Caroni 1998/2022 Chaconia 24yo 60,2% cask#4 Distilia for Catawiki got 90/100 points from Whisky Digest.
“Another Caroni up the alley. This time a collab between the Indie Bottler Distilia and the auction house Catawiki. We’ve already had some great Demerara stuff from these guys, so let’s skip the intro and make a deep dive.
Nose
What happens when you cross a beautiful V8 petrol engine with a bunch of flowers in your mind? Well, something like this first smell. It’s a very, very atypical 1998 Caroni. Tons of raspberries. Fresh mangoes, rosewood and rose oil, demerara molasses and coconut oil. There is absolutely no rusty diesel exhaust pipes and burnt bicycle hoses as we know from most 1998s. That is a GOOD sign for our taste. From a distance, it is more reminiscent of the fruity, floral profile of the Caroni 1991 Velier (the one with the samba dancers). After a while, wine gum, strawberry cream, patchouli and two drops of petrol come in. Yes, this is a solid bouquet.
On the palate
First impression: sweet, well balanced and very oily texture. Let’s concentrate on the aromas now. Second impression: rape berries and strawberry jam, cedar. Also some roasted cassava and tamarind roots. A slight, rubery dirtiness emerges, but it is not unpleasant, rather it adds an interesting note. The third sip provides a pleasant chocolaty bitterness (remember those rum bars from Ritter Sport?).
Finish
See, it’s redundant to philosophise about the length of Caronis’ finish in general. Good for those who love the profile. Bad for the others. What remains in the taste are roasted raspberries and the finest cedar, plus a slight Caroni dirtiness.
Rating
Apart from having some room to improve compared to the super-complex aroma bombs of the tropical 1994 and 1996 vintages, this Chaconia is the best 1998 Caroni to date and even one of the best continental-aged Caroni we have tasted. We also really like the new bottle and label design compared to the earlier Distillia bottlings. In general, you have to give the guys from Poland credit for having the right nose when it comes to selecting casks.”
90/100 points. Whisky Digest
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