to suggest root beer on the finish.
There’s a Foursquare bottle for every price point, and pretty much all of them are at least okay. Truth be told, I’ve never developed a huge taste for Barbados rum - it’s very much a case of high floor, low ceiling. Foursquare has both the highest floor and highest ceiling on the island, in my opinion anyway, but it rarely excites me and this is just the latest example of, ho hum, a perfectly good Foursquare rum. (Now that the ECS series has wrapped up, I personally wouldn’t mind seeing Richard Seale take a few more chances.) But I don’t want to come off too negative here. This is the least interesting rum in the Spinnaker set and it’s still very good - that’s a big win for a new IB. If this bottling and the bourbon finishes get people less familiar with rum to taste and enjoy other classic rum distilleries, that’s a win as well. And Spinnaker has some new releases coming already - if nothing else, I’m really curious to see how Ghost Meridian (a blend of unaged Worthy Park with small-batch rum from Texas and Mexico) comes out. (No real web presence yet that I see, but if you search the TTB you can find the label; it cleared on 9/10/26). This is a brand I hope to see much more from in the future!
Taste/Haste Scale: 3 / 3
