TAST’TOE Caroni Selected by TASTTOE 1998

A single cask Caroni from the 1998 vintage at 24 years, selected by TAST'TOE and matured with port and wine cask influence. Caroni, the Trinidad distillery that closed in 2003, is usually prized for its dirty industrial profile, which makes this clean, fruit forward bottling a notable outlier.

The wine casks push it toward red wine and port notes, with mango, passion fruit, plum and raisin joined by nuts, dark chocolate and butterscotch over only a gentle Caroni dirtiness. Glue and rubber sit in the background rather than the foreground, the alcohol is well integrated for 62.5%, and the finish is dry, tannic and long. Despite the wine character it is bottled unsweetened, an opulent, rounded late night Caroni that keeps the distillery's soul while taking a fruitier path.