Silver Seal Caroni Manta Ray Genesis 1997

Silver Seal, the collector-respected Italian bottler from Modena, selected this single cask of Caroni, the Trinidad distillery that closed in 2003 and remains rum's most legendary lost name. Distilled in 1997 from molasses on the column still and matured a quarter of a century, it shows the heavy, oily side of Caroni rather than the cleaner light marks the plant could also turn out.

Matured in ex-bourbon oak and bottled at full cask strength, the nose runs tar, rubber and dark wood with a chocolate edge, while the palate stays intense and oily, tar wrapped around yellow tropical fruit and oak. The finish is dry, woody and warm with that fruit lingering. At 60.4% the alcohol makes its presence felt, but the trademark Caroni petroleum-and-fruit intensity carries it, a serious bottling for those who chase the closed distillery's industrial character.