The Tortuga set of Caroni's stand out as being one of a select handful of the fabled lost Trindadian distillery's rum bottlings that have been very well received - no small feat, considering the obvious scarcity value and popularity of its rums and the corresponding sense of caution and skepticism with each bottle released.

That alone makes it worth checking out given its stature in a rarefied select bunch - the Tortuga series is named as such given its collaboration with the Sea Turtle Conservancy that was founded in 1959 to save sea turtles through global conservation programs. The bottling itself is a partnership between East Asia Whisky Company and Precious Liquors.

While I wasn't fortunate enough to try the first two Tortuga's, both of which have now rocketed in price, I made sure to get a hold of Tortuga No. 3 - I really wanted to see if it was worth the hype.

Interestingly, Tortuga No. 3 comes having being been finished for close to 2 years in Japanese Mizunara oak - let's face it, this alone makes it extra warranting of a raised brow. Is this really worth the hype or all smoke no cream, I'm here to find out.

Let's get to it.

Tortuga No. 3 Caroni 1998, 24 Year Old, Mizunara Finish, Precious Liquors & East Asia Whisky Company - Review

Tasting Notes

Aroma: Starting off with spiced honey, Crunchie chocolate honeycomb candy bars, brown sugar, acacia honey, herbal jelly, it turns more fruity and jammy - cooked plums, raisins, blackberry jams, poached apples, apple compote, with a bit of roasted nuts and chestnuts as well. There’s also alittle bit of squeakiness of diesel, shoe polish, wood lacquer, and musty wood attics.

Taste: More of that spiced honey, red apple and apple compote, blackberry jam, all these estery tropical fruits, overripe papayas, mangoes (grilled mangoes too), pineapples, backed up by denser sweeter notes of brown sugar, maple syrup, along with a light bit of oiliness of burnt ends, grease, and even some incense sticks with a bit of ash.

Finish: A continuation of those sweet fruits - Kyoho grape gummies, fruit jelly cups - especially those green apple ones, mango puree, green papayas, and then on the sidelines there’s some grass jelly, earthy roots, damp moss, alittle bit of that plasticine and copper coins too. There’s some tannins of black grape and plum skins, sun-dried raisins too, but still very much honeyed and richly sweet. Alittle bit of that tarry acetone.

My Thoughts

This was a fruit bomb of a Caroni, it keeps all the dense fruity sweetness whilst holding back the tarry synthetic dirty notes, whilst being rich and almost syrupy thick in texture - the best of what Caroni has to offer? It stands a pretty good shot at that.

While it has all the hallmarks of Caroni’s signature profile, it’s this particular composition of the mix that makes it stand out, accentuating the dense and rich tropical fruits, and keeping it thick and flavour forward with great roundedness and texture.

I didn’t get too much of the Mizunara aspect of it, but that aside this really stood out as being ridiculously rich and fruity. It’s friendly, approachable and honestly quite the crowdpleaser, it’s top marks on paper really, it’s the person at school that’s just good at everything, good looking, and a nice person as well - maybe it needs to be just a little bit offensive…

My Rating: 9/10

Score/Rating Scale :

• 9-10 : Exceptional, highly memorable, 10/10 would buy if I could.
• 7-8 : Excellent, well above most in its category, worth considering buy-zone.
• 4-6 : Good, okay, alright; a few flaws, but acceptable; not bad, but not my personal preference; still worth trying, could be a buy if the price is right.
• 1-3 : Not good; really did not enjoy; wouldn't even recommend trying.
• 0 : Un-scored, might be damaged, new make, or very unusual.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot    &     u/zoorado