Caroni 21 - Velier - 57,18%
Photo taken somewhere in Stuttgart
What can be better to start the year 2021 with a 21 year old Caroni ? (How inimaginative!) As of today, it's one of the better available Caroni bottlings from the distillation year 1996. According to the backlabel 86% of the cask content evaporated during the 21 years of maturation on Trinidad. That's pure madness! Woe betide the Scot we hear complaining about Angel's share in future!
Nose
100% heavy Caroni! Some describe the smell as bicycle tube or gasoline. It slightly reminds us of the rubbery smell that greets you as you descend into the metro of a big city like London or Moscow. While this repels some, we find the smell very interesting and nostalgic and exactly what we search in our Caroni. Only to a certain extent of course, which ends when we talk about vintages like 1998 or 2000. Here, it perfectly enhances the overall structure, where we additionally find a fatty note of mangos fried in butter, spiced with some drops of eucalypt oil. On top of it, earthy tones of caramelized pumpkins and dried beetroots set the tone. And every tone bloody fits down to the point.
With water: beautiful development! Becoming creamier and almost flowery and perfumy now, with camomille, elders and sandalwood essence.
Palate
1996 just rules! The fantastic roundness and profound sweetness, combined with the slight Caroni dirtiness are an amazing treat. We also find plenty of bittersweet flavours of chocolate, carob and cappuccino. Imagine a piece of dark chocolate that laid on a gasoline tank for a day (but not inside!). Not to forget about the dried oranges and black cherries inside that chocolate brick. Contrary to the name, the body doesn't really feel heavy, more medium-bodied and comes with a silky texture.
Finish
There are only few spirits that can show off with the length of their finish like tropically matured Caronis. You can taste dried oranges and black cherries for hours.
Rating
If we apply the Pareto or resp. 80/20 principle here, this dram scratches at the end of the scale before prices rise exponentially. It provides you everything you want from a distinct Caroni, together with a great balance and sweetness. It doesn't come with an ultra complexity, but analogous to a Lagavulin 12 in the whisky world: What it does, it does damn well. And hand on heart, how classy is that old school label?
