Caroni S.B.S The Beast #3 1993

This is the third in a notorious S.B.S series from 1423, the Danish Single Barrel Selection house, drawn from a single 1993 Caroni cask and bottled unsweetened at 49.6% after 29 years. Caroni, the Trinidad distillery that closed in 2003, is famous for its industrial heavy marks, and this release pushes that style to a deliberate, divisive extreme.

Distilled from molasses on the column still and aged in ex-bourbon oak, it abandons the fruit and caramel that usually balance a Caroni and leans hard into varnish, rubber, black tea and bitter, earthy wood. The palate is sour and tarry, the finish astringent and drying, the whole thing more chemistry experiment than easy sipper. It is honest to say this is an acquired and challenging pour, fascinating to those who collect the wildest, most off-profile Caroni and want to test their limits, but a hard recommendation for anyone seeking a balanced bottling. Start with a gentler Caroni first.