Aroma visualization from community tastings
Bristol Caroni HTR 1997
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This is the Caroni that leans woody and smoky more than tarry — several tasters flag that up front. Rubber, licorice and machine oil are all there, but so is burnt caramel, ripe mango and leather, and the 61.5% carries them without needing water. Give it ten minutes of air; a few members say the palate stays denser than the nose promises. Continentally aged, and fans reckon it keeps up with the black bottles.
The community says- Rubber & tar depth
- ABV well integrated
- But: Finish could run longer
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How does Bristol Caroni HTR 1997 taste?
Summarized by AI from community reviews.
Woody, smoky Caroni at full cask strength A strong Caroni that most rate highly — powerful, complex and well-integrated at full proof. A few wish the finish ran as long and deep as the nose.
Caroni fans chasing tar, rubber and smoke
newcomers or anyone put off by smoke
Style & occasion: Mature & oakySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family
31 of 55 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
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What does the community say?
55 community reviews
25 selected write-ups on this page, all of them in the RumX app
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Positive from 8.0 · Mixed 6.0–7.9 · Critical below 6.0
Review by Mirko Frosini 🇮🇪
Most helpful positive review
I love the Carons, I love them so much that I find it hard to be impartial. I won't go into it because it would just be fancy words anyway! Nice Caroni, but surely there will be better. Of the ones I have tasted this one I think is the most distinctive because it remains excellently balanced between the typical tar notes and the peaty/smoky whisky notes. Far superior to the Rum Nation 21y Caroni aged in Scotland. Let's be clear that this is not a classic Caroni! Finish not as long as other Caronis.
Review by Alessandro
Most helpful mixed review
I'm always on the lookout for something new and different. Maybe this Caroni from Bristol, compared to other Bristol releases, not being diluted, offers a greater amount of flavors than expected.
Review by cigares
Tasting some Caronis from Bristol. A Bristol finally not or barely reduced. The nose is marked by wood, ample and rich. You can sense the smokiness, wood, and stewed fruits, but also a slight spiciness. The palate is very expressive, powerful, with broad and deep aromas. I like this Caroni aromatic, very classic here, despite a slightly rough start on the palate. The finish is long, elegant with most of the aromas from the palate. A success! Even though I have a preference for the 18-year-old from the same series. Thanks Michael for the sample.
Review by Joachim Guger
A really great Caroni nose. Lots of rubber, lots of caramel, plenty of ripe mango. Complex spices, the barrel aging is restrained. Old, dusty dresser, I love it.😀😀 On the palate then oily caramel, oak, and spices. The finish could be a bit longer. The 1997 Bristol bottlings are really excellent, although from memory I liked the 2015 a bit more. This one is a bit more focused on rubber, caramel, and ripe mango. In my opinion, it can definitely hold its own against some of the black bottles. By now (04/2023) this one is only available on the secondary market. ☹️
Review by Godspeed
My first Caroni and it does not disappoint. A flavor profile that is truly unique just like the reputation said. Needed to breath 5-10 minutes before I could get the most of it. Nose seems like all solvent at first but opens up greatly with time to reveal sumptuous leather notes and a hint of tar. On the palate without resting it is too dense but not to worry, 10 minutes of opening and it delivers on the nose with leather and tar but also develops tropical fruit, dark vanilla, and elderflower. Delicious and just so very grown, mature, and fulfilled in flavor. This has high quality rum written all over it and I’m a little obsessed with the powerful leather notes. As much a sensory experience as it is a rum, highly recommended.
Review by LukaŽiga
9,1:On the nose, industrial, dirty with rubber, tar, solvents, some bicycle tube, menthol hints, oily, roasted wood notes like caramel, sweet, pastry, spicy with allspice, vanilla, oaky, minty molasses, herbaceous, earthy with tobacco, balanced, tropical and citrus fruits, bump into our nosetrils. On aeration, mango, yellow and candied fruits arise, leather, nuts, chocolate, spicy anise, meaty touch, join. 8,9:On the palate the attack is intense, slightly imbalanced with medicinal, industrial notes like tar and rubber, varnish, dirty, oily, dry, with resting, all notes come out balanced, hand in hand, like roasted wood with caramel, dark chocolate, bubble gum hints, spicy with vanilla, allspice, anise, oaky, salty, meaty with bacon, smoky, fruity with tropical, yellow fruits, berries hints and molasses is herbaceous, candied, dark with licorice, a bit floral. 9:The finish is long, dry&tannic, dirty, industrial, medicinal, fruity, fermented, oily, molasses is dark with licorice and the oak roasted, charred, smoky, spicy.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
This is a slightly different Caroni and I love it. The nose is dark, musty and woody with rubber, tar, leather and berries trailed by licorice, tobacco, cocoa and caramel. A very nice nose once rested. With water the flavours are even clearer. The palate complex well balanced and elegant at the same time. I get tropical fruits, tar, rubber and a lot of wood and smoke/roasted notes trailed by leather, vanilla and a light salty note. The finish is long and has smoky wood, tar and slightly more salty than the palate.
Review by Alex1981
Bristol Caroni Vergleich: Really nice one! Powerful, long, intense. Not up there sith the 1996 Velier bottles, but really great. All the relevant notes with the necessary abv to transport them. Top bristol.
