Black Tot Day Infinity Bottle 2023

A little something different
for this post.

In fact, a post with content that is not even written by me!
It has been created by my good friend,
fellow rum-geek, Mr. Kevin Brooks.

For those that do not know, Kevin is an former Royal Marine, but spends his time nowadays collecting and promoting rum. He is an enthusiastic influencer in the rum world and will be known to many throughout the world of rum. Some of you will also know that each year since 2020 to coincide with Black Tot Day on July 31st, Kevin has created an infinity bottle of rum. And if like me, you are one of those that has been fortunate enough to try these infinity bottles, you will know that they have a unique theme and create a fascinating tot of rum to try. Following on from last year’s Foursquare Infinity Cask, this year sees a naval theme, drawing on Kevin’s former military prowess.

NOTE: For those that do not know, an infinity bottle is a combination of multiple drinks, in this case rums. Usually, as one or more sips are drawn from the infinity bottle, it is replenished with something else, thus perpetually topping up the bottle, which therefore never ends, hence the term infinity bottle. Although not strictly never-ending, Kevin’s infinity bottles draw from the concept of multiple rums mixed in one bottle.

And so, in Kevin’s own words, here is his commentary on his fourth infinity bottle, his 2023 creation “Navy Strength”. I am sure that Kevin will send a tot over to me once the rums are married and we might re-visit this with some tasting notes.

BLACK TOT DAY 31^st July 2023

Before I seriously started collecting bottles of Rum, I used to drink with fellow former Royal Marines who had also been Ships Marines and had memories of the days that Rum rations were still issued. Tots of Rum have always been consumed at our Royal Marines Association’s monthly meetings. Unfortunately, most of the guys who sailed before Black Tot day came along have long since gone, but the camaraderie of those guys and rum drinking still continues.

I’ve heard people say just because you can doesn’t mean you should, I get it, but where’s the fun in that?

This year again I’m making another blended bottle from my navy strength collection of rums, a single pour of 25ml for each rum. A total of 28 different expressions.

P.S. This isn’t my complete collection but I’m a sucker for Navy Strength bottles and if you know of any that aren’t here that are still available for sale somewhere please drop me a link on kevint78@hotmail.com or Facebook or WhatsApp.

Let’s get down to this year’s list of Rums that made the cut, in no particular order.

Cargo Cult NS 54.4% Thanks to Steve Margarry for the sample not yet available in the UK yet but on its way (July 2023).
Inner Circle NS 57.2% Produced by the Inner Circle distillery Australia.
Ludlow NS 57% produced by UK’s Ludlow distillery.
Hamilton 114 57% NS Ministry of rum collection distilled and aged in West Indies.
City of London distillery 16-year-old NS 57% Trinidad and Tobago blend.
Pusser’s Gunpowder 54.5% Guyana.
HMS Victory NS 57% Isle of Wight distillery.
Lost Years NS 54.5% Saving turtles, a Jamaican & Barbados blend.
Mainbrace NS 54.5% Guyana & unaged agricole from Martinique.
Jimmy Rum NS 57.8% Craft rum from Australia.
Hattiers Resolute NS 54.5% Barbados, Australian, Guyanan & Jamaican blend from Devon.
Transcontinental Rum Line NS 57% Worthy Park estate rum from Jamaica.
Scottish white NS 57% From the demijohn guys.
Liv NS 57.5% Mattugga distillers, Scottish rum, African soul.
Privateer Navy Yard 54.6% From Massachusetts USA.
Worthy Park 109 54.5% Jamaica.
Compagnie Des Indies NS 57% Jamaica 5yo.
Navy Island NS 57% Jamaica blend.
Nelson’s NS 57% From Nelson’s distillery UK.
East London Liquor NS 57% Another UK distillery using Guyana rum.
Smith & Cross NS 57% Distilled in Jamaica produced in the UK.
World’s End NS 57% Blend of Rum from Jamaica & Trinidad.
Collingwood NS 57% From the Alnwick rum distillery UK.
Norfolk NS 57% Another UK craft distillery.
Black Tot Master Blender’s Reserve 2021 54.5%. From the team at TWE.
Black Tot Master Blender’s Reserve 2022 54.5%. From the team at TWE.
Pusser’s 50th Anniversary 54.5%. Guyana.
Ancient Mariner 16yo Navy rum 54%. Caribbean.