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DBA5F990-BC26-4CE6-A941-D72C7932B541Trinidad Caroni Velier
Velier Caroni 5th Employees Dhanraj „Dan“ Maharaj HTR 1996 70cl bottle
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Aged rum · 25 years · 66,3%

Velier Caroni 5th Employees Dhanraj „Dan“ Maharaj HTR 1996

Sip this one slowly and neat — at 66.3% it needs 15 minutes in the glass to open. Then you get classic 1996 Caroni: tar, rubber and leather over oily caramel, with roasted, charred wood running through the palate. Several tasters call it the best of the 5th Employees series, though most agree it sits mid-pack among 1996 Caronis rather than at the very top.

The community says
  • Tar and rubber
  • Long oily finish
  • Great alcohol integration

Offers & prices

1,095.00 €incl. VAT
incl. VAT 70cl · 1,564.29 €/l
Total 1,095.00 € Free shipping
Whiskytempel Ø 2.5 days delivery time
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The look inside the bottle

How does Velier Caroni 5th Employees Dhanraj „Dan“ Maharaj HTR 1996 taste?

Summarized by AI from community reviews.

Dirty, roasted 1996 Caroni at cask strength Loved as a proper dirty Caroni — tar, rubber, roasted caramel, long finish. Most rank it the pick of the 5th Employees, but agree the cask leans it a touch too woody.

Perfect for

Caroni fans who want tar, rubber and roasted wood at full proof

Less suitable for

Beginners and anyone who dislikes heavy, dirty, high-ABV rum

Experience level · Connoisseur (5/5)

Style & occasion: Mature & oakySipping neat

Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
Flavor profile
Sweet & dessert
Spice
Wood
Dried fruit
Roasted & dark
Fruit
Funk & ester
Vegetal & floral

Relative to this rum's strongest aroma family

27 of 56 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums

Which glass for which rum? The community guide ›

Recommendation

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What does the community say?

9.0/10 Excellent

56 community reviews
20 selected write-ups on this page, all of them in the RumX app

Top 10% of Trinidad rumsTop 19% at Caroni

Rate it in the app
Distribution of all 56 ratings
9–10 36%
8–9 63%
7–8 2%
6–7 0%
5–6 0%
4–5 0%
0–4 0%

See the full rating guide

Positive from 8.0 · Mixed 6.0–7.9 · Critical below 6.0

Review by Mirco

Mirco
Sep 2025796 reviewsSwitzerland
9.0/10

Very successful Caroni with a typical 1996 profile. Dirty notes such as tar, rubber and bitumen are present but well integrated. Dark spice, some oak and a subtle fruitiness in the background. Powerful, balanced and with beautiful depth.

Review by Jakob

Jakob
Dec 20251,666 reviewsSwitzerland
8.9/10

Epic Velier Caroni Tasting 2023: The sweet 1996 profile is there, the long time in the barrel is already clearly recognizable with more present roasted aromas. Very good Caroni in the lower mid-range of the vintage.

Review by Oliver

Oliver
Apr 20231,232 reviewsGermany
8.8/10

Clear winner at the bottom of the 5th Employees. But not in the Caroni top class.

Expert reviews

2 critics scored it, averaging 9.1/10. Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum.

Community shelf

68 bottles logged by 56 collectors.

A collector's bottle.

5% opened, 3 emptied.

64 sealed 1 open 3 emptied

What does Velier Caroni 5th Employees Dhanraj „Dan“ Maharaj HTR 1996 cost?

Community paid 54–1,520 €.

Current best price: 1,095.00 € – within the typical community range.

Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 980 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ ›

68 purchased · 58 tasted · 16 wishlist · as of

Details about Velier Caroni 5th Employees Dhanraj „Dan“ Maharaj HTR 1996

A rum from Trinidad, bottled by Velier, at 66,3%.

DistilleryCaroni
CountryTrinidad
BottlerVelier
Raw materialMolasses
ABV66,3%
Age25 years
Vintage1996
Limited edition730 bottles
MarkHTR
Sugar0 g/L
Volume70cl

Read on in the RumX Guide

Caroni

Distillery

Caroni 

Avg Rating 8.8/10 over 620 Rums

No closed distillery is chased harder than Caroni. The Trinidad distillery shut down in the early 2000s and not a drop has been made since, but its heavy, oily, almost diesel-like rum became a collector obsession, carried to the world by Velier. Every bottle now comes from a finite, shrinking stock, even though auction prices for some Velier Caronis have fallen since 2022.

All releases in this series

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Rating guide

Every score is the median of members’ ratings, from 0 to 10. A 7 is already a recommendation to buy.

Share of 11,149 rums with at least 4 ratings, calculated on October 13, 2026. Scale and calculation in detail ›