Black Tot rum releases 2023 edition of master blender’s reserve rum

Award winning Black Tot rum has released the fourth edition of its rum blend, Master Blender’s Reserve 2023.

Crafted by master blender Oliver Chilton, the rum is released yearly on the anniversary of Black Tot Day, 31 July, a day where the British Navy discontinued the daily rum ration.

The method of blending used to create the rum is a modern-day adaptation of an old blending practise. The third of a blend is held back for another year and blended again, creating a perpetual blend. The producers have described the spirit as having notes of liquorice sticks, toffee and cherry drops on the palate.

For the 2023 edition, Chilton selected casks from Guyana, Trinidad, Barbados, Jamaica and Grenada, the latter of which distilled in 1993. These were then married with Black Tot’s perpetual reserve, Master Blender’s 2022 ±Reserve and some original Navy rum from 1970.

Chilton said on the release: “Our fourth evolution of Master Blender’s Reserve is a return to the denser, more traditional style of Black Tot 50th Anniversary Rum. With a larger focus on older rums from Guyana and the addition of 30-year-old rum from Grenada, a real sense of maturity and status has developed. It is such a privilege to be able to keep back stock from each blend to mature on and use as the heart of next iteration of Master Blender’s Reserve, reimagining a blending technique used for so many decades by the rum blenders of the Navy.”

Bottled at 54% ABV, the rum will be available from 31 July across all channels at an RRP of £145.

12 July 2023 - Bradley Weir