Bristol Caroni HTR 1997
For seasoned enthusiasts: a 19-year, 61.5% Caroni that hits hard with tar, rubber, old wood and tobacco, backed by subtle red fruits and sweetness. RumX members praise its dirty, dry, complex profile and long, intense finish.
- Classic Caroni dirt
- High complexity
- Long dry finish
Details about Bristol Caroni HTR 1997
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How does Bristol Caroni HTR 1997 taste?
Aggregated from 62 community reviews.
Intense, dirty-dry Caroni classic For seasoned enthusiasts: a 19-year, 61.5% Caroni that hits hard with tar, rubber, old wood and tobacco, backed by subtle red fruits and sweetness. RumX members praise its dirty, dry, complex profile and long, intense finish.
Seasoned Caroni fans and lovers of dry, dirty, high-proof Trinidad rums who enjoy tar, rubber, tobacco and wood-driven complexity over sweetness.
Beginners, those sensitive to high ABV, or drinkers who prefer soft, sweet, rounded rums without strong wood, bitterness or industrial notes.
How is Bristol Caroni HTR 1997 rated?
RumX's 0–10 scale is strict — 8.5 lands squarely in the "Very good" band. 96% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 1% 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 Frank
RumX Advent Calendar, 18.12., blind.First impression: clearly Caroni! Dirty fruity, not too complicated, >60%. Good.Nose: as said, pleasantly dirty fruity, strong and complex. Sweet tar and burnt rubber. Red currant and a very slight hint of mint. Back polish and cold smoke.Palate: powerful and complex on the palate as well. Dry and woody and salty-bitter at the start. Then gum rub and polish, maybe some dried cherry and grapefruit. Very drinkable and beautiful Caroni representative.
Review by Mirco
Markante rauchige Noten mit Teer, Gummi und altem Holz prägen das Profil. Der Rum zeigt eine schöne Tiefe und Komplexität, die typisch für Caroni ist. Trotz seiner Power wirkt er gut ausbalanciert und bleibt im Glas spannend.
Review by SaibotZtar
RumX Adventskalender 2021 Tag 18
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
This is an OK Caroni, but it's like something is missing and I can't put my finger in it. The price on release I'd say was pretty good. The nose is typical Caroni with tar and rubber followed by smoky wood, fruit, leather and light vanilla. The palate is intanese and spicy and also starts with tar and rubber trailed by smoky wood and dried fruit and light vanilla. The finish is long with smoky wood, tar, rubber and spices.
Review by MarcT
Tasted blind, did not recognize Caroni typical elements at all.
Review by DomM
Quite nice combination of classic Caroni notes and some sweet and fruity flavors.
Review by Thunderbird
Typical Caronino notes... not as intense as many others, but overall round and harmonious! With a longer finish more points would have been possible... very tasty
Review by Tschusikowsky
RumX Advent Calendar 18.12.21: horny Caroni, I really like. Vintage, bottler-no idea, he just tastes😋
Review by Galli33
#18 RumXCalendar Blind tasting: Nose: dirty, rubber, tar, woody, glue, leather M: dirty, woody, bitter, asteingend, oak, tar, spicy, burnt sugar F: wood, tannins, oak, vanilla Prediction: It‘s definitely a caroni, approx. 60% and approx. 20 years …. It’s a good dirty caroni, but lacks in the finish…very disapponiting Nose: woody, tar, rubber, bycycle tube, dirty, glue, leather Mouth: bitter, astringend, tar, smoky, heavy, woody(oak), burnt sugar, peat, raisins, roasted and tobacco Finish: short, astringend, oak, vanilla, rubber, tannins, tobacco, earthy, peat,
Review by alex
On a bien les marqueurs Caroni. D’abord au nez, sensationnel, et après petite aération, en bouche délicieux, un régal, j’adore. Superbe longueur pour le final 😍😍😍
Review by Christoph
Ganz „typische“ Trinidad Nase die Caroni schnell erahnen lässt. Der Geschmack ist dann neben dem wieder typischen Dreck unerwartet fruchtig süß ohne dabei zu aufdringlich zu werden. Der Abgang ist als würde man auf sandigem Schluff kauen der mit Tabak vermengt wurde. Sehr trocken und nachhaltig. Sehr schön das dieser mit so viel ABV abgefüllt wurde und der Alkohol so gut integriert ist. Nach längerem stehen wird der Teer extrem (positiv).
Review by Christian Rudt
What the fxxx? When you always hear about dirty caronis, you probably mean rums like this one. You are immediately greeted by a lot of tar and rubber in the nose, it smells oily, a bit like a gas station. On the palate, let the tar machine😅 breathe first. A challenge with a lot of wood, a little fruit comes through, some tobacco with a slight smokiness in the finish that I really like here. Nose 86: by now I have energy drink in delicious in the nose Palate: 85 you have to like this dirty profile. Finish: 87 nice and intense
Review by Stylo
Nose: nice opening with fresh menthol notes, along with dirtier, dustier flavors (pencil shavings, medicine, Fusel oil, just a hint of diesel to it). You can also clearly sense some wood from the barrel. Then it’s the turn of tar and glue. With some agitation, you can get some fruity notes of cherries and prunes Palate: ah, classical, dirty Caroni..wonderful.. a nice mix of red fruits, some charred wood, then slightly less tar and more medicine. Nice proof, also. Finish: long, bitter and even dirtier. Still some charred wood, bitter licorice, menthol. Stands really well against Velier’s ;)
Review by Jakob
Crosstasting 1997er Caronis aus kontinentaler Lagerung: Sehr nahe an den Schwesterreleases von Bristol, die HTR-DNA ist bei allen klar erkennbar. Mein Favorit ist das jüngste Release der Reihe dank seiner expressiven „Jugendlichkeit“, wir bewegen uns aber durchweg auf hohem Niveau.
Review by Rene Pfeiffer
Day 18 RumX Advent Calendar: Nose: even after hours in the glass comes first alcohol. Then dirty to charred, spicy and smoky. Palate: and alcohol again. A little water opened things up a bit. Basically the aromas remain as on the nose, in the finish something slightly fresh towards menthol. For me in the result too alcoholic and not round. No idea what it was until the dissolution. Again a Caroni. The last Caroni from the Advent calendar I found better, because rounder. This one is too brisk for me.
Expert reviews
Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by In Spiritus Veritas
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Community purchases
106 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 20 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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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.
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