Aroma visualization from community tastings
Rum Sponge Clarendoni 1997
The blend nobody expected to work — and almost everyone here is glad it does. Fruity, funky Clarendon Jamaica meets dirty Caroni tar and rubber, and the two heavyweights actually trade blows in the glass: banana and dried fruit up front, tar, menthol and roasted oak in the back. Long, dry, tannic finish at 60% with the alcohol tucked in neatly. Bold, complex, and genuinely rare.
The community says- Both stills shine
- Dirty-fruity balance
- Long dry finish
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The look inside the bottle
How does Rum Sponge Clarendoni 1997 taste?
Aggregated from 46 community reviews.
Rare Caroni-Clarendon blend, dirty meets fruity Near-universal admiration: tasters call it a bold, harmonious experiment where Caroni and Clarendon both come through clearly. A few flag the ambitious price, but nobody questions the rum itself.
Caroni and Jamaican funk collectors
newcomers put off by tar and rubber
How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.
Which glass for which rum? The community guide →
20 of 46 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
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How is Rum Sponge Clarendoni 1997 rated?
RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 9.0 sits in the “Excellent” band. 100% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 0% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
Community voices
What does the community say?
100% rate it 8 or higher. 20 selected write-ups from 46 community ratings. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by TheRhumhoe
Congratulations to Decadent Drinks for creating such a daring blend. The nose is very deep and complex, combining the two origins to perfection: on the one hand, we have the dirty hydrocarbon and smoky wood notes of Caroni, and the fruity, fermented, medicinal and spicy notes of Clarendon on the other. The blend is very harmonious and structured. The attack on the palate is intense, with both powerful dirty notes and more spicy, gourmand notes. Vanilla, cocoa, coffee, caramel and tropical fruit mingle well with tar, rubber, tannic oak and notes of leather and pepper. The alcohol is very well integrated. The two worlds are well balanced, never managing to overpower each other to the delight of the taste buds. The finish is long, tannic, woody, dry, toasty and roasted on walnut and hazelnut, spicy on licorice and chili, bitter on cocoa, leather and mocha. Tar, rubber and menthol are reminiscent of Caroni, but with the added complexity of Clarendon. An astonishing, tasty and masterful blend.
Review by Jakob
At the outset, I must state that I pay my respect for the courage to dare such an experiment. Especially if the whole thing is then also in an amazing way coherent, because with Caroni and Clarendon undoubtedly two aromatic heavyweights meet. Does this also work in tasting? In fact, surprisingly well at first, because yes, the blend harmonizes. But - after standing for a while, I unfortunately detect a roasted note, which some 1997 Caronis bring with them, which only appeals to me personally to a limited extent and unfortunately turns out to be too present. The rest, however, is absolutely convincing - the alcohol is wonderfully integrated, the slight reduction to 60% works well. The Caroni remains aromatically somewhat more dominant, but gets a brave counterpart in the Clarendon, which repeatedly shows that it is also not of bad parents.
Review by Lukas Jäger
Tried on the 12th GRF and even blind. The confusion was quite big at first, I would never have thought that someone would blend these two together. Even though the Clarendon part was a little more dominant for me, this blend works surprisingly well. Powerful, complex and somehow very harmonious, it simultaneously emphasizes the strengths of both rums without putting them too much in the foreground. Somehow, however, the question of "why?" still remains for me, which is why I can't award it a 9.0
Review by Thunderbird
What an experiment and taste experience. On the nose, the fruit aromas of the Clarendon alternate with the dirty aromas of the Caroni, the longer it lingers in the glass, the Caroni flavors prevail. On the palate, a true explosion of flavors that overwhelm you at first...but in a positive sense! It has an amazing complexity and the more it rolls over the tongue you keep discovering new facets! The finish is long and intense. This experiment has definitely succeeded 👍🏻👍🏻
Review by Aussierumfan
A very unique blend which I have been keen to try for a while, best of 2 worlds! On the nose there is clearly fruity, funky jamaica but there is also some dirty caroni coming through in the back ground. It's very flavoursome! Quite complex with well integrated alcahol. Fruity (which I guess is the clarendon) then spices, tar and nice wood. Really liked this one. With only 95 bottles produced its quite a rare bottling.
