Rum Nation Caroni HTR 1998
For experienced palates exploring Caroni, this 18‑year Rum Nation bottling delivers classic tar, rubber and mechanic notes wrapped in dried fruits, caramel and noble wood. At 55% it’s intense yet surprisingly easy‑sipping, widely praised as a great “entry” into the Caroni style by 71 RumX members.
- Classic Caroni dirt
- Great drinkability
- Good value (Caroni)
Details about Rum Nation Caroni HTR 1998
Live auctions
Current bids for this rum at Europe's leading auction houses.
How does Rum Nation Caroni HTR 1998 taste?
Aggregated from 72 community reviews.
Easy‑drinking dirty Caroni classic For experienced palates exploring Caroni, this 18‑year Rum Nation bottling delivers classic tar, rubber and mechanic notes wrapped in dried fruits, caramel and noble wood. At 55% it’s intense yet surprisingly easy‑sipping, widely praised as a great “entry” into the Caroni style by 71 RumX members.
Fans of dirty, industrial Caroni who want a slightly softer, easy‑sipping take with dried fruits, caramel and smoke rather than full-on cask‑strength aggression.
Beginners or those who dislike tar, rubber and smoky industrial notes, and anyone expecting the brutal intensity of Velier-style high‑proof Caroni.
How is Rum Nation Caroni HTR 1998 rated?
RumX's 0–10 scale is strict — 8.5 lands squarely in the "Very good" band. 98% 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 Mirko Frosini 🇮🇪
On the nose it does not give its best, in fact it seems less strong than expected. On the palate, however, it arrives with all its typical tar and barrel strength. A great Caroni!
Review by cigares
A fine Caroni from '98, first fruity, then with mechanical workshop aromas. The palate is suave, with milk chocolate, tropical fruit and noble oak. The finish is long on rubber, smoke and wood. Empty glass like dark chocolate and fruit. I like it a lot and it's better with oxidation.
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
very relaxed caroni! nice mix of dried fruits like date and raisin, fruit bread and dark chocolate, as well as the typical smoky and medicinal gum and iodine notes, plus some mocha, honey and leather.
Review by LukaŽiga
8,8:On the nose, we cannot miss Caroni marks, with intense industrial accents like tar, rubber, roasted wood with nuts, toffee, spicy with ginger and dried fruits like raisins, dates. On aeration, a molasses brings a black tea, minty with floral hints, an orange is there, so are dried apricots and from wood, cinnamon and cocoa. 8,7:On the palate, the attack is strong, dirty with tar, rubber, medicinal with menthol, fruity with dried fruits, citrus, spices like cinnamon, umami, vanilla, roasted, smoky wood with nuts, leather, cocoa, later chocolate and dark, herbaceous, vegetal molasses, especially with black tea.When rested well, an intense blue berry arises... 8,5:The finish is long, a bit imbalanced with strong dirty, industrial tones like petrol, tar, rubber, very dry, tannic, otherwise with similar notes as on the palate, well, new might be some confectionery, honey.. Edit:14.6.25, oxidation helps upgrading it for 0,2...😉
Review by Leo Krüper
Solid 1998 Caroni. Good PLV, unfortunately a bit bitter at the end despite the only 55%. 12 years tropical very nice at this price.
Review by Johannes
Really good! Very round, easy sipper.
Review by Dr.Django
Fresh from the opened bottle: The attack on the palate is very restrained at first, but then the dirty Caroni smoothly takes over. Tar, rubber, .... Dark dried fruits mingle with it. The alcohol is very well integrated, this Caroni is very tasty and dangerously drinkable...
Review by Rumpalumpa
My first Caroni. Naturally, expectations are high. However, I find it difficult to really recognize tar and rubber here. More so on the palate, where it's quite smoky. Still deliciously spicy and fruity
Review by Jakob
Excellent Caroni representative from 1998. The HTR spectrum is wonderfully present, with pleasant caramel sweetness, spices, wood, flanking sweetness of burnt sugar and some vanilla. Very good release.
Review by Jeremy Roger 🇫🇷
A nice Caroni ! It's not crazy but it's still a very good rum! Spicy and musky. A light rubbery taste that you can feel coming back in the finish, from the hot caramel.
Review by Winetrader
A magnificent Caroni that doesn't burn the mouth. Impressive uprightness. The nose remains magical and powerful. On the palate, I find it increasingly complex and incredibly drinkable! I love it!
Review by Pavel Spacek
... Caroni je destilerie z Trinidadu, produkujici v dobe sve nejvetsi slavy rum, ktery se pridaval v pomeru 1:10 do namornickeho blendu. Byl totiz moc vyrazny a divny nez aby byl prijemny na jazyku. V roce 2000 destilerka skoncila s produkci a byla uzavrena. Az v roce 2010 se objevili degustatori, kteri si rum oblibili prave pro jeho specialni chut. A zajem rostl. Caroni patri do kategorie rumu "you need to try before you die". Doporucuji, Caroni je opravdu unikatni rum.
Review by Righrum
A bit more on wood and spices than usual 1998's Caroni, but still dirty and tarry, with a nice camphor note. I am not a caroni lover so my rating is accordingly low.
Review by Tafia Guildive
A great beginner's Caroni and also an easy-sipping Caroni, not demanding but sufficiently mapping the profile.
Review by Simon Leroux
A good Caroni, unpretentious but flawless. Not very typical but that's okay.
Community purchases
191 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 29 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.
To Caroni →You may also enjoy
Rum enthusiasts who like this rum have also given the following rums high ratings:
Velier Caroni 100% Trinidad Rum 21 1996
Velier Caroni 100% Trinidad Rum 21 1996World-class benchmark Caroni 21
Velier Caroni 100% Trinidad Rum 15 HTR 1998
Velier Caroni 100% Trinidad Rum 15 HTR 1998Accessible but serious Caroni funk
Rum Nation Caroni Release 2014 HTR 1998
Rum Nation Caroni Release 2014 HTR 1998Approachable gateway into Caroni funk
Velier Caroni 100% Trinidad Rum 17 HTR 1998
Velier Caroni 100% Trinidad Rum 17 HTR 1998Benchmark dirty-but-balanced Caroni
La Maison & Velier Caroni Navy Rum 100th Anniversary „Replica“ HTR 2000
La Maison & Velier Caroni Navy Rum 100th Anniversary „Replica“ HTR 2000Benchmark “entry Caroni” with real dirt
Velier Caroni 100% Trinidad Rum 12 HTR 2000
Velier Caroni 100% Trinidad Rum 12 HTR 2000Textbook, approachable dirty Caroni
Don't miss out on any more deals on Rum Nation Caroni HTR 1998.
Set a target price in the app, and we'll let you know as soon as the rum becomes available at that price from one of our partner stores. This works for any rum on your wish list.
Oliver · FounderBy rum lovers, for rum lovers
I'm Oliver — together with Jakob, Robert and Lukas, we started RumX in 2018 as a small passion project in Stuttgart, back then under the name Rum Tasting Notes.
What began as a digital tasting diary is now the world's most comprehensive platform for rum fans. We combine the collective intelligence of our community with an integrated marketplace, so you can choose with confidence — without paperwork, detours, or expert jargon.
Oliver, Stuttgart
About RumX →
