This was my maiden visit to @thewritingclubsg on the occasion of a special @valinchandmallet tasting, where we were treated to an excellent line-up of rums from the Spirit of Art collection:

1. Jamaica Blend <Esters’ Delight> 2008, 12yo, Cask #2093, 56.3% abv
2. Foursquare 2007, 13yo, Cask #64, 58.3% abv
3. Long Pond 2005 VRW, 15yo, Cask #15, 56.8% abv
4. Enmore 1994 REV Versailles still, 26yo, Cask #71, 52.5% abv
5. Caroni 1997, 24yo, Cask #889, 55.2% abv

The highlight of the evening, and of which I would be reviewing today, was the single cask Caroni 1997 bottled exclusively for @thewritingclubsg’s 6th anniversary. This rum was distilled in 1997 on the Indian mash column, and aged for 24 years, although the exact breakdown of tropical and continental aging is unknown to us, bottled at 55.2% abv with an outturn of 245 bottles.

The nose was extremely complex, fresh, yet punchy too. The notes were something that I had never experienced in a Caroni previously - lots of ripe bananas, accompanied by sweet, vanilla essence. But as it opened up further, those familiar notes of tar and burnt rubber began to surface, and underneath it was a gentle layer of caramel paired with salted peanuts and a lingering mustiness. It certainly does remind me too of a chinese soup that I do love so much, a bit of that ginseng bitterness mixed in a savoury chicken broth.

The palate started off very gently at the beginning, where the sweet and salty notes we got on the nose could be similarly found. A nice subtle salted caramel, toffee, and of course that lovely vanilla essence that I always look for in a Caroni. The spice builds up gradually, although never to the extent of overpowering everything else, making this very appealing and soft, as opposed to the hard-hitting heavy-style Caronis that we have grown so accustomed to. There’s something very elegant about it all, and that stretches into the long finish, where you do get those hints of burnt rubber, but just ever so slightly, coupled with some toffee apples, and prunes.

I was genuinely very confused when I first tasted it. Its elegance and fruitiness threw me off slightly, allowing me to think that this might perhaps had been an LTR or LWR. But having tasted a sample of it two days later, the oxidation brought out those heavier notes that was missing previously, perhaps because the rum was poured from a fresh bottle. That said, I’d still wager that this isn’t a HTR, but more likely a Blended, which explains that added fruitiness and elegance that makes this an excellent Caroni bottling indeed!

Image Courtesy of @weixiang_liu