Black Tot Rum releases the latest edition of its award-winning limited series – Master Blender’s Reserve 2025. Included in each bottling is a ‘perpetual blend‘, a percentage of rum set aside from the previous year’s release, with additional elements, so the final blend is different every time. This year, the heart of the blend is Guyanese rum accompanying other traditional navy rum components: Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad, including a single cask from Trinidad’s Caroni ghost distillery. Additionnaly, to celebrate five years of the Master Blender’s Reserve, it also contains a bonus ration of the original Black Tot 50th Anniversary, which has been further maturing in an ex-sherry butt since 2020.
Black Tot – The British Navy’s Loss Is Rum Connoisseurs’ Gain The story begins on 31 July 1970 – forever known as Black Tot Day… the last time Royal Navy sailors received their daily ration, or ‘tot’ of rum – a tradition that went back over 200 years. Black Tot Rum began its journey in 2010, after Sukhinder Singh (co-founder of The Whisky Exchange and Elixir Distillers), acquired stoneware flagons filled with the last consignment of Royal Navy Rum. After sampling them, Sukhinder was mesmerised by the depth of flavour, as well as the legacy and mystique of these liquids. Elixir bottled some of these flagons as Black Tot Last Consignment, now regarded as a historic rum bottling, to mark the 40th anniversary of Black Tot Day.
Five Years on from Black Tot 50th Anniversary
More of these flagons featured in the blend of Black Tot 50th Anniversary, released on 31 July 2020, and there is an element of this ‘last consignment’ rum in the annual Black Tot Master Blender’s Reserve released every July since.
Over time, the Black Tot collection has expanded to include a core range of Black Tot Finest Caribbean and Black Tot Historic Solera.
All Black Tot releases are notable for the complete transparency around the origin, age and percentage of the elements in the blends.
The Perpetual Blend – Inspired by Tradition
Black Tot Master Blender’s Reserve is a blend of some of the finest rums around, each of which would be highly revered if bottled individually. However, Elixir Distillers’ Master Blender Oliver Chilton has integrated and balanced them to create something greater than the sum of its parts. In doing so, he is paying homage to Navy Rum tradition…
Elixir uses the Black Tot ‘perpetual blend’ technique – a modern take on the fractional blending method originally used to store British Royal Navy rum at the Royal Victoria Victualling Yard in Deptford. The huge vats, located next to the Thames, were emptied into flagons for transport around the world. However, the outlet pipes were at one-third height, so, even as new rum was added, it mingled with liquid that had mixed and matured for years and even decades – developing a hugely complex flavour.
To celebrate this time-honoured custom, each release of Master Blender’s Reserve is blended with a percentage of the previous year’s edition, which also included a portion of the year before that, and so on, back beyond the first edition in 2021, to its precursor, Black Tot 50th Anniversary from 2020. The blend also includes rum from the last remaining Navy flagons.
Shared DNA but an evolving flavour profile
“We went back to the beginning of our journey, layering diverse, rich, heavy flavours in a very traditional, naval rum style. In this case, we have not only a nod to 2024, but also a tip of the hat to one of our originals, the 50th Anniversary bottling.”
Black Tot Master Blender Oliver Chilton
While every release of Black Tot Master Blender’s Reserve echoes the call of history, each also has an individual character. The 2025 edition is built around a spine of aged Guyanese rum, with its rich Demerara sugar, tropical fruit and spice notes and traditional methods such as the use of wooden stills. The 50th Anniversary bottling itself was also led by rum from Guyana.
The blend is balanced by rum from Jamaica’s Worthy Park, and the complexity of an 18-year-old expression from Foursquare in Barbados, among others. To add exceptional depth, this year’s blend boasts the inclusion of a rare cask from the legendary Trinidadian distillery, Caroni, which closed in 2002.
“It is a privilege to get to work with these incredibly high-quality rums when creating each edition of Master Blenders Reserve. With every iteration we learn more about blending rum, and how we can take inspiration from techniques from the past to create our future.”
Black Tot Master Blender Oliver Chilton
Tasting Notes
Black Tot Master Blender’s Reserve 2025 is an exceptional, sophisticated, and robust spirit. It has notes of black liquorice, dark chocolate, and over-ripe banana on the nose. On the palate, there are details of Valencia orange juice, anise, and dry cinnamon, dusted with the mint and fennel characteristic of its age – followed by a beautiful grapefruit and acacia honey finish.
As always, a fully transparent breakdown of the blend components is available on the back label and on Black Tot Rum’s website. As with all the Black Tot range, it is non chill[1]filtered, and there is no sugar or flavouring added. The full character and natural sweetness come solely from the rums within the blend, which is bottled at navy strength (54.5% ABV).
This year’s Black Tot Master Blender’s Reserve is limited to 3,000 bottles (70cl, 54.5% ABV). It will be available globally from July. The Recommended Retail Price is £145.
