Velier Caroni 5th Employees Dhanraj „Dan“ Maharaj HTR 1996

Caroni shut its Trinidad doors in 2003, and Velier's rescue of its casks turned the distillery into the most collectible closed name in rum. This Employees bottling honours a member of the old workforce and draws on the heavy 1996 vintage, a quarter century of tropical ageing before bottling at 66.3%.

Long maturation in ex-bourbon oak under Caribbean heat builds the classic dirty 1996 core, tar, rubber and bitumen wrapped in caramel and dark chocolate, with herbs and mint threading through. The palate is dense and oily, rubber and leather over caramel and barrel, and the finish runs long on smoke, caramel, dark chocolate and tar. Intensely woody yet held in balance, this unsweetened release rewards a proper rest and a slow approach, a deep, full-strength reading of heavy Trinidad rum for committed Caroni drinkers.