Lost Years Navy Strength Rum. There’s been quite an explosion of branded, blended rum brands coming out of the UK in recent years. For a long while all we had where the old “favourites” such as Lamb’s and Captain Morgan.

That has definitely changed. Brands such as The Duppy Share, Diablesse and Thameside have shown that you can charge slightly more “premium” price for a superior quality blend.

Following a COVID delayed launch in November 2020 Lost Years rum have now brought 4 different rums to the market. A Four Island Blend of dark/gold rums bottled at 40% ABV, a white Silver Moon rum bottled also bottled at 40% ABV, an Arribada Cask Aged Rum bottled at 42% ABV and finally this their Navy Strength Rum which comes in at 54.5% ABV.

I’ve seen this bottling advertised on a number of occasions and I also think it is a Navy Strength Gin. I think it is down to the fact that so few white rums are bottled and advertised as “Navy Strength” and also because “Navy Strength” Gin is often housed in packaging, bottle shapes similar to this offering.

In the UK you can pick up a bottle of Lost Years Navy Strength Rum for around £35 in most retailers. Master of Malt currently have stock priced at £33.95.

As already touched upon the presentation of Lost Years Navy Strength Rum is a bit of step up for what you might expect from a White Rum. Albeit it one bottled at much higher ABV than most.

I’m a bit of sucker for stubby style bottles. The front labelling is clear and uncluttered with a Caribbean Sea Turtle as the emblem (we’ll come to that in a bit). The Silver embossed writing can be a little difficult to read in some lighting, (it looks a bit gold in the pictures!) but luckily most of the important information regarding the rum is on the reverse in a simpler white font. The neck notes “Saving Sea Turtles” and the wooden topped cork stopper has a Sea Turtle embossed on the lid. All in all its a nice eye catching package.

So what’s the craic with the Sea Turtles? Well if you visit the Lost Years website, they will explain things in more detail. Basically every bottle of Lost Years rum that is sold leads to a charitable contribution,. This helps towards conservation activity at key nesting sites around the Caribbean. In an attempt to ensure these endangered animals do not become extinct.

The “Lost Years” refers to the number of years these Sea Turtle spend when they disappear into the Ocean shortly after hatching, returning to the beaches many years later.

So there you go I don’t normally go into too much detail on the marketing side of rums but I don’t really feel that any stories are being spun here. So I’m happy to share their vision. I’m also happy reading “Pure and unadulterated with no added sugar or colouring” on the reverse label!

So whatever do we have in the shape of a Navy Strength White Rum? Usually such Navy Style/Strength rums are coloured to death (regardless of how aged or not they are!).

Well Lost Years Navy Strength Rum is an unaged blend of traditional column still rum from Jamaica, married with a High Ester Pot Still Rum from Barbados. I re-read that a few times as I would have expected the reverse in a blend. I can’t think of many examples of High Ester Pot Still Barbados Rum being in a blend. Interesting.

I don’t have the information on the distilleries. As is often the case with these blends the blender keeps things secret………

My particular bottle is from Batch No.1 and is numbered 843.

So anyway, time for the fun bit so lets get going………

In the glass, we have an entirely clear spirit. Which is to be expected of an unaged spirit.

Bearing in mind the rums in the blend I’m a little surprised at how molasses heavy the nose is. It reminds me of a young Guyanese rum. Thick treacly molasses, caramel and toffee apple are jumping out at me.

Further nosing and time in the glass reveals gentler, creamier notes. Light fruity notes of Peach, natural yoghurt, a touch of strawberry and some slightly tart blackcurrant.

Lost Years Navy Strength Rum shows its teeth on the nose with what I can only as a boozy menace. There is a layer of dirty Jamaican funk running right over the top of all the sweet toffee and fruitiness. Giving it an extra layer of complexity.

There have only been a few white rums that I have actually sipped. More often than not I have sipped them more as a reference than for genuine enjoyment. So it will be interesting to see how this one fairs.

At full strength its quite spicy and very boozy! The initial burst of white pepper and spicy heat is a little rough around the edges. However a few more sips in you start to appreciate more of nuances of this particular rum.

More of the sweeter molasses notes and some of the fruity notes start to come through particularly on the mid palate. Hints of coconut and some light vanilla also temper the spicy heat and the boozy kick. Blackcurrant and strawberry float in and out particularly towards the finish.

The finish is a good length – overall I found a drop or two of water helped with the sipping experience. It is an unaged rum so it a little rough around the edges and it is pretty boozy. That said as with a lot of rums, you need to understand what you are buying. I’ve certainly enjoyed it as a sipper. (I quite like having a cheeky swig of it but I best not advocate such behaviour!)

The thing with something like Lost Years Navy Strength Rum is that a little can go a long way.

Despite this being an unaged white rum I found it makes a really nice Rum and Coke. If you like them a bit punchy of course………

It is however in fruit juice based cocktails where I think Lost Years really shines and adds some much needed flavour and punch to drinks.

I’m no mixologist but I am sure plenty people in the Rum Community would be able to put this rum to a variety of uses. I suppose you might compare it to something like Veritas – however the Barbadian Pot Still is the biggest influence on this particular rum. It’s got a bit of funk but the molasses and sweeter notes of the Bajan rum are more dominant here.

Really interesting stuff!