Review by Skyfly
A really good Caroni that convinces from nose to finish! Besides the typical Caroni aromas, you find mint on the nose. On the palate and finish, quite dry but still complex. Alcohol well integrated and luckily not diluted compared to other Bristols.
Review by Thunderbird
This is a Caroni that definitely leans towards the bold, spicy, and dirty side. Some burnt caramel adds a bit of sweetness. However, I don't perceive any fruit at all. That's a shame because structurally, it would have suited it well and helped it grow. As it is, it remains just average.
Review by Boletus
Not only in the nose is the complex development that this Caroni takes with increasing air contact impressive. The varied interplay of flavors is also great to follow in the mouth and delights my taste buds lasting.
Review by Chrischi78
If it says Caroni on it, everything goes up: the prices and your own expectations, and that becomes a bit of a curse for it. Not a bad rum but nothing is quite right: not really intense, not really funky, not really complex, not really well-balanced. Boring.
Review by DutchRumPirate
The nose is already woodier and smokier than I'm used to from a Caroni. This also comes through on the palate. There's a hint of caramel sweetness, but not the fruity notes I'm normally used to, which I actually love amidst the leather and dirt. All the Caroni notes are definitely present. Wonderfully complex. It's a powerhouse, though the woodiness/smoke is more prominent.
Review by Filip Šikula
Beautiful. It's completely different from most other Caroni, but it's perfect. Grandpa's workshop all over the place. Technical nose, tar, lacquer, rubber, and caramel. On the palate, it sticks to the expected flavor profile, the higher ABV is perfectly integrated and beautifully tingles the tongue. Medium-long finish. Awesome.
Review by MJ97
On the nose, candied orange / salted butter caramel, smoky. It's less petrol/heavy than the other 2 I've tasted but more fruity. On the palate, watery, less rich in aroma than the other 2.
Review by Adrien B
Top top. An incredible finish. Vs 97/19. Deeper, dirtier, longer, better. Really top-notch.
Review by Santo
A first nose quite dirty, then with aeration I smell a certain sweetness, even quite indulgent I would say. On the palate the sweetness has disappeared, it is even dirtier, more intense, I really have a sensation of engine oil in the mouth with leather, licorice, caramel, and red fruits. Too bad the palate and finish are not up to the nose, but it remains a very good Caroni.
Review by Banana Joe
I really like it, normally I don't like it too smoky, but here it fits very well. The typical Caroni markers are present but not too dominant. Great bottling, you can't really go wrong with Bristol in cask strength. It's a pity they diluted it so much.
Review by Maxence
I finally get the chance to taste a Caroni bottled cask strength by Bristol ! An excellent rum which clearly demonstrates that continentally aged Caronis can keep up with Velier releases without any reduction. Thanks Bristol for releasing such a nice bottle !
Review by Djehey
Less round than its little brother at 56.4.
Review by Harald
Caroni 1997 Bristol Classic Rum Trinidad HTR Heavy Type Rum Distilled: 1997 Bottled: 31.05.2017 Aged 20 Years 61.5% Color: Umbra Nose: At first sweet and fruity. Smells like delicious toffee, hot chestnuts, but also cough syrup, machine oil, and used oil. Taste: Mostly licorice on the palate. When swallowing, very bold, intense, and spicy. Tastes like cough syrup and tree bark. Finish: Very long, warming deep inside. Spicy with pepper, ginger, and licorice. Slightly bitter in the aftertaste. Very dry on the finish. Conclusion: Very tasty Caroni of the HTR type. The usual notes of tar and ash often found in Caroni are largely missing for me... maybe a bit in the finish. Rubber and bicycle inner tube, as often mentioned, I can relate to more with my tasting notes. 88 points
Review by Alexander Rasch
What can I say. I love the Bristol Caronis. Everything feels a bit more approachable and less woody than other Caronis. And that ashtray. Wonderful. For me, only marginal differences compared to the 2015. The price-performance was just top. Still bought for under 200. Those were the days.
Review by Dennis
A very extreme rum that blows your socks off. You either love it or hate it. Brilliant!
Review by 86kringo
I can't figure it out. I like rum, I like smoky spirits, but rum and smoke? I don't know, for me they don't go together. Another thing I find difficult is the high alcohol content, here it's over 60%. If you add a little more water, then the full rum enjoyment dies... Certainly not bad, but somehow not my style.
Review by Pavel Spacek
... Caroni is a distillery from Trinidad, producing during its greatest glory a rum that was added in 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 ended production and was closed. Only in 2010 did tasters appear who liked the rum precisely for its special taste. And interest grew. Caroni belongs to the category of rums "you need to try before you die." I recommend it, Caroni is really a unique rum.
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Expert reviews
Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum.
Expert review by Rum nagykövet
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Community shelf
61 bottles logged by 45 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
14% opened, 2 emptied.
What did the community pay for Bristol Caroni HTR 1997?
Community paid 169–292 €.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 291 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ ›
61 purchased · 56 tasted · 20 wishlist · as of
Details about Bristol Caroni HTR 1997
A Column Still Rum from Trinidad, bottled by Bristol Classic Rum, at 61,5%.
Read on in the RumX Guide
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