Black Tot Master Blender's Reserve Rum, 2021 Release

Their 2021 edition of Master Blender’s Reserve Caribbean Rum celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the last rum ration given to Australian Navy sailors when serving on British ships. They took some of last year’s Black Tot 50th Anniversary Rum blend as their 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. They hope this rum brings people together, just as the original did 100 years ago.

Tasting notes:
Nose: Cinnamon sticks, cooking in brown butter, with nutmeg and cloves. Overripe mangoes and baked bananas, with dusty dark chocolate. More citrus notes build in the glass - satsumas and freshly squeezed navel oranges blend with juicy nectarine and cooked honey. In the background, a dense oily note complements the zesty flavours and merges with herbaceous notes of mint and lemon thyme.

Palate: At first, a huge hit of concentrated orange and mango juice, with fresh mint and golden brown caster sugar. The sweetness evolves into milk chocolate and salted caramel, while the fruit seems to become denser, bringing in flavours of guava and passion fruit. Another sip brings orange blossom, balanced by runny honey.

Finish: Clementine and mandarin make up a citrus salad, evolving with a pleasing dryness reminiscent of thyme and oregano. Right at the very end, a hint of diesel oil.