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Cave Guildive Caroni Trinidad Rum HTR 1998
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Sipped neat, this is a Caroni that gives you the tar, rubber and tobacco you came for, but wrapped in real fruit and sweetness. Several tasters call it an oily, elegant take on the 1998 vintage — pineapple, chocolate, leather and a smoky finish, with the 61% tucked in so well it "drinks dangerously easy." Not the dirtiest Caroni, which some purists dock it for.
The community says- Great fruit balance
- Well-integrated alcohol
- Keep in mind: Not dirty enough
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Yes, if you're after bold, mature, oaky rums for sipping neat.
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The look inside the bottle
How does Cave Guildive Caroni Trinidad Rum HTR 1998 taste?
From community reviews · summarized with AI
Balanced, fruity Caroni with tamed dirt A well-balanced, easygoing 1998 Caroni that many rate a top pick of its vintage. The catch: it's rounder and less filthy than hardcore fans want, which keeps a few from full marks.
People easing into Caroni who still want the classic tar-and-rubber markers
Purists chasing the filthiest, most challenging Caroni
Style & occasion: Mature & oakySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family
34 of 58 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Which glass for which rum? The community guide ›
What does the community say?
58 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.
33 selected written reviews
The distribution above includes all 58 ratings, including those without text.
Review by cigares
Most helpful positive review
A very successful bottling from Swiss Guildive. A classic 1998 with Caroni machine shop markers but counterbalanced by fruit aromas and cooked pineapple in particular. An alcoholic nose at first, but the pineapple and the dirty side are there immediately afterwards. A little smokiness on the palate, still with fruit and tire. A very long, velvety, elegant finish with chocolate. Still available from Guildive at a fair price for a Caroni of this class... a little below the 1996 Caroni all the same. Much better than the Caroni Adelphi in direct comparison, and on a par with the Cadenhead 61.6%.
Review by Émile Shevek
Most helpful critical review
On the nose clove, cinnamon, sugar, flowers On the palate still clove/cinnamon which makes it not very round overpowering everything else, then rubber, a floral note timidly adding some fruit, but the spiciness dominates everything and unfortunately I don't like it, it seems like a perfume. In the empty glass rubber and perfume.
Review by Mirco
Great continental Caroni with good value for money. Good cask selection from Cave Guildive. Along with the known dirty notes, you find nicely balanced fruit. Also chocolate and some cask, tobacco, and leather.
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
Mega good Caroni, not too smoky/medicinal, nice fruit. Well balanced! Definitely one of the best '98s I know, super chill to drink. Complex but not too demanding. Alcohol integration perfect.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
19.07.2025 Retasting at the Nordlichter Treffen. ----------------- Time is flying and this was a tasting we had on the first day of the year. A lovely caroni with the typical nose and palate. Pretty well balanced and the price is OK. Looking forward to trying all the other Guildive samples I have received.
Review by DomM
Intense and nicely balanced on the nose with a lot of sweetness, fruits, spices and a hint of dirt. On the palate also very nicely balanced with sweet notes (milk chocolate), wood and some fruits. Dirty notes are relatively tamed with tar and rubber towards the end. More on the elegant side of the 98 vintage. Drinks dangerously easy :)
Review by Thunderbird
A very solid Caroni that, besides the slight dirty aromas, shows a lot of fruit and sweetness. Because of that, it is not too demanding and should also be a good choice for Caroni beginners; it has all the important markers and is still reasonably priced.
Review by Pavel Spacek
Sour weak Caroni ... Caroni is a distillery from Trinidad, producing at its peak 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 stopped 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.
Review by Tschusikowsky
After a long time, a retasting again. I still like it very much. For me one of the top bottlings of the vintage (that I had). Very strong body, the 61% come through well in taste but are perfectly integrated. Taste-wise 1A, everything that Caroni should offer, although no extraordinary extravagances. Extremely fun to drink.
Review by Jakob
Somewhat restrained 1998 Caroni from continental maturation, which is not at all bad for the profile. Nice balance, hints of the typical HTR markers, balanced and pleasant on the palate. Comparatively accessible, round, drinkable,
Review by LukaŽiga
8,7:On the nose, the first impression we get is a tobacco, industrial notes like tar, rubber, roasted wood notes as caramel, crème brûlée, leather, some spice and fruits like mango, peaches, dried apricots and citrus. On aeration, a molasses is stronger with pencil shavings, new wave of fruits is out with raisins, mandarine and berries and smoky, charred wood with chocolate and cream toffee. 8,8:On the palate, the attack is delicious, creamy, a bit spicy with roasted wood notes, especially milk chocolate, pastry, fruits like citrus and dried with raisins, apricots, later currants and berries.Industrial notes like rubber and tar, this time also dirty, intermingle in balance with the rest.The molasses brings tobacco, the roasted wood also nuts, cream toffee and some smokiness. 8,5:The finish is long, less round, dry, tannic, a bit mineral, with new notes like red pepper, cigar smoke and rest already known palate tones...
Review by Adrian Wahl
Very palatable Caroni. The purists don't think it's crass enough.
Review by mto75
On the nose caramel, rubber and fruity notes. On the palate tar, bicycle tube, burnt notes, but all still moderate, caught by a chocolatey note. Overall a very pleasant Caroni!
