As the Caroni story reaches its final chapter - its legend, of course, hopefully lives on - we're left with some 139 (originally 140, but one broke enroute) casks of Caroni taking a deep slumber in Cognac, France.

For those who're just joining, it's worth quickly revisiting where we last left off. And so in the previous episode, the final two parcels of Caroni casks were transported over from Angostura TDL's warehouses in Trinidad, as well as from Demerara Distillers DDL's warehouses in Guyana. These formed the total of 140 casks of Caroni, with the first parcel (the TDL ones) being fully tropically aged on the island that Caroni is of course from, whilst the second parcel (the DDL ones) were a little side experiment where Velier chief, Luca Gargano, had thought to explore how a slightly different sort of tropical ageing, where Caroni was first aged at its home in Trinidad and then subsequently moved to Guyana, would develop the rum's flavours - a worthy experiment that yielded some very fascinating results that showed much differences in the resultant flavours!

What remains of Caroni today. (Image Source: Le Blog A Roger)

Nevertheless it was thus decided, with the high angel's share and the Caroni casks now approaching some two-plus decades of ageing in barrel, that the ageing would now be stopped (therefore keeping them 100% tropically aged), with the rums transferred to glass demijohns where they would be put in a state of hibernation until they were ready to be bottled - some of these have now become what is billed as the final chapter of Caroni releases (at least from Velier, although inarguably also the most prized and anticipated) in the form of the Paradise series. The name Paradise is a reference to the Cognac term Paradis, where it is tradition for Cognac houses to store eaux-de-vie in the same glass demijohns for decades, if not up to a century, in dark and cool cellars to be later drawn for use in cuvees or simply bottled in a different eta. And so these Caroni's have been committed to the same tradition. Each edition of the Caroni Paradise series would also carry a select painting from Trinidadian artist Che Lovelace, of whom Gargano is a big fan of and who owns some of these works.

The Caroni Ceremony. (Image Source: Le Blog A Roger)

To commemorate these casks having made their 2019 voyage to Cognac, France, a special Caroni ceremony was held, wherein Gargano would assemble some passionate Caroni fans to help taste through some of these casks and select where these casks would end up. What started out as a grand discovery by Gargano in 2004 of the remaining stocks of Caroni rum, discarded and left in a warehouse in Trinidad after the legendary distillery, through the rollercoaster of its life, was demolished, had now come to their final destination. The grand day of tasting the remaining Caroni casks that must have been a dream for any rum lover is well documented by Le Blog A Roger who was one such lucky fan (and who runs a great site for rum lovers). Some of these casks would be set aside for future single casks, some for the Employee Series, and the rest would apparently go into the Caroni Paradise series.

Cognacs in glass demijohns to stop the ageing, whilst they sit in paradis.

Till date, Caroni Paradise #1 through #11 have been released, as more is certainly to come - and already there's been some talk by pundits and fans of which edition is the best, and it's largely converged on one particular edition: #6, or Cask #5619. With a legendary distillery such as Caroni, and given the circumstances of how all the Caroni that will ever be left in this world was what was decidedly chucked aside in a warehouse when the distillery has closed, it would seem like what has been bottled over the past two decades, and certainly out of the 139 or so casks remaining, it's alittle less deliberate what quality we get (because unlike an active distillery where flavour profiles are specifically created) and alittle more luck of the draw - and so it's rather unlikely yet completely unsurprising that everyone's converged on one favourite.

That's quite the billing!

This Caroni #6 comes from the third set of releases of the Paradise series, and features 1996 HTR rum from Single Cask #5619, Damejeanne #1, bottled at 62.4% ABV, with just 115 bottles produced. It's been given the name A House in the Sun, and was aged for 12 years in Trinidad and then was part of the parcel that been moved to DDL in Guyana, before it was transferred to demijohns in Cognac in 2019. It's therefore technically a 28 year old rum, that's been aged for 23 years.

Let's see if this truly lives up to the hype of being the best of the Paradise series... so far! Let's go!

Rum Review: Caroni Paradise #6, 1996, #5619, Full Proof Heavy Trinidad Rum

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Amber

Aroma: Heavy on the liquorice, brown sugar, cola cubes, sarsaparilla, with also a more herbal quality of angelica roots and manuka honey. It’s rich and intense, incredibly heady. Drops of diesel, asphalt, and a dash of salt. At the back, there are subtle notes of blueberry preserves. With time it continues to develop more of a rich sweetness, giving stewed dark fruits of figs and prunes. More on musty attics and polished wood. It brightens up to red berry jams of strawberry and raspberries.

Taste: It opens up with a deep and intense herbal jelly, blueberry jams, black grape jellies, all of which coated in herbal honey and maltose. It’s a little fizzy of cola at the offset. There’s also cooked vine leaves, as well as a medicinal touch of traditional herbal roots. Medium-bodied, it’s incredibly intense and vibrant, with bursts of herbal, candied fruitiness. More on peach gum, and then some drops of salt and diesel.

Finish: It continues on to more on angelica roots, giving some dryness as well. There’s still that strong herbal quality to it. Deep brown sugar, cola cubes and sarsaparilla. It’s almost autumnal, herbal, rich and sweet, with a receding dryness.

My Thoughts

The hype is real - this is definitely one of the best Caroni's to come out the past few years, and certainly my favourite of the Paradise series so far. The intensity and expressiveness of the flavours and the oomph is gripping and definitely what easily cements this as amongst the best. And of course the complexity, balance, and development of the expression all easily nail the mark with flying colours. But perhaps what really makes this such an impressive expression and really the ultimate checkbox that is marked here is its ability to convey and capture that Caroni essence. The somewhat dirty yet deeply fruity and confectionary, whilst also earthy and autumnal flavours are so distinctively Caroni - which is then delivered with intensity, depth, balance and vibrance. 

Whilst we're only at #11 so far, this is definitely the best yet. Perhaps when the final edition is released, we must revisit this. But for the moment - this is clearly a winner.

PS. Shoutout to J for being a great supporter of the site! Wishing you all the best in your future endeavours!

Kanpai!

@111hotpot