Bedford Park Rum Review: Foursquare - Hampden - Westerhall

It is quite well known that Canada is a bit of a desert when it comes to good rum. Sure, quite a lot of rum is consumed here, but most of that are the likes of Kraken, Lambs, Bacardi, Captain Morgan and, luckily, Appleton. Nothing wrong with drinking these of course, but if you are preferring something aged, not spiced, not sugared, which contains more than 46% alcohol, things become rather difficult. Considering this, many people, including myself, were celebrating when Smith and Cross entered the market. Similarly when Canadian distillers Moonshine Creek Distillery and North of 7 released their higher abv aged rums.

You might wonder why I’m talking about this rum desert once again, since it’s probably getting old to you. The reason is something positive. We have a new kid in town! A Canadian independent bottler called Bedford Park. The second one since our beloved Bira! from Karl Mudzamba started their operations.

Bedford Park bottles whisky and rum and sells it in several countries, including Canada. This is thanks to owner Phil being Canadian and residing in the big white north. If he wasn’t living here, I bet he wouldn’t have chosen Canada as one his markets, since the government’s alcohol monopolies make it very hard for anyone to sell spirits over here.

How are Canadians buying Bedford Park releases if the retail monopolies are obstructing it? Well, I’m glad you asked. Luckily, the province of Alberta got rid of their monopoly and opened the liquor market to retail entrepreneurs. A very good move that resulted in a much better variety and quality of spirits being available to consumers. Unfortunately, Canada is a rather large country and Alberta is pretty far away from Toronto, the city where I live. As a resident of the province of Ontario, I can only go alcohol shopping at the dreaded LCBO. Ontario is a huge market for alcohol and it would attract a myriad of producers and bottlers if it opened up its market to private retailers. That’s not happening any time soon unfortunately. So, Alberta it is.

To drive to Calgary Alberta from Toronto is about 3200 km. Google tells me it would take me about 32 hours of driving, cutting through the United States. On the way back I’d have to stay in Canada, as I wouldn’t want to cross the border with a car full of booze. Actually, it would have to be a moving truck to make it worthwhile. That would make it 3400 km and 34 hours. Naturally, it would take a somewhat crazy person to do this…..although it would be a terrific road trip. Shipping is the logical answer to this conundrum. Problem is, this used to be illegal. Yes ladies and gentleman, you couldn’t even take a couple of cans of beer across a provincial border. Living in the stone ages up here! I say “used to be”, as the rules have changed somewhat. It’s still a grey area unfortunately. LCBO states:“The Ontario government has removed the inter provincial personal exemption limits on beverage alcohol that an individual can bring into Ontario on their person from another province or territory for personal use”. Great! However, I’m not physically bringing it in myself. They also say:”Direct shipments of beverage alcohol to consumers from other provinces are not captured by this announcement.” You’d still have to go through the LCBO ordering system, according to this. Canada Post won’t ship alcohol to consumers either, unless you are part of a list of exemptions. Luckily there are other shipping companies that do. Which is the positive conclusion of a rather long story.

Even though this is a welcome change, it’s still a barrier for an independent bottler to sell their products in Canada. Ontario consumers for example can’t just walk to the store and get it. They have to order it online and pay hefty shipping charges. It’s fine for enthusiasts who are in the know, as they just bundle shipments. The regular consumer doesn’t even know that shipping from Alberta is an option in most cases though. Alas, we still have a long way to go.

The first release by Bedford Park in Canada has been a pretty large one. Rums from Hampden (x2), Long Pond, Fiji, Foursquare (x2), Westerhall, Caroni and Saint James. An impressive list with a good amount of variety.

The focus for this review will be on Hampden 2000, a 2006 Foursquare, also nicknamed “Foursquare Pinball” and a 27 year Grenada rum from Westerhall.

Let’s start with Grenada. This one was distilled at Westerhall, which started operations in the early 1800s and closed in 1996. The distillation date of this 27 year expression (12 year tropical & 15 year continental ageing)  is December 1996, which could mean we are tasting the last few drops of rum that dripped out of the still at Westerhall. It truly is history in a bottle! The rather classy label adorns the logo of Rum Club Canada, a Facebook rum group I run with several fine people. Bedford Park approached me with the question if we’d be interested in picking a cask to be released as an RCC bottling. Thinking this would be great for Canadian RCC members, I proposed this to the RCC team of Shawna Meyers, Rob Pettigrew, Karl Mudzamba and Dominic Pelletier. My goal was to have them all involved in the tasting. Fortunately, they were as enthusiastic as I was.

