Bristol Classic Rum – Caroni 1997
The latest release from Bristol is this (near) Cask Strength effort from the Caroni Distillery. Bristol have released a good few Caroni rums over the past few years. Including their 1974 effort, which I have sadly yet to review.
Amongst these I seem to remember a Cask Strength Caroni which was possibly released for the Danish or European market only?
John Barrett has wavered to popular opinion and has decided to offer this 1997 Caroni at near to Cask Strength. As a result there are less bottles of this than there would normally have been. John prefers to bottle at around 43-46% ABV.
At around £140 this is not cheap but bare in mind this is a 18 year old rum. It was distilled in 1997 bottled in 2015 and released in late 2016/early 2017. The ABV is a fiery 61.5%
Unlike the Providence Estate Caroni I reviewed last year this has been aged entirely in ex Bourbon Barrels. It has had no finish or second maturation. It is noted on the rear of the bottle that this is small batch. A one off release
It is also noted that this is a HTR (Heavy Type Rum) from column distillation, which Caroni have become most famous for.
Presentation wise you get the usual stubby Bristol bottle complete with cork enclosure and silver wrapping over the cork and neck. A storage tube is provided and the label is a slight departure from the usual Bristol presentation with a couple of graphics of sugar canes and the skyline of the City of Bristol is depicted.
I first tried this at the Boutique Rum Fest in London back in October 2016.
The first thing I noticed about this rum was how dark it was. Much like the Velier “Heavy” Caroni’s. It is a very dark reddish brown.
The nose is strong and pungent yet sweet and fruity. It’s very complex.
Rich sweet raisins, banana, that familiar Caroni twang of petrol and tar are present but do not dominate. There is a lovely balanced oak which envelops the nose making it warming and very inviting.
The rum just keeps giving you more the more you nose – toffee, dark chocolate, a hint of olives, some strong tannic red wine like notes.
This is a big rum. No mistaking. At 61.5% ABV I was expecting something a lot more “boozy”. However on the nose at least it seems very nicely balanced and is showing complexity rather than out and out strong alcohol fumes – -which I was kind of expecting to some degree.
Sipped it surprisingly doesn’t need much water. A few drops will do maybe bring it down to around 55%. Everything that was promised on the nose is delivered on the palate.
Again it has a sweetness which compliments the more aggressive or polarising aspects of Caroni rums in general. The petrol and tar which is so common in Caroni’s is playing alongside rich fruity red wine notes, raisins and sultanas. Each sip is sweet, rich and warming – it is still quite challenging (this is not your Barceló style column distillation). It reminds me of Pussers in terms of its sweet yet aggressive nature.
Now when I am talking sweet in terms of this review please note we are not in El Dorado 12 or 15 Year Old territory. It is still a Heavy Caroni Rum – similar to the Velier 15 Year Old if you want an obvious reference point.
There is so much going on with this rum I am not surprised John has left quite vague tasting notes on the bottle “fruit and wood on the palate the high spirit carries you to a long finish”.
The finish on this rum is exceptional – it is very long and very complex. Oak, fruit, a nice warming burn a touch of tobacco and smoke. It’s pretty much got everything you would want from a “heavy” rum.
Despite the length of time since the distillery closed there is still a lot of rum being released. From what I understand John was one of the first people (before Luca Gargano, I have read) to get his hands on stocks of Caroni. He certainly got a winner with this 1997 vintage.
If you like your Caroni the I can’t recommend this enough.
A classic from Bristol Classic.
Ron Yacare is an Anejo (aged) rum from the Dominican Republic. It has been difficult to find any information regarding this rum, mainly due to this being predominantly for the Spanish speaking market.
My experience with Dominican rum is pretty limited. I find by in large the Hispanic “rons” to be a little thin and one dimensional. Fine as mixers but few have stood out beyond that. By law Dominican Republic rum must be aged a minimum of 12 months.
The rum in many ways could even be used as a Vodka substitute. It doesn’t offer a great deal of flavour just a little sweet alcohol. It mixes well and is surprisingly smooth. This isn’t available in the UK but if it was readily available in the Supermarket I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up a bottle providing it was competitively priced circa £15. I would much prefer this to the very thin and slightly salty Brugal Anejo.
