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7th August 2019, 09:08 AM
#11
Re: Black Tot day
Neither of these excellent brands was the first Royal Navy supplier of rum—this honour goes to Lemon Hart (Lehman Hart) a Dutchman who settled in Penzance originally.
Pathways to Legend | LemonHart Rum has an interesting article on Lemon Hart rum detailing the family business and the association with the Royal Navy in the 17th and 18th centuries.
It’s difficult to source in the UK as is Four Bells—but both as well as Woods are from the Diamond Distillery on the banks of the Demerara river in Guyana.
I can only source the Lemon Hart 151 when in Florida from Total Wine distributors a mega alcohol warehouse.
The 151 is not for the faint hearted!
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7th August 2019, 11:49 AM
#12
Re: Black Tot day
I believe that it was from Guyana from the "Four Bells" distillery there and had to be watered down. Incidentally during my apprenticeship in the late 40's in the training centre we were making the letters from sheet brass for the serving keg on H.M. Ships, "The Queen God Bless Her".
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7th August 2019, 12:13 PM
#13
Re: Black Tot day
Originally Posted by
Roger Dandy
I believe that it was from Guyana from the "Four Bells" distillery there and had to be watered down. Incidentally during my apprenticeship in the late 40's in the training centre we were making the letters from sheet brass for the serving keg on H.M. Ships, "The Queen God Bless Her".
Four Bells was the standard rum on Shell ships and very good it was, but when the labelling changed from British Guiana to Guyana, the rum changed also, still good but not as good as the original.
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Originally Posted by
Captsamwhite
Neither of these excellent brands was the first Royal Navy supplier of rum—this honour goes to Lemon Hart (Lehman Hart) a Dutchman who settled in Penzance originally.
Pathways to Legend | LemonHart Rum has an interesting article on Lemon Hart rum detailing the family business and the association with the Royal Navy in the 17th and 18th centuries.
It’s difficult to source in the UK as is Four Bells—but both as well as Woods are from the Diamond Distillery on the banks of the Demerara river in Guyana.
I can only source the Lemon Hart 151 when in Florida from Total Wine distributors a mega alcohol warehouse.
The 151 is not for the faint hearted!
I still have a drop of 151 from the Dominican Republic (Brugal) and as you say, be careful. Apparently some years ago, Canadian airlines banned the carriage of 151
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7th August 2019, 04:41 PM
#14
Re: Black Tot day
Originally Posted by
Bill Cameron
Today is the anniversary of the last day the Tot was issued in 1970, a sad day and the loss of an old Naval tradition
Remember the day well. I issued the rum on that day onboard HMS Rapid. We thought they would splice the main brace as well but it never happened.
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8th August 2019, 06:28 AM
#15
Re: Black Tot day
Going back a bit but in the 70's when we had our two pubs we did at times carry Lemon Hart Rum.
Bought from Trumans brewery back then.
Happy daze John in Oz.
Life is too short to blend in.
John Strange R737787
World Traveller
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11th September 2019, 06:45 AM
#16
Re: Black Tot day
My father, Tom Wood, was the Watneys rep in Devon and Cornwall in the early 1960's and he had Red Barrel bitter installed in the messes of quite a few RN ships when in Plymouth. On one occasion, I think it was on HMS Medway, a senior PO offered him 'halfers' so he drank the bottom half, of course, being a smart ass. They did remain friends and laughed abut it.
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11th September 2019, 12:10 PM
#17
Re: Black Tot day
Originally Posted by
Tony Taylor
Four Bells was the standard rum on Shell ships and very good it was, but when the labelling changed from British Guiana to Guyana, the rum changed also, still good but not as good as the original.
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I still have a drop of 151 from the Dominican Republic (Brugal) and as you say, be careful. Apparently some years ago, Canadian airlines banned the carriage of 151
Tony the only ship I was in that gave out a tot o rum was Shells Achatina. Terry
{terry scouse}
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30th July 2020, 09:34 PM
#18
Re: Black Tot day
Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of Black Tot day .....sighs
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30th July 2020, 10:23 PM
#19
Re: Black Tot day
A Royal Navy toast from the 1800s is: “May our wives always be our sweethearts and our sweethearts always become our wives.”
Became: “Here’s to our wives and girlfriends—may they never meet!”
k.
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31st July 2020, 12:54 AM
#20
Re: Black Tot day
#18... Bill , I have a faint recollection of the pussurs rum as believe they called it . But think in the period 78 -82 when I would of been lining up for it had been stopped. Would this be right ?
We did have however a POs bar run by themselves and was by invitation only , so I was always self iingratiaring to the CPO. It usually worked. However I do have recollections of the old bottle of rum being passed around as a chaser for the beer. Cheers JWS
PS. There is one thing about Naval personel the same as anyone else , is that they would take advantage of any situation and they were no exception to the rule , the first one was exchanging their blue overalls for the civilian orange ones , and also trying to grow with varying success what they hoped would enhance their appearance by bits of hair they called moustaches , forbidden on HM ships. One. Thing you never saw in that mans Navy was matelots with moustaches. But we had them. Cheers JWS....
If they had been questioned on would probably have made the excuse it was to act s a filter to any foreign objects going down their throats. jS
Last edited by j.sabourn; 31st July 2020 at 01:24 AM.
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