Doorly’s Fine Old Barbados Rum Aged 14 Years

Description

From the Foursquare premium stable, a sensational rum every rum lover should have in your collection – The Doorly’s Fine Old Barbados Rum Aged 14 Years has garnered significant acclaim within the spirits community, reflecting its exceptional quality and craftsmanship. A blend of pot and column distilled rum, 100% tropically aged for 14yrs in American and French oak casks.

It received a Gold Medal at the International Spirits Challenge in 2019 and a Silver Medal at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in the same year, highlighting its excellence in both taste and production. It was also honoured as Rum of the Year in 2022 by The Whisky Exchange – a prestigious recognition that underscores its standout character among global rum offerings.

The aging process of Doorly’s 14-Year-Old Rum is a key contributor to its refined complexity, showcasing Foursquare Distillery’s signature dual-maturation technique. This expression spends 14years in a combination of ex-bourbon barrels and ex-Madeira wine casks, each playing a distinct role in developing the rum’s layered profile. The American white oak ex-bourbon barrels impart classic notes of vanilla, toasted coconut, and warming spices. These barrels also help smooth out the spirit while adding depth through subtle tannins and oaky structure. As the rum rests in these casks, it absorbs these complex flavours. The result is a rum with exceptional character and harmony.

What sets the 14-Year-Old apart is the component matured in ex-Madeira casks, which are not often seen in mainstream rum production (although we did also feature a Madeira aged rum last month of course – the oReizinho!). Think dried fruits, toasted nuts, and a subtle sweetness with some dry astringency in the mix for good measure.

This dual-wood maturation process, combined with the tropical climate of Barbados, gives Doorly’s 14yo a sensational balance of richness, fruitiness, and spice that is turned all the way to 11.
It’s not a new product by any means – it’s one of Foursquare’s core products, it’s not exclusive to the Rum Tribe and to be honest -it’s not even that hard to find! But. But – it is a genuinely sensational rum that should be in every rum lovers collection.

Our Tasting Notes

Nose: The very first thing you notice on the nose is just the immense… richness of this rum! Even before you start to decipher what it’s trying to say, you just get a sense of deep luxuriousness that oozes into your olfactory system. Funky pineapple, apricot jam, leather and biscuit spices and there’s a beguiling sea-salty kick in those aromas too.

Palate: Wow! The nose doesn’t lie – but the sheer wall of flavour that bursts forth on that first sip is almost overwhelming at first. There’s a good hit of pepper almost immediately, but that opens like a curtain as big sweet fruity berry flavours along with new leather, ginger nut biccies (with an extra pinch of allspice just like Nan made).

Finish: Oh wow – I’m a sucker for a big finish in a rum and this is certainly one of those. Big and chewy – the sweet fruity berries of the palate morph into tart blackberry astringency that swings to gingery and fruit-tingle peppery …with the merest hint of smoke there too.

This is a textbook example of why Foursquare is one of the most acclaimed and awarded distilleries in the world. This is a rum that has more layers than Donkey’s onion, a depth that is apparent from the very first smell from the cork-pop, body and richness by the metric ton and a finish that will have you sucking your teeth until the final fruit-tingle-like sensation on your tongue leaves you simultaneously reminiscing school tuckshops … and reaching for the bottle for another one!

Reviews From Afar

Due to there being no official tasting notes on the 14yo from Foursuare (that I can find anyway) I’ll share some reviews from some rum notables – It’s not just us that thinks this is great rum!

The Fat Rum Pirate gives it 4 stars and says “Doorly’s Fine Old Barbados Rum Aged 14 Years is, as the name suggests, a very fine rum. For most other producers this would be the jewel in the crown. Their best efforts. For Foursquare it’s just another great rum.”

The Lone Caner says “… well made, well assembled, succeeding on every level without reaching for the moon, a sipper for every occasion for any income bracket, and frankly, I believe it’s an ECS edition in all but name. I call mine “Misnomer.”