Review by mto75
was already very excited about the Clarendoni. Such a blend is so far (to my knowledge) unique. On the nose, the EMB dominates first, with a little air in the glass I also have the Caroni. A 97 Caroni works really well here because it also brings a lot of fruity. On the palate, the two also play well together, dirty notes, dried fruit, barrel/tannins, espresso. There should be more such bold blends!
Review by Mentalo
Interesting blend that works surprisingly well. The EMB dominates the nose, the Caroni clearly dominates the palate with beautiful dirty notes. But the Monymusk also comes through again and again, especially the longer the rum is given time. The alcohol is perfectly integrated. An experience for fans of both styles, only the price is unfortunately a downer
Review by Serge
The blend works very well. On the nose for me still a tad better than on the palate. On the other hand, it tastes no better to me than an old EMB or a 97 Caroni. So a nice experiment that produces an excellent rum, but doesn't improve on the two individual profiles. In all honesty, the 97 Sponge EMB actually tasted better to me.
Review by SaibotZtar
Very interesting blend . In the nose predominantly Jamaica Clarendon with fruit and honey.... after a few minutes comes some dough, wood and light menthol to it. On the palate very great mouthfeel at all nothing disturbing ... Fruit and the dirty flavors combine very well. Hardly any bitterness. I like very much.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
#4197 It's very rare that blends like this, in my mind, very bold choice of rums. This one however Hits the nail on the head. The two mice very well and you get the cross cross of flavours from the two destilleres. Bold blend that pulls all the right strings.
Review by Maxence
Clarendon and Caroni ... two amazing distilleries but how a blend of these would taste ? Angus answered the question with this bold bottling. We can clearly feel aromas from both distilleries in perfect harmony and balance. This rum is complete madness !! 😋🤩
Review by Joachim Guger
Super cool nose! The finish works perfectly. Warm, powerful, fuuuuuuunky.😃 Great mouthfeel, furry. Warms the whole throat when it goes down. A great rum movie. Won't be available in this form very often.😎 Thanks to Bonn for this truly great sample!!! 😀😀😀😀
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
Menthol mouthwash meets cola bottles and burnt rubber tires. Dry, woody and dirty at the same time. Exciting blend that is probably absolutely unique! Really wicked as here Caroni and Clarendon battling each other and overall yet form a harmony!
Review by RumTaTa
Tasted at the 12th GRF This experiment has definitely succeeded! Both stems of the individual old and heavy bRums are recognizable and harmonize very well together. Priced unfortunately also very ambitious.
Review by Buddudharma
Very nice blend, both components come through equally and complement each other. The fruity notes of a navy blend are naturally missing, but this is still a great rum with a high recognition value.
Review by zabo
A good combination, I couldn't have imagined. It's very good, but in my opinion a little overrated. What's more, because it's actually a blend, I think the price is too high.
Review by Leo Tomczak
Fair review Cool stuff. Hats off that someone dares to dazzle something like this. In the nose Clarendon in the mouth Caroni. But very nicely blended. Great experience
Review by DomM
Very nice bottling. Both rums are heavy weights, which work excellent in this blend. Well balanced, yet both very distinct and present.
Review by Mirco
Sensational blend! I like both Caroni and Clarendons very much, so I was very excited here. Works wonderfully, very complementary!
Review by Alex1981
Horny experiment! Both Clarendon and Caroni character come through, dirty & ripe bananas. Horny if you ignore the price
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Market value
Avg. community purchase price 551 €
What members paid for this bottle, self-reported. Not a market value — the purchases are over three years old at the median and unverified.
Details about Rum Sponge Clarendoni 1997
A rum from Multiple countries, bottled by Decadent Drinks LTD, at 60%.
Community purchases
11 bottles logged by 10 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
0% opened, 0 emptied and repurchased.
What did the community pay for Rum Sponge Clarendoni 1997?
Community paid 491–622 €.
What members actually paid for their bottles. A typical range, not the current shop price. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
11 purchased · 47 tasted · 32 wishlist · as of
Read on in the RumX Guide
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