Caroni 1998 Private Garden n°3 Swell de Spirits for Clos des Spiritueux next to a Gasteranthus Extinctus flower

Caroni 1998 Swell de Spirits

Whilst More Drams Less Drama primarily focuses on whisky, I occasionally venture into reviewing other spirits often referred to as malternatives, such as Cognac, Armagnac, and Rum. These reviews, akin to my whisky evaluations, are driven by personal interest. Many times, I compose these reviews based on samples received or exchanged with friends, or purchases from whisky websites. Today’s review is one of the former—a malternative adventure taking us to Trinidad for an aged rum from the renowned but now lost Caroni distillery.

As is customary with my reviews, and due to the nature of how I acquire these samples (or occasionally bottles I’ve purchased), they may not always be the most up-to-date assessments of recently released products that are readily available. Nevertheless, my motivation is to share insights about specific whiskies or spirits that captivate my interest. If this particular review captures your attention, thank you for reading. However, if it doesn’t, feel free to close the tab—I won’t be bothered, and I won’t even be aware! In previous posts, we’ve explored whiskies from the French independent bottler Swell de Spirits. This time, let’s delve into a rum: a Caroni 1998 Swell de Spirits.

Disclaimer: I’m relatively new to rum reviews, and you won’t find many here. So, take this review with a generous grain of salt. No need to reach for that Tequila shot; it was meant figuratively.

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The Easy Sipper, Brig O'Perth & Pintail Tweet Tasting

The Easy Sipper, Brig O’Perth & Pintail

It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to participate to a Tweet Tasting, thanks to Brexit and the pain it is to ship whisky, even samples, from the UK to Europe, especially France. More paperwork, duties, taxes… many distilleries don’t include European tasters any more in their Tweet Tastings. Sometimes just French ones, because it’s even more of a pain here, thanks to Customs and our taxes agency. No thank you to all those responsible! But Keith Bonnington, The Whisky Cellar founder, that we now know very well here, wanted me to be able to participate anyway, so he had the same tasting pack (and tee-shirt) sent to me as the other tasters. Thanks again Keith! No Whisky Cellar release this time, but five drams, four whiskies and one rum, from his other brands: The Easy Sipper, Brig O’ Perth and Pintail.

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