It’s been 5 years since Black Tot launched their 50th Anniversary blend and it just snowballed from there yearly with their Master Blender’s Reserve. The branding of the rum comes from the Black Tot Day (31st July 1970) – this is the day when the British Royal Navy abolished the daily rum tot, a tradition that was over 200 years old.
Some of the remaining Navy rum flagons left over after the abolition were “hunted” down by Sukhinder Singh, the co-founder of The Whisky Exchange. He blended all these flagons together and in 2010, for the 40th anniversary, he bottled them and launched the Black Tot Last Consignment – and so the Black Tot rum brand was started.
Nowadays, Black Tot, inspired by the Royal Navy rum traditions, make their own blends under the supervision of the Master Blender Oliver Chilton (see my interview with him here) from Elixir Distillers. Their Master Blender’s Reserve line is a limited edition launched every year in order to celebrate the Black Tot Day and this year I was given the opportunity to sample it earlier than most people. Thanks to Mitch Wilson (Global Brand Ambassador for Black Tot) the Cane Spirit Society was sent a bottle for our Brand Focus Session and that provided me with the means to write this review.
From the first Black Tot 50th Anniversary in 2020 to each subsequent Master Blender’s Reserve, each release gets more and more complex. This is because a small amount of the previous year’s bottling is blended with more components for the next year, making this a continuous or perpetual blend – sort of a more delicious infinity bottle.
Because the blend is so complicated I’ll describe the components by the country of origin, but for more details or even the full breakdown you should check their website. So here we go:
- 60% of the blend – Barbados – Foursquare, West Indies Rum Distillery, Mount Gay – between 7 and 22 years old;
- 25% of the blend – Trinidad – Trinidad Distillers, Caroni – between 12 and 26 years old;
- 5% of the blend- Jamaica – New Yarmouth, Clarendon, Long Pond, others – between 23 and 28 years old;
- 5% of the blend – Guyana – Diamond Distillery – between 8 and 21 years old;
- 5% of the blend – Perpetual Blend – a combination of Black Tot Master Blender’s Reserve 2023 and Black Tot Last Consignment.
As you can see Oliver put more emphasis on the Barbados component this year in order “to accentuate the rich tropical fruits in the blend”. Now let’s see how tropical it tastes.
Black Tot Master Blender’s Reserve 2024 is molasses based, pot and column distilled and aged for an indefinite amount of time in American and European oak barrels. Bottled at 54.5% ABV without any additives or filtration. There might be some caramel residue from the Last Consignment component, but I would say it’s negligible.
On the nose I can smell the Caroni in the blend. Hot rubber, petrol, old cardboard and allspice. Burnt tobacco, toasted coconuts and pomegranate molasses. After some time in the glass the Barbados influence opens up. Biscuits, sour cherry and vanilla. Marmalade, dried prunes and raisins. New leather, shoe polish and red apples.
On the palate the Caroni is at the forefront once again. Pomegranate molasses, allspice, black pepper and layers of peat smoke. Cola, coconut cream and biscuits. It tastes “darker” than I thought. Luxardo cherries, burnt tobacco and vanilla. Burnt orange oils, cayenne pepper and raw cocoa nibs. Some toasted pineapple and muscovado sugar. The finish is long with tropical spices and dark notes.
Once again, Master Blender Oliver Chilton has done a fantastic job and created a product that it’s different, but yet recognisable as a Black Tot offering. The strongest profiles here, the soft Barbadian influence and the divisive Caroni notes are complementing each other while competing for the main stage. Fantastic stuff!
It can be bought for £141 (The Whisky Exchange) which might be a bit hefty, but worth it nonetheless.
Black Tot Master Blender’s Reserve 2024 (Cane Spirit Society) score:
Flavour/taste: 62/70
Value for money: 15/15
Transparency/purity: 15/15
Overall: 92/100
Cheers!