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Virgin Islands, British | Aged | 40% ABV
The Great British Admiralty first served rum daily to its Royal Navy sailors over 300 years ago until the ration was abolished in 1970. In 1979 Charles Tobias bought the recipe rights, formed Pusser’s Ltd. in the British Virgin Islands, and for the first time made the rum it available for public consumption.
Pusser’s British Navy rum today is the same blend of five West Indian rums as the British Admiralty issued to sailors.
Known as the “single malt of rum” Pusser’s British Navy rum is pot stilled using a similar method as that for single malt scotches, and with no artificial flavors is 100% natural.
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Posted
over 2 years ago
Pusser’s Blue Label is a faithful reproduction of British Royal Navy Admiralty rum, originally produced between 1655 and 1970.
It is made from the blend of rums from former English possessions.
As the brand's other rums, no additives or colorings have been added before packaging.
On the nose, here is a rum typical of the English tradition. At the same time spicy, full-bodied, fruity. On the palate, the rum is balanced and complex. it offers a very particular profile, faithful to Navy rums. The spirit of the English style is well represented there: a full-bodied rum, not necessarily refined but tasty and lively. We can smell very ripe exotic fruits
The finish is both mineral and coppery, then on lightly roasted nuts. For me this is a great rum, full of flavor and full bodied for a reasonable price. I can't wait to taste the 54% version.
Posted
over 2 years ago
This rum is acceptable, but I can’t consider Pusser’s to be amongst my favorite rums. To me this rum isn’t really a sipper and has some “aggressive” flavors in the finish that are a tad unpleasant.
As a mixer, again not awful but doesn’t really stand above its peers. Tried this in a few of my regular tiki cocktails that call for a blended rum and, while palatable, didn’t beat my regular stalwarts.
There is one exception that keeps this rum on my shelf: it’s second to none in a painkiller (and I don’t want to admit this because their whole trademark enforcement on that aforementioned cocktail is cringey). But the Painkiller is one of my girlfriends favorite cocktails, and we both have experimented with many different rums, and Pusser’s just works for that cocktail.
Overall, the blended category is so full with standouts that I wouldn’t normally keep it around, but the GF’s penchant for Painkillers keeps this in my cabinet.
Awesome rum. It's heavy and great. Made with the original recipe from the 1600's, you'll feel like a genuine sailor
Posted
almost 3 years ago
I bought it because it was at a bargain price, and also because I readed a lot about the legendary rum of British Navy. The choise fell on the blue label with 40% ABV, I thought that the "original" 54% ABV could be...too much!
Nose: when I opened the bottle, I immediately heard the ship's bell ringing in the room. What the heck! It opens with a strong mature banana, powerful grapes, sultanas, vanilla and then caramel, cotton candy, chocolate, brown sugar, an hint of thick leather and elegant woods.
Taste: the taste is full bodied, it repeats what you've felt at the nose with some additions. Again comes mature bananas and other mature fruits. Surprisingly kick in a delicate touch of citrus fruits (orange and bitter orange, for the most) and then a touch of coconut, cocoa, delicate woods. It's lightly sweet but with a touch of sour.
But it's at the end that come in a lot of round, smooth custard note, with butter and again cocoa. It's persistent, it remains for a long time, and it's awesome. If you close your eyes, it seems like you're eating pastry!
Notes: the persistency of the flavours it's very noticeable in this rum. I think that could be the blend with Guyana rums (usually in the sweet side), but believe me when I say that this rum can easily replace a dessert. Try it with 70%/80% dark chocolate and you will not regret it.
Posted
almost 3 years ago
En god rom på det jævne, ikke noget dårligt at sige.
Posted
almost 3 years ago
Dark and funky, very good pot stilled mixer. Great for doing shot's...Try it!
Posted
almost 3 years ago
I was reading a lot about the rum and was excited to try. But no. It reminded me Sailor Jerry which i hate.
Posted
almost 3 years ago
Old copper-yellow colour with a light yelow rim.
Moderate intense nose with aroma's of caramel, brown sugar and woodimpressions.
Gentle start on the palate with aroma's of caramel, bourbon and a hint of vanilla.
Long finish and well balanced
Posted
almost 3 years ago
This rum is dark in color and has a light molasses nose. It hasn’t much body in the taste but wait for it… there it is! The molasses flavor comes in really late! I can see why it would be good mixed into Painkillers but I would probably add another rum or two to round out the body from start to finish.
Posted
almost 3 years ago
The classic painkiller pairing. Delicious. Strong. I love this rum.
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In my heyday of traveling extensively through the Caribbean from 1988 to 1996, I drank cheap Cruzan and Appleton rums to save money for all of my trips. Then I happened upon a bottle of this rum from the BVI's one day. I bought a bottle and had absolutely no idea what the Royal Navy daily ration meant. It was so different from any rum that I had tried. However, I soon looked upon this rum as an occasional foray into "finer" rums, as I had yet to learn about the true finer rums. I kept buying this "luxury rum" on occasion for many years until one day the taste changed. I gave up and avoided it for at least 20 years.
Having liked their 15 year old that even made it into my top 10 rums, I finally gave this one another try. My only purpose for buying it was to make authentic Goombay Smashes and Painkillers, both of which are sweet tropical drinks as opposed to sour tiki drinks.
My bottle was created in Guyana and bottled in the BVI's. Since I love demerara rums from Guyana, this was a good sign before I even opened the bottle. It also has only 6 gpl of added sugar to keep it classified as dry, which is another good sign. My first whiff from opening the bottle was caramel. The wonderful aroma of mildly spiced caramel lingers in the snifter. Very complex flavors greet the palate since it is supposedly made from several different Caribbean rums. It is sweet without being overpowering, with oak flavors being very well hidden. The smooth taste goes down with no after burn.
Damn, I found another winner at only $26 per bottle and I don't even have to use it as a mixer. But when I do, I will not feel guilty about using it to make large batches of Goombay Smashes! And yes, it does indeed make a great Goombay Smash!
Update January 5, 2021: It has been years since I had this rum or their much better Gunpowder Proof. So rather than drive almost 200 miles to pick up more bottles of Gunpowder Proof, I picked up another bottle of Pusser's 84 Blue Label locally this morning. The label on the back says that it is a blend of rums from Guyana and Trinidad. It tastes no better than before and still rates as a high 6 for me. The inclusion of the cheaper column still and unaged rum from Trinidad is obviously used to keep the price down. It also keeps the quality down. However, a recommended upgrade to this rum would be to add some Appleton 12 year or 8 year to the mix to suit your tastes.
So go ahead and make your own version of Black Tot that suits your own needs and at a much cheaper cost! I still cannot believe that the British Royal Navy gave their troops a daily ration of such a complex mixture of rum for free. I am almost certain that their daily ration was more like the modern day version of Bacardi Gold vodka disguised as rum. My impression of the current craze over Black Tot is that this is nothing more than another money grab. Fools and their money will soon part! Take my advice and do your research to recreate your own version that tastes much better at a much lesser cost.