This Caroni 2000 is one of Velier's Employees bottlings, dedicated to Basdeo "Dicky" Ramsarran, who worked at the Trinidad distillery for 20 years. It was distilled in 2000, aged in Trinidad and bottled in 2020 at full strength.
About This Bottling
The Employees series puts a real Caroni worker on each label, and this is part of the fourth release, bottled in 2020. Rather than a single cask, it is a blend of six casks, chosen by Gargano together with 26 Caroni enthusiasts split into eight tasting teams. The rum spent its whole life in Trinidad's tropical warehouses and was bottled at 64.3% ABV with no reduction, in an edition of 1,251 bottles. Reviewers generally find 2000 Caroni a little cleaner and less tarry than the older vintages, with more caramel and cask sweetness.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Burnt caramel, rubber and lamp oil, with almond pastry and fresh herbs.
- Palate: Oily and powerful, toffee and liquorice, then tar and a firm cask grip.
- Finish: Long, with salted pastry, liquorice and drying oak.
Serving & Food
At 64.3%, pour a small measure into a nosing glass and let it rest for ten minutes. Add water a few drops at a time and it turns sweeter and fruitier. Serve after dinner with a square of 85% dark chocolate or a few salted almonds.
How to Enjoy
Drinkers working through the Employees series, or anyone who wants to try Caroni at full strength.
Product Details
Producer: Caroni (Velier Employees 4th Release)
Honours: Basdeo "Dicky" Ramsarran
Distillery: Caroni, Trinidad
Vintage: 2000
Bottled: 2020
Age: 20 years
Casks: Blend of 6 casks, fully tropical ageing
Still: Column still
Base: Molasses
Bottles: 1,251
ABV: 64.3%
Volume: 700mL
About the Distillery
Caroni stood in central Trinidad, beside the sugar factory that gave it its name. It made rum on column stills from molasses, including a heavy, high-ester style used in blends, and was owned at one time by Tate & Lyle before the Trinidad government took it over in the 1970s. As local sugar declined, the distillery had to rely more and more on imported molasses, and it closed in the early 2000s. In 2004 Luca Gargano of the Italian firm Velier found its warehouses still full of ageing casks, and Velier has released that stock gradually ever since.