Caroni is possibly the rum world's most revered artefact - the Trinidadian distillery that no longer exist, carries with it a spectre of a reputation that is so large that encountering it sometimes feels much akin to entering a mausoleum or temple and walking down the central nave towards a towering statue of some sort of larger than life historical figure. Or like Pokemon when you're walking down the path towards an 8-bit Mewtwo.

With the 100th Anniversary tribute to Caroni in hand, there's probably no better time to do a highlight reel of the life and times of Caroni.

The Caribbean is home to many treasures yet to be uncovered.

While the Caribbean island of Trinidad had at its peak served as home to over a hundred rum distilleries, a byproduct of the big sugar trade as was the case with numerous other Caribbean islands with a rum-making presence, by the mid-1900's had seen a sharp decline in the sugar trade, and thus by extension rum-making activities. The field was narrowed down to a handful of distilleries, Caroni being one of them, having itself said to be established in 1918. And so even as the sugar trade had gone away, rum-making in these select distilleries persisted, eventually with the support of imported molasses (that would've been otherwise produced locally from sugar-making).

A little piece of history you can still find at your local grocery shop. 

This came under the direction of sugar company Tate & Lyle (from whom you can still find canned molasses today in grocery stores!), and in an incredibly lengthy and messy history, the Trinidadian government had too intervened on and off and to varying degrees with the rum business - and so you could see how the distillery's operations were always rather volatile. Nevertheless what was pretty consistent was that Caroni had produced bulk rum for sale using their column still (no, not a pot still as is very fashionable these days), and produced two primary marks (or styles) of rum, the heavy style (marked HTR) and a lighter style (marked LTR).

Over the course of the second half of the 1900's, the distillery pressed on, sometimes finding its footing and other times limping across the track. It proved to be a good source of employment for the local community and thus was of importance to the Trinidadian people. But alas into the 1990's, it seemed increasingly inevitable that the distillery was no longer to be sustained and finally in the early 2000's (2000-2002), Caroni was sold to the only other remaining rum producer, Angostura (of Angostura bitters fame), and that was the end of the Caroni story.

Or not.

The feeling of first seeing this looming name must have been incredible - and that's what folks at Velier have attested to.

Not longer after, in 2004, Velier's chief, Luca Gargano, who was already well on his way to forging an equally larger than life reputation for himself on the back of popularising the Demerara rums of Guyana, would head to Trinidad in search of this now demolished distillery - what he did find was a largely ignored warehouse filled with casks of what had remained of Caroni's last decades of production. This became the rum world's re-introduction to Caroni's rums. The timing couldn't have been better, with rum interest beginning to surge (in part as a result of Velier's work), and folks were willing to really approach rums with an artisanal level of appreciation. And over the next decade, Caroni fever was on.

Not what you exactly think of when you think lost treasure - but maybe that's where the real lost treasures are. One has to wonder if more exists around the Caribbeans waiting to be discovered.

The reality nevertheless was that in order to made sure the then unknown Caroni would fully impress upon its early palates, what was deemed the best was put out first. By the time the rum community was thoroughly convinced of Caroni's quality and were willing to pay top dollar, the remaining stocks of Caroni rums had seriously dwindled, and into the 2020's, Caroni's almost feels like a smash hit pop song that has come and gone. Certainly folks coming into the game today are not nearly as likely to be introduced too quickly to Caroni's (with not all that many left open and accessible), and if they were to be in search of the more esteemed references, they'd better have incredibly deep pockets, and even then, these may not always show up for grabs.

Another notch on Velier's belt that cements its impact on the rum world. 

Some of course wonder if the juice is worth the squeeze, and if the excitement is real - after all, like many others Caroni had primarily been a bulk rum producer (no single casks, or lengthy ageing, nada) and others wonder how good could a column still rum be (considering that today column still rums made of molasses tend to be thought of as too light compared to its pot stilled brethren).

Caroni is indeed alittle bit of both the claims of those who extoll it and those who doubt it - it's certainly proven that it can be incredibly full-bodied and complex despite being column distilled (there's numerous conjectures on how it was possible, though oddly no one today with a column still seems to do it), but at the same time it is also true that what we enjoy today is not exactly representative of what Caroni would have done themselves (yet, does that matter so long as it's good?), much of its fame having been carried on the backs of independent bottlers. 

Caroni's column still.

I think where I draw the line is that Caroni carries its own distinctive flavour profile - you know a Caroni when you taste it - and that flavour profile is not to be produced again, and I think that's worth experiencing.

And so having looked back at the Caroni story, we get to this 100th Anniversary tribute that was bottled for French spirits distributor La Maison du Whisky's combined entity with Velier, La Maison & Velier (or LM&V).

The original Tate & Lyle Caroni - reviewed here.

