BLACK TOT - Master Blender's Reserve - 54.50%
Elixir Distillers was established as Speciality Drinks in 1999 by brothers Sukhinder and Raj Singh, who also launched the Whisky Exchange retail website the same year. The company changed its name to Elixir Distillers in 2017. Oliver Chiltonlooks after day-to-day business decisions at Elixir Distillers, as well as all the cask buying, selection, blending and bottling for all releases by Elixir Distillers including Black Tot. Since the first fleets set sail, the Royal Navy had carried alcohol on its ships for both crew and commerce. Water was impure and unsuitable for long voyages in wooden barrels, and as wine and beer also did not keep well and took up space, spirits were the perfect alternative. In 1970, it was voted in Parliament to stop the rum ration given fears surrounding the more complex technology now in operation across the navy. Funerals were held for ‘the day the rum died’ and 31st July 1970 became forever known as Black Tot Day. The remaining rum was put into flagons and saved for special occasions like the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
The 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. The base of the blend is last year’s Black Tot 50thAnniversary re-casked into ex-Sherry butts and barrels to which was 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 in the blend itself.