Caroni 1998 Trinidad - Paradise #10 - Barrel #3927

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 70.2% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

Caroni Paradise #10 preserves a Heavy Trinidad Rum that matured in cask in its Caribbean homeland until 2019. Distilled in 1998, the spirit from cask 3927 was then transferred into glass demijohns and stored in the Cognac region. This brought its maturation in wood to an end; glass storage preserved the character it had developed until bottling.

The Paradise series grew out of a selection of Caroni stocks involving 26 rum connoisseurs, including Luca Gargano. Paradise #10 was bottled in 2024 at 70.2%. The rum was produced in a distillation column and bottled without colouring or chill filtration.

The presentation is also part of the series concept: Massimo Lunardon makes the hand-blown bottles in Italy, while the labels feature works by Trinidadian artist Che Lovelace. This release features Emerald and Sun Dancers. The bottle contains 0.7 litres and comes with gift packaging.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: The powerful nose combines mango and guava with pine resin, a lush floral note of orris butter and the pungency of cayenne pepper. With air, ripe banana and pineapple emerge; a delicate varnish note gradually appears too.
• Palate: On the palate, the rum opens with a lively, fiery character and notes of petrol and kerosene. Liquorice and grated ginger then coat the palate, before turmeric, curry and ylang-ylang become more prominent.
• Finish: The long, silky finish brings powdery impressions of rice and ginger alongside medicinal notes of arnica, ointment and camphor. On exhaling through the nose, very ripe banana, raisins and pipe tobacco remain perceptible.

Distillery/Bottler:

Caroni once belonged to British sugar company Tate & Lyle before the business was nationalised in the 1970s. The now-closed distillery in Trinidad produced rum from molasses. The spirit for this bottling was distilled in a column still.

After the distillery closed, Velier acquired the remaining rum stocks and the Caroni brand name. Founded in Genoa in 1947, the company developed its own programme of selected rum bottlings under Luca Gargano. Together with La Maison du Whisky, it continues the Paradise series: rather than leaving the old rum in wood indefinitely, the stocks were taken to Cognac in 2019 and stored there in glass demijohns. The series name draws on the Cognac tradition of the Paradis, a cellar for particularly old spirits kept until bottling.

Facts: