Habitation Velier Foursquare 2021 LFT Unaged White Rum – Review

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Mar 252026
 

I still remember the hushed rumours that swirled around the rumiverse even before the 2022 TWE Rumshow opened its doors. Richard Seale had something new, something original and something fierce in his leopardskin rock star trousers, and while supposedly it wasn’t officially on the shelves, maybe a sly wink and a significant nod to Pete Holland who was tending booth that time, and perhaps,possibly – you could score a taste? Or so the tall-tale teller in me likes to remember. It’s a good story, isn’t it?

The truth is rather more prosaic. Yes we did hear rumours about a new white rum from Foursquare, but few of us rum junkies ever tried it – and as it turned out, it was on display and we all did get to try it without bribing, bullying or bludgeoning the hapless Mr. Holland. He had one bottle for each day, and he warned us to come get some pronto, because a few hours in, and even with the usual mad crowds around Foursquare (the Sovereignty and Isonomy were also being shown at the time), that particular bottle would be poured out and licked clean in labba time.

Fun and games aside, Foursquare released a long fermented unaged pot still high ester rum through the Habitation Velier line – not the collaborations, which are rarer, or via Foursquare’s own bottling system which are more famous. As Richard told me, it was good to have this kind of ability to release rather more experimental rums through the HV brand, to gauge interest and show it off as something educational, before committing the company to that direction more seriously.

The production notes are quite interesting: bottled in 2021 and released to the public in 2022. There are actually two versions: the 555 g/hlpa on the label is the one I tried (the second release does not have that statement), and it’s a blend of cane juice and molasses based washes – the cane juice element was fermented with wild (natural) yeast for several weeks, while a yest ferment was added to the molasses component for about three days 1. The distillate was run through Foursquare’s pot still and bottled at a rip snortin’ 62%. 

Label is a mock up, courtesy of Velier. The “xxx” ester count is 555 on the finished label.

Unaged white rums – especially when coming off a trapiche, a single column still or a pot still – are creatures to treat with respect (and occasionally fear), especially if one comes to them from a background of standard strength filtered whites or inoffensive golds. When one noses the LFT, you can understand my note of caution. It smells, right off the bat, like a dirty stinky martini with a ton of olives, very dry. Then, lighter sugar cane sap and sugar water notes, green peas from a tin, sweet corn, white guavas, grass, green apples, grapes, herbs, almonds… Burnt paper, wet cardboard, ash, minerals, iodine, dried seaweed….I mean, this is like a one stop nosing shop, if you get my drift. Raw, heavy, flavourful, bursting at the seams with every inhale.

And the palate did not drop the ball either: it was hot and firm, but not snarkily scratchy, and so one did not have to call for an EMT while drinking it. Initial tastes are of rubber, nail polish, acetones, and turpentine, which led the charge in fine style.  Thundering behind that comes the parade of sweet and sour fruit, yoghurt, grass, dill, herbs, pears, apples, grapes, gooseberries, brine and olives, sugar water. I kept it in my glass as I wandered around the show that day, recharged it once or twice, and it was a simply great sipping experience if left to open properly – hurrying with this one is definitely not recommended.  Finish is long, dry and sweet, with fruity and estery notes of pineapple, half ripe mangoes, cardamom, sugar water, laban and tart gooseberries, some olives and brine, and it took an impressively long time to fade from ones senses (if not from memory).

So. Well. Let me catch my breath here. Yep, this has all the hallmarks of a real agricole-style rum (in spite of the molasses component) with the blend and the pot still providing an interesting balance of heavier and lighter notes at the same time. I remarked that the Messcia was like a dialled down clairin (not entirely a compliment), but here, it’s hard to tell the difference, and indeed, there are elements on the LFT that few if any French island cane juice rums have very often, if at all. That’s what makes it interesting, and elevates the experience.

Much of what enthused me about the Worthy Park high ester cane juice white is also on display in this one, albeit twisted into new and intriguing shapes. Honesty compels me to admit that it’s really not for everyone, especially not casual drinkers, and initially it seems offputting.  But that’s a trap to make non-serious people leave it alone, leaving more for us maniacs who like to see what happens when a respected rum maker frees himself from the strictures of the market, and simply makes what ever the hell he feels like. Most of us would call it a red letter day when that happens, but I suspect that for Richard, the day he made it, he just stuck his hands in those trousers, shrugged and said, “It’s Tuesday.”

