What you need to know:

• Balvenie's beloved Stories series is back with a new 27 year Old ex-Caroni Rum Cask Finish, named "A Rare Discovery From Distant Shores".

• The 48% ABV whisky was finished for seven years in ex-Caroni casks, and has been already hit shelves, with an RRP of 1,120 GBP.

• A whisky finished in ex-Caroni rum casks for a taste that develops from velvety vanilla sweetness to treacle toffee, aged leather and deep oak tannin.

• There's lots to be said about how the whisky world has increasingly sought to leverage the rising popularity of rums, finishing their whiskies in rums, bottling rums, marketing themselves alongside or in comparison to specific rum distilleries - all of which has perhaps been alittle to gaudy for anyone's liking.

• Although I will say that past Balvenie releases that have made use of rum casks have been to my personal liking, and were fairly well-received, although the use of "Caroni" this time, is perhaps toeing the line.

• For the price, it still seems alittle too rich for my blood. But if the pricetag is not a concern, go for it.

• Cop or Drop: Drop

(Image Source: Balvenie)

Balvenie's beloved Stories series is back with a new 27 year Old ex-Caroni Rum Cask Finish, named "A Rare Discovery From Distant Shores".

The 48% ABV whisky was finished for seven years in ex-Caroni casks, and has been already hit shelves, with an RRP of 1,120 GBP.

The story goes that back in November 2009, Balvenie Malt Master David C Stewart had met with long time friend and colleague John Barrett, of Bristol Spirits, who had brought to Scotland some rum samples from Caroni, the legendary mothballed Trinidadian rum distillery. The story goes that the team at Balvenie immediately made an order for the rum which was then transported over to Dufftown, where Balvenie is.

Five years after receiving the rum, the team at Balvenie decided to move some of their whisky into the Caroni casks.

The Caroni distillery remains one of the biggest losses in the rum world. (Image Source: Idealwine)

“Caroni,” David explains, “has become a kind of cult spirit, followed by rum fanatics all over the world. It’s rare, it’s fascinating, all because the distillery is no more.” Caroni is, he continues, “totally unique, a heavy rum, bold, characterful and full of potential to create a really special Balvenie.” 

Balvenie has used rum casks for close to 20 years, having used rum casks hailing from Cuba, Jamaica, Venezuela and Guyana, yet the team and David found that “this Caroni cask finish is really unusual. This rum, its qualities, the wood... I haven’t ever experienced a rum finish quite like this one.

The Balvenie Distillery has toyed with rum casks for close to two decades, one of the most popular of which is the Caribbean Cask core offering. (Image Source: Imbibe Magazine)

“Rich hints of Muscovado sugar and Manuka honey on the nose, then lighter soft fruits and spice. On the tongue it’s got this real velvety viscosity. A sweet beginning unfolds into treacle toffee, aged leather and deep oak tannin. The finish is long and sweet, and gives wonderful mouth-coating oiliness.” 

Official Tasting Notes

Aroma

Rich and indulgent with notes of Muscovado sugar and Manuka honey. Lighter fruit notes intersperse the aroma with occasional hints of green banana and light spice.

Taste

Beautifully smooth with a velvet vanilla viscosity. The initial burst of sweetness graduates to treacle toffee, aged leather and deep oak tannin.

Finish

Lingering sweet with a wonderful mouth-coating oiliness.

Our Take

The Balvenie Stories range has certainly produced some really good stuff, albeit quite pricey, some of the best hits have been The Week of Peat (probably the best value of the range), The Edge of Burnhead Wood and The Second Red Rose. 

But more importantly, let's talk about the use of ex-Caroni casks, which has been quite popular as of late. It's no secret that rums have been on the rise, no thanks to incredible marketing, and of course, products by the likes of Velier, Bristol Spirits, Compagnie Des Indes, Holmes Cay, so on and so forth. Ironically it would seem as if independent bottlers have done a better job at popularising rums than rum producers themselves. As a result, the category has grown incredibly fast.

Indie bottlers like CDI have done a great job at popularising rums. (Image Source: LoneCaner)

Consequently, much has been said about how it would seem like the whisky world is hopping aboard the hypetrain and leveraging rum's popularity to give themselves that extra boost. Even traditional whisky bottlers like The Scotch Malt Whisky Society have begun to dabble in rums. Perhaps the existing whisky world has gotten too saturated and this is simply an avenue for some Scotch producers to pull ahead of the pack. 

And as with anything that would appear like the cart was being put in front of the horse, criticisms have begun to arise regarding the indiscriminate use of anything to do with rums, bottling of rums by those who had little competence in the category, or even just the mild marketing byline of anything to do with rums.

I do find it curious that in Balvenie's origin story behind this bottling, a line about how the invoice for the Caroni casks was dated back to November 2009 was included, as if to subtly hint that Balvenie had this in the bag for a long while and they weren't simply jumping on board. To hammer that home, Balvenie even mentions that they've been doing this for close to two decades.

Velier probably had the biggest hand to play in catapulting Caroni to legendary status. (Image Source: Rum Auctioneer)

Which to be fair, this bottle sports more than a "finishing" which in whisky world typically means a couple of months, perhaps a year or so at best, but here Balvenie has aged the whisky for a full 7 years in the ex-Caroni casks, which is quite the feat, I'll give them that. Also, prior Balvenie rum casks finishings have done pretty well and have been quite enjoyable, which inspires that bit much more confidence. Although I must say the outright use of the Caroni name certainly leaves room for some chuckles.

In any case, Balvenie's use of rum casks have been good in the past, but at an RRP of 1,120 GBP, I'll have to give it a pass. Even the "Caroni" wasn't enough for me. Although if the price tag isn't a concerned, I certainly think this is worth a go.

Cop or Drop: Drop

Kanpai!

@111hotpot