Bedford Park presented us with a few different samples. I can’t remember the exact lineup, but apart from the Westerhall there was a Hampden 2000 expression. After the tasting, which also included Bobby Laevens, everyone shared their personal ranking of the samples. My number one was Hampden. However, the majority vote ended up being the 27 year Grenada. In hindsight it was a better choice as an RCC release than Hampden, as it’s more approachable from a flavour perspective and more affordable. We enjoyed this exercise and we all think it’s kind of cool there is a rum release with our logo on it. More importantly, it’s created an opportunity for RCC members (and Canadians in general) to purchase a very old rum from a closed distillery at a relatively low price.

A similar story in regards to the Foursquare 2006 (17 years, 58.8%). At some point we did a Foursquare sample tasting with the same group of people, deciding on a future RCC release. A majority vote again decided which was best. Afterwards I messaged Bedford Park and mentioned I thought one of the samples that didn't "win" was a little overlooked. I felt it was special. I tend to like most Foursquare releases, as is well known. Their standard profile is very good and approachable. With different ageing regimes, locations and barrel types, some end up as ok rums, others very good and then there are the few that are carried to the stars by sweet angels. My thought was that this particular one was well on its way to the stars. Perhaps not the standard instant crowd pleaser or gateway rum, but phenomenal for the rum enthusiast who’s willing to take some time with it. After tasting it again, Bedford Park agreed and bought the cask. When it was time to bottle, they asked if I wanted my name on the label. Naturally I said no. Instead they created the pinball label, as a hint to a massive hobby of mine. A cool label and a nice gesture.

The above mentioned Hampden was distilled in the year 2000. Aged for 23 years in French oak and bottled at 54.8% abv. The marque is LROK, which stands for Light Rum Owen Kelly. It’s a lower ester marque ranging from 200 to 400 g/HLPA. Ester aces might turn their noses up at this, as it’s not crazy enough for them. You can only see their eyes start twinkling at the <>H marque (900-1000 g/HLPA) and once we arrive at C<>H (1300-1400 g/HLPA) and DOK (1500-1600 g/HLPA), they are in full party mode! I have several of these ester bombs in my house and enjoy an occasional sip. My personal Hampden sweet spot is LROK though. It still has plenty of that Jamaican funk while it can be easily balanced with the influence from the barrel. At the HLCF marque it starts turning and at <H> and higher it’s getting further and further away from what a rum should be for me. The fact that Hampden 2000 is LROK excited me much.  

Before I go to the review part, I’ll discuss a potential elephant in the room. Some of you might wonder how the heck I can be impartial while reviewing these. That’s a good point. We all have our preferences, which I wrote about here. I want Bedford Park to do well, as it’s a Canadian company which brings a massive quality impulse to the Canadian rum community at a decent price. Then again, any company that brings this kind of quality to our shores will be welcomed with open arms by me. Not that it matters if I do that or not, since my influence is like a drop of water in the Atlantic ocean. However, the fact that they are Canadian makes them more special. Despite this, I’d still mention it if they bottled something average, as per usual.  

My involvement in tastings is another reason to doubt me being impartial. Again I say, good point! The way I look at this is that I can give my honest and non sugarcoated opinion about cask samples before Bedford Park decides to buy the barrel and bottle it. It’s what they’ve asked me to do. Sometimes they’ll use my feedback and sometimes they won’t, I actually don’t know when they do and don’t in most cases. These tastings usually happen with a small group of people (in Canada and the UK) and they are a fun exercise. Which means I’m only one of several people who taste before a decision is made by Bedford Park to buy a barrel. I have no financial involvement. I just enjoy the tastings and like to help out if I can. This does mean there is a high chance I will like a Bedford Park release, as I’ve already tasted and critiqued it when it was still resting in the belly of a cask. To provide even more transparency, I have bought the three bottles in this review myself.

Now that this is out of the way, let’s get to the review!

The Cast:

1. Bedford Park RCC Westerhall 27yr - 56%

2. Bedford Park Foursquare Pinball 2006 17yr - 58.8%

3. Bedford Park Hampden 2000 23yr - 54.8%

   
   

Nosing

Bedford Park RCC Westerhall 27yr

Very typical bourbon cask notes come up first. Oak, apricot, light candle wax, raisins, citrus, pistachio, vanilla, there is quite a bit of fruitiness in there that’s dancing well with the oak, hint of glue. Not as thick and full in presence as the Foursquare. 

