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Velier Caroni 6th Employees Mahesh “Sonny Black” Bridgelal HTR 1996
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Tar, burnt oak and rubber up front, with caramel, vanilla and a cocoa edge sitting behind — one taster literally called it "a dirty auto workshop," and that's the Caroni HTR charm. This 1996 at 25 years shows real depth and tropical fruit, though several note the age can push a roasted, herbal-bitter tone. A few call it their favorite of the 6th employee series.
The community says- Tar and rubber depth
- Excellent nose
- But: Astringent palate
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How does Velier Caroni 6th Employees Mahesh “Sonny Black” Bridgelal HTR 1996 taste?
Summarized by AI from community reviews.
Deep, tarry Caroni with roasted, bitter edge Loved as a mature, deep Caroni with classic tar-and-rubber character, but tasters flag a slightly astringent, over-roasted note on the palate and finish from the long aging.
Caroni fans who love tar, rubber and heavy funk
Beginners or anyone put off by bitter, metallic notes
Style & occasion: Mature & oakySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family
20 of 49 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Which glass for which rum? The community guide ›
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What does the community say?
49 community reviews
15 selected write-ups on this page, all of them in the RumX app
Top 15% of Trinidad rums
Rate it in the app
Positive from 8.0 · Mixed 6.0–7.9 · Critical below 6.0
Review by Jakob
Epic Velier Caroni Tasting 2023: The age is noticeable on the nose but without giving the rum an overly dominant bitterness. Nice sweetness, wood, spice, great fruit notes. Slight weaknesses show on the palate and finish - the dirty Caroni notes could be a bit more present on the palate, plus this release shows quite a demanding roasted note on the finish. This expression softens after some time in the opened bottle, but the impression of somewhat too long cask aging remains. Apart from that, the release brings great sweet melt, fresh tropical fruits, and the typical Caroni-HTR profile, albeit in a very ripe, bitter form. Flavor-wise most comparable to the Seeharack, which clearly has the edge thanks to its balance. Not the king of the Caroni vintage, but still remarkable; with 1996 we are anyway at a very high Caroni level. Excellent.
Review by Pavel Spacek
... Caroni is a distillery from Trinidad, producing at the time of its greatest glory rum, which was added at 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 ceased production and closed. Only in 2010 did tasters appear who took a liking to the rum because of its special taste. And the interest grew. Caroni belongs to the category of "you need to try before you die" rums. I recommend it, Caroni is a truly unique rum.
Review by Johannes
That's how a 96 should be!
Review by Oliver
Excellent nose. A tad too astringent on the palate for a top rating.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
I'm in heaven I can remember thinking while sampling these wonderful rums :-) The nose on this one has the roasted oak, tar and rubber trailed by fruit and caramel and a hint of vanilla. The palate continues where the nose left off. A heavy well balanced rum with roasted oak, tar, rubber and fruit closely trailed by vanilla, chocolate and light leather. The finish is long with roasted oak and a nice mix of spices and caramel and a hunt of rubber.
Review by Joachim Guger
The color is already a dream... As expected, a dense, full, balanced Caroni nose. Varnish, lots of charred oak, tar and rubber. Behind that, full caramel and nice cocoa notes. Great. In the mouth the full load, lots of wood and spices. Long finish, again a lot of wood. Again high level, as mentioned great nose, a bit one-dimensional in the mouth. Still an experience.
Review by MathiasR
The best Caroni for me (so far!). 😄
Review by Maxence
Nose is quite dry, woody and spicy, therefore, feels slightly unbalanced. Palate brings some better balance with more fruits and round notes. However, alcohol integration is not the best. A Caroni with some small flaws but which remains a very good rum : that's why this distillery is so special 👌
Review by Sebastian Kornett
Tastes like a dirty garage. Very intensely bitter metallic and a slight menthol note
Review by Michal S
An interesting and complex rum, with roasted notes of caramel, vanilla and wood, plus menthol and leather on the palate. Compared to the other Caroni's in the 6 series, the staff's best for me and of course I recommend it to everyone.
Review by Martin Švojgr
THX Dusan Houska :-*
Review by Buddudharma
Nice, balanced 96 proof with plenty of depth and a slight focus on caramel notes. Excellent!
Review by kargoles
A delicate nose for a caroni. The alcohol is a little present on the nose, but soon gives way to the delicacy of banana fruit and lightly wooded vanilla. A touch of varnish and tar are also present. On the palate, an incredible complexity of blackcurrant followed by light woody notes before the dirtiness of caroni envelops the whole. The 64.6 is there on the warming palate, but in no way detracts from the taste. The finish, a little light on tar and menthol, is still present. A very pleasant moment, even if the price puts the brakes on the desire for more.
Review by Florent Apl
Another Caroni from the Employees collection. This is one is incredibly good and interesting! It opens up quite nicely on the nose with tar, glue but also lots of tropical fruits, mango and also caramel. The palate however doesn't follow, it's really an intense Caroni l, with tar, rubber, menthol, it's earthy and mineral.
Review by Pavel Ungr, RumRock
Vintage 1996. With 8.9 out of 10, it belongs to the better ones that have come into my glass.
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Community shelf
59 bottles logged by 45 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
10% opened, 3 emptied.
What does Velier Caroni 6th Employees Mahesh “Sonny Black” Bridgelal HTR 1996 cost?
Community paid 54–2,156 €.
Current best price: 1,095.00 € – within the typical community range.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 848 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ ›
59 purchased · 50 tasted · 17 wishlist · as of
Details about Velier Caroni 6th Employees Mahesh “Sonny Black” Bridgelal HTR 1996
A rum from Trinidad, bottled by Velier, at 64,6%.
Read on in the RumX Guide
All releases in this series
Velier Caroni 1st Employees John „D“ Eversley HTR 1996
Velier Caroni 1st Employees Dennis „X“ Gopaul HTR 1998
Velier Caroni 2nd Employees David „Sarge“ Charran 1996
Velier Caroni 2nd Employees Kevon „Slippery“ Moreno HTR 1998
Velier Caroni 3rd Employees Vijay „Vijay“ Ranmarine 1996
Velier Caroni 3rd Employees Ganesh „Buju“ Ramgobie 1998
Velier Caroni 3rd Employees Nita „Nitz“ Hogan 2000
Velier Caroni 4th Employees Balas „Brigade“ Bhaggan 1998
Velier Caroni 4th Employees Dayanand „Yunkoo“ Balloon 1998
Velier Caroni 4th Employees Basdeo „Dicky“ Ramsarran HTR 2000
Velier Caroni 5th Employees Dhanraj „Dan“ Maharaj HTR 1996
Velier Caroni 5th Employees Roopnarine „Roop“ Toolsie HTR 1996
Velier Caroni 5th Employees Deodat „Breeze“ Manmohan HTR 1996
Velier Caroni 6th Employees United HTR 1996
Velier Caroni 6th Employees Mahesh “Sonny Black” Bridgelal HTR 1996
Velier Caroni 6th Employees Ricky “Dirty Harry” Seeharack HTR 1996
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Velier Caroni 5th Employees Roopnarine „Roop“ Toolsie HTR 1996
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