Impressions (Selected by Steffen Mayer)

Excellent 1998 with great sweetness and nice spice.

Un rhum dégusté au WLP. Profondeur aromatique avec un équilibre entre l’atelier mécanique et les fruits au nez. Je reste un bon moment à renifler ce rhum, très bon signe pour la suite… Un premier goût de whisky non tourbé, puis les notes de Caroni et les fruits. Le whisky reste présent en finale. Autant je trouvais le nez inspirant, autant les arômes de whisky assez marqués en bouche me déçoivent un peu. Cependant c’est un distillat de grande classe, aucun doute là dessus. Regoûté et les impressions sont identiques, un très beau nez et une bouche, à mon goût, trop marquée par le whisky.

Plenty of sweet notes of vanilla and toffee on the nose, some wood, plus subtle citrusy orange aromas and slight hints of typical dirty tar notes. Very well integrated alcohol. Mouth-filling and powerful on the palate with tar, roasted wood, without becoming too "dirty". In addition, cool menthol and gum notes, slightly earthy-peaty, subtle allspice, and again elegant sweetness of toffee and vanilla, which are, however, significantly less present than in the nose. The finish is pleasantly long-lasting with wood, tar and toffee sweetness. Again light smoke and earthy notes. One of the really good 1998 Caronis, a very successful selection.

Very round and elegant 98 Caroni. Quite sweet with roasted nuts and milk chocolate on the palate. Very nice and enjoyable. Won‘t hit the mark if you are looking for dirty notes, however.

Edit: tried again, good cigar companion, but unfortunately it doesn't make it into my personal top group. Online Tasting RumX with Steffen. Thanks for organizing and for the split at a "humane" price. Very round Caroni with a nice not so dirty profile. If the prices weren't so utopian, this would have deserved far more, but that remains in the back of my mind. But a tasty '98 representative.

Kräftiger Caroni mit typischen rauchigen Noten und würziger Tiefe. Die Balance zwischen süßen und herben Aromen sorgt für ein intensives Geschmackserlebnis. Komplex und vielschichtig, mit einer angenehmen Länge im Abgang.

Nose already fruity and balanced in sum restrained. Lots of caroni on the palate, tends a little towards Laphroiag, medicinal (iodine), salt. The Islay whisky impression continues in the finish with smoke, bacon, salt and iodine. My glass stood for a very long time (covered but about 4 hours) and I'm not sure how much change the long standing time made. On the palate and in the aftertaste I have a strong association with whisky (Laphroiag) which I don't really like in rum but here it goes well together. Overall, a very good, intense rum with an impressively intense and long finish.

Classic Caroni profile! Very round, balanced, fruity, classic dirty, woody rum. The alcohol is integrated well. This one didn‘t knock my socks off. The price tag is also…. from another world.

Amazingly complex 98 with light smoky notes!

Steffen has chosen something fine here... a wonderful, initially fruity and sweet nose, to which some workshop aromas are added with longer standing time. The same interplay on the palate, then a little more barrel and spice. Creamy and pleasant, it fills the mouth. The finish is long and is accompanied by spice and workshop aromas. I like it 👍🏻

#4331 21.10.2023 Whisky Live 2023

Diesen Geruch frisch geteerter Straße hat man nach dem Winter entweder durch die Schlaglöcher oder eben im Glas. Die Kombi mit Milchschokolade habe ich so bei keinem Caroni in Erinnerung. Im Mund angekommen merkt man wie gut der Alkohol integriert ist und es gesellt sich zu verbranntem Holz und Gummi die Vorstellung einer fantastischen Creme Brûlée. Abzüge gibt es in der B Note, da ich den Abgang Caroni untypisch „kurz“ empfinde. Es bleibt zwar einen Moment am Gaumen, diese leckere Creme Brûlée ist aber zu schnell weg.

verkostet bei der RX Masterclass mit Steffen Meyer am 21.12. (vielen Dank für die interessanten Hintergrundinfos!). Guter, sehr runder 98er. Die Abfüllung zielt in erster Linie auf Sammler, die nicht unbedingt höchsten Wert auf Preis/Leistung legen.

It’s a decent rum without any flaws but also not overly complex. With the price tag in mind I am kind of disappointed but I will leave this out of the rating. Nevertheless it was nice to taste it once.

A Caroni on the sweet, sensual side. On the nose, empyreumatic notes are discreetly replaced by a more pastry-like (cookie), caramelized and spicy profile. Hazelnut, dried fruit and roasted notes add further roundness. A Caroni that seems very gourmand. There's no mistaking the sweetness of the caramel candy in the Caroni 12 yo. The warmth of spices, toasted oak and roasted notes joins with rubber and medicinal notes. This is a lively, well-structured rum, with well-integrated alcohol. Very pleasant on the palate, but not spectacular either. The finish could have been longer, with the pastry aromas taking over the palate with great greed and an almost mellow quality. The other aromas are totally dominated, notably dried fruit, roasted and medicinal. An attractive Caroni overall, but clearly not at the top of the range. The pretty bottle syndrome proved true once again, with a stratospheric release price unfortunately.