The Duchess Caroni Nautilus 1991
For experienced palates chasing old Trinidad profiles, this 31‑year Caroni from The Duchess leans lighter: yellow fruits, vanilla, chocolate, subtle tar and rubber. RumX members find it balanced, refined and easy-drinking for 54.1%.
- Balanced profile
- Subtle Caroni dirt
- Well-integrated ABV
Details about The Duchess Caroni Nautilus 1991
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How does The Duchess Caroni Nautilus 1991 taste?
Aggregated from 25 community reviews.
Refined, fruity “Caroni‑light” experience For experienced palates chasing old Trinidad profiles, this 31‑year Caroni from The Duchess leans lighter: yellow fruits, vanilla, chocolate, subtle tar and rubber. RumX members find it balanced, refined and easy-drinking for 54.1%.
Caroni fans who enjoy a gentler, fruity, well-aged profile with moderate funk and good balance rather than full-on heavy tar and rubber.
Those seeking loud, high-ester Caroni bombs, or price-sensitive buyers expecting big intensity and complexity for the money.
How is The Duchess Caroni Nautilus 1991 rated?
RumX's 0–10 scale is strict — 8.0 lands squarely in the "Very good" band. 96% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 0% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
Rum reviews
A selection of the most popular reviews from our community. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by Gregor
Angenehme Nase nach Schokobohne, Zitrusfrüchte (Orange, Grapefruit), leicht Gummi, etwas Rauch und Walnuss Gaumen: wie die Nase, Gummi/Pneu kommt etwas mehr durch, Alkohol sehr gut eingebunden, Abgang nach süsse Mango, Papaya
Review by Tom Buteneers
Very fruity with the recognizable Caroni notes present but not overpowering. Very well balanced and easy to drink, the 54,1% hits the perfect spot.. Glad to have a couple cl left after the split on the forum. Happy to give my father a taste of it today.
Review by Rodolphe
Thanks to Tom for this beautiful split. Well, we're in Caroni territory on the nose, no doubt about it. The oily, rubbery notes are there. But the nose is a little closed, next to it is essentially wood. Then, with time, rather pleasant yellow fruit aromas develop, even if the nose remains relatively closed. On the palate, spices, yellow fruit and more "garage" notes. In the end, it's pretty good, the oil/rubber flavors not being my favorite. But on such an old rum and at such a price, one might expect a stronger, more expressive profile.
Review by Arnaud Faverjon
A fairly light profile, the nose took a good 30 minutes to finally express itself. Rather pleasant on the whole, without being overpowering, we're far from a heavy rum, but age has done it good.
Review by cigares
A rather interesting nose with lots of fruit (pear and apricot among others), bitter herbs, minerality and rubber. On the palate, there's a very bumpy start, followed by a dip and the reappearance of a few aromas. Red apple and apricot, bitter herbs, rubber. The finish is short, but some aromas persist, including butterscotch. The empty glass is more balanced, with a woody/smoky edge. Far from uninteresting, but not the Caroni you'd dream of owning. The imbalance on the palate is what disappointed me here. Thanks Tom for the split.
Review by Johannes
Relatively neutral with few caroni notes. Tastes like neutral alcohol that has been stored for a long time. I cannot associate this rum with Caroni.
Review by Jarek
Franconian Rum Tasting Gang & Jakob, 2023-07-27 Teil 3: Ja, es ist eindeutig ein Caroni, etwas dreckig, etwas Teer, etwas Gummi. Aber sehr eindimensional, langweilig und unspektakulär. Frucht etwas unterrepräsentiert. Um die 150,- Euro für die Flasche würde ich noch verstehen. Aber für den Release-Preis eine ziemliche Enttäuschung.
Review by Thunderbird
Dieser Caroni ist mehr auf der würzig dunkleren Seite. Nehme ich an der Nase noch Fruchtnoten von gelben Früchten und Pfirsich wahr, verlieren sich diese am Gaumen vollends.. dort sind nur Gewürze, röstige und chemische Aromen. Diese setzen sich auch im Abgang fort. Das ist kein Caroni, der mir zusagt..da fehlt mir die Fruchtigkeit und Ausgewogenheit.
Review by Leo Tomczak
Etwas sprittiger, scharfer 1991er. Nur sehr leichte Caroni-Anklänge. Da hat man bei manchen 91er TDL's mehr Caroni-Feeling. Etwas bitter, etwas Teer. Insgesamt überhaupt kein guter Caroni. Der Preis von 1000€ ist eine Zumutung für die Qualität.
Review by Jakob
An der Nase recht verhalten, neben gedämpften Obstlernoten nehme ich noch Anklänge von Holz und Gewürzen und ein paar Caroni-typische medizinisch-gummige Aromen wahr. Am Gaumen passiert etwas mehr, die Früchte werden ausdrucksstärker, ebenso das Holz. Nach und nach kommt etwas Teer, Früchte und Mineralik dazu, auch Gewürze und süsse Aromen finden sich. Wirkt wie ein HTR-Light, den Aromen fehlt die Durchschlagskraft - insgesamt leider deutlich zu farblos.
Review by DomM
Nose is definitely on the lighter side of things. While there isn’t any Caroni dirt, it is not quite a flat column nose either. Solvent, vanilla, some wax and (rather fresh) yellow fruits and apple. On the palate: vanilla, caramel and chocolate. Some wood and yellow fruits in the background. By far not terrible. However, not exiting either. Definitely nothing akin to the sought after HTRs. For background info what this stuff actually is, I highly recommend Steffen‘s Caroni bible :) Side note: I just tasted some 1991 TDLs in parallel. They are handsdown preferable over this - at least if you plan on drinking rather than collecting.
Review by Oliver
Recht zurückhaltender, unscheinbarer Caroni. Der Alkohol könnte besser integriert sein.
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
I wouldn't necessarily have been blind with caroni, especially from the nosing, but rather with similarly old, rather Spanish 92 TDLs... The taste is already recognizable as caroni, albeit rather restrained and in the background. Could still be a TDL with more power throughout. For 1000€ the alcohol is also too beastly and poorly integrated for me and overall the PLV here is rather bad than right for me... You can do it, but you can also leave it.
Expert reviews
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Expert review by Single Cask Rum
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Community purchases
18 bottles logged by 52,000+ RumX members. The ratio of closed / opened / emptied, indicates whether this rum is meant to be drunk or is a collector's item.
Also on the wishlist of 2 members.
About the Caroni distillery
The Caroni distillery is located in Trinidad. Rums from Caroni have been reviewed 10,072 times with an average of 8.8/10.
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