Caroni 1983 heavy style rum 52% review

[JaRiMi]

Caroni 1983 heavy style high proof rum, bottled at 52% - a blend of 78 barrels, producing a total of 20.986 bottles.

Nose: Typically Trinidadian, so easily recognizeable for me at least: Quite oily and strong, vanilla, litle dried orange peel.

Palate: medium-bodied, quite oily again but amazingly smooth for being almost a "non-commercial bottling" (pure cask rum); strong vanilla notes, same orange peel comes through, notably no wood in this which is really surprising for a 23yo. rum; oily-dry, medium-bodied. Far from the overly-sweet commercial blended rums of today, thank God, but God do I enjoy it. Amazingly easy to drink despite of the high alcohol content. Water dilutes the rum almost to nothingness; the fine flavours fade away so soon. Treat with care.

Finish: Very warming due to the high alcohol content; still extremely smooth, vanilla-flavoured with a slight oily note. A gulp of water is recommended afterwards, to lessen the strong alcohol's effect on your palate and throat.

Comments: Gotta hand it to the Italian rum bottler Velieri for doing a remarkable cultural act and bottling Trini rum in a form that is truly rarely ever seen; in cask strength, very lightly filtered. Gotta hand it to Caroni for making rum that tastes like this after 23 years in a ex-bourbon barrel. This is Trinidad in a bottle, God bless. I want bottles of these rums bottled by velieri to leave to my daughter so one day she would know at least that once upon a time in a small Caribbean island called Trinidad there was a distillery called Caroni that made such a rum. My sincere thanks to Roberto, I have a feeling we shall do business soon again as I will try and get more rums!

[JaRiMi]

A "reference-sip" from the Caroni Special Old Cask confirmed that this Velieri bottling is truly much, much thicker and heavier, but still a medium-bodied rum. The Special Old Cask nose sweeter is in comparison, and despite of similarities, more infused with vanilla-sugar, almost no oiliness.

The flavour is less smooth, much lighter and even a bit burning. This comparison just emphasizes how superior the Velieri bottling really is, it makes the standard bottling taste almost "cheap". There are definite similarities in tastes, but still the comparison also makes a MASSIVE statement for pure cask impressions of quality rums.

[Count Silvio]

Interesting review JaRiMi. I am a little surprised by the 78 barrel blend, is this usual to blend, using so many rums? I was just looking at Robertos shop and noticed a lot of these Caroni rums are out of stock, you didn't happen to buy all of them did you?

This seems like a very interesting rum that I should probably try to acquire. The prices I found by googling this rum do not seem too outrageous but very competitive. Any other Caroni bottlings you can recommend from Robertos shop?

[JaRiMi]

I would imagine that far more than 78 barrels are blended into most commercially available rums - and also it is noteworthy that in a great % of the cases the rums blended together do not even come from one single distillery.

My guess is that there was a good batch of rum, and Velieri wanted to make a Caroni release that would yield more bottles, making the distillery known to more people. And that is a nice thing, because as you noted, most of the other far smaller batches made up from 1 - 10 barrels are sold out in most stores.

I would recommend this rum to anyone wishing to know how Trinidadian rum tastes. It is a unique flavour in the world of rum I believe. I will certainly try and get some more bottles. What I got from Italy was a few very rare 1982 editions, and this 1983 one. Unfortunately I cannot say what they taste like, and I am hesitant to open any of them until I get a 2nd bottle of each...They are simply too precious to me. I opened the 1983 because this I can still get a 2nd bottle of for sure.

[Roberto]

Hi Mika, im quite happy that you enjoyed the Caroni 83...and you will be amazed when you will try the two Caroni 82, expecially the 77.3%.
Instead about the 1983, your review it's perfect.
Gargano (an italian bottler), bought the barrels during the Caroni Ltd's liquidation, and the most greater part of the barrels were distilled in 1983. This is the motive for which it is still available despite it's on the market from 2 years.
We wait for september the new Caroni's release 1974,1984 and 1988 blended.

Mika the two Caroni 82 you are bought came from my personal reserve

[JaRiMi]

Hello Roberto,

Sir, I owe you a great dept of gratitude - thank you so much for giving me the chance to buy some of the 1982 bottles from your personal stock!! That is indeed very,very kind and much appreciated. Also superb service, as I got the rums delivered right to my hotel.

I really look forward to purchasing the new releases once they are out, lets keep in touch. The 1974 is of a special interest for me, as is the 1988 blend, because in 1988 I left Trinidad.

Is Gragano related to Velieri, or did I make a mistake here mentioning this bottling as a Velieri bottling? If so, I do apologize.

[Roberto]

Is Gragano related to Velieri, or did I make a mistake here mentioning this bottling as a Velieri bottling? If so, I do apologize.

Laca Gargano, that is the man who select the blend, work for Velier (without final i).
The Caroni 1974 (only 1 barrel) seems to be the best selection of Caroni...but we have to attend up to september.

[Count Silvio]

Caroni 1983 Heavy Style Rum


Appearance

Nice clear gold. A twirl in the glass creates a sharp rim around the glass where thin and not very visible, legs start to form followed by some small droplets.

Nose

Slightly sharp, dry and perfumed. There is also some sweet smoke, old leather and indeed some of orange peel like JaRiMi noted which are particularily clear when the glass is empty.

I recommend letting this rum breathe and warm up slowly to let it open up and as a result you may discover hints of pineapple somewhere under the leather aromas.

The empty glass smells nicely of pineapples.

Taste

The taste is light and a bit dry with some fruits and slightly earthy notes and smoke. Sharp yet not burning despite the high alcoholic content. Slightly oily mouthfeel.

Aftertaste

Significantly more warmth in the aftertaste after swallowing, that breathes back into your mouth from your chest and throat and tingles on the lips for a while. Very minor pineapple hints, smoke and marzipan.

Final thoughts

A delicate rum that likes to challenge your palate. Not the most easy drinking rum but nevertheless a pleasant and a different kind of rum.

[tiare]

So here i come in after quite a while and what do i find? Caroni!!

That same Caroni that has been on my mind and which i would have bought already haven`t i bought the Silver Seal 15 and Samaroli Port Morant 1990 instead. Thanks for the reviews they are of good help. I`m surely heading back to Robertos for a Caroni next time. So my queation now, which Caroni would you choose?