Australian Indie rum bottler Dead Reckoning has unveiled a 14 year old Foursquare single cask, very interestingly named after an old Royal Navy tool - the Bosun's Persuader.

After eight years of tropical maturation in Barbados in an ex-bourbon cask, this spirit was moved to Adelaide under Dead Reckoning's founder Justin Boseley's supervision. There, it was transferred into a 200-liter, first-fill Maker’s Mark ex-bourbon barrel and "dry aged" for an additional six years in the intense, arid heat of South Australia.

The brutally hot summers of Australia saw the independent bottler's barrel aging warehouse hit temperatures of over 50°C in summer, on top of prolonged months of cold winters. During its period of dry aging in Adelaide (one of the driest places on Earth based on average humidity) the ABV climbed - that's right, up, not down! - in the barrel by a whopping 15%, reaching 68% ABV before being disgorged, which served to intensify the rum. It has quite the hefty angel's share (spirit lost to evaporation) of no less than 22% of the barrel, or around 44 litres! It was then released at 61% ABV after being watered down from its cask strength of 69% ABV.

Dead Reckoning's Foursquare releases are highly likely the only in the world where the famed Barbados rum has experienced such an intensifying of its spirit with the ABV naturally going up.

 
Official Tasting Notes

Nose: A richness of over-ripe tropical fruit notes, sweet, hot, dripping caramel and Christmas cake spices, along with fragrant vanilla pods just-cut and scraped, and freshly opened Allen’s jube lollies complete this olfactory symphony.

Palate: A warm heat with some peppery prickles that build and then quickly melt away as sweet waves of fruit mince crash onto a base of vanilla custard, mixed-peel citrus and Jasmine flowers.

Finish: Fades with an interesting sweet yet dry-ness. More citrus peel notes sit alongside hi-cocoa dark chocolate, subdued but discernible [Barbadian] funk. Very moreish and lip-smacking.

The rum is so named after the titular Bosun's Persuader, a weighted, flexible club used by Royal Navy boatswains (Bosuns) to discipline lazy sailors or enforce press-gangs to recruit men by hitting them, often on the head, to ensure they worked or joined the ship.

These antique naval disciplinary tools consisted of lead weights joined by a flexible shaft - often made of baleen or whalebone - and finished with an exterior of intricately knotted twine or cord.

Dead Reckoning is the brainchild of Justin Boseley, a former super-yacht captain and longtime rum importer. Based in Adelaide, South Australia, the brand has quickly gained a cult following for its maritime-themed releases and its pioneering role in the Australian independent bottler (IB) scene.

Dead Reckoning's Bosun's Persuader 14 Year Old Foursquare single cask is priced at AUD$169.

Kanpai!

88 Bamboo Editorial Team