Corman Collins Caroni 25th anniversary Black Cat Bar 1996

Excellent Caroni nose. Rubber, some tropical fruit and great cocoa notes. On the palate it continues first class and intense with a very pleasant sweetness. Only the relatively short finish then denies a top rating. The bottom line is nevertheless a first-class Caroni of the legendary 1996 vintage at a pleasant drinking strength.

Amazing 1996 vintage ! Dilution makes it really accessible and profile is sweet as hell with loads of banana, milk chocolate, caramel and molasses or cofee. A perfect Caroni for beginners who want to discover the distillery 😍

It's amazing how much flavor and strength is still there after dilution. I try to look at the "glass" half full🫤 In the mouth it's just gone too quickly. The palate is fiercely awesome. Tar, rubber, as it should be. The finish is long and delicious. Fruits and spices are added. The rum is awesome. Nevertheless, there would have been potential for something really great. Too bad. Apart from that, it's a great rum. I'll be dreaming tonight about what it would have been like with a few percent more.

Another great Caroni though not on the gmheavy and of the sce, more like a medium heavy version. The Caroni flavours are there and very present so you're never in doubt of who made it. The nose is well balanced and a medium heavy Caroni. Tar, rubber and roasted oak hit you first closely followed by lots of fruit and some cinnamon. The palate takes off where the nose left off. Smoky oak with tar and rubber, dried fruit and spices. I like that there is a spicy tinge to the palate. The finish is long with oak, spices, rubber and a hint of raisin.

Delicious! A complex mix! I love it 🥰 If it had been a little less reduced it would have been excellent.

Nice 96 Caroni notes recognizable, but unfortunately too diluted!

Phew, as with the Diamond from the Single Cask series, the question arises: why did they have to dilute it here? The nose still has a lot of charm, the potential is clearly recognizable. On the palate, however, the dilution has a very unfavorable effect, the aromas blend together and the remaining impression is of pulpy substance rather than genuine Caroni concentrate (after all, we are looking at the exceptional 1996 vintage). A real shame, because there was certainly more to it here.

Tasted at SDR’24 Lovely Caroni profile, musty yet zingy, with balanced aromas of bitter, burnt sugar, dark chocolate and leather jacket on one side; and fresh currants on the other side. A clear thread of black tar, burning rubber and short-steeped herbal tea runs through. On the palate much less fruity and much more spiced. Starts sweet with notes of nougat and bresillienne. Then heavily dusted in baking spice and pepper. Nice depth provided by pinetree resin, vanillapod and tar, with a backlash of minty tea. Medium length finish with more dried fruits, sugar-coated peanuts and cinnamon, slightly tannic, but foremost bitter with blackened sugar and walnut skins. Probably (read: most likely) this would be even better at cask stength. Usually I’m very sceptical of reduction but oddly enough it doesn’t hurt here.

... Caroni is a distillery from Trinidad, producing at the time of its greatest glory rum, which was added at a ratio of 1:10 to the naval blend. It was too strong and strange to be pleasant on the tongue. In 2000, the distillery ceased production and closed. Only in 2010 did tasters appear who took a liking to the rum because of its special taste. And the interest grew. Caroni belongs to the category of "you need to try before you die" rums. I recommend it, Caroni is a truly unique rum.

Diamond Advent Calendar RFC 2024.

Tasted at SDR2024.

Tasted with the famous Roger Caroni! Thanks to him for the discovery

Always a pleasure to taste this kind of juice 🤩 Very good Caroni , very nice Years , just a regret that there was a reduction but it remains very good. Nice complexity, the traditional and characteristic aromas of this distillery, nice length although a bit short compared to usual. I like it a lot 😍

Spíše slabší heavy Caroni jak v chiti tak ve vůni. Není nijak agresivní, technické tóny tam jsou, ale velmi jemně podané.

Un peu déçu, très léger. La finale en revanche est très agréable.