(#1143)(87/100) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Other notes

  • Youtube video review link
  • My thanks to Richard Seale for taking the time to providing some background production notes to flesh out this review
  • Foursquare does mix cane juice distillate in small proportions to regular releases. Starting in 2026 they sourced cane juice from Saint Nicholas Abbey, but by 2018 they were milling their own, and scaled up in 2020.  That said, both the LFT and the Triple Entente will remain niche products of limited outturns for the education and enjoyment of uber-nerds and die hard aficionados, not for widespread release.
  • The question the review raises is this: if I was trying it blind and next to equal strength agricoles, grogues or clairins, and didn’t know it was Foursquare… would I be as enthusiastic?  I ask myself these questions every time I get wowed by an extraordinarily original product. Here I must say “yes” – because I did.

Shakara 12 YO Thailand Rum – Review

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Apr 072025
 

Even now, all these years after the Demeraras, Caronis, Indian Ocean series, Hampdens and Habitation series, Velier continues to be able to pull out a new rabbit from the hat every now and then, something we have not quite seen in this way before. There were the last Nine Leaves expressions from last year, the Amrut from a few years back, the new Habitation Velier Nepalese rum that popped up a few months ago – and last year, at Whisky Live, they debuted the Shakara 12YO rum from Thailand.

Now Thailand generally does not loom large in the pantheon of countries whose rums we lust after. I’ve reviewed Sang Som and Mekhong rums in the past, and there are smaller outfits like Issan (quite good) and Chalong Bay (also very good) who are raising the profile of the country with their artisanal rums. They are at opposite ends of the divide: the former is mass market (sometimes possibly adulterated) molasses-based standard-strength tipple for the general population, and the latter is small batch, relatively limited release made from cane juice.

The Shakara rum straddles this divide. It is a molasses-based, column-still rum, made and aged completely in Thailand in the province of Nakhom Pathom, which I initially thought pinpointed the distillery of origin as Sang Som — but I have been told (twice) that this is not correct and the arrangement between Velier and the producer requires the distillery bot to be mentioned, so it remains a question mark. It has been aged for twelve years in situ, but again, we are not told anything about what kind of barrels they used (I’ve read elsewhere that it’s ex-bourbon), or any more detail about the production process – we can assume it’s the same as the Phraya, perhaps, but the pickings are slim there too.

Be that as it may, this is a rum bottled at 45.7%, and while we do not know the outturn, the rum is being distributed in North America as well as Europe, and we can reasonably assume there are at a minimum several thousand bottles out there, for that kind of geographical spread. It is also quite a nice mid-range rum, I think, strong enough to make it appealing, while not so high-proof as to alarm the less adventurous.

And the profile is really quite good, it must be said, even if it breaks relatively little new ground. It has an initially smoky aroma, redolent of burnt caramel, ginger, brown sugar, coconut jelly, plus some musty paper, cardboard and woody scents behind that.  Leaving it to open for a while is helpful: it becomes vaguely sweet with a nice yellow mango and citrus background, together with notes of kimchi, orange peel and some iodine.  Some real and surprising character emerges here, I think, yet all the while the rum remains nicely mild and is really easy nosing.

The palate does not veer too far away from this, and builds upon those notes. It is relatively quiet for the strength, a touch thin, but presents well with initial flavours of sandalwood, figs, cereal, coffee grounds, a hint of crushed walnuts, and vanilla.  The brown sugar and caramel takes on a more commanding aspect here, and I think that may be a bit excessive at times, although it recedes after a few sips and doesn’t overstay its welcome too much. In all honesty, it reminds me somewhat of a dry Diplomatico, or a less sweet Zacapa – it has the same gentle vibe as those two, and slightly more of an odd edge, and it’s just not as sweet as either, which is a relief.  The finish lingers just long enough to make itself known, with final touches of lemongrass, pine, mint, nuts, vanilla, salt caramel ice cream, and again, that touch of overripe orange peel.

Tasting notes are one thing, but what’s the assessment? Well, I think it’s a relatively easy, approachable sort of rum, that will be appreciated by those who prefer a more dialled down product, a blend, not a single cask pot still overproof fighting tiger like the Hampdens or the Habitation series. This is not some exacting full proof hi-test that is for connoisseurs of the top end, but a rum with more in its trousers than just its hands, and is for all to like and appreciate when something is looked for that will work well by itself or in a mix, while not being nearly as simple as it starts out. 

