Aroma visualization from community tastings
TBRC Caroni HTR 1997
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Near-universal love here, with a couple of tasters ranking it among the better 1997 Caronis they've had. It's the classic dirty HTR profile — tar, rubber, burnt plastic and machine oil — but underneath sits warm nut-chocolate, vanilla, ripe fruit and toasted biscuit. The 61.5% is well integrated, warm rather than harsh. One reviewer flagged a slight sourness on the finish.
The community says- Classic Caroni funk
- Well-integrated ABV
- Complex and balanced
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10 more payment methodsLive auctions
Offers & prices
No shop currently delivers to Germany.
Auction results: 132–276 € (3 sales in 24 months, incl. buyer's premium, latest 09/2026). How the range is built ›
Buying advice
These ship to you
Yes, if you're after bold, mature, oaky rums for sipping neat.
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The look inside the bottle
How does TBRC Caroni HTR 1997 taste?
From community reviews · summarized with AI
Balanced tar-and-rubber Caroni, warm and complex Widely loved as a balanced, "diablement charmant" 1997 Caroni — full tar and rubber with fruit, nuts and chocolate. A few felt the finish turns slightly sour.
Caroni fans who love tar, rubber and machine-oil funk at cask strength
Newcomers, or anyone put off by rubber, tar and high ABV
Style & occasion: Mature & oakySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family
9 of 24 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Which glass for which rum? The community guide ›
What does the community say?
24 community reviews
Rating scale & review checks
On RumX, 7 means “Good” and 8 means “Very good”.
See the full rating guideHow ratings are made and how we check them ›The website shows a selection of written reviews. The distribution also includes ratings without text. All published reviews are available in the RumX app.
10 selected written reviews
The distribution above includes all 24 ratings, including those without text.
Review by cigares
Fruit takes center stage, with sour apple, pineapple and acerola supported by tar, rubber and machine oil. There's harmony and coherence on the palate. The aromas of the nose are present, and I sense a touch more chocolate. The finish is slightly acidic, which is a shame. It's long and all the aromas finish beautifully, with a wax-like perfume at the very end and in the empty glass, where smokiness and woodiness also appear, rather discreetly on the palate.
Review by Thunderbird
A very good 97 Caroni with a balanced character. It combines all the aromas of a Caroni in a harmonious composition and is one of the better 97 bottlings. There are certainly better Caronis, but this one really has nothing to hide.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
#4128 Found out that this is not a cheap bottle så the free sample is really appreciated. Typical Caroni with rubber and tar and some light fruit notes. Balanced yet nice and warm on the palate. There is a medicinal note in the profile i can't put my finger on but it melts in pretty well with the rest. ABV os really well integrated. Draws nice slow moving curtains in the glass. The empty glass has some caramel and light tobacco.
Review by Serge
Wow, really surprisingly tasty and, from memory, certainly one of the best 1997s I know. On the nose and palate. There is enough dirt on both sides but also enough other aromas. Nice nut-chocolate with fruit on the nose. A little menthol is added on the palate.
Review by Johannes
Really good, complex, nicely rounded, not very dirty.
Review by zabo
Village'23 fair tasting. Edit: I dug deep into my memories again. I found this rum very outstanding at the time. Now that I've enjoyed other tropical and continental Caronis, I've come to the conclusion that this is a very fine drop at a reasonable price. However, I have to adjust it downwards a little. Otherwise this would not be fair to my other Caroni ratings and would distort the picture a little.
Review by Rhum Mirror 🇧🇪
🥃 That Boutique-y Rum Company – Caroni HTR 1997 – 61.5% Heading to Trinidad and Tobago, and the legendary Caroni distillery (RIP 💀). Closed in 2003: no more sugar → no more molasses → no more rum. End of story... except for those who sensed the wind changing and snapped up the stocks. Here: • Molasses rum • Distilled in 1997 • Aged 24 years • Bottled at cask strength at 61.5% 👉 The nose? Caroni. Period. Dirty, grimy, tar, tires, glue, wood... and a lingering cherry for a touch of fruitiness. You keep coming back to it. 👉 The palate? Caroni. Again. Still just as dirty... but devilishly charming. Even fruitier than the nose, with undertones of rubber and burnt caramel. No real flaws—except that it's no longer available at a decent price. A great bottling, just the way I like them ❤️
Review by CaRaph
I let it in the glass, regularly shaking and smelling, for about 45 minutes before starting to drink. Such a lot of smells in the nose. Gasoline station and mechanic smells with diesel, tar, smoke and also rubber that turned to candle wax. Along, a lot of fruits, vanilla, chocolate, biscuits, cocoa and some honey. After some time, many of the smells mixing themselves with alcohol gave the nose a pastry and gourmand side by reminding me of a tiramisu. A very complex and delicious nose. The mouth starts pretty powerful then turns sweeter thanks to a very good integrated alcohol. More wood than in the nose. Many of the flavours found in the nose are there, but cherries, tobacco, leather, iodine and earth are also showing themselves flooding the whole mouth and palate with a perfectly balanced rum. The finish is long, the tarry and rubber/candle wax notes especially, which mix themselves very good with wood, iodine, caramel and cocoa. In the empty glass remain particularly noticeable the tar and the rubber, along with chocolate an iodine. And, though it is very subjective according to everybody having a different nose, but I also feel some notes of coffee and spice. This rum is a real gem, complex, balanced with very good integrated caroni notes and alcohol. The way smells and flavours evolve makes it incredibly delicious.
Review by Jakob
Crosstasting 1997 Caronis from continental storage: Classic HTR aroma spectrum, quite present alcohol, correspondingly somewhat fiery, but with many classic notes of the classic Caroni world. Lingering finish in which the entire spectrum remains lively once again.
Review by Michael Schou
14-02-2025 The best Caroni in 2025 so far. I really like Caroni with 20+ years. Typical Caroni rubber and tar, mixed with old oak flavor that I really like. ABV well integrated. Retaste please 😉
This selection contains no written reviews in this rating range.
Expert reviews
Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum.
Expert review by The Secret Rum Bar
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TBRC Caroni HTR 1997 at live auctions
A bid is not a final price: the house sets the buyer's premium, shipping and any customs duty.
All live auctions ›Community shelf
31 bottles logged by 17 collectors.
Both drunk and collected.
19% opened, 3 emptied.
What did the community pay for TBRC Caroni HTR 1997?
Community paid 212–276 €.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 216 €. Price history with 3 auction results in RX+ ›
31 purchased · 25 tasted · 31 wishlist · as of
Details about TBRC Caroni HTR 1997
A Column Still Rum from Trinidad, bottled by That Boutique-Y Rum Company, at 61,5%.
Read on in the RumX Guide
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