The Auld Alliance Caroni Rum (Acensorship) 1998

Caroni closed in 2003, and this 1998 vintage comes via The Auld Alliance, the Singapore bar and bottler, drawn from a single ex-bourbon cask and bottled at 52.6 percent. Among the many 1998 Caronis this is one of the less dirty expressions, the industrial signature dialled back in favour of fruit and balance.

The nose is soft and well composed, malt and mineral notes with woody depth and a touch of vanilla, even hinting at Cognac. The palate brings tropical fruit, fruitcake and menthol over that mineral spine, and the finish finally lets the tar and a dirtier note through alongside fruit and oak. Distilled from Trinidadian molasses and matured in ex-bourbon across 23 years, it shows that Caroni can be gentle and fruit-led as well as fierce, an unsweetened and approachable way into the closed distillery's world.