Rum of the Year 2020 – Winner. There are numerous Rum Awards ceremonies. Proudly declaring to have found “The Best Rum in the World”. This particular award makes no such claims.

There is no commercial incentive for my award of “Rum of the Year”. No stickers or medals to be awarded. It’s very much the opinion of one amateur Rum Enthusiast. This is merely a bit of fun. I do not think I am the Jim Murray of the Rum World!

There is no panel of “expert” judges and more importantly no entry fees or any hint of “pay to play”. No one is making any money from this, I assure you.

If you want to see all the rums that have fell outside of this Top 5 then feel free to read through the reviews I have published during 2020. There are around 100 in total. That is the competition. Not every rum will get a gong. We recognise on this website that some rum is frankly……..shite.

How seriously the Rum world takes this award, will depend on their particular stance and position within the rum spectrum. This website has never been a keep everyone happy, “Rum is Fun” type of outfit and it never will be. I’m fully aware that some people do not like me, my opinions or my website.

So I published the shortlist a few days ago in order of the review date. So now we will countdown the 5 rums on that shortlist. In terms of quality overall we are talking very, very small margins between each rum. These are all amongst the best rums of the 2,000 plus I have tasted. I’d strongly recommend every 5 star rum I have ever reviewed and all the 4.5 star reviews as well. You really will not go far wrong in my opinion, in terms of quality.

So here we go.

5. Hampden Great House Distillery Edition

A fantastic rum and please do not see this as being in “last place”. It’s way better than 99% of the rums I have tried this year alone!

A really great blend of aged rum from Hampden. This showcases the dunder/funky heavy style of rum they are famed for, with enough finesse and subtlety to make this a near perfect sip.

4. Damoiseau Rhum Vieux Millesime 1995

An absurdly complex mash up of rhum and rum (from molasses and cane juice so the rumours suggest). Hard to find now and the few bottles that remain are getting more and more pricy. It’s scarcity has perhaps influenced its standing in the overall ranking. I honestly like to give the award to a rum people can go out and buy and enjoy.

If you can find a bottle anywhere near the £80 I paid for it – buy them all!

3. Foursquare Rum Distillery Détente

Taking the Port Cask Finish style of rum on a journey, with ani ncrease in ABV has shown how innovative and intriguing Richard Seale can be. Pushing boundaries and infuriating other lesser producers along the way. It also highlights how far rum has come in such a short time. This would have been a pipe dream 10 years ago.

One of 3 Foursquare rums that gained a 5 star rating. This was the stand out for me in terms of what it is achieving in showing rum can be sweet and not sweetened.

2. Worthy Park Single Estate Aged 12 Years

Of all the rum producers it is perhaps Worthy Park Estate that have made the most progress. They have only been back in the game a few years. The distillery re-opened only in 2005. Yet they had the foresight to start ageing rum immediately.

This 12 Year Old Rum followed hot on the heels of a few co-bottlings with Velier. Initially I was a little surprised by the price point. Which seemed a little high.

Not when the quality is this good. Worth every penny.

It was a really close call between this and the eventual winner. In all honesty, had Worthy Park not picked up the gong the couple of years ago I might have chosen differently.

So lets see what was thefatrumpirate.com Rum of the Year 2020 – Winner

1.Black Tot 50th Anniversary Rum

The very fact I have picked a Blended Navy Style Rum as “Rum of the Year” will probably be sneered at by some within the rum review world. The fact is, like it or not we have seen a bit of revival in blended rums. Or rather we have seen a lot of more “expensive” blended rums coming onto the market.

The likes of Velier’s Royal Navy and Tiger Shark have allowed other producers such as Hattiers, Thameside and even Black Tot themselves, to release “mid price” blends which have certainly piqued interest again in “blended” rums.

Following on from Black Tot Finest Caribbean Master Blender Oliver Chilton has put together a blend of aged rums from the Caribbean. To be frank this Guyana heavy blend of rum is the best “blend” I have ever tasted.

Sadly this is a “one off” and it will never be re-created exactly the same as this particular blend. The good news is that there were 5,000 bottles available on release. Which was only a month or so ago. So you can still buy this exclusively from The Whisky Exchange.

As this is thefatrumpirate.com Rum of the Year 2020 – Winner, I would strongly advise you do just that…………