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Velier Caroni 4th Employees Dayanand „Yunkoo“ Balloon 1998
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Made for people already deep into Caroni's dirty side — this leans hard into tar, burnt rubber and machine oil, exactly what the fans here order it for. Underneath sits oak, menthol, mango and a touch of caramel, with a long, drying, tannic finish. At 68.3% it's fierce; give it air and time and it settles into something complex. One taster nails it: "the Octomore of the rum world."
The community says- Classic tar & rubber
- Long drying finish
- Keep in mind: Hot at 68%
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Auction results: 565–921 € (16 sales in 24 months, incl. buyer's premium, latest 08/2026). How the range is built ›
The look inside the bottle
How does Velier Caroni 4th Employees Dayanand „Yunkoo“ Balloon 1998 taste?
From community reviews · summarized with AI
Heavy, dirty Caroni — tar, rubber, menthol Near-unanimous love here — a heavy, dirty Caroni done right, tar and rubber up front, fruit behind. The alcohol isn't perfectly integrated, so give it air.
Aroma profileCaroni fans who chase heavy, dirty profiles
newcomers put off by tar and high heat
Style & occasion: Mature & oaky
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family
28 of 67 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Which glass for which rum? The community guide ›
Buying advice
Is it right for you?
Yes, if you're after bold, mature, oaky rums.
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What does the community say?
67 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.
30 selected written reviews
The distribution above includes all 67 ratings, including those without text.
Review by Jakob
Most helpful positive review
Epic Velier Caroni Tasting 2023: Intense HTR Caroni, wood, spices, tobacco and menthol flank the typical tar, rubber and gasoline aroma profile of the Heavy Trinidad Rums. Very good representative of the 1998 Caroni vintage.
Review by kudzey
Most helpful mixed review
After a blind season I was surprised to find out this was it. It was good but not exceptional. Solid, complex but unimpressive. It might also lack some intensity. The finish was a bit disappointing.
Review by Gunnar Böhme "Bauerngaumen" 🤓
The rum would have knocked out the other two Caroni's in the flight blindfolded. Undisputed nose-and-palate heavyweight champion. That's what a Caroni has to be like!
Review by Oliver
Great rubber nose. A little too sharp on the palate. Nevertheless, a very nice Employee Caroni!
Review by TheRhumhoe
A Caroni representing the heavy style of the distillery. The nose is very intense at first with petrol, smoky and spicy notes, then gains subtlety after airing with some fruity notes, caramel, and hazelnut. The attack on the palate is powerful, heavy, and very hot with notes of tar and rubber; the smoky and spicy side is still present with a hint of leather and bitterness. You can still detect red fruits and citrus lurking, making it easier to drink. The finish is long, dark, smoky, and woody; the tannins dry the palate. A hint of mango is also felt. A rustic, complex Caroni that reveals itself much more after airing.
Review by Johannes
Yesterday I had the unique opportunity to compare this rum with other 98s, including Paradise #2. Compared to the Paradise, this one is quite different, very brute with a high alcohol content that is not perfectly integrated, becomes milder with time, nice menthol notes!
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Had a very nice Caroni employee tasting just across the border at a friend's place. He has the entire collection in several copies, so I could have a go at hose i haven't tried yet. This one is very nice and a heavy one of its kind. The nose is intense and complex, but after resting it starts to settle and a lot of flavours are eminating. The typical Caroni flavours are there with rubber and tar on top of oak and fruit. Trailing behind i find a smoky note and some vanilla. The palate really kicks it up a notch. Intense and heavy with rubber, tar and oak in the front followed by fruit and leather and a bit of vanilla. The finish is long and warming with smoky oak, rubber and some mango.
Review by zabo
There were a few employes in the test today. Yunkoo, Buju, Nitz and Brigade. To sum up, they are all very tasty caronis. For me, only Brigade is the one that has lost out a little, the others are all very close together. My ranking today would be: 1st Yunkoo 2. Nitz 3. Buju 4. brigade
Review by Martin Augustin
Typical dirty and pronounced Caroni nose, just as it should be. Tar, rubber complemented by mango and caramel. This continues through the outstanding taste, complemented by some citrus fruits and pepper. Awesome combination. Nice long finish. A Caroni as it should be.
