Other fine spirits

For Master Blender's Reserve 2023, Master Blender, Oliver Chilton, has createed a blend that is like an original Navy-issued rum, with a heavy mouth feel and rich notes of wood smoke, espresso and cacao. For this release, a very old rum from Grenada distilled in 1993 was added to the reserve, bringing extra complexity and character not often found in mainstream rum. A distinctly old-fashioned and traditional style, this is a rum to be sipped and savoured

For this latest release of the Master Blender's Reserve, the folk at Black Tot Rum drew inspiration from their stocks of historical rums in our collection and the unique flavour profiles they exhibited over half a century ago. These rums, since lost in the rum world, were rich with notes of baked banana, dusty chocolate, mocha milkshakes, honey, tobacco, leather, liquorice, and spice. This complex recipe creates a truly unique and distinctly old-school rum, rarely seen like this today.

The recipe for Black Tot Master Blender?s Reserve 2021 Caribbean Rum has been created by Head Blender Oliver Chilton to showcase the art of rum blending pioneered by the British Royal Navy. Taking last year?s Black Tot 50th Anniversary Rum blend as the base, re-casking it into ex-sherry butts and barrels, to which they added layers of fruit-driven flavours using different styles of rum, aged between 9 and 24 years, from Guyana, Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica and Australia, as well as incorporating some of the original British Royal Navy rum blend itself.

Crafted from a marriage of fruity Barbadian, full-bodied Guyanese and vibrant Jamaican rums, the Black Tot gets its name from the ration of rum issued daily to sailors of the Royal Navy. This is a rich and complex rum, offering flavours of golden syrup, exotic tropical fruits and a leathery hint. A note of coffee and chocolatey mocha comes through on the palate, with butter toffee and oaky spice. A lingering note of roasted bananas comes through on the finish, ending this rich, fruity and slightly funky rum. A fantastic sipping style or one to enjoy as the star ingredient in cocktails.