Black Tot Finest Carribean 5-Year

Mahogany colored with sweet aromas and tobacco
Full flavor taste with initial sweet notes followed by licorice and tobacco with a brandy like afterburn

This is my first English rum.
Nice gold color. I let us sit a bit with a large ball of ice. Taste was warm with hints of vanilla and a subtle sweetness.
Would love to try their older ones.

These 5 Year old blends have begun popping up near me. For only $55 US, I figured why not. The Trinidad portion has been wisely left out. So this is a smooth blend of rums from Barbados, Guyana, and Jamaica. It is bottled in Scotland at 92.4 proof. The Jamaican funk is barely noticeable and the Guyanese portion dominates. Honestly, the Pusser's Gunpowder Proof does a much better job at recreating this rum made for British Navy sailor's daily ration. I still think that either one of these is still better than what was actually served to those poor sailors. Over here is the USA, Black Tot means absolutely nothing to us. And at this price, this rum is actually a pretty good buy. It sure beats the heavily sugared rums from El Dorado.

Update August 27, 2021: With a very strong Hurricane Ida approaching the Louisiana coast, it was time to try another one of my usual experiments. I blended equal parts of Hamilton Demerara 86, Appleton 15 year Black River casks, and The Real McCoy 12 Year special release at higher proof. Granted, these were equal parts of these three critical locations that went into the original Black Tot, but I did not have the patience to figure out the precise percentages for each of my own three rums. And guess what? My on-the-fly blend tasted slightly better that this blend because it does not have a bitter after taste.! So basically, save your money and create your own Black Tot blend from your own collection!!! You will come out better for trying while saving some money! And whatever you come up with will be better than what was really given as daily rations to those poor Royal Navy Sailors. Over here is the USA, we all just cannot understand the European's obsession with Black Tot, which is highly over rated!

Update September 25, 2021: This rum comes in a cylindrical cardboard gift box with a circular metal top. Save this top! It comes in handy for when you are enjoying some of your favorite rums outside in a snifter. This top can be used to cover the opening and keep the bugs away from ruining your drink.

Update November 3, 2021: I found another bottle closer to home, but had to pay another $10 US for it. It is still a good buy, but my first bottle at $55 US was an excellent buy. I then had to do my own blending experiment this afternoon.

Well, not so fast on excellent or good buys! My own blend wound up rating at an 8 and costing only $35!!! This one is 10.2% more ABV than my own blend, but the burn from this one detracts from the flavors that I have come up with today. This leaves me no choice except to dock my rating on this one to a 5, which is my clue to never buy again. So what was my own blend? You will have to dig through the Discussions to find out those details!

I like a navy styled rum once in a while and this black tot, finest caribiean seemed appealing enough to warrant a purchase. I will start of by saying that it's not a spectacular rum, but decent for the money if your into this kinda rum. In the glass it's spot on amber and in the nose I get black tea, banana, raisin, burnt brown sugar, citrus and a little bit of musty oak and something remiding me of gunpowder residue. Perhaps comming from barrel char. It's actually a very, very nice nose, that makes me think of worthy park.
The taste however lags a little bit behind the nose. It's not thin, but given the complex notes, it could have benefited from a bit more body. I get subtle treacly molasses, tobacco, cinnamon, dark oak and anise with a bit of peppery hotness on the finish. A nice sipper nonetheless.

First note is the pale yellow color, reminds me of Plantation Trinidad or Guatemala, Mt Gay, or young Jamaican rum. On the nose a mild scent Of Demurra rum maybe Port Mourant, or Versaille still. First sip the Guayana rum comes through instantly, but not intensely, followed by sweet notes. Straight it has a bit more depth and lingers on the pallet.

This is a decent rum, better than Hamilton Navy, or demurra rums, but not worth the north of $60 price tag. I will likely not buy again.

A light golden colour, cinnamon and orange smell with a hint of tobacco. Good flavour with the fire on the the throat. Left it on the shelf for a while, poured the last glass and the tobacco is now the strong smell with the cinnamon in the background.

Very smoky peaty smell and I get that and a little molasses with the first taste. Alot of burn on the back end which to me isn't pleasant.

Many thanks to Joola69 for providing me a few minis of this to try!

This is a nice, smoky rum!

Smells and tastes of tobacco, licorice, cinnamon, pepper, molasses, oak, and honey.

Not a bad rum at all, though I don't think it's great either.

Very good. I might come back and raise this to an 8. Terrific molasses and currant flavor. Cinnamon and toffee notes. Not much bite but this could be due to the fine balance. Finish is too short. A little thin on the pallet. But an excellent, flavorful, smooth sipper. Very enjoyable.

The nose of black tot is very intensive and fruity. More intensive as Silver Seal.
There is clearly Demerara in the nose, like El Dorado 8.
Silver seal has a sour apple in the nose (Hampden). Black Tot has more honey and cask influence (Guyana). Guyana and Jamaica are also clearly in the blend, the balance is good.

Smell: Demerara with honey, wood from the cask, apples, raisins. Not very complex but tasty.

The taste starts sharp and with aromas from El Dorado 8. I think the most part is from DDL.
Demerara wood, fruits, some viscosity and honey sweetness. Hampden notes like Smith&Cross, mainly apples are in the middle. The sharpness increases, a little bitterness is noticeable towards the finish.
The finish is sharp with wood and vanilla, the Hampden apple is also there.

Jamaica is in the taste but Guyana is dominant. The finish is quite spicy. I would prefer more molasses and honey. Would give it 80 points. Still a great rum, no doubt about it but I would prefer Pusser's Gunpowder proof.

Sweetness: 2/5
Fruits: 2/5
Spice: 4/5
Mildness: 2.5/5
Complexity: 3/5
Value (34€): 3.5/5