Review by Leo Krüper
Like the other two in the 4th Employee series, extremely powerful. These rums take no prisoners and they really take you fully. Already the color and the smell are stunning, in the taste then even a slight almond sweetness or nut wood note. But of course the dirty tar note predominates. My girlfriend tasted car tires, but not in a negative sense. Really outstanding bottlings.
Review by Aussierumfan
This is a very powerful Caroni and responds well to a lot aeration time in the glass. Almost too powerful for me if I am honest😂 undoubtedly complex and very flavoursome. Smoky, rubber tyres and tar, some fruits in the background and is quite spicy, I notice vanilla. A lot of barrel influence. A medium length finish. Glad to have tried this rum!
Review by Pavel Spacek
... Caroni is a distillery from Trinidad, producing at its peak a rum that was added in a ratio of 1:10 to naval blends. It was too strong and strange to be pleasant on the tongue. The distillery ended production and was closed in 2000. 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 truly a unique rum.
Review by LukaŽiga
9,1:On the nose, tar, rubber, bicycle tube, some solvents, menthol, strong, smoky, roasted wood notes with caramel, roasted nuts, bacon, perhaps cream toffee, dried apricots, dates, cherry and mango, dark molasses with licorice, bump into our nosetrils. On aeration, the rum becomes dirty, various roasted notes join like leather, dark chocolate, fudge, confectionery, spicy vanilla, meaty hints, the molasses is candied, slightly flowery. 9:On the palate, the attack is intense, but delicious with industrial notes like rubber and tar, some menthol, slightly bitter, fruits like mango, citrus, yellow and red fruits, roasted wood notes, smoky, peppery, meaty, as the candied molasses brings dark licorice, herbaceous and flowery touch...When the rum is well rested, some tannins arise. 9,1:The finish is long, dry and tannic, round and balanced, with dirty industrial notes pairing smoky, spicy burnt/charred wood, tropical, citrus fruits and slightly minty molasses, dark with licorice.
Review by Joachim Guger
Hammer nose 🔨🔨! Very fresh (menthol, camphor), wonderful polish/lacquer notes, nice wood maturation, a hint of mango and banana. Rubber and gasoline. Very full and warm on the palate. Wood, caramel, strong spice (anise, allspice, burnt licorice). Long, very woody finish. Great Caroni, strong but rather tamed. Gasoline can smell this good!!!⛽️⛽️⛽️
Review by Skyfly
4th Employees Tasting: a very pleasant Caroni that impresses with a mix of dirty aromas, menthol, smoke, mango, and a syrupy sweetness. Alongside the classic leather and licorice aromas. Nice sample but not a highlight
Review by Mopar Rules
Second tasting…well, might have had a bad day last time. I revise my rating. Of course the Veliers are a bit overrated and the hype fuels expectations, but this is. a intense and heavy stuff! 8.9 overrated? Compared to the Caroni I had the opportunity to taste so far it’s not convincing and far from the balanced complexity of The Last or the Paradise series. Mmmh, again, a bad day?
Review by Romain de L
Takes a bit of time to open. Nose is leathery / a bit « renfermé » / but ample - and complex. Frank attack, strong, complex, liquorice at the finish, fruits, ample on the tongue Very long finish - very agreeable
Review by Thunderbird
In the nose is solvent and somehow smell something dirty, maybe tar or something similar. Light spices and fruit in the background! Overall, however, very intense! On the palate continues that intense: briefly some sweetness, then again the dirty, wood, pepper, somehow leather and all very intense, but super pleasant! Also in the finish this continues.... with time it also becomes slightly astringent.... Overall a grenade... am heavily excited
Review by Piotr Ignasiak
This one reminds me alot of good TDLs, especially on the nose. It's flowery, fruity with nutty coffee behind. the dirt notes are more pronounced on palate. For the high abv this is quite smooth. Thanks Dr Django for sharing a sample.
Review by Manuel
Very good representative of the Employee range. Typical Caroni notes on the finish. Very powerful due to the high alcohol content.
Review by FischeJ
Three-way comparison of 1998 Caroni. I like it clearly better in the mouth right now.
Review by ...and a bottle of Rum.
