Lot presentation

Caroni 16 years 1998 Velier Full Proof 32nd Release - One of 2750 - bottled 2014

The wine

A rum from the Caroni distillery (Trinidad and Tobago), which closed in 2002, distilled in 1998 and bottled at 64.5% cask strength after 16 years of ageing in 2014 by Genoese bottler Velier, who have played a key role in building Caroni’’s posthumous renown. Matured entirely in a tropical climate in Trinidad and Tobago, which explains the especially high angel’’s share of 77%. A limited edition of 2,750 bottles.

About the Producer Caroni

The Caribbean, Trinidad. Distillery closed, site dismantled.

In 1975, under pressure from across the country, the government of Trinidad nationalized a number of companies, including Tate & Lyle, the English giant of sugar production and owner of Caroni Ltd since 1937. The very competitive economic context, however, led to the closure of the island's sugar refineries and the collapse of the molasses production required for the production of rum. In 2001, the government sold its shares in Rum Distillers Ltd (Caroni) to Angostura and closed the distillery in 2002. Caroni Ltd would be definitively liquidated on 31 July 2003. In October 2004, Luca Gargano, the CEO of the Italian spirit distributor Velier and a passionate rum enthusiast and photographer, visited Trinidad to carry out research for a future report. There he found the site abandoned and, within its cellars, a huge stock of barrels, some distilled in 1974. The story of Caroni began in 2005 and the distillery immediately became the subject of lore.