M. Wigman Caroni Precious Moments 1999

M. Wigman bottled this Caroni Precious Moments from the 1999 vintage, one of the distillery's most convincing years. Caroni, the closed Trinidad distillery, ceased production in 2003, and its heavy marks are mythologised among rum drinkers. This single cask was bottled at a powerful 61.2 percent, full strength and unmistakably in the dense, industrial camp.

Made from molasses and matured in ex-bourbon oak, it is thick and heavy: burnt sugar, petrol, tar and a heavy weight on the nose, then tar, petrol, dark chocolate and burnt sugar on the palate, finishing on tar, barrel, allspice and black pepper. This is the archetypal oily Caroni, all diesel and sticky tar with little of the fruit some 1999 casks show, demanding water, time and patience to open. A multi-layered, deeply characterful pour for drinkers who want the distillery at its tarriest and most uncompromising.