Black Tot rum to host 24h online educational festival

Black Tot Rum has announced the lineup for its 24-hour online rum event featuring some of the industry’s biggest names.

The event will take place on 31 July from 10am on Facebook live and will be hosted by Black Tot global brand ambassador Mitch Wilson and Dawn Davies, head buyer and rum expert for The Whisky Exchange. 

Joining Wilson and Davies will be a a variety of industry professionals including blenders and distillers, historians and authors, bartenders and ambassadors.

“For the 50th Anniversary of Black Tot Day we wanted to celebrate in a way that had never been done before,” said Wilson. “There are so many wonderful distilleries and producers around the world, and the Navy Rum was a blend of so many of them - it seemed fitting to bring as many of these producers together as we could for this historic occasion."

HIGHLIGHTS

31 July

12pm (BST) The Pillars of Navy Rum - a look at the islands that provide the cornerstones of the traditional Navy Rum blends with Miguel Smith (Mount Gay), Christelle Harris (Hampden Estate), Daniyel Jones (Angostura) and Benjamin Booth (Tamosi).

1.30pm Tropical vs Continental ageing - what do these different styles of ageing mean for the overall flavour of rum? A discussion with Luca Gargano (Velier) and Carsten Vlierbloom (E&A Scheer).

3pm Barbados - the roots of rum - Mount Gay master blender Trudiann Branker takes us through the heritage of Barbados rum.

6pm Ageing at Sea - a look at a classic style of ageing pioneered by the British Navy with Alexandre Gabriel (Plantation Rum) and Don Benn (West Indies Rum Distillery).

9pm The Rum Archives - a delve into the rum history books with Matt Pietrek (rum historian), Dave Broom (author of Rum: The Manual) and Benjamin Boothe (Tamosi Rum).

1 August 

7.30am Recreating the Navy Blend - a Black Tot tasting with head blender Oliver Chilton and a first look at the new 50th anniversary Black Tot blend.

9am The last toast - a celebration of the world of rum - a visit to rum clubs around the world.