Above: tasting rums at Foursquare (all photos by CJ)
BARBADOS — IT’S A place where the rum flows like water.
On every block, at every street corner, there’s a rum shop or a rum bar or a place to find an almost sinfully affordable glass of Mount Gay rum, or so it seems.
Indeed, Barbados is one of the great rum destinations in the Caribbean, and we’ve written much in these pages on the island’s famous rums, and its most famous distillery, Mount Gay, near Bridgetown.
The latter is truly a wonderful place to visit and a necessary pilgrimage for any rum tourist.
But there’s another distillery on the island that’s, yes, an even better one to visit for rum lovers.
It’s called Foursquare, producer of some much-loved Bajan rums like Old Brigand and Doorly’s and literally dozens of other rums, many of which are for private labels.
Indeed, the distillery contributes to a total of 40 rums, with 14 rums made on premises, with the best seller the ESAF White Rum.
And as a distillery to visit, it’s simply superb — unlike many large distilleries in the region, you can actually walk right in to the action — directly into the industrial, steamy, aromatic heart of how rum is made.
The park, which was restored in 1996, is full of charm, with a mix of historic buildings and larger rum-making warehouse spaces, at the edge of a cane field.
The action concludes in the “Distill House,” an old stone building where, for a nominal fee, you can taste a vast range of rums produced by the distillery.
We recommend the Doorly’s XO — but that shouldn’t stop you from trying everything else — just to make sure.