Lot presentation

Caroni 1996 Bristol Spirits Bristol Classic Rum bottled in 2014

The wine

A Caroni distilled in 1996 and bottled in 2014 by Bristol, an English independent bottler founded by John Barrett that has made rum an important part of the business and whose Bristol Classic Rum range includes many prestigious bottlings. Rums are aged in Great Britain, either from start to finish or after short or long initial ageing at the distillery.

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.