It’s sweeter on the palate, with more pronounced brown sugar rather than molasses notes. There are tropical fruit notes of melon and mango, along with prune, caramel and milk chocolate. The rum is smoother, with a more pronounced palate weight, and is less peppery than its brethren. The extended aging is evident in the more noticeable oak notes. The original ration or “tot” was a half pint of rum per day. The rum would vary in strength, but generally averaged around 55% alcohol or 110 proof. The rum would be distributed around 4 bells during the forenoon watch—10:00 am in modern parlance.

Rum, Black Tot Day, And The Splice The Mainbrace! Pusser’s Rum, Black Tot Day, And The

The finish is long, initially dry and peppery, with tropical spice notes, followed by lingering dried fruit sweetness and a bit of bitterness.The invention of hydrometers also allowed the British Navy to make adjustments to what they considered proof. They determined that 54.5% ABV or 4.5 degrees below proof was the minimum strength required for gunpowder to ignite. Thus, British Navy Strength became a designation and by 1866 this became the standard. Imperial Proof Pusser’s rums consist of rums sourced from Guyana. Each of the rums in the core range are different blends of rums in accordance with the Admiralty’s specifications. These are all, rich, powerful, full-bodied, robust rums with a substantial palate weight and texture. Below are tasting notes on the core range of Pusser’s rum offerings.

GUNPOWDER PROOF – Pussers-Rum

In 1979, American entrepreneur Charles Tobias reached an agreement with the Royal Navy to produce “navy rum” in the same style as traditional Royal Navy rum. Tobias secured the recipe, hitherto a secret, in return for a royalty paid to the Admiralty. Pusser’s Rum Ltd was set up in Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands, to bottle and distribute the rum. a b Title 27 Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Chapter 1, §5.37 (PDF). 1 April 2000. p.61. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2021. {{ cite book}}: |work= ignored ( help)His entry on April 10, 1663 records, “Off to the Exchange with Sir J Cutler and Mr Grant to the Royal Oak Tavern in Lumbard Street, and there drank a sort of French wine called Ho Bryan, that hath a good and most particular taste that I never met with.” This Pusser’s 15 YO is the company’s only aged expression. Historically, it was a blend of rums from Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad. Lately, it appears that the rums have been drawn entirely from the Demerara Distillery in Guyana. Around 50% of the blend is from the wooden pot, double distilled rums from the Port Mourant still, and the balance is from column stills at Demerara. The 15 YO is a different blend of rums than its siblings. a b Jensen, William B. (September 2004). "The Origin of Alcohol 'Proof' " (PDF). Journal of Chemical Education. 81 (9): 1258–1259. Bibcode: 2004JChEd..81.1258J. doi: 10.1021/ed081p1258. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2014 . Retrieved 17 July 2014. Other Commonwealth navies followed the tradition of issuing their sailors with daily rations of rum. The New Zealand Navy was the very last to issue a tot, stopping the practice on February 28, 1990.