I already knew that a bottle of Caroni is much better a few days or weeks or even months after it’s opening.
But recently I made four experiences that made me think that it is necessary to wait after opening a Caroni bottle.
A friend bought a bottle of Velier Caroni « Navy Rum 100th » RX180, we opened it and we couldn’t find the delightful harshness of my long opened bottle.
Samples de Luxe made a advent calendar with the « 21 » Caroni by Velier, RX39. They open the bottles and immediately fill the sample bottles. I wasn’t able to recognize it at all, even knowing what it was and testing both together.
They also included a Velier Caroni Tresspassers RX468 and blind tested didn’t get the typical Caroni aromas. I thought it was more of an old Demerara. As for the « 21 », a few days later with an half opened sample bottle, everything was there.
I bought a very cheap « 17 » by Velier RX60, opened it to check if it can be a fake due to the low price. My first impression led to think that it was a very good rum but not a Caroni. A week later there was no doubt at all.
So how can we judge a freshly opened Caroni if the typical aromas are missing ?
TLDR I taste the rums over its lifetime and judge the sum of all tastings, if I need to judge.
it’s for all rums not just caronis that they change how I perceive them, so it’s really a non issue. I’m equally interested in how they taste at first crack vs mid bottle vs end, and if I would rate it, I rate the complete experience. Might be different with a sample, but that’s the problem with samples
Were you comparing at the same time or in relation to your memory of the rum?
You can only compare at the same time in two glasses side by side. And even then it’s difficult because the first one you drink changes the olfactory feedback.
What I mean is that maybe in the end they wouldn’t have been so different side by side.
Nice study. I believe oxidation plays a role in every rum but I wouldn’t call it a need. It’s up to you how you prefer to have your Caroni - and you’ve already proven you know how do adjust it’s taste.
Many agree that for many sugared rums the oxidation deteriorates the drink. However, i can imagine that a heavy aromatic rum can benefit from some dillution of the most
volatile particles.
I once had a sample and a long open bottle and the differences were minimal.
So maybe depending on the rum it’s different indeed.
But there is sadly another possibility… are you sure about this sample? Is it what it says on the label? There are some unscrupulous people as soon as the word caroni appears…
That’s the reason I made this topic, it’s a Caroni. Just a few days after, the typical aromas were there. There are still some differences with the long opened bottle, but they are both on the same basis.