Review by Timo Groeger
Pub LiQ Bar Düsseldorf March 2025. To finish then the Caroni from Cave Guildive. Typical Caroni profile, we have tar, leather, rubber and tobacco on the nose and palate. Nice end of the day. Thanks Fabi :)
Review by Gunnar Böhme "Bauerngaumen" 🤓
Smooth-oily, elegant representative of its kind. Sweet on the nose with barely noticeable alcohol, this rum shows its nice smoky strength in the long finish (burnt rubber). Not too fruity, not too dirty, perfectly balanced. A Caroni without fault or blemish - and therefore also a tiny bit boring, which is why it is denied a Champions League rating.
Review by Mentalo
Nice nose, alcohol well integrated. Also here a pleasant sweetness and fruitiness. On the finish then the Caroni notes. All very harmoniously balanced, but it could be a bit dirtier. Still a great bottling.
Review by Dr.Django
A solid unspectacular 1998 Caroni, nothing more and nothing less. Well integrated alcohol, dirty Caroni typical aromas, the finish rather flat. No need to say a word about the price-performance ratio here.
Review by Leo Krüper
Nice Caroni that finds the right balance between tar, dirtiness and drinkability. Unfortunately a bit expensive now, but that's the prices...
Review by Frank
Nice classic Caroni, in a nice group, unfortunately no time for details... Nose: dirty, proper tobacco, nice caramel sweetness, slight mint, very fine vinegar note. Exactly what I expect from Ruben Caroni. 9.0 Palate: Tobacco and burnt rubber with tar, plus a nice moisture. Sounds like every Caroni, but that's also good. Well-rounded. 8.8
Review by Basti
I really like the Cave Guildive on the nose. The dirty notes in the form of tar, rubber, and workshop are clearly recognizable but do not overpower and leave room for spices, cocoa, chocolate, wood, and dried fruits. On the palate, also a good balance of dirty aromas and spices. Overall, I like it quite a bit.
Review by Beach-and-Rum 🏖️🌴
The Caroni is really fun. It has a bit of everything. A little tobacco, wood, smoke but also sweet and fruity components. Is a very good representative outside of Velier. Many thanks for the sample Jakob.
Review by Boletus
A very nice 1998 Caroni that on one hand delivers the desired dirtiness with rubber, tar, and phenolic undertones, but on the other hand has much more to offer. Especially the nose and taste show lively fruitiness between dark berries, mango, and peach, while the finish is ultimately characterized by dark spiced chocolate developing on the palate. Really fun and drinks very smoothly despite the 61%.
Review by Oliver
Intense yet still approachable Caroni. Nice sweetness.
Review by Serge
Nice 1998 Caroni with continental aging – but in this area Bellamy’s remains my favorite (it brings a cool fruity component).
Review by w00tAN
Northern Lights Meeting 07/25: Nose spices, raisin, gum. On the palate strong spicy fruity smoky. Especially clove. Finish medium-long maybe short, mainly roasted and tobacco. Already tasty but compared to other bottlings a bit behind.
Review by HenryL
Northern Lights Meeting July 19, 2025 At first I thought the nose was boring but after some time proper acetone and rubber come through accompanied by some cask and pineapple. Very intense in the mouth. Proper booming rubber. Delicious stuff.
Review by Piotr Ignasiak
Quite a lot of chocolate notes, some garage dirt but not too much, adding some water brings out quite a bit of sweetness. Good stuff, nicely balanced. Thanks Leo for organizing the split.
Review by Fuwi
Nice, very round and successful bottling, which I tried together with Thunderbird - thanks for the sample! On the nose, it needs to open up first and takes time, then it comes back reserved and fruity, becoming more classic and dirty over time - typical Caroni. At the first drop on the tongue, it lays with pleasantly oily textures, velvety in the mouth, only quite late coming with the dirty notes of rubber and tar, plus fruity influences that form a round, coherent overall package. Not a mega dirty representative of the 1998 bottlings, very tasty!
Review by Hendrik Müller
Typical continental Caroni, with all the taste characteristics it should have and for me a price-performance hammer in its category! 20 years, single cask cask strength for around 350,- that's really top!
Review by Schnubbii
Northern Lights Meeting July 2025. Good '98 Caroni.
Review by Banana Joe
Angostura tasting with mto75.
Review by R Wehner
Nose versatile, sweetness, wood, (ham) smoke, delicious; tongue similar, very tasty, hardly any alcohol sharpness, everything's there, pity it's so expensive ;)
Review by Balu
Awesome stuff
This selection contains no written reviews in this rating range.
Cave Guildive Caroni Trinidad Rum HTR 1998 at live auctions
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21 bottles logged by 18 collectors.
Both drunk and collected.
33% opened, 4 emptied.
What did the community pay for Cave Guildive Caroni Trinidad Rum HTR 1998?
Community paid 305–354 €.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 332 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ ›
21 purchased · 58 tasted · 9 wishlist · as of
Details about Cave Guildive Caroni Trinidad Rum HTR 1998
A rum from Trinidad, bottled by Cave Guildive, at 61%.
Read on in the RumX Guide
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