The Duchess is at it again, and have bottled another cask of Caroni. And not one of those Caronis from the last years of the distillery, but one from 1991! A 31 year old rum is nothing to scoff at and since the release date is tomorrow, I’m a bit scared of the price…

But, with the quality being what it is, I think they should not have a problem selling this like hot cakes. Caroni is known for its awesomeness, and so far it really does seem to get better and better with more age.

Caroni Distillery went silent in 2002 after being sold off to Angostura in 2001. Before that it was largely in hands of the Trinidad government, and even though it was protested, it was privatized shortly before closing down.

Much like Brora and Port Ellen in the 1980s in Scotland, the reputation of the distillery only started to grow quite some years after being shut down. A shame, to be fair, but I don’t think anyone could have seen the booze-boom coming that is still happening now…

This one then! The label is done by Hans Dillesse, as Duchess is wont to do. I don’t believe there have been underwater creatures like this on Duchess labels before, with them generally going for birds, butterflies and some other woodland creatures.

Sniff:
This is a rich one! Right after pouring it my entire home office has a lovely woody scent permeating through it. Upon closer inspection there’s a gentle funkiness to it as well, with hints of overripe mango, rich mole and chocolate chip cookie dough. Contrary to what you might expect, it’s not overly sweet and goes more towards sugar cane than molasses or syrup.

Sip:
The palate arrives with not too much oomph, which I prefer to most of these 60+% ABV rums. It does have a bit of chili heat after a couple of seconds, and brings a bit more brown sugar sweetness than the nose did. There is a lot of oak, some sugar cane and dark chocolate. A bit of a raw dough funkiness too.

Swallow:
The finish is a bit more dry than the palate was, and a bit more sugar-cane-green as well. Complex with oak, cane, green bananas, cactus, lime. A lot is happening here.

Holy crap this is awesome! It’s not overly fierce, even as a first dram, which makes it stand out even more. I think a lot of rum is being bottled at a too high ABV to be thoroughly enjoyable. This one does not have that problem in the slightest!

The great ABV also allows a lot of flavors to come forward and not be obscured by heat and a burning sensation. That makes for huge complexity and a lot of gorgeous flavors to come forward. The combination of a slight sweetness, with oak and spices just works awesomely, and the funkiness is definitely there, but not all-encompassing.

This will go on sale on Friday the 3rd of November, at noon at Best of Wines, and several other bottle shops.

92/100

Thanks to Best of Wines for the sample!