Foursquare Covenant Review [In Depth]
Foursquare Covenant
by: ALEX WANG
Founder, writer
Founder, writer
Foursquare Covenant Details
Distillery: Foursquare
Type & Region: Rum, Barbados
Alcohol: 58%
Composition: 100% molasses
Aged: 18 years
Color: 1.5/2.0 on the color scale (auburn, polished mahogany)
Price: $170-190
From the back of the bottle:
Matured for 18 years at Foursquare, free of added color, sweetener, or flavoring. A blend of rums distilled in the copper double report pot still and the continuous twin column still of Foursquare which have been aged for a total of 18 years in ex-bourbon casks.
Non-chill filtered
foursquare covenant overview
Every year, Foursquare has a few interesting tricks up its sleeve. Some years, they focus on different cask maturations / finishes blended in with the ex-bourbon matured rums. Touchstone, with some parts partially aged in Cognac casks, and Sovereignty, with some parts partially matured in sherry casks, are two examples of Foursquare going in that direction. You get some pretty interesting notes with those extra cask finishes.
Apart from that, there’s their other line that’s more straightforward (in a sense) that’s purely focused on age and keeping it simple by aging it in only ex-bourbon casks. There’s the more vintage-focused Foursquare 12 Year, always aged in ex-bourbon casks but barreled in different years (2004, 2005, 2006, etc).
Then there’s the extra-aged rums such as 16 year old Shibboleth and 17 year old Foursquare Isonomy that push the boundaries of tropically aged Barbados rum. This 18 year old Foursquare Covenant, released in May 2023, falls squarely into the extra-aged rum category, and the age is really pushing it.
At 18 years old, I think that this is the longest-aged Foursquare release to date, even if you include interdependently bottled releases. Before that, I think Foursquare Isonomy, at 17 years old, was the oldest. I honestly thought Foursquare wouldn’t go past 17 years for a while to come, but they surprisingly eclipsed that in short order. I’m not mad.
There’s an interesting fact here – most of the extra-aged releases come from barrels filled in 2005. Seventeen year Isonomy and 18 year Covenant come from those stocks, and I wonder if 2005 happened to be a year that they filled more barrels and had the ability to let them age longer. Who knows, maybe 19 and 20 year releases are in the works (at least as of this review).
In doing some research, I found that while the rum is aged for 18 years, it’s not necessarily 18 straight years in the same barrels. Instead, it’s aged for a period of time in ex-bourbon casks, then proofed down some amount and then aged again in bourbon casks.
I can’t say for sure why that was done, but I suspect that lowering the ABV was meant to slow down the interaction between rum and oak, which is important when aging it for that long in the super hot and humid Caribbean. That can also be controlled by using 2nd or 3rd fill casks, which inherently have less reactiveness to infuse into the rum, which can also work well with that much time and heat.
Let’s find out what all this extra time does to this rum in this Foursquare Covenant rum review.
As an FYI, I bought and use these Glencairn glasses for everything (they’re the best): Glencairn Crystal Whiskey Glass Set of 6, Set of 4, Set of 2, or just one. Full transparency, this is an affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
foursquare covenant smell
Oooh, Foursquare Convenant has tons of brown sugar, followed by prunes, heaping spoonfuls of cinnamon, raisins, vanilla, rum raisin cake, candied ginger, clove, orange peel, nutmeg, oak, and banana nut bread. The scents are exceedingly decadent and dessert-y. I don’t think that I’ve gotten anything quite this raisin / date forward from Foursquare.
It has such lovely boldness, richness, expressiveness, and complexity with so many layers of dessert-y dark sweetness and very little astringency or heat. Whoa, this is so so so good.
This may be a bit of a confusing statement, but Foursquare Covenant is what I always expected rum to smell like. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of other amazing rums from all over the world, but this smells like a brown sugar dessert with no funk and no vegetal / wild ripeness. Again, those other traits are great and I appreciate them a lot, but it doesn’t necessarily feel like it was made from sugarcane. This feels like sugarcane in true spirit form.
After swirling, I get more of the same decadent magic. The simple but accurate description is that Foursquare Covenant smells like homemade rum raisin cake with a thick brown sugar crust, made by an expert baker with a lot of love and care. It’s dark, sweet, decadent, and full of raisins and magic. I’ve never smelled anything else like this, which is an amazing thing.
The extra time in oak and expert barrel management has created a beautiful rum that shows off what older Barbados rum can be.
foursquare covenant taste and aftertaste
Foursquare Covenant starts with rich brown sugar, vanilla cream, raisin, and cinnamon followed by toasted oak, candied ginger, nutmeg, dates, candied walnuts, orange extract, and wood varnish (can appear with spirits that are older and have more oak interaction). There’s a simmering heat and bite that can be a little distracting at times.
