Foursquare ECS XXV Equipoise

 #5007 29.12.2024 Relaxing while watching "The Colour Purple". Nose Light wood, light roasted, faint apple, light cinnamon, spice, light orange, light ginger, dried fruit, faint chocolate. Palate Round, balanced, light wood, light roasted, dried fruit, light apple, light coconut, faint caramel, light chocolate. Finish Medium to long, light wood, light nutts, light coconut, light orange, light chocolate. The empty glass has light tea, berries and faint licorice.

 A complex, soft and welcoming Rum 👍🏻

 A nice new offering from Foursquare. This one is quite nice on the nose: chocolate, wood, cola, deep fruit notes, syrup, vanilla, spice - this one has lots of deep sweet smells. The palate is heavy on spice, barrel and prominent raisin, with some roasted and brown sugar notes. Nice body to this one too. I feel like in the recent past I would have maybe scored this a little higher but I think I find it harder to feel wowed by Foursquare these days. That said, this also does not disappoint in any way - they rarely ever do.

 Im kurzen Vergleichstest der Foursquare Equipoise und der Foursquare Empery. Wie es nicht anders zu erwarten war, sind beide auf dem üblich hohen Niveau. Insgesamt gesehen, brechen aber beide auch nicht nach oben aus. Mittlerweile, obwohl ich Foursquare sehr schätze, wäre mein Fazit, kennste einen, kennste alle.

 Tasted blind with some other Foursquare bottlings. I would have expected to be able to taste the Calvados finish in some form. However, this completely passed me by. All in all, a good Foursquare, but one that doesn't stand out from the other ECS releases.

 Au nez on il y un agréable parfum de pomme verte .L alcool est discret. C est boisé et un peu de sucre brun. La bouche : c est incroyablement doux , pas la petite astringence que l on trouve quelque fois chez foursquare. On est sur du caramel un leger poivré , du vieux fût un peu humide , de très légères touches de pommes. La finale est très moyenne et douce bois caramel. En conclusion, agréable et facile à boire , mais pas une priorité d achat non plus.

 Good Foursquare as always but the problem for me is that FS favour profile is very narrow and it never really suprises or drift very far from the standard flavours. Same with this. Calvados is nice but also not present enough imo. Once you've tried a few you've had em all.

 Typical Foursquare profile without frills.

 Another delicious Foursquare, but here in particular I would have expected more from the Calvados finish, especially as Calvados is normally quite dominant. I therefore think it is more in line with the other good Foursquares without standing out too much.

 Already a great color in the glass, quite dark. The typical Foursquare profile on the nose, but behind it a subtle hint of orange zest and a hint of the barrel. Very harmonious. Also very round and balanced on the palate, with the typical aromas of longer matured Foursquare ECS such as vanilla, clove and also some wood, but for me this is the first Foursquare in which I can also clearly find orange or orange zest. The finish is then medium long and slowly fades out with clove and orange zest. As expected, this Foursquare ECS doesn't reinvent Barbados rum either (you buy Foursquare, you get Foursquare - surprise!), but the orange zest makes it stand out clearly enough for my taste from the other Foursquare bottlings I know. Nobiliary, Sovereignty, now the Equipoise, I'm beginning to get the impression that you can hardly go wrong with the 14y Foursquare. I think I definitely need another bottle here and I'm curious to see how it develops over time in the air, then perhaps a better rating is possible.

 Complex evolving rum, the rum starts hot as expected with the 122 proof, but it evolves to oak and vanilla, then finishes with a toffee and butter note that is quite pleasant. Spice is prevelant through the tasting experience. I really enjoyed this rum as my first ECS Foursquare rum.

 A typical Foursquare nose: vanilla, caramel, candied tropical fruit and coconut powder. The Calvados cask leaves notes of tangier fruit. The palate is much fatter than the other Foursquares I've tasted so far. The alcohol is very present and warms well for the 61° announced. Again, lots of coconut, burnt sugar and a hint of vanilla. Less oaky than other bottles. The finish is very long and pleasant.

 Quite nice expression, a bit spicy for my tasting, but all the right FS notes are there.

 Auf keinen Fall ein nur guter Rum, aber ein Alleinstellungsmerkmal fehlt diesem Rum leider. Calvados? Keine Ahnung, ob das den Charakter dieses Rums erweitert hat. Trotzdem harmonisch und rund mit holziger und schokoladiger Nase.

 Tasted at the UK RumFest, and not a fully in depth tasting - overall impression was that it was good but not one of the strongest of the ECS range. I tasted the Magisterium alongside it and felt that to be better. The guys on the Foursquare stand were really knowledgeable and welcoming. I also got to meet Richard Seale later in the day too as he staed around after his masterclass.