Wow. Dirt thrower. Tar, burnt rubber, workshop and machine oil. Is this December 1998? The Kill Devil is similarly dirty. But the Velier is rounder, not quite as biting (from memory). Is the 5x price justified? Hard to say. Probably not. The profile is extreme. But I like that. The Octomore of the rum world. Disturbed but awesome.
Review by Frank
Wow, intense and complex nose. The almost 70% doesn't bother at all. First I get tobacco and vanilla, a distinct fruit acidity that is not unpleasant. Sulphured, dried apricot with currant and dark cherry. Sweetness of crystal sugar. At the back there's also menthol and lemon balm. Also wow again. Complex, intense, very tasty. Woody and immediately menthol and licorice, licorice root. At the back it gets a bit malty, roasted, caramelized. Slightly soft rubber. It brings mirabelle fruitiness and, interestingly, persipan. Very brilliant Caroni.
Review by Mentalo
1998 Caroni. Dayanand Balloon. Wood (especially in the finish), menthol and very intense dirty notes. Everything a good Caroni must have. Only the alcohol is not particularly well integrated. Needs time in the glass.
Review by Guji Guji
This the best 98 vintage I have tasted so far. The ganesh is delicious as well, but the Yunkoo is more emotional !
Review by Filip Šikula
Svincany caroni tasting 19.12.2024
Review by BnBrt
Light nose (maybe needs to open up?) of leather, a bit closed. More generous after 5/10 minutes of opening. Quite creamy attack, candied fruit (pineapple). Nice balance with lots of complexity. Beautiful finish with a mentholated side. Very good.
Review by Pavel Ungr, RumRock
Vintage 1998. I rate it 9.0 out of 10, it belongs to the absolute top among more than 1,300 rums I've ever scored.
Review by ChrisPro
Classic heavy Caroni. But a bit subdued in a good way. Didn't drink like 68% at all.
Review by Thomas P.
Very good in an Old Fashioned!!
This selection contains no written reviews in this rating range.
Expert reviews
3 critics scored it, averaging 8.9/10. Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum.
Expert review by Single Cask Rum
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Expert review by Zucker und Zeste
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Expert review by Barrel Aged Thoughts
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Expert review by Who Rhum The World
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Expert review by In Spiritus Veritas
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Velier Caroni 4th Employees Dayanand „Yunkoo“ Balloon 1998 at live auctions
A bid is not a final price: the house sets the buyer's premium, shipping and any customs duty.
All live auctions ›Community shelf
115 bottles logged by 86 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
4% opened, 2 emptied.
What does Velier Caroni 4th Employees Dayanand „Yunkoo“ Balloon 1998 cost?
Community paid 231–1,394 €.
Current best price: 999.90 € – within the typical community range.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 721 €. Price history with 16 auction results in RX+ ›
115 purchased · 68 tasted · 27 wishlist · as of
Details about Velier Caroni 4th Employees Dayanand „Yunkoo“ Balloon 1998
A rum from Trinidad, bottled by Velier, at 68,3%.
Read on in the RumX Guide
All releases in this series
Velier Caroni 1st Employees John „D“ Eversley HTR 1996
Velier Caroni 1st Employees Dennis „X“ Gopaul HTR 1998
Velier Caroni 2nd Employees David „Sarge“ Charran 1996
Velier Caroni 2nd Employees Kevon „Slippery“ Moreno HTR 1998
Velier Caroni 3rd Employees Vijay „Vijay“ Ranmarine 1996
Velier Caroni 3rd Employees Ganesh „Buju“ Ramgobie 1998
Velier Caroni 3rd Employees Nita „Nitz“ Hogan 2000
Velier Caroni 4th Employees Balas „Brigade“ Bhaggan 1998
Velier Caroni 4th Employees Dayanand „Yunkoo“ Balloon 1998
Velier Caroni 4th Employees Basdeo „Dicky“ Ramsarran HTR 2000
Velier Caroni 5th Employees Dhanraj „Dan“ Maharaj HTR 1996
Velier Caroni 5th Employees Roopnarine „Roop“ Toolsie HTR 1996
Velier Caroni 5th Employees Deodat „Breeze“ Manmohan HTR 1996
Velier Caroni 6th Employees United HTR 1996
Velier Caroni 6th Employees Mahesh “Sonny Black” Bridgelal HTR 1996
Velier Caroni 6th Employees Ricky “Dirty Harry” Seeharack HTR 1996
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