Elixir Distillers of London Port Mourant Black Tot Rum Demerara Aged 40 Years 1975

Elixir Distillers of London bottled this single cask 1975 Port Mourant under the Black Tot name, a 40 Year Old that draws on the deep history of British Navy rum. Port Mourant comes off the double wooden greenheart pot still that gave Navy blends their backbone, and four decades in cask have concentrated this into a dense, wood-driven old Demerara at an unsweetened 44.2%.

The nose is musty and barrel-heavy with tobacco, prunes and old oak, and the palate is bitter and leathery, woody and musty with the weight that only long maturation brings. The finish is very long and dry, oak, earth, liquorice and cigar trailing on. The colour is naturally ultra-dark from the years in wood, not added, and the whole bottle reads as liquid history, austere and contemplative rather than fruity or sweet. This is rare, deeply aged Guyana for seasoned drinkers who want to push the dry, wood-driven side of Port Mourant as far as it goes.