Angel's Share Title
Pusser’s 50th Anniversary Rum
One of the most unexpected positive surprise gifts of 2020 was receiving a bottle of Pusser’s 50th Anniversary Rum from friends. Limited to 5,000 bottles and moderately priced, this rum is still being found in some outlets, but is mostly sold out. This rum as the name implies was created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Black Tot Day which was celebrated with much fanfare on July 31st of this year. The rum is a 54.5% ABV blend of two column still rums from Trinidad as well as three pot and column still Guyana rums blended to the exact specifications last used by ED&F Man the company that provided rum to the British Admiralty. One particularly cool note about this rum is one of the Guyana pot stills used for this project was the Greenhart double Wooden Pot Still that began existence at Port Mourant Estate in 1732.
Pusser's 50th Aniversary Rum
Appearance
The black 700mL wrapped bottle has a label that provides the history of the Black Tot and background on the blend of rum. On the front of the label is noted the bottle number for the limited edition rum. For this review I am evaluating bottle 562. Swirling the liquid created a medium band that slowly thickened and dropped one wave of fast moving legs and the a second set of slow moving legs that dropped as the band pebbled and evaporated.
Nose
The aroma of the rum reminds me of the many Demerara rums I have had over the years. In the glass, I discovered notes of brown sugar, sweet molasses, prune, star anise, nutmeg, dark cacao, wood shavings, peach filled pastry, dried orange peel, caramelized bananas, graphite and a hint of raspberry.
Palate
The first sip of the rum provides an explosion of flavors that I enjoyed evaluating. The organic and spice notes swirl with the alcohol conditioning the tongue so I can begin properly evaluating the flavors. First is the blend of dark chocolate mocha with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, punctuated by a bite of clove and black pepper. Allspice flattens the other notes and leads to revealing notes of dried orange peel, caramelized bananas, prunes, raspberry marmalade, dried tobacco leaf, anise and salt that brings out the char notes of the wood. It is this char and anise notes that carry the rum in a nice long finish. As the flavor fades there is a bit of a sweet residue left across the teeth and tongue and the anise note lingered until I cleared it after several sips of water.
Review
As the flavors fade I can honestly say I enjoyed the delightful complexity of the rum. It is rumored that the rums used in the blend were collectively around seven years old, but I could not find any reliable history from the company verifying it. Understanding what they were trying to achieve, I would love to have someone who participated in the British Navy at the time and get their honest take on the flavor experience. Personally, this was an appreciated gift and I am glad I was given the opportunity to evaluate the spirit. If you happen to discover it on the shelves and the price is right, pick it up for the cool and complex flavor experience it will deliver to you. Up Spirits!
