Aroma visualization from community tastings
Velier Caroni 4th Employees Dayanand „Yunkoo“ Balloon 1998
Caroni devotees who want the heavy, dirty end of the 1998 vintage will be right at home here. Tar, burnt rubber and machine oil lead, with mango, caramel and menthol pushing through after air time. At 68.3% it's fierce — one taster called it "the Octomore of the rum world." Give it time in the glass and the fruit and vanilla emerge.
The community says- Tar and rubber profile
- Complex after aeration
- Hot alcohol
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Buy Velier Caroni 4th Employees Dayanand „Yunkoo“ Balloon 1998:
Compare all 7 shop offers from 999.90 €
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The look inside the bottle
How does Velier Caroni 4th Employees Dayanand „Yunkoo“ Balloon 1998 taste?
Aggregated from 66 community reviews.
Heavy, dirty Caroni at full cask strength Most tasters rank this among the best 1998 Caronis — huge, dirty and complex. A few find the alcohol not fully integrated, and one or two call the hype overblown.
Caroni fans who love heavy tar-and-rubber profiles
Beginners and anyone put off by high ABV or industrial notes
How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.
27 of 66 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
How is Velier Caroni 4th Employees Dayanand „Yunkoo“ Balloon 1998 rated?
RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 8.9 sits in the “Very good” band. 100% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 0% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
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Current bids for this rum at Europe's leading auction houses.
Community voices
What does the community say?
3% rate it between 6 and 8. 19 selected write-ups from 66 community ratings. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by Jakob
Most helpful positive review
Epic Velier Caroni Tasting 2023: Intense HTR, wood, spices, tobacco and menthol flank the typical tar, rubber and petrol aroma profile of heavy Trinidad rums. A very good representative of the 1998 Caroni vintage.
Review by kudzey
Most helpful mixed review
After a blind season I was surprised to find out this was it. It was good but not exceptional. Solid, complex but unimpressive. It might also lack some intensity. The finish was a bit disappointing.
Review by Gunnar Böhme "Bauerngaumen" 🤓
The rum would have knocked out the other two Caroni's in the flight blindfolded. Undisputed nose-and-palate heavyweight champion. That's what a Caroni has to be like!
Review by TheRhumhoe
A Caroni representing the distillery's heavy style. The nose is very intense at first, with notes of oil, smoke and spices, then gains in subtlety after aeration with some fruity notes, caramel and hazelnut. The attack on the palate is powerful, heavy and very warm, with notes of tar and rubber. The smoky, spicy side is as present as ever, with a hint of leather and bitterness. Still, red fruits and citrus fruits lurk in ambush, making it easier to drink. The finish is long, dark, smoky and woody, with tannins drying out the palate. A hint of mango also makes itself felt. An unpolished, complex Caroni that reveals much more after aeration.
Review by Johannes
Yesterday I had the unique opportunity to compare this rum with other 98s, including Paradise #2. Compared to the Paradise, this one is quite different, very brute with a high alcohol content that is not perfectly integrated, becomes milder with time, nice menthol notes!
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
Had a very nice Caroni employee tasting just across the border at a friend's place. He has the entire collection in several copies, so I could have a go at hose i haven't tried yet. This one is very nice and a heavy one of its kind. The nose is intense and complex, but after resting it starts to settle and a lot of flavours are eminating. The typical Caroni flavours are there with rubber and tar on top of oak and fruit. Trailing behind i find a smoky note and some vanilla. The palate really kicks it up a notch. Intense and heavy with rubber, tar and oak in the front followed by fruit and leather and a bit of vanilla. The finish is long and warming with smoky oak, rubber and some mango.
Review by zabo
There were a few employes in the test today. Yunkoo, Buju, Nitz and Brigade. To sum up, they are all very tasty caronis. For me, only Brigade is the one that has lost out a little, the others are all very close together. My ranking today would be: 1st Yunkoo 2. Nitz 3. Buju 4. brigade
Review by Leo Krüper
Like the other two in the 4th Employee series, extremely powerful. These rums take no prisoners and they really take you fully. Already the color and the smell are stunning, in the taste then even a slight almond sweetness or nut wood note. But of course the dirty tar note predominates. My girlfriend tasted car tires, but not in a negative sense. Really outstanding bottlings.
Review by Martin Augustin
Typisch dreckige und ausgeprägte Caroni Nase, so wie es sein muss. Teer, Gummi ergänzt um Mango und Karamell. Das zieht sich im überragenden Geschmack ebenso durch ergänzt um etwas Zitrusfrüchte und Pfeffer. Geile Kombination. Schöner langer Abgang. Ein Caroni, wie er sein muss.
Review by Aussierumfan
This is a very powerful Caroni and responds well to a lot aeration time in the glass. Almost too powerful for me if I am honest😂 undoubtedly complex and very flavoursome. Smoky, rubber tyres and tar, some fruits in the background and is quite spicy, I notice vanilla. A lot of barrel influence. A medium length finish. Glad to have tried this rum!
Review by Oliver
Great rubber nose. A bit too biting on the palate.
Review by Pavel Spacek
... Caroni je destilerie z Trinidadu, produkujici v dobe sve nejvetsi slavy rum, ktery se pridaval v pomeru 1:10 do namornickeho blendu. Byl totiz moc vyrazny a divny nez aby byl prijemny na jazyku. V roce 2000 destilerka skoncila s produkci a byla uzavrena. Az v roce 2010 se objevili degustatori, kteri si rum oblibili prave pro jeho specialni chut. A zajem rostl. Caroni patri do kategorie rumu "you need to try before you die". Doporucuji, Caroni je opravdu unikatni rum.
Review by Joachim Guger
Hammernase 🔨🔨! Sehr frisch (Menthol, Kampfer), wunderbare Politur/Lacknoten, schöne Holzreife, ein Hauch Mango und Banane. Gummi und Benzin. Im Mund sehr