Velier Caroni 4th Employees Balas „Brigade“ Bhaggan 1998
Highly praised heavy Caroni: powerful, smoky and fruity with tar, rubber and wood, very long finish. Some find it less integrated than other Employees, but still a standout cask-strength release.
Seasoned Caroni fans who enjoy heavy, dirty, high-ABV rums with tar, rubber, smoky wood and dried fruits, and don’t mind a slightly wild edge or adding a few drops of water.
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How does this rum taste?
Big, dirty, powerful Caroni
If you already enjoy other 1998 Caroni Employees, this keeps the heavy, dirty style but adds more dryness and meatiness—great when you want something bolder and a bit less polished.
Beginners, anyone sensitive to high ABV or dryness, and drinkers who prefer soft, sweet rums or perfectly polished profiles over rough, industrial Caroni character.
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About the Caroni distillery
The Caroni distillery is located in Trinidad. Rums from Caroni have been reviewed 9,885 times with an average of 8.8/10.
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Epic Velier Caroni Tasting 2023: Typical dirty 98 HTR profile, but with slightly irritating meaty notes. In direct comparison with other representatives of the tropically matured HTR style, it seems less round overall, which documents a qualitative difference at a high level, but in my opinion it is still easily recognizable.
Auto-translatedVery nice nose. Woody but not too much, tropical fruits and typical Caroni notes. Palate's profile is quite close but alcohol integration is rather poor. Few droplets of water really helps the rum to reveal its full potential. A strong Caroni Employee though 👌
This Caroni kicks off with fruit and spices and once it has rested it release tar, caramel and light rubber. The palate is equally convincing with fruits and smoky wood and spices followed by chocolate and a wonderful floral note. The finish is very long with smoky wood and tropical fruits, spices and again the blissful floral note.
Amazingly fruity and only slightly dirty on the nose. All the more surprising that the taste immediately comes across as dirty with tar and rubber. Then lots of toffee, vanilla and some leather. Nice, long finish. Exceptionally good Caroni with a little too little rough edges.
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