Velier Caroni 2nd Employees Kevon „Slippery“ Moreno HTR 1998

I was a bit disappointed when I first tried it... I made a mistake. I've to admit it. This rum needs time, a lot of time to breath and open up and also to make you travel through different place Caroni is known for, dirty oil, gaz, but also fruity, with sweet tropical stewed fruits, generous cake... Take this Caroni as a trip in the distillery, take your time don't rush, smell it and drink slow, you will be highly rewarded. Now my bottle is half empty, opened for months and the rum became really stellar !!!

A sample tasted after the Caroni Velier 1983 52%. Totally different. Thanks Thomas for the sample. Here's a "real" Caroni as you'd expect, even stronger than expected. A powerful nose of incense, machine shop, fruit and cold ash. Intense and concentrated on the palate, with fruit above all and a finish dominated by noble bitterness. A Caroni for lovers of extreme rums. Tasted again with oxidation, it's even better, more mysterious. The empty glass tells a whole story about an old church with a tropical fruit market in front. Fascinating!

Farbe: Kastanie Geruch: Riecht fruchtig nach Pflaume in Madeira, Rosinen und Schokolade. Dabei alkoholisch und cremig. Geschmack: Süß im Mund, dabei fruchtig und alkoholisch scharf mit Aromen von Kümmel und Anis. Beim Schlucken extrem kräftig, intensiv und vollmundig. Super lecker, komplex, würzig, Rum-Trauben-Nuss Schokolade, Fudge und Toffee. Abgang: Lang Wärmt von tief innen. Dabei leicht bitter, trocken, holzig mit Ingwer. 90 Punkte

Nose of incense and ash lively attack mentholated tertiary notes not very clear, dry medium astringency light woody medium mineral tar suffers from matches and quite warm finish finally quite different from classic Caroni, more tense

Gemeinsam mit Leo Tomczak auf dem 11. GRF verkostet. Klare Angelegenheiten, ein sehr guter Rum mit allem, was einen Caroni ausmacht, fand ihn super ausgewogen. Der parallel verkostete Rum Nation Caroni 1998 23y (RX11047) hatte keine Chance.

Gewohnte Employee-Power. Ein schönes tropisches Brett.

This was the lowest scoring one of the evening, though still a very good rum! All the Caroni notes are there with added roasted notes, light fruit and vanilla. In the back i find coffee and leather.

Biestiger, verglichen mit dem Paradise #2

Classic 1998 profile. Nose is quite dirty and animal with a lot of tar but gets more balanced with time. Palate is more fruity, round and floral but keeps this animal DNA from the nose. A strong release. I just miss the extra thing to give more than 90 points as for Ramgobie for instance.

Very nice. Caroni expressivity in the nose. Tar, dried fruits, a bit of smoke. Strong attack, but still engaging. Very long finale. In the end, great, but a tad below other employees that I have tried at this point 😉

Wow very boozy this one! A powerful nose with fruits, oak, some smoke and machine oils. On the palate it's quite alcoholic, very bitey! Oak, fruits, oil, rubber, tar, roasted. A long finish It's still a great Caroni but very powerful, maybe too extreme for me to give top marks

Třetí zaměstnanec večera. Vůně opět spíše technická byť o něco později se objeví něco sladkého, co neumím identifikovat. ( edit. kadidlo). V chuti sušené ovoce, dřevou, náznaky vanilky a dlouhý závěr. Opět spíše sladký profil.

Epic Velier Caroni Tasting 2023: For me, this falls somewhat short of the first employees, as Sarge & Co. are much more convincing. But mind you, we are talking about criticism at the highest level. The rating remains the same - undoubtedly a very good rum, but even that is clearly no longer enough for the top league among the Velier Caronis. The 1998 Vintage is in the extended top circle.

Very good representative of the 1998 vintage. But a bit too alcoholic for a top rating.