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.

A Caroni 1998 aged for nine years in American oak casks before being transferred to Europe for a second maturation and bottled in 2014. Rum Nation is an Italian independent bottler created in 1999 by Fabio Rossi, who had worked in the family wine and spirits import business founded by his father in 1956. During his trips to Scotland, he was impressed by various casks of rum from Jamaica and Guyana and wanted to offer them to the public. With the valuable advice of Silvano Samaroli, he launched Rum Nation and began travelling the Caribbean. After initial maturation at the production site, the rums selected then continue maturation in Europe, in a more temperate climate, sometimes in sherry or Spanish brandy casks. Rum Nation tries to keep the spirit of the country of origin, reflected in the presence of a stamp from the country on the label, which Fabio has collected since he was a child. Rossi is also behind the independent bottler Wilson & Morgan, which specializes in whisky. A limited edition of 4,580 bottles.