This 100th Anniversary bottling was released in 2018 (marking 100 years since Caroni's presumed founding in 1918), and comes from the 2000 vintage, with it being 18 years old Caroni rums, a blend of heavy and light styled Caroni's, and is said to be one of, if not the last batch bottling of the 2000 vintage, which was around the time Caroni had begun to operate on and off. On its label, is a recreation of an original Caroni label that was used for its distillery bottling during the Tate & Lyle days in the 1940-1960's (which you can still find today on auction sites!) - hence it is often called the 100th Anniversary Caroni Navy Rum Extra Strong "Replica". You'll notice that on the label is the text 90 Proof, which is what's known as Imperial Proof from back in the day, and that the rum bottled here in the anniversary tribute is actually bottled at 51.4% ABV.  

Let's give it a go!

Caroni Navy Rum 18 Year Old 100th Anniversary Extra Strong, 51.4% ABV - Review 

Tasting Notes

Colour: Copper

Aroma: Immediately all these industrial fumes of hot tar, burnt rubber, diesel, well-used mechanic's cloth, weaved in by some herbal and rather minty notes of camphor and eucalyptus, even some cough syrup. And yet somehow it doesn't come off overly high toned or too synthetic, it's in fact kind of rich with this subtle but definitely heavy base of brown sugar that's layered below. There's also this sense of roasted nuts, sort of smoked cashews, and also dark cherry crumble topped with vanilla sauce. With time, the industrial notes seem to calm down and some stewed prunes, sticky date toffee pudding, mulled wine, begins to emerge, still leaning towards a darker profile. Some licorice and savoury black olives in brine as well. Dustings of cinnamon and nutmeg too. There's a very soft but also quite fragrant aspect of florals - perhaps blue gentian flowers, and then this fleshier fruit that's somewhere between jackfruit and a soursop. 

It's very aromatic as you can probably tell, with lots of intensity and richness, that allows these higher tone synthetic notes to co-exist comfortably with the sweeter base layers. There's alot going on, but at the same time doesn't strike me as being overly complex - it's very cohesive but also with lots of detail and definition that makes it easy to pick out.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, definitely a touch lighter than the nose would've hinted at - yet it has a rather oily and creamy texture. A rush of brown sugar, creme brulee topping, vanilla sauce, with the wood more prominent here giving something of black tea tannins. Accents of oranges, more of the dark cherry crumble giving some tartness, and also conveying some fruits but without being particularly sweet, added to by some dark cacao. There is of course that big industrial note of burnt rubber, overworked and heavily greased machinery, tar, licorice, chewing tobacco, almost a grittiness of spent coffee grounds.

The flavours again lean darker, with the industrial notes surprisingly balanced pretty tamely alongside the more earthy and confectionary notes, though not being particularly sweet. That said, it almost has a sought of buoyancy and feels brighter than most Caroni's - it doesnt weigh much on the palate, but it does have adequate moderate richness.

Finish: Takes a more herbal turn here - eucalyptus, menthol, camphor, cough syrup, licorice. The mix of confectionary and industrial notes mostly carries through into the finish unabated, with alittle more brown sugar sweetness and a more petrolic quality here. Pretty clean, lightly dry finish. short to medium length.

My Thoughts 

This stood out to me most as a Caroni that prioritised being approachable yet hinting on the nose what the signature Caroni profile could encompass. In that sense, the aromas on the nose were really lovely - it feels like everything Caroni is about is well-represented and perfectly expressed here. And to quite a remarkable intensity and definition - it comes through as a primary layer of industrial, herbal and confectionary notes, which gradually recedes to show an assortment of fruits, nuts, more confectionaries. This gives a satisfyingly full and complete bouquet on the nose, with higher tone and richer notes coming together to paint a darker, more dense flavour profile. The balance, structure, definition and representativeness were all just there. With even a sprinkle of exotic florals and fruits!

On the palate is where the approachability and friendliness - not a word you'd ordinarily associate with Caroni's - really becomes clear. The Caroni flavours are all accounted for but here the intensity is reduced, making it more mellow and comfortable. It's not nearly as heavy as we know Caroni can be - here it's taken a buoyant form that almost feels like its a movie trailer of a Marvel superhero movie where you get a touch and go sense of what Caroni is and then it simply moves along without staying long enough for you to really grasp it, notice the details or be taken into the main plotline. It's alittle cursory in that regard, but again, for what it's worth, is rather representative of the Caroni qualities, if just alittle surface level.

The finish here was pretty much a continuation of what we got on the palate - representative of the Caroni flavour profile, but fairly touch and go, and then it clears out pretty cleanly and quickly.

All things considered, this was very much a decent Caroni that leans towards more easy drinking - I think if this was designed to serve as a touchpoint or gateway of sorts for folks to get to know Caroni, then it has done its job perfectly - it's representative of what Caroni offers, but maintains approachability. For seasoned Caroni lovers, this might be alittle on the light side if you're comparing it to the single cask HTR mark Caroni's - but then again, it's clearly priced far too affordably to rank alongside those anyway! Bonus points for the really lovely label!