Dead Reckoning HMS Antelope Redeployed
Introducing Dead Reckoning Antelope Redeployed. An Australian exclusive, available only through Rum Tribe, with just 33 bottles produced worldwide. Yes, worldwide. Not Australia. Not the Southern Hemisphere. The entire planet.
🏴☠️ A NAVY RUM SENT BACK TO SEA
Back in 2022, Dead Reckoning released HMS Antelope, a tribute to the great Royal Navy rum tradition.
Justin Boseley blended rums from the same regions that historically supplied the Navy’s famous rum rations: Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad, Barbados and Australia. The result was a rich, flavour-packed Navy-style blend bottled at a proper Navy Strength 55%.
But here’s where the story gets interesting.
Justin quietly held back 100 litres of that original blend and filled a second-fill Heaven Hill ex-bourbon cask. Then he left it sitting in Adelaide for five years.
What happened next was equal parts disaster and brilliance.
Australia | Jamaica | Guyana | Trinidad | Barbados | 55% ABV
The original Dead Reckoning HMS Antelope was already an outstanding Navy-style rum blend, bringing together rums from the traditional Royal Navy rum-producing nations. Five years later, a tiny parcel of that original blend has returned as HMS Antelope Redeployed after extended maturation in a second-fill Heaven Hill ex-bourbon cask in Adelaide’s famously dry climate.
The result is a richer, more concentrated and more polished version of the original. Expect layers of tropical fruit, vanilla custard, pastry notes, floral complexity and integrated spice wrapped in a remarkably full, luxurious texture. With a massive 72% angel’s share and only 33 bottles produced worldwide, this Rum Tribe exclusive represents one of the rarest Dead Reckoning releases ever bottled. Non-chill filtered, free from added sugar and colouring, and bottled at a proper Navy Strength 55% ABV, this is a rum for collectors, enthusiasts and anyone who appreciates the extraordinary things time can do to great spirit. Miss this bottle, and you’ll never get another chance. ⚓
🔥 THE ANGELS GOT GREEDY
Over those five years, Adelaide’s brutally dry climate went to work.
The angels didn’t just take their share.
They staged a raid.
A staggering 72% of the cask disappeared to evaporation. Meanwhile, the remaining rum became more concentrated, more intense and climbed from 55% ABV all the way to 67.5% ABV.
When the rum was finally reduced back to its original Navy Strength, there was only enough liquid left to produce…
THIRTY-THREE BOTTLES.
That’s it.
Game over.
Once they’re gone, they’re gone forever.
🇦🇺 THE MAGIC OF ADELAIDE DRY AGING
Most tropical rum ageing reduces alcohol strength over time.
Adelaide does the opposite.
The region’s scorching summers, cold winters and exceptionally low humidity create conditions where water evaporates faster than alcohol. The result is a spirit that becomes increasingly concentrated, powerful and flavour-packed as it matures.
Dead Reckoning has built a reputation around this uniquely Australian style of maturation, and the Antelope Redeployed might just be the purest example yet.
This isn’t a finish.
This isn’t a cask trick.
This is five full years of flavour concentration.
🥃 WHAT DOES FIVE MORE YEARS DO?
According to Brad, quite a lot.
Side by side, the family resemblance is obvious. It’s clearly the same rum.
But the Redeployed version is bigger. Richer. Rounder. More luxurious.
The original tropical fruit character remains, but now feels more baked and concentrated. The custard notes are amplified. Rich pastry notes have emerged. Vanilla is more prominent. The floral character is enhanced. The funk is still there, but better integrated and more approachable.
In Brad’s words:
“The Antelope Redeployed is just a bigger, more rounded and polished rum overall.”
And honestly, that’s exactly what you’d hope five years of patient maturation would achieve.
⚡ WHY THIS IS A MUST-BUY
✅ Rum Tribe Exclusive
✅ Just 33 bottles worldwide
✅ Original HMS Antelope blend given an additional five years ageing
✅ Navy Strength 55% ABV
✅ No sugar added, no colouring, non-chill filtered
✅ Built from Australian, Jamaican, Guyanese, Trinidadian and Barbadian rums
✅ A genuine collector’s bottle that can never be reproduced
Our Tasting Notes
My tasting notes for the original HMS Antelope were as follows:
Nose: Banana-ey funk at first but then it’s more a banana custard with subsequent sniffs which shares the spotlight with sultana aromas. A tropical fruit presence is there also- with fresh fruit notes and floral hints.
Palate: Thick and rich and oh so creamy. Real Christmas pud spices and a bug dollop of home-made custard in this one but those tropical vibes from the nose don’t give up either! So much delightful fruity sweetness! There is a slight funkiness in the mouth, but very mild – and acts to tie in the rest of the flavours rather than sitting apart and dominating them.
Finish: Lovely and long and with a jumble of fruitiness, more cakey spices and a nice touch of mild pepper creeps around it as it fades.
This is quite an experience getting to try the same rum 5 yrs down the track – finished in the Adelaide dry Aging environment. The first thing you notice is the difference in colour – the Redeployed a much redder hue than the original. Just look at the photo of the to bottles to compare!
But, I’m astounded at how my original tasting notes hold up – yet with an added blanket of richness, of roundness and even more luxuriousness in the mouth. The funk is still there – but tempered and more approachable. The floral notes stronger and some more vanilla there as well (as you’d expect from more time an ex-bourbon cask). The tropical fruit flavours still apparent – yet somehow present as more baked or minced. The HMS Antelope Redeployed gives a lot more custard than the original, plus some tasty pastry notes.
It’s quite amazing actually – side by side it’s readily apparent they are the from the same stock – but the Antelope Redeployed is just … a bigger more rounded and polished rum overall. It’s a much less about the funk (although it is still there on the nose!) and more about the flavour as a whole. Ahh what 5 years and some dry aging can do! I doubt you’ll be mixing this one – I certainly won’t!
From Dead Reckoning
“I felt a tribute to not only my grandpa but all those sailors that served in WW2 was needed in the rum world. Stories of my pops days at battle and his daily TOT were a mainstay in my child hood, whilst playing darts and snooker at the local RSL.
This rum blend came from the heart, I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did creating it,
To Sid” -From Justin Boseley about HMS Antelope first release in 2022.
The Antelope Re-deployed – now with an additional five years aged in a 200 L ex bourbon Barrel.
After the first release in 2020 in Australia the UK and the US, I was left with 100 L of liquid that was left in a 200L barrel in Adelaide. To my astonishment and dismay, I’ve had a 76% angel share.
This was a harsh learning lesson to leave a barrel half full. I would’ve been better off finding a 100 L Barrel and hopefully reducing the Angel share.
The dry ageing has worked its magic, creating a Rum with a flavour profile tasting well beyond its actual age time.
