Berry Bros & Rudd Caroni Whisky Barrel 10th Anniversary 1997

Caroni, the closed Trinidad distillery shuttered in 2003, remains the most sought after name in rum, and this 10th Anniversary bottling comes from the long established London merchant Berry Bros and Rudd. Distilled in 1997 and matured 19 years in a whisky barrel in cooler Europe, it is a single cask presented at 55%. Continental ageing in a Scotch cask gives a slower, gentler maturation than tropical heat would, so this leans drier and more measured than a full tropical Caroni of the same age. The heavy Caroni house style typically runs to tar, smoke, diesel and asphalt over dark dried fruit and deep oak, and a whisky cask tends to push the smoky, spicy and savoury side. A finite collectible from a distillery that no longer exists.