This undoubtedly tastes like rum raisin cake, meaning it has a very dessert-y, toasty, and decadent qualities, although there’s not as much low-end roundness, syrupiness, and heft as I would have expected from Foursquare this old. I know other rums like Longpond STCE 15 Year (from Jamaica) are quite rich, viscous, and heavy with more docile heat, so I know what rum can be.
The scents suggest that Covenant would be a darker and heavier tasting rum, but the flavors go in a different direction with slightly brighter sweetness. It still tastes amazing but it’s also surprising, not always in a good way.
With hard “chewing” I taste very rich brown sugar (but not so viscous and syrupy), vanilla extract, raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, and candied ginger followed by toasted oak, oak varnish that comes with old oak-aged spirits, orange extract, dried apple and apricot, candied walnut, and a slight aged funk.
All that brown sugar, raisin, and oak spices feel incredibly mature and developed. It has that caramelized brown sugar pastry vibe that I’ve always wanted a rum to have. While all of it feels dark, it’s not nearly as heavy and viscous as I expected given the age.
The finish leaves brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins, toasted oak, candied ginger, nutmeg, clove, and orange peel. After “chewing”, it leaves brown sugar, vanilla, raisins, oak, cinnamon, nutmeg, baked red apples, candied lemon, and moderate alcohol burn.
Foursquare Covenant has great range and nuance, but the heat definitely kicks up a notch too with “chewing”. This is one of those rums where you need to sip in small quantities to get the best experience, otherwise the heat can kick harder than is ideal. I don’t know what it is, but I often find Foursquare rums to bite more than other rums at the same ABV.
Foursquare Covenant overall has incredible flavor, but it’s not as complex and nuanced as the scents are. So much of it has to do with the heat having a more noticeable (but not overpowering) presence. The bite and heat keep it just out of reach of “wow”.
I’ve unfortunately lost some Glencairn’s while in transit, and that made me very sad. So, I wised up and bought this Glencairn Travel Case that comes also comes with 2 glasses so I don’t need to worry so much about them breaking. I think it’s great, and I think you’ll love it too.
Seriously, if you already have glasses, protect them.
Foursquare Covenant Rating
For a few moments there I thought that I had a rum masterpiece in my glass, although it still isn’t so far from that. The scents are unreal, more or less what I always thought rum would smell like (before taking the time to explore all its variations) because it’s made from sugar (ok fine molasses from sugarcane).
The expressive, deep, and rich brown sugar, raisins, and cinnamon among other things are flat out decadent and captivating. I’ve never smelled anything like it before…it is “wow”. This feels like sticking my face into a bag of brown sugar and taking a deep smell (I’ve done it before) or smelling a freshly made rum raisin cake.
Unfortunately, the flavors, while still delightful and delicious, allow the heat to be involved just enough that I couldn’t get up to “Top Shelf+”. I don’t know why the heat hasn’t been sufficiently tamed over 18 years, but it definitely has its moments where it pushes me away from the decadent and dessert-y flavors.
It’s very disappointing in that way because this is “Top Shelf+” if it weren’t so hot. I tried this 3 separate times for this review, and I couldn’t shake the heat. Honestly, I thought that I was going crazy.
After I finished my notes, I scoured the internet for other reviews and saw a few other reviewers mention the heat as well. I think that means that I’m fine and this rum, as great as it is, has some problems with the heat. Confirmation bias? Maybe.
With the heat, this demands that you drink it slowly and with small sips, otherwise the heat might run a bit too freely and bite you, even if you’re a seasoned high proof spirits drinking vet. If you can tame heat, then you’re in for a treat.
Nonetheless, I’m still very happy with Foursquare Covenant and I think it’s worth it for me, although it’s still far from a good value. There’s nothing else really like it, and depending on the person, there’s value in that as well.
Meet the Author: Alex
I have far too much fun writing about whiskey and singlehandedly running The Whiskey Shelf to bring you independent, honest, and useful reviews, comparisons, and more. I’m proudly Asian American and can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and some Japanese.
There are no sponsors, no media companies, and no nonsense. Support The Whiskey Shelf by Buying Me A Shot.
Shattered glass really sucks, so if you’re on the move, this Glencairn-like stainless steel snifter glass should survive your travels. Full transparency, this is an Amazon affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
BrüMate NOS’R, Double-Wall Stainless Steel Whiskey Nosing Glass – 7oz (Matte Black)
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