Velier is not known for making rums for general audiences in the way that many smaller outfits do in order to make better sales and subsidize the more exclusive upscale halo bottlings, yet here, in chosing the barrels that made this blend, they have admirably found a balance between the fierce and the gentle, the connoisseurs’ jaded palate and the casual drinkers’ less demanding tastes, while taking the whole experience at slightly right angles to any kind of “standard” profile for both. That’s quite an accomplishment, I would say, for a rum so readily available, and so easily affordable.

(#1115)(83/100) ⭐⭐⭐½

Other notes

  • Video recap link
  • The rum cost me Can$70 at Kensington Wine Market in Calgary in April 2025, but I first tasted it at the WhiskyLive Paris in 2024.
  • In his video essay on the rum, Arminder of Rum Revival mentioned that Velier picked up a bulk consignment and built a brand around that. His review is well worth watching. 
  • “Shakara” is the sanskrit word for sugar (some say sugar cane).

Hampden Estate 2016 5YO LROK “The Younger” Jamaican Rum – Review

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Feb 232024
 

By now little needs to be said about Hampden Estate, the famed Jamaican distillery that had its coming out party in 2018, a distribution deal with Velier, and a seemingly a new series of rums to collect just about every single year. For all its variety though, their presentation is pretty consistent and you can usually tell one at a glance just by looking at a label. Said labels conforming to all the usual Velier standards, and providing pretty much all the background details you could hope for.

In this case we’re dealing with five year old rum released in 2021 and before you ask, it’s called “The Younger” to distinguish it from the Hampden 2010 11 YO LROK also issued in the same year (which is not named, but which we shall call — obviously — “The Older”). The fermentation time is not mentioned, but we can assume a few weeks, using natural or “wild” yeasts; pot still distillation on double retort stills; aged in ex bourbon barrels with a 34% angel’s share.  And diluted down to 47% (as an aside, I’ve seen a label on a 3L jug at 49% but either it’s a misprint or substantially the same as this one) with an ester count for those who like their numbers, of 314.8 g/hLpa. This places the LROK (“Light Rum Owen Kelly”) in the lower levels and the Wedderburn category (only the OWH and LFCH are lower) and also makes the rum extremely approachable without going off the shredding deep end of the higher ester marks.

In spite of the “low” congener count, the rum represents itself well, starting with the open, which sports a serious set of sharp, distinct, funky aromas. Rubber, plastic, kerosene, fusel notes…rough and assertive stuff, which is about what we could expect from a youngish rum, tropically aged or not. It turns a little briny, then channels some citrus, flambeed bananas, yeasty bread, overripe pineapples, cherries, bubble gum. There are even some hints of coffee grounds and the metallic tinge of an ashtray that hasn’t been cleaned.

For 47% that nose isn‘t half bad (if occasionally discombobulated); the palate is in similar territory but here the strength may — surprisingly enough — be a bit too anaemic for finer appreciation. It’s thin and sharpish (not to its benefit, I don’t think), and astringent. It has flavours that in turn are sweet, salt and sour…which is nice, but not  always well coordinated, and one has to watch the sharpness. So – bubble gum, strawberries, citrus (red grapefruit), pineapples, vanilla, and some bitter coffee grounds. Once it quietens down  – and it does – it gets better because the roughness also smoothens out somewhat, without ever really losing its character.  Finish is decent: fruity, funky and some honey, plus cinnamon, cloves and maybe a touch of vanilla and pineapple chunks.

A lot of comments I found about this rum compliment its taste and smell and assure their readers that it’s a true Hampden, representing Jamaica in fine style. Yet almost all have various modifiers and cautions, and many compare it in some way to one of three rums from Hampden: the high-ester versions from the same distillery, the Great House series, and the backbone of the company, the 8 YO standard. Oh, and almost everyone mentions or grumbles about the price. 

This is completely understandable since a frame of reference is usually needed to place a rum in context – such comparisons are therefore useful, if ultimately pointless: trying to say one is better or worse than any other is entirely a matter of personal taste, really. And you either like it you don’t, can afford it or can’t, will buy it on that basis or won’t. As a middle of the road ester-level rum, I myself believe it’s a decent young rum, made in quantity with the usual Hampden quality, but not with anything really special tacked on that distinguishes it as superlative for its bracket. I’d buy the first bottle for sure: and would likely pass on a second after I finish sharing it around. I call that a qualified endorsement.

(#1059)(84/100) ⭐⭐⭐½