24 Days of Rum – The Original Rum Box. Warning! This article contains spoilers. If you have bought this calendar and do not wish to know any of the contents. Stop reading now!

I would imagine the young child I once was would have given someone a very strange look had they suggested they would one day be writing about a Rum Advent Calendar.

Indeed, I remember first seeing the 24 Days of Rum and the Rum Advent Calendar from Master of Malt and thinking “Is that for real?” Well indeed they are. Very real in fact. 24 Days of rum comes from our Danish friends at 1423.dk

For those who are a little slow on the uptake – 24 Days of Rum is a Rum Advent Calendar. It is intended to be used during December on the run up to Christmas Day. That said there is nothing stopping you using it any other month………

As a child, I was always hopeful of getting a more upmarket Advent Calendar. You know one with real chocolate in it. Something like Thornton’s or even Cadbury’s. Alas invariably, I would be presented with a Transformers or Star Wars calendar (both of whom I had little interest in) from Kinnerton. Yes that’s right Kinnerton. Purveyors of the most repulsive synthetic chocolate you could ever imagine. Heck, I bet if I had left my calendars from the 80’s untouched the “chocolate” would still be as edible as it was back then. The most disturbing thing about Kinnerton advent calendars, is that they were a £1 back in the 80’s and they are still a £1 now………..

Anyway, it maybe in part to be deprived childhood but the thought of having an Advent Calendar full of rum seems very exciting…….

24 Days of Rum – The Original Rum Box comes in, well a black cardboard box. Presentation wise it keeps up with the 1423.dk S.B.S and Companero vibe. Thankfully isn’t all Red, White and Green and tacky. It’s quite minimalist with its black and grey colour scheme. Nicely done.

In the UK it retails at £79.99. Which you may notice is significantly cheaper than other Rum Advent Calendars. As well as the rum you also receive 2 drinking glasses and a little brochure each to write your notes about each rum.

The small drinking glasses are actually quite nifty and handy. They are a bit of a bonus. I didn’t realise you got them with this calendar. In terms of opening everything, it works pretty much like every other advent calendar. Perforated card with a handy little opener for each window. It’s very solid and works very nicely.

At this stage I will point out the good and the bad about the rum in this box. Firstly, the individual bottles are 2cl or in more familiar “British” terms 20ml. So they just below a standard “shot” measure, here in the UK. I’ve got to say the idea of sharing such a small amount of rum does seem a touch optimistic. Maybe you’d need to buy a calendar each?

I’ve griped before about the small measures in these advent calendars. However, I appreciate the cost of creating miniatures. Try and assemble 24 miniature rums from Master of Malt for £80. You’ll struggle for sure.

As well as being 24 Days of Rum you also get rum from 24 different countries/islands. Now, this is the part that really got me interested. As a reviewer and someone who just likes trying new things, I have looked at a number of bottles over the last few years and thought – I’d like to try that.

Often though I have baulked at the price of a full bottle. I’ve then ended up frustrated at not being able to buy a little tester. This gives you the option to try satisfy some long running curiosity.

It also takes the choice out of your hands. Great if you are similar to me and just like trying new things. Even if you know some you might not be too keen on. This box is absolutely ideal. We have rums from Nepal, Phillipines, Indonesia, alongside more familiar favourites such as Guyana, Barbados and St Lucia. It truly is a completely random selection of rum.

I noticed last years box seemed to have a fair few spiced and flavoured rums in the line up. This year we have 24 “straight” (I dare say one or two might have some special sauce in there somewhere) rums. In the photos, I have shared a few of the rums available in the box but I don’t want to entirely spoil everyone’s fun so I won’t give the full “tracklisting”.

Quite a few of these rums I have barely heard of. Some are are rarely available in the UK. So it has certainly been a very good investment from my point of view. I’ll get quite a few reviews out of this box. There are are only around 5 rums I have actually tried in this box. There are some real surprises and some genuine oddities.

I’m not going to review this box as such in terms of giving it a score. I haven’t tried all the rums yet. I need to be a good boy for Santa so no opening until Advent begins! As a package I think at the price, its pretty hard to beat.

Attention to detail on the miniatures should also be commended as 1423.dk have shrank and re-created the original labels onto the bottles. This is a really nice touch and particularly useful when trying to track down information on some of the rums in this box.

If you are willing to go a little outside the box and are looking to try some new rum then this is will be great fun. Sure you aren’t going to like everything in this box but I’m pretty sure you’ll find a couple of gems you hadn’t previously even heard of.

Should you wish to buy 24 Days of Rum – The Original Rum Box you can find it in the following retailers.

Amazon, Master of Malt, Drink Supermarket and The Whisky Exchange. It will also be available at various European retailers.

Give it a whirl you might find a few new favourites!