Black Tot | Black Tot Master Blender's Reserve 2022

54.5% ABV

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Black Tot Day 2022 marks the third iteration of our annual Master Blender’s Reserve, an ever-evolving perpetual blend crafted by our Master Blender, Oliver Chilton.

For this year’s blend, we drew inspiration from 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. These flavours were mapped out and became our guide.

We began as always with rum drawn from our perpetual blend - our Master Blender’s Reserve from last year, which has been ageing in Sherry casks since last Black Tot Day.

Casks were then selected from Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad, that showcased the elements needed to recreate these traditional flavour profiles.

These four unique country blends were then brought together and married with our perpetual reserve and some original British Royal Navy rum, layered and perfectly balanced to bring you Master Blender’s Reserve 2022.

Tasting Notes

Nose

Melted chocolate nibs and toasted hazelnuts are offset against warm orange and cinnamon sticks with a background of mixed tropical juice and cassis. Blackcurrant and raspberry leaf start to come to the fore with time in the glass.
Palate

Initial flavours of milk chocolate and raisins are complimented with café latte and ripe banana. A touch of aniseed balances against a light hint of tropical fruit and a wonderful rich baked Demerara sugar top to a crème caramel.
Finish

Cinnamon and nutmeg spice along with chilli and cocoa linger for an age.

Countries

Black Tot Master Blender's Reserve is inspired by the philosophy or Royal Navy rum blending. The 2022 release, like its 2021 predecessor, displays a wonderful range of origins - from Guyana, Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados and our 'perpetual blend' element of last year's 2021 release (finished in Sherry casks) and some original British Royal Navy rum.

Guyana Blend - 29%

Guyana historically has been one of the world’s leading producers of molasses and rum, and it was undoubtedly the heart of the Navy Rum blend. Despite the consolidation of its many distilleries, Guyana’s historic stills have survived and continue to make a variety of rich and flavourful rum marques at Demerara Distillers. The below breakdown of our Guyana component comprises 29% of the final Master Blender’s Reserve 2022 rum blend.
Barbados Blend - 25%

The birthplace of molasses rum in the Caribbean. Barbados is famous for elegant and balanced blends of pot & column still rum, with notes of tropical fruits, vanilla, and coconut. The below breakdown of our Barbados component comprises 25% of the final Master Blender’s Reserve 2022 rum blend.
Jamaica Blend - 7%

Classically a heavier style pot-still rum, Jamaican distilleries like Hampden utilise longer fermentation times, as well as wild yeast strains, and the addition of dunder and muck pits in their molasses ferment to create distinctively big, funky flavours. The below breakdown of our Jamaica component comprises 7% of the final Master Blender’s Reserve 2022 rum blend.
Trinidad Blend - 22%

Trinidad’s most famous rums have all developed out of distilleries founded in the 1900s, most notably Caroni and Trinidad Distillers. The former made a heavier style column still rum (no longer in operation), and was a core component of the original Navy Rum blend - while the latter is a lighter, cleaner style, and is responsible for continuing the heritage of Trinidad rum today. The below breakdown of our Trinidad component comprises 22% of the final Master Blender’s Reserve 2022 rum blend.
Perpetual Blend - 17%

Each year, we keep aside a proportion of our previous year’s limited edition Master Blender’s Reserve blend to use as a base for our next year’s Master Blender’s Reserve. As such, the 2022 release has a proportion of a ‘perpetual reserve’ comprising our 2021 release (finished in Sherry casks) and some original British Royal Navy rum. The below breakdown of our Perpetual Reserve component comprises 17% of the final Master Blender’s Reserve 2022 rum blend.

Technical Specifications

Raw Material

Molasses
Distillery

Multiple
Distillation

Guyana column and pot/column, Jamaica column, pot and pot/column, Trinidad column, Barbados pot/column, World pot/column
Cask Type

Multiple - including perpetual reserve sherry cask finish
Maturation

Tropical & Continental
Chill Filtered

No
Blend Composition

A blend of rums from Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados and a Perpetual Reserve blend
NO SUGAR ADDED

0g/L added
Bottled

Scotland