Tales of the Tot
Black Tot 24-Hour Rum Festival 2020
On Friday 31st July, we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Black Tot Day on our Facebook Live with a rum extravaganza like never before - the world's first 24-Hour Rum Festival!
The Navy Rum itself was a blend of many different countries and rum traditions from all around the world, and so for the 50th Anniversary it seemed fitting that we celebrate many of the key rum regions that were influential in this historic blend.
Some of the greatest rum makers and blenders from around the world today, as well as many of the key figures who are helping to develop and progress the rum category in their local bars and community, joined us for incredible discussion, debates, questions and more than a few daiquiris. There was a huge amount of rum education and sharing of love for the spirit - it was a real celebration of the whole rum category that we are delighted to have been a part of.
Of course, who could forget our wonderful hosts, Mitch Wilson (Global Ambassador, Black Tot Rum) & Dawn Davies (Head Buyer - and rum lover - at The Whisky Exchange), who stayed up for the entire 24 Hours and were as enthusiastic and passionate at 10am on 1st August as they were at 10am on 31st July.
A fantastic highlight of the event (among many, many others), was when we raised a tot around the world at ‘six bells in the forenoon’ (11am UK time) on 31st July, to commemorate the very moment that the last navy rum ration, the ‘Black Tot’, was served 50 years ago that day.
Thank you wholeheartedly to all of our amazing guests, and to each and every one of you who joined us in the celebrations. The videos of the event are now available for viewing on our Facebook and YouTube pages, @blacktotrum, if you'd like to catch up or simply relive the memories!
Below is the schedule of each session if you're interested in a particular topic or speaker.
UP SPIRITS!
Schedule
FRIDAY 31ST JULY, 2020
10:00am - 10:15am
WELCOME TO BLACK TOT 24HOURS PART 1 of 4 - CELEBRATING THE WORLD OF RUM
with your hosts, Dawn Davies (The Whisky Exchange) & Mitch Wilson (Black Tot Rum)
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10:15am - 11:45am
UP SPIRITS! CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF BLACK TOT DAY
with Sukhinder Singh (The Whisky Exchange), Oliver Chilton (Elixir Distillers), & John Hume (former Royal Navy)
- we will be raising a toast in the session commemorating the last tot 50 years ago, at 11:00am -
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12:00pm - 1:15pm
THE PILLARS OF NAVY RUM
with Global Rum Ambassadors - Miguel Smith (Mount Gay), Christelle Harris (Hampden Estate), Daniyel Jones (Angostura), & Benjamin Boothe (Tamosi)
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1:30pm – 2:45pm
TROPICAL VS CONTINENTAL AGEING
with Luca Gargano (Velier) & Carsten Vlierboom (E&A Scheer)
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3:00pm – 4:15pm
BARBADOS - THE ROOTS OF RUM
with Trudiann Branker (Mount Gay)
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4:30pm - 5:45pm
(IN)DEPENDENT BOTTLERS – THE EVOLUTION OF DOCK RUMS
with Daniele Biondi (La Maison & Velier), Joshua Singh (SBS), Peter Holland (That Boutique-y Rum Company), & Florent Beuchet (Compagnie des Indes)
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6:00pm – 7:15pm
BARRELS AT SEA – THE DYNAMIC AGEING EXPERIMENT
with Don Benn (West indies Rum Distillery) & Alexandre Gabriel (Plantation Rum)
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7:30pm - 8:45pm
GUYANA – THE HEART OF THE TOT
with Shaun Caleb (Demerara Distillers Limited)
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9pm – 10.15pm
THE RUM ARCHIVES
with Dave Broom (Author, Rum: The Manual), Matt Pietrek (CocktailWonk), & Frank Ward (former Mount Gay & WIRSPA)
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10:30pm - 11:45am
JAMAICA AND THE DUNDERCATS
with Zan Kong (Worthy Park), Christelle Harris (Hampden) & George Frost (Duppy’s Share)
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Midnight - 1:15am (Saturday 1st August)
RUM – CHALLENGING THE NEW FRONTIERS
with Joy Spence (Appleton), Margaret Monplaisir (St Lucia Distillers), Maggie Campbell (Privateer), Sly Augustin (Trailer Happiness)
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1:30am – 2:45am
FROM SHIP TO SHORE: RUM AND COCKTAIL CULTURE
with Jessica Yến Manzey, Paul McFadyen (Plantation Rum) & Gergő Muráth (Worthy Park)
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3:00am - 4:15am
THE AMERICAN RUM RENAISSANCE
with Maggie Campbell (Privateer)
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4:30am – 5:45am
EAST COAST VS WEST COAST – RUM BAR THROWDOWN
with Jen Akin (Rumba, Seattle), Chockie Tom (Doom Tiki, NYC), Austin Hartman (Paradise Lounge, NYC) & Gergő Muráth (Trailer Happiness, London)
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6:00am- 7:15am
THE RUM REBELLION – THE HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN RUM
with Steve Magarry (Beenleigh)
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7:30am - 8:45am
RECREATING THE NAVY BLEND
with Oliver Chilton (Elixir Distillers)
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9:00am – 10:00am
THE LAST TOAST – A TRIBUTE TO RUM CLUBS AROUND THE WORLD
with Jim Wrigley & Rum Clubs Around The World
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10:00am
THE TALL SHIPS TOAST
FIN
*All session times are UK Time
Broadcast on https://www.facebook.com/blacktotrum/ Facebook Live
#BlackTot50th #BlackTot24Hours
