On to the third bottling of Velier’s most recent Caroni Paradise releases, we are once again acquainted with the youngest vintages from the distillery, from the year 2000. Bearing the HTR marque, #11 was bottled from the single cask  #4059, which had spent the entirety of its life aging tropically in the heart of Trinidad itself, and then shipped to Cognac where it was laid to rest in damme-jeannes, and eventually bottled at 69.4% ABV, and an outturn of 107 bottles.

The nose presented a Caroni that bore a surprisingly even-handed and balanced profile, vacillating between those sweet vanilla notes, alongside those of burnt caramel that lent it an overall richer character with good depth, and then those lighter, more pungent notes of industrial wood varnish. That said, the complexity of the #11 was not lost amongst the notes of the former, as it opened a little with time, introducing elements of fruitiness, perhaps that of cantaloupe, and two very curious notes I have never found in Caronis, or even any rum for that matter - a kind of savouriness that reminded me of Bovril, paired alongside a Chinese herbal candy brand commonly known to us as Nin Jiom, one that carries the flavours from a unique blend of Chinese herbs with just the slightest tinge of bitterness.

The palate seemed considerably more compact than the #6 and #10, which took me a bit more effort to slowly unpack those flavours. Nonetheless, the #11was a pleasant dram, with a nice tangerine-like sweetness which was largely dominant, with just a light hint of bitterness of burnt caramel, and a warm, toasted nuttiness right down the middle, much like those of freshly roasted chestnuts. The finish was medium in length, and whole lot richer and fuller than before, carrying vanilla-like sweetness, freshly-crushed mint, and a very peculiar floral note that I just can’t put a finger on.

Your occasional rum addict!

@weixiang_liu