Foursquare Mandamus Exceptional Cask Selection Mark XXIX 16 Year Old Full Proof Single Blended Rum (700ml)

"Excellent...If you’re a fan of heavily sherried or ported scotches, then you’ll feel right at home with this rum." - whiskyadvocate.com

The twenty ninth edition in the ECS series reaches the considerable age of 16 years, pushing beyond the 12-14 year mark of most previous releases. Time in oak was broken down to ten years in ex-Bourbon casks followed by six more years of aging in ex-Port barrels. In line with its predecessors, this is a blend of pot and column still rums. Richard Seale seems to have a never-ending repertoire of names up his sleeve, with "Mandamus" taken to refer to "an order from a court to an inferior government official ordering the government official to properly fulfill their official duties or correct an abuse of discretion." The rum is bottled at 57% without chill filtration.

Other reviews... While the port cask’s role in the whisky world is well-known, some drinkers would be surprised to find that they’re also popular in aged rum. Here, like in whisky, they’re often used for finishing to impart darker fruit notes, typically following a longer maturation in bourbon barrels... Mandamus, explores the power of port with a notably long secondary maturation. If you’re a fan of heavily sherried or ported scotches, then you’ll feel right at home with this rum. It’s darkly sweet and alluring on the nose, with black cherry, stewed fruits, marzipan, cinnamon sugar, plum, chocolate, and vanilla—getting even sweeter with a few drops of water. The palate is full and complex, bearing wine-soaked fruits, cherry pie, soft baking spices, molasses, overripe fruits, and pipe tobacco. Plum returns for an intense and seemingly eternal finish, joined by blackberry, marzipan, toasted coconut, and a kiss of oak. In a word, it’s excellent. - whiskyadvocate.com

...The Mandamus is a rum of great generosity and character. The longer aging seems to bring out more vanillic sweetness and honeyed tones, while the port continues to contribute those jammy, stewed fruit dimensions that sit more comfortably in the more aged blend (as compared to older port-influenced ECS expressions). What I mean is that while the port cask lends more tannic grip and oak spice than a pureplay ex-bourbon ECS, the density generated by the longer period of ex-bourbon aging seems to incorporate it better and keep things balanced while some tannins and spice add structure and liveliness.  This line is famous for its consistency, and the Mandamus is no exception in terms of its DNA, yet you can clearly taste the rewards of an extended 16-year aging: richer caramel, brown sugar and vanilla depth, with port influences well integrated. For me, this is probably the most layered of the ex-port cask aged Foursquare ECS so far. To take two points of reference, this feels a little rounder and more confectionary-influenced than the Covenant (which stands at 18 years, 100% ex-bourbon), and its port integration seems more seamless and complete compared to younger port-aged expressions like the Détente (10 years, of which 6 were spent in ex-port casks). - 88bamboo.com