The Caribbean, Trinidad. Distillery closed, site dismantled.

In 1975, under pressure from across the country, the government of Trinidad nationalized a number of companies, including Tate & Lyle, the English giant of sugar production and owner of Caroni Ltd since 1937. The very competitive economic context, however, led to the closure of the island's sugar refineries and the collapse of the molasses production required for the production of rum. In 2001, the government sold its shares in Rum Distillers Ltd (Caroni) to Angostura and closed the distillery in 2002. Caroni Ltd would be definitively liquidated on 31 July 2003. In October 2004, Luca Gargano, the CEO of the Italian spirit distributor Velier and a passionate rum enthusiast and photographer, visited Trinidad to carry out research for a future report. There he found the site abandoned and, within its cellars, a huge stock of barrels, some distilled in 1974. The story of Caroni began in 2005 and the distillery immediately became the subject of lore.

Rums from the Caroni distillery are, by their very nature, very rare, as the distillery officially closed after the Trinidad government sold off its shares in 2002. The story continued in 2005 when Luca Gargano, who had come to take photos of the abandoned buildings, discovered a number of abandoned barrels, some containing rum distilled in 1974. Needless to say, this bottling is the stuff of legend.
This is a particularly special version, as indicated by the words “Small Batch Special Release”.
This precious nectar was distilled in 1989, matured for 16 years and bottled in 2005 by Velier (an Italian spirits distributor) when the distillery was rediscovered. It is an elegant and authentic rum.
We recommend pairing it with a chocolate dessert, spice bread or sushi.