Caroni 17 Year (Velier)

Nose: An initial aroma of varnish or nail polish. This evaporates quickly like an early-morning maritime fog, boiling away to reveal orange marmalade, dried apricots, banana, mango, pawpaw, dark honey and molasses. Spice and woody tones swirl about (chocolate and vanilla, leather, oak, tobacco). Herbal and funky fragrances surface from time to time (rubber tyres, diesel fuel, sage, rosemary) and there is a cooling breeze of mint and rosewater that gusts across it all. Palate: The arrival is woody, mildly herbal, and balanced by creamy sweetness. It quickly develops a rich, sweet, hot-spice and oily-fruity character with loads of orange, dried mixed fruits, root ginger, anise, allspice, white pepper, burnt brown sugar and licorice. Under this is a tarry chewing tobacco and creosote note. Water amplifies and exposes the herbal/spice quality, bringing out cinnamon, cloves, ginger, fresh sage, oregano, spearmint and peppermint. There is a grassy note reminiscent of rhums agricole. Finish: Long. The hot spices eventually calm down to a warm tingle along with herbal and fruity notes. This is a big, bold but also sophisticated and elegant rum. There is an enigmatic quality to it and I can’t think of any other spirit that is quite like Caroni. It’s not to everyone’s taste but be warned – if you really like it then it will probably ruin all other rums for you. The distillery was established around 1920 (sources differ) and had a long and proud history before being closed in 2003, and subsequently demolished. The existing warehouse stock at the time of closure was eventually acquired by two European spirits merchants – Velier in Italy, and La Maison du Whisky in France – who have been gradually releasing it to market since. Once they (and a handful of independent bottlers) run out of stock – that’s it. This particular bottling was distilled in 1998 and matured in Trinidad for 15 years, by which time the angels had apparently taken about 75%. It was then transported to Scotland where it rested for a while before finally being bottled in 2015. "Excellent” : 88/100 (4.5 stars)