Black Tot Finest Carribean 5-Year

i'm giving this pour more credit than the community is suggesting. Maybe it's because i had the 50th anniversary poured first and fell in love with that. maybe cause i'm writing this under the influence of the Guyana component - which is also amazing and I am partial to demmerara! I feel this simply is better than what is being given credit for. 46% is smooth as anything i've tasted and finished with. tastes are blended well by country and those countries play very well together in my mouth. So good - Bravo.

I was surprised to find this bottle in a small liquor store in eastern Iowa.
The nose is complex. I had to savor several samples to absorb the complexities of it.
I was surprised to find it to be a lighter rum, more of a brandy color. The first sip proves to be smooth with out losing the outlaw roughness of rum.
Despite how delicious it is, I expected more for the price.

Aroma - molasses followed by cinnamon, raisin and brown sugar.

Taste - molasses followed by cinnamon, oak, brown sugar, and baking spices.

I really enjoyed this rum. It's got so many corners to dig into and chase certain flavours and smells. You can easily taste the Demerara component, and I found the Jamaican funk not hard to find either despite only being 5% of the total rum. The Bajan stuff is harder to determine but probably is the reason the rum feels so well balanced. Gives me blackstrap bitterness and a liquorice tang but also plenty of funky sweetness. Frankly if this is close to what the navy was getting every day it's no wonder it was such a dark day when those rations ended.

Duft: karamel, fad, vanilje, lys karamel, let syrlig. Score: 4
Smag: karamel, lakrids, kaffe, peber, vanilje, alkohol. Score: 4

This 5yo rum from the Scottish IB Black Tot Rum is a blend of rums from Barbados, Guyana and Jamaica.
The term “Black Tot” comes from, as most of you know, from the British tradition of giving sailors a daily ration of rum for almost 300 years. The last ration was served on July 31th 1970.
In nose it’s having a navy profile with Demerara from Guyana and some funkiness from Jamaica. Recognizable aromas is exotic fruits, banana, resin, prunes, caramel, oak and dark chocolate.
In mouth and at the palate it’s fruity, spicy and woody with flavors of vanilla, Demerara sugar, cocoa and chocolate.
The rather long finish is fruity, spicy and woody with flavors of vanilla, chocolate and licorice.
Overall a quite soft navy styled rum.
Picture: My emptied sample with a poured glass.

Not a great rum,certainly not a sipper for me.

No real flavour or character, just a blend that for me is hard to distinguish.

Nice with a mixer, good as a session rum.

Unfortunately for this rum, I tried it strait after a glass of Appleton Estates 21 year. Two that shouldn't really be compared. In any case, the Black Tot was nothing to write home about, I wasn't so keen on the sharpness which was obviously not apparent with a smoother aged rum. Maybe one to try under different circumstances.

Very interesting and unique but also a little pricey. It’s a robust rum with lots of character with some wood along with fruit and baking spices. Love the navy strength which will help this stand up in any rum cocktail but I think you can find equal and better rums for a little less than this one cost.

Good value rum 35 a bottle can't go wrong nice and smooth