Bedford Park Foursquare Pinball 2006 17yr

A little thicker/rounder than Westerhall. Raspberry, oak, coconut, chocolate, vanilla, candle wax, molasses, brown sugar, raisins, leather, light banana. You keep discovering new things every time you go back to it.

Bedford Park Hampden 2000 23yr

Wow. Mellow Hampden funk, raisins, oak that’s been bathing in cognac => sweet oak smell => want to eat it. Light glue, molasses, banana, pineapple, proper fresh honey, light paint thinner, hint of orange.

Tasting

Bedford Park RCC Westerhall 27yr

Oak, apricot, vanilla, raisins, citrus, brown sugar, leather, hint of tobacco. Finish is medium long and fairly dry, without any bitterness. It’s not as thick as the Foursquare and Hampden, likely having to do with this being a column still rum. Definitely a crowd pleaser.

Bedford Park Foursquare Pinball 2006 17yr

Oak, tobacco, brown sugar, leather, coconut, light chocolate, light banana. The combination of spicy tobacco, oak and leather are winning me over. Mouthfeel is pretty thick with plenty of sweetness. Finish is long, spicy and flavourful. No bitterness.

Just to give you an idea how good this is, I forgot I was doing a review and was supposed to be taking notes….just kept drinking and enjoying instead.

Bedford Park Hampden 2000 23yr

Phenomenal balance. Oak, menthol, pineapple, light paint thinner (ever took a sip of that?), raisins, raspberry, citrus, glossy magazine (ever licked one?). It has a warm and comforting leather and tobacco vibe. The mouthfeel is velvet, while the rum is intense. The finish is long with fruity oak and no bitterness. I needed to drink loads of water with this one to rinse my palate for the next sample.  

Conclusion

All three of these rums drink well below their abv. They are soft, gentle giants, certainly the Foursquare and Hampden. Rum Club Canada’s Westerhall is a little sharper and thinner than the other two, likely down to the fact that it’s a pure column still rum. Foursquare 2006 is a blend of pot and column and Hampden is pure pot still. When I saw the specs of the Westerhall I instantly thought it would be very oaky. I’m quite sensitive to oak and bitterness and figured I wouldn’t like it. That made the surprise about this rum even bigger. Not too much oak, no bitterness! Just a very solid bourbon barrel aged rum. A crowd pleaser, I’d even go as far as calling it a gateway rum. The best way I can describe the flavour profile is a marriage between a good Belize rum (think Holmes Cay) and Foursquare.

Talking about Foursquare, this 2006 is a gem. Easily one of the best bourbon cask Foursquares I’ve tried. That made me curious enough to ask Richard Seale if he had any idea about the ageing specs of this rum that he sold to rum broker Scheer. He mentioned it may be one of the 2006s that was shipped at 14 years. Scheer/Main Rum subsequently confirmed this. 14 years tropical and 3 years continental ageing! Hello! Can someone arrange me a lifetime supply please?! No wonder it’s so round, thick and complex. It’s a powerful rum that keeps giving you different experiences each time you go back to it, which is not always the case with Foursquare rums. I saw someone mentioning that all Foursquare 2006 releases are great, which I disagree with. I’ve tasted quite a few and they went from stellar (this one) to a lot of good ones and one that was surprisingly average. Which made me ask Richard if all 2006s have been aged for 14 years. Turns out this is not the case.

To put this 2006 up to a real test, I grabbed a bottle of the excellent Foursquare Isonomy for comparison. That one was aged for 17 years in Barbados. I’m glad to report that these two are very evenly matched. Would be hard to pick a winner, so I won’t. But it gives you an idea of how good this Bedford Park release is.

Lastly, the Hampden LROK 2000. I want to drink this in the library of an old English mansion. Sitting in a soft, comfy, tufted red velvet chair. Dimmed lighting, candles and soft blues music in the background. Well done to whoever produced this, it’s a masterpiece of balance between esters and barrel.

Scores

Bedford Park RCC Westerhall 27yr – 84

Bedford Park Foursquare Pinball 2006 17yr – 94

Bedford Park Hampden 2000 23yr – 94

Click here for info on the scoring method.

Click here for the complete list of reviews.