Rum Nation Caroni Small Batch Rare Rums 1998

Caroni is the closed Trinidad distillery whose oily, industrial rum collectors prize, rescued from obscurity when Velier bottled its forgotten casks. This Small Batch release from Rum Nation, the Italian bottler known for two-stage ageing, draws on the 1998 vintage, a 23 year old column-still Caroni at 55.4%, unsweetened and sherry-finished.

The molasses base carries the recognisable Caroni markers of rubber, asphalt and smoke, but the sherry cask softens and rounds them, bringing ripe pear, apple, candied cherry and vanilla alongside a dry, fruity layer. The result is gentler and more accessible than the dirtiest expressions, the workshop funk present but not dominant, the body fairly light and the finish charred and minty. For drinkers who want a softer route into Caroni's rubbery, petrol-edged character, this offers the distillery's signature in a more rounded, sherry-influenced package.