Toasting Black Tot Day

by Alice Lascelles

To mangle a quote from George Orwell - all spirits come with a story, but some stories are better than others. And one of the better ones belongs to Black Tot Last Consignment, which was launched by Speciality Drinks this week to mark the 40th anniversary of Black Tot Day, when the naval tradition of a daily tot of rum was brought to an end. Drawn from the last remaining stocks of the original naval rum from 1970, it's a rum that crackles with history, and it was a real thrill to taste it among a small crowd of rum experts and ex-seaman aboard HMS Belfast this week. The toot of the whistle, the cry of 'up spirits!' and the response of 'stand fast the Holy Ghost!', the talk of 'sippers' and 'gulpers', the ritual and the tradition- it made the hairs on my neck stand on end. If only every spirit could tell a tale so good.