Five years after launching as one of Singapore’s most respected independent bottlers, Malt, Grain & Cane celebrates its anniversary with a compelling quartet of cask-strength releases headlined by three mature Foursquare rums finished in rare named Otard Cognac casks that invite the kind of side-by-side comparison serious drinkers dream about.
Singapore-based independent bottler Malt, Grain & Cane has turned five, and marks the occasion the only way that they can (should) — with a new batch of whisky and rum, of course.
This time around, MG&C has released three mature Foursquare Barbados rums from adjacent vintages — 2005, 2006 and 2007 — each finished in named Otard Cognac casks. Serious rum enthusiasts would be most familiar with Foursquare, the highly-regarded Barbados distillery that earned a massive cult following for its high quality rums best known for its uncompromising, zero-additive approach.
While not quite a clean vertical, the three rums are close enough that one might be tempted to get all three for a unique comparative tasting.
The first is 022: Foursquare 2005 “Blue Bayou”, a 20-year-old single blended rum bottled at 59.7% ABV and priced at S$325. It was originally matured in an ex-bourbon cask before being finished in an Otard Cognac cask from April 2023, for a final finishing period of two years and eight months. The rum spent 11 years maturing in the Caribbean and nine years in the UK, with an outturn of 225 bottles.
It is followed by 023: Foursquare 2006 “Safari Sunrise”, a 19-year-old rum bottled at 60.1% ABV and priced at S$350, and 024: Foursquare 2007 “Midnight Marsh”, an 18-year-old rum bottled at 61.1% ABV and priced at S$299. Both follow the same broad logic: mature Barbados rum, high proof, ex-bourbon origin and Otard Cognac cask finishing.
A near-three-year finishing period is long by whisky standards, but not in rum; another noteworthy detail is deadnaming an established house, Otard, as the source of the finishing cask, a practice which remains extremely rare in the industry.
The last bottle in the series, 025: Bruichladdich 2008 “Ruby Reverie”, shifts the story from cane to malt: a 17-year-old Islay single malt Scotch whisky bottled at 58.1% ABV and priced at S$499, with an outturn of 190 bottles.
Bruichladdich, of course, needs no introduction.
To celebrate the anniversary Malt, Grain & Cane also collaborated with DistortMonsters, the Philippine-based street artist, whose bold, creature-led visual language adorns the livery of its latest lineup.
Why pay attention to these releases? For us it’s the bottle structure: three adjacent Foursquare vintages, all mature, all cask strength, and all finished in named Otard Cognac casks. For drinkers, that is the part with actual comparative value. The Bruichladdich? A lovely bonus.
While the bottles are available for purchase at Malt, Grain & Crane, tasting notes for the releases have not been provided at the time of writing. That said, it’s hard to go wrong if these are your old familiars, given the reputation of Foursquare, Bruichladdich, and MG&C.
But you knew that already, didn’t you?
To check out Malt, Grain & Cane’s special 5th anniversary releases, visit: www.maltgraincane.com.
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