Bounty Rum is something of a staple rum in its homeland the island of Saint Lucia. Finding a bottle of this rum become something of an obsession for the completist in me. I’ve always had a soft spot for Saint Lucia Distilers (SLD) and I’ve wanted to try this rum for a long time.
This isn’t a particularly complex or challenging rum. It’s light and sweet. Although it doesn’t have a huge amount of different flavours what it does deliver is well defined and very tasty. It’s certainly worth every penny of the £19.99 I paid for it.
I’m not at all surprised to see an offering from Foursquare Distillery making an appearance as part of That Boutique-y Rum Company’s line up. You see UK Brand Ambassador for Foursquare and Doorly’s Rum is none other than Peter Holland, who works with That Boutique-y Rum Company as a consultant.
ular television series. What could it all mean…?
The finish is very rich and warming with lots of double cream and hazlenuts. We are then presented with a rich array of spices which cling to the tastebuds making for a very long and very pleasant finish.
Sampan Rhum Vietnam. I aways like it, when I am reviewing something from a distillery that I haven’t touched upon previously. It makes the “introduction” section so much easier. Today, I am reviewing my first ever r(h)um from Vietnam.
I have tested Rhum Sampan Vietnam for any additives using the Hydrometer and it came up clean. With such production methods in place I would have been extremely surprised (and hugely disappointed) had this not been the case.
Skotlander White Rum. Skotlander hail from Denmark. This white rum is along with their dark rum their “standard” rum offering.
stopper. It’s sleek and very modern looking. The appearance of their rums runs right through their range. Perhaps a few more colours could be used to distiniguish some of their limited editions from each other. It can be a little confusing at times. That said the presentation is spot on and very modern.
d say is definitely above average. At its price point though, there is a lot of competition. It is quite a refined yet still fairly fiery white but (and I don’t often say this) I do feel it would have benefitted from a higher ABV.
SeaWolf Premium White Rum. This rum has been around for a while. Indeed it claims to be the first white rum to be distilled in Scotland. I wonder who distilled the first dark rum? Answers on a postcard please……..
It is bottled at 41% ABV and as mentioned comes in a 70cl bottle. It can be found at most retailers. 
The problem I have with the prices of Caroni these days is that I only paid £150 for a 1974 Caroni last year. Sure, it’s only 46%, but it IS 34 tropical years old . £140 for an IB 18yo is pushing it. It’s eclipsing Scotch pricing, which is already bonkers.
So we judge a rums quality by its age alone?
Absolutely not, but we also shouldn’t judge it’s quality on abv or price either. Price has to mean something, it has to be attributed to a value of sorts and when things are high in price we need to have a measure of the reason why. The 74 isn’t a slouch either and I feel I can justify the price giving it’s aging and maturation conditions.
Horses for courses, naturally. My measure of value will be different from the next person’s, that’s what makes the business more interesting. It’d be boring if we were all the same 😉
You wouldn’t be disappointed with this rum. I’m confident of that. It is an excellent example of Heavy Caroni rum.
From what i could see in the past Bristol had a 2 tier pricing.
Under 50-60 for the younger rums and near 100 for the 20+ older rums.
Is the upper tier changing now?
Prices have gone up by other IBs so perhaps they have to follow.
People who switched from whisky to rum because they could find Caronis and Demeraras and Hampdens for so much cheaper than quality scotch are going to be very disappointed over the next few years. What did you think would happen when Caroni became *the* rum to drink among scotch fans? Supply and demand – you’re never stuck in traffic, you are the traffic.
Prices are going up even by Bristol standards.
I am hesitating to get it. There is a lot of IB Caroni rums at cheaper price from 97/98..
The Isla Del Ron from 1988/1989 is at same price almost.
At 61.5 ABV?
I got 3 Caroni bottlings and this is probably my favourite one of them. Gave a class to a whiskey drinking friend, who was amazed this is how rum can taste like.