Capulet & Montague Brands GmbH Caroni Bonpland 21 Year Old HTR 1995

Caroni ceased production in 2003, and this 1995 vintage carries the prized heavy mark from the closed Trinidad distillery, selected by the German outfit Capulet and Montague under their Bonpland label. Drawn from a single ex-bourbon cask and bottled unsweetened at an approachable 50 percent, it offers the industrial Caroni character at a strength that stays readable.

The nose is unusually fruit-forward for a heavy Caroni, dried fruit and citrus with mango and raspberry alongside cinnamon and oak. The palate shifts to green pepper, ginger and smoke with a mineral, almost medicinal streak, and the finish stays smoky and spiced over barrel char. Distilled from Trinidadian molasses and matured in ex-bourbon oak across 21 years, it shows a savoury, peppery face of Caroni rather than pure tar, dry and characterful without any added sugar.