Review 3 and at the time of writing the rum world is in the middle of a heated discussion about GI. Primarily of Barbados and by extension of Jamaica. I don’t think the world needs yet another opinion on this subject, so I’ll just link to some others who have written about it: The Fat Rum Pirate, Rum Revelations and Rum Diaries Blog have all written about it.
I actually prefer to look at the rums being produced and the quality and taste of these rums.
Of course we need clear rules in the form of GI’s, but as long as we all enjoy what we’re drinking and we actually know what we’re drinking thanks to increased transparency from the rum world. I think we can all live side by side without having an extreme and overly hurtful opinion about each other. Why burn bridges when you can build upon each other’s success
Now onto the thing that matters the most to me. The rum inside this bottle. What is the story behind this rum? What is the purpose of this rum? Does it smell like, taste like, feel like? And so on…
Foursquare Hereditas. That is what I’ll be talking about today. This rum is the result of the first collaboration between the prolific and highly respected Foursquare distillery owned by Mr. Richard Seale and The Whisky Exchange owned by Mr. Sukhinder Singh
The rum is (according to the new classification system of TWE) a single traditional blended rum. This is in reference to the single distillery and the blended distillation method: a combination of pot and column stills. After distillation this rum has had 2 separate aging processes. One part has been aged for 14 years in ex-bourbon cask, the other part for 10 years in ex-bourbon cask and subsequently 4 years in ex-sherry cask (ex-oloroso to be precise). These 2 parts were then blended into the rum that we now know as Hereditas.
To round of the specs, it’s bottled at 56% ABV and there have been 2520 bottles released.
Colour
Very deep orange- brown colour, lovely sherry influence in the colour already
Nose
The first thing I notice is that there’s no real “alcoholic” smell, you wouldn’t notice it’s a 56% rum. The first notes I get are a considerable amount of vanilla and some zesty citrus, some oranges and a bit of that refreshing lime. Overall it’s quite a sweet smell but with some fun interesting hints here and there, a bit of smoked wood and leather. It’s almost whisky-like. After a while the freshness of the lime transforms to more of an apple aroma. I must admit that I also get a scent that I absolutely didn’t expect, a slight saltiness as though I’m walking on the beach on a cold autumn day and the fresh sea breeze hits my face (to me it’s quite a nostalgic smell and therefore I really appreciate it). The final nosing before I got to tasting also revealed some forest-y fruit qualities.
Taste
The nose was definitely more sweeter than the taste. It’s actually a really dry rum this. The first thing apart from this is the tannic bitterness of the wood (which at the first moment is a bit of putting to me). 14 years of tropical aging will do that to a rum. Further on I also get a tingle of ginger with some other spices, some red fruit and a bit of coconut in the background. Some deeper notes were also present in the form of smoked wood and dark chocolate.
Once again I got caught by surprise by this rum. Some anise reared its head and the saltiness came back again in very small amounts (I don’t know if it’s just me or what).
Finish
The finish on this 14 year old darling of mine wasn’t very long. The high ABV wasn’t apparent here either, it’s always pleasant not having to swallow your rum with one of those terrible “I look like I’ve never drunken alcohol before” faces and a subsequent cough.
Flavourwise I get some lingering woodiness and a bit of dark chocolate remaining.
To conclude. This is indeed a nice rum. I must say I’ve gotten used to very highly flavoured Jamaican rums as of late, so this is a nice change of pace as it’s not as in your face, but more subtle. However personally, Jamaican rum speaks more to me and this is less of an “experience focused” rum and more of like a rum you’d drink on weekdays after a day of work. But taking the rum on it’s own it is indeed a good rum. However the short finish and the instant hit of bitterness do leave more to be desired. A real sherry influence was also hard to find for me personally, apart from the nose it didn’t really live up to my expectation as a sherry-cask aged rum.
7/10
The Rum Robin 
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