Ever since the original release of Last Consignment, with the finite resources of the Navy Rum blend ebbing away forever, Sukhinder Singh and head blender for Elixir Distillers, Oliver Chilton, began discussing what the Navy Rum blend would look like if it were created again today. Over the course of the next 10 years, many discussions and trials were put in place for how the blend could be recreated, or evolved.

And so it was decided a new blend would be created. While honouring time old components of the original Navy Rum, it seemed a fools errand to imitate a blend profile that was crafted over the span of more than 100 years. Instead the focus became to make a blend more catered for the modern palate - and there were many different considerations at play. While the Navy had shied away from Jamaican rum, Sukhinder and Oliver knew that Jamaica would play a pivotal role in adding funk and complexity needed for a new blend. Guyana has always been an integral heart of the tot, and would remain so now. And for the tropical fruit notes, it was decided Barbados rum brought this quality like no other. And so, over the course of two years, 26 different blends were trialled and tasted, until finally Black Tot Finest Caribbean Rum was born.

And where to now? Well, 2020 was the year of the 50th Anniversary for Black Tot Day, and we released a delicious limited edition blend - Black Tot 50th Anniversary Rum - to celebrate this. And in the journey to come, our aim to is continue to evolve and develop new blends, just as the Navy used to do. Each year, we will be releasing a limited edition blend to celebrate Black Tot Day and the legacy of the Navy blenders.