Pussers Deptford Dockyard Reserve Limited Edition Rum is a British Navy style rum inspired by the original. For many years, sailors of Great Britain’s Royal Navy were issued a daily ration or ‘tot’ of rum by the ship’s ‘Purser’ (corrupted by the sailors to Pusser’s). A ritual that continued up until July 31st 1970; the end of a 325 year naval tradition was marked on British ships around the world with sailors wearing black armbands and conducting mock funerals, this was known as Black Tot day. Pusser’s Rum was resurrected in 1980 by ex-Navy Seal, Charles Tobias. After much convincing he was allowed to reproduce the rum to the exact specifications of the Admiralty blend established in 1810.
HM Victualling Yard, Deptford was a Royal Navy Victualling (pronounced “vitalling”) Yard established alongside the Deptford Royal Dockyard which was founded in 1513 by Henry VIII. Located on the “deep ford” of the Rivers Ravensbourne and Thames, it served as the principal Royal Navy dockyard for three hundred years and became the Victualling Board’s main spirit depot in 1742.
The Yard’s warehouse housed 30 storage vats which accommodated and aged over 250 thousand gallons of rum. Deptford supplied the Fleet with a flavourful blend of “Empire” rums from British Navy suppliers located in Demerara (Guyana), Trinidad, Barbados, and Jamaica. While little is known about early Admiralty specifications, “the blend” was done “in such proportion as experience had shown was preferred by the men.”
To commemorate the 52nd anniversary of Black Tot Day, Pusser’s introduced a limited-edition Deptford Dockyard Reserve release that is a traditional navy style rum bottled at the traditional royal navy strength of 54.5%.
