Real McCoy Single Blended 5-Year

Every bottle leaving foursquare screams quality.
Being only a 5 years old this rum is already packed with caracter

This is one of three dry rums that I picked up on my recent trip to the Emerald Coast of Florida. It was also the least appealing of all three, but still made it to my initial rating of 7.

This rum was the only available vintage where I bought it, but I was hoping to find the 12 year old. Since this was my very first rum from R.L. Seale, I just had to try it. This proves that rums do not need additives to be enjoyable. For bourbon drinkers who claim to be allergic to gluten, this rum is your answer! (By the way, a nurse friend of mine told me that the current fear of gluten is all a hoax and maybe only 1% are truly allergic and that businesses are taking advantages of fears from fruitcakes who are not even allergic). At any rate, this rum tastes like a mixture of a tiny bit of natural sweetness with charred oak bourbon barrels.

Unfortunately, I bought it along with a bottle of Ron Medellin 8 Year, another good dry rum from Columbia. No contest since the Ron Medellin wins hands down for smoothness. Since both the Real McCoy and the Ron Medellin are very hard for me to get again while Dictador 12 is easily available for only $8 more with many more flavors than this Real McCoy 5, I will stick with Dicatador 12 from Columbia as my go to rum for being both dry and naturally sweet.

Update April 27, 2018: My recent find of Porteno from Columbia caused me to test this one again. So I compared it to my ultimate best buy that also happens to have no added sugar. At the time of the test, both were rated as a 7. The Don Q Anejo tastes like rum. This Real McCoy tastes like bourbon barrels. No contest and the Don Q Anejo is half the price. I had no choice except to dock this Real McCoy by two points down to a rating of 5 because it does not belong in the same class as Don Q Anejo. Why must we settle for overly sugared or overly wooded? Don Q has already figured this out at a fraction of the cost of this one by Richard Seale. If I wanted to drink bourbon, I certainly would, which is what this rum tastes like. Seale has a lot of rum drinkers fooled into buying bourbon that started out with sugar cane instead of corn, but not this puppy! By the way, my rating of 5 means that I will never buy this one again.

Update August 7, 2021: I found a Limited Edition Single Barrel version of this rum chosen by the store owner today for only $29 US. This is a bargain for sure, especially at 92 proof. No point in adding another review to reflect this different proof and being from a single barrel. I simply upgraded from a 5 to a 6. Compared to the 12 year Single Barrel, the difference is subtle, but I upgraded that one to an 8 because it could easily compete with most of the Foursquare ECS rums at a fraction of the cost.

My first Foursquare rum. The nose has nice aromas of oak and brown sugar that remind me more of aged Canadian whisky. The palate has more oak, along with butter, vanilla, and spice. The mouthfeel is round until a touch of spicy heat appears on the finish. It’s good but not great.

I had this after finishing off a bottle of the 12 yr, so this was harsh in comparison. It still had some
Bourbon/brown sugar flavor but not nearly as much as the 12 yr and with a younger harsher bitterness and burn that isn't there with the 12. I won't be getting this one again.

it's a while ago, so do not remember very good. I liked it, not very special.

Very clear aftertaste of bourbon.

Slightly harsh.

A very light, whisky kind of colour too.

Sometimes age lends an advantage. This is certainly true regarding the McCoy 5 year versus 12 year.

Nose - Butterscotch, Toffee, Chocolate
Palate - Brown Sugar, Spice, Ginger

The finish is where the fumble occurs.

Close to being great, but as the old men say, "Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and slow-dancing."

Let me talk about this rum, It is interesting but is very very not interesting, is a usual rum and nothing.

Smooth aroma, softly sweet, a mixture of molasses, brown sugar, spices (cinnamon, and ????) and warming alcohol.
The aroma transfers into the flavor but not quite as smooth. Softly sweet molasses, hints of vanilla and oak. Quite a bit of char from the barrels makes it a bit course and bitter. The bitter and numbing character carries on through for a long bitter finish and subdues any other soft nuances that may be there.
The body is a bit lighter than I expected.
Overall a competent rum. Not in a league with the 12 year Real McCoy which is much more refined, complex, smoother and a far superior rum.
At $27 not priced badly but in this class there are other rums that fill the bill with better value.
Mixed in a simple Barbados rum punch the rum does shine and comes forward better than say a Mount Gay Eclipse ($18) but is on par with the Black Barrel which costs the same and may be a bit smoother.
Worth trying but probably not something I'd keep on hand.

This one was given to me as a gift. I like it, I think it is a good rum.