Dead Reckoning Rum The Black Pit. Had I not included “rum” in the title you might have thought I was about to review some kind of low budget/straight to Netflix horror/slasher movie. You can rest easy in that respect. I’m definitely not heading down that route. That said The “Real” Black Pit was indeed a bit of a horror story for anyone who became familiar with it.

Let me explain (via Justin from Dead Reckoning Rum)

“The Black Pit was the nickname given to a perilous area in the mid-Atlantic gap during the Battle of the Atlantic in WWII. It was here that German U-Boats would take the upper hand with the absence of protective air cover, making Allied convoys an easy target.”

So there you go I will say at this point that the liquid in this particular bottling is indeed “The Black Pit” in terms of colour, so that coupled with Justin’s maritime past and interest is how the name evolved. As with all Dead Reckoning releases I have quite a bit of information about this release so here we go…..

Dead Reckoning Rum The Black Pit is a Single Blended Rum (Rums blended from the same distillery) from the Diamond Distillery or Demerara Distillers Limited in Guyana. It is a blend from the distillery’s 3 “Wooden” Heritage Stills. So we have a distillate from the

EHP – Edward Henry Porter – A marque of rum taken from the Wooden Continuous Coffey Still. This still was originally housed at the Enmore Distillery.

<VSG>  Versailles-Schoonord-Goed Fortuin – A marque of rum taken from the Single Wooden Pot Still. This still was originally housed at the Versailles Distillery.

PM Port Mourant – A marque of rum taken from the Double Wooden Pot Still. This still was originally housed at the Port Mourant Distillery. Rum from this still is often referred to as “Uitvlugt” on Independent bottlings.

This rums components have enjoyed 5 years ageing in Guyana in ex-bourbon casks. Before being further aged in the Adelaide in both a South Australian Muscat cask (from Woodstock Winery) and ex-Makers Mark bourbon cask for a further 2 and a half years.

Dead Reckoning The Black Pit was bottled at 50% ABV and originally released in Australia in a limited run of just 180 bottles. This run sold out almost immediately.
Fortunately, there is going to be an even more limited release of this bottling in the UK very soon…….

In the glass Dead Reckoning The Black Pit is a dark brown with a slight red/orange hue around the edges. I’ve found that most Independently bottled Demerara that come from the the Enmore and particularly the Versailles still, tend to be quite dark. In comparison the Port Mourant bottlings I have had, more often than not labelled as Uitvlugt, tend to be much lighter.

The nose is initially quite sweet with notes of raisins and plums. Reminiscent of Wood’s Old Navy Rum or the El Dorado range. Classically Demerara some might say. Further nosing reveals some orange/marmalade notes and something which reminds me of Christmas Cake.

This is all overlayed by a smokiness and a almost malt whisky like note. These are notes which I would associate with the Port Mourant still. The familiar aniseed/liquorice note is also quite prominent in the mix. The nose is complex and very inviting. It’s very good and I am being reminded heavily of this classic old style Velier Demerara bottlings. This bodes extremely well for the tasting……….

On the initial sip you get those traditional Demerara flavours – raisin, sticky toffee pudding, liquorice and some stoned fruits – plums and dates. Then the Port Mourant and Enmore influence comes in. Giving some smoky almost “old” musty notes and a wonderful hit of aniseed. These remind me of Aniseed Balls (English Boiled Sweets) rather than the sweeter hit liquorice.

The Muscat cask seems to have brought some sweetness to the fore and as we move into the mid palate I am getting some sweet Dark Chocolate notes, a little caramel alongside a nice hit of marmalade. This all marries alongside some slightly tarry notes and a nice hit of vanilla and oak spice. There is a slight bitterness but it is not at all unpleasant or out of place.

This is a very complex, rich (almost treacly at times) and very enjoyable rum. The only thing that could let it down now would be the finish…………

Which really doesn’t disappoint. It is long and wraps up everything we have experienced so far into a very long and complex finish.

This is definitely up there with some of the best Demerara rums I have reviewed. Take my old reviews of the El Dorado range with a pinch of salt – I probably wouldn’t rate those rums so highly now. Instead for comparison focus on my reviews of past Velier bottlings and other Independently bottled Demerara.

A comparison with those old Velier Demerara bottlings may seem a little like hyperbole. So I won’t say that.

I’ll just give it 5 stars instead. It really is that good!