After a considerable period of time since tasting the Caroni Paradise #3 and #4 at Whisky Live Singapore last year, I’ve finally had the opportunity to sit myself down at La Maison du Whisky Singapore for a dram of #5. Just to refresh our memories of La Maison & Velier’s Caroni Paradise bottlings, they are quintessentially a selection of 23 casks from Velier’s remaining stock of 136 back in April 2019, which were then brought to the Cognac region of France, abiding by the traditions of old - decanted into dame-jeannes and left to rest in warehouses named Paradis, before they are eventually bottled as part of this series of Caroni rums.

Paradise #5 is one of the two youngest of series yet, the other being Paradise #11, both from the vintage of the year 2000. According to Velier, this single cask #4053 was wholly tropically aged in heart of Trinidad itself before being transported to Cognac. The result was an outturn of 223 bottles in total at a very respectable abv of 67.5%.

On the nose, you could almost imagine this to be an industrial solvent, bursting at the seams with turpentine or varnish, yet in a very pleasant way that doesn’t make you choke on the alcohols, but instead blends right alongside those tropical fruity notes of cantaloupes and yellow, ripe bananas. There was a slight shift then to lighter, herbal notes, with a hint of cigar smoke, and a classic sarsaparilla fizz and sweetness that I often in fruitier, and better balanced Caroni rums.

The palate was a rather gorgeous bouquet of flavours, with a texture that was oily and juicy, with a degree of sweetness from the beginning, perhaps akin to slightly burnt caramel with just a right, subtle amount of char, and that of flambeed bananas even. But it rapidly becomes mildly dry, accentuating those wood tannins and bringing with it vanillin, oak, and once again little puffs of cigar smoke. The finish was long, and typically dirty for a Caroni, with diesel notes distinctively present, but not overpowering and perfectly balanced as I tend to like them to be, alongside juicy, red fruits, hawthorn berries, and a sprinkling of varnish that gave it a little something extra right at the end. If you give it a little more time to open, those red fruits just grow even bigger in character, overcoming the oaky tannins, and rounding off a pleasant dram.

It is without doubt that this is my favourite Caroni Paradise of the initial 5 bottlings, with a much more approachable, well balanced profile, that speaks to my personal biases. Perhaps it is down to its relative youth, when compared to its older siblings, that lends it a brighter, fruitier character, as I do remember some of those from the 2000 vintage to be. I relish the opportunity to try the next six bottlings, if indeed there might be one to knock #5 off its perch.

Your occasional rum addict!

@weixiang_liu