Rum Sixty Six 12 year old Family Reserve Gold Rum, Foursquare Distillery, R.L.Seale & Co. 40%

Description

Rum Sixty Six Family Reserve is produced by one of the last independently family-owned distilleries of the Carribbean, the Foursquare Distillery on the gentle southern slopes of the St George Valley, St Philip, Barbados. The Seale family, who own the distillery, have been in the rum trade on the island since 1820, and can trace their history back to the 1650s. Rum Sixty Six Family Reserve derives from an original parcel of rum that was aged and bottles for Seale’s family members living overseas, mainly in England. Until most recently the Rum Sixty Six has not been available to the public. Rum Sixty Six is small batch distilled, from molasses, usually 112 barrels worth, and is aged for 12 years in small American white oak barrels. Most of the oak barrels are sourced from a very famous distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Tropical ageing (i.e. maturation at relative warm temperatures) imparts a character and complexity comparable to European spirits twice this age. Rum Sixty Six Family Reserve is a blend of rums from Foursquare’s column or “Coffey” still and from the traditional copper pot still. The former gives more delicate, nuanced flavours, whilst the later gives the rum more robust, brash character. The rum is aged at a strength of 65%, which is lower than the most Caribbean rums, this means that, although more casks are required, there is better extraction from the wood and less of the spirit evaporates. Even so, after 12 years the original volume of rum will have decreased by about half. After 8 years the casks with the best potential are chosen and separated from the rest, they are reduced in alcohol to near bottling strength and then returned to the barrels for ageing until they are 12 years old. The end product is gently filtered prior to bottling and export. Rum Sixty Six takes its name from the date that Barbados gained independence, 30 November 1966, St Andrew’s Day, whereupon it adopted the coat of arms bearing the national motto “Pride and Industry”. This coat of arms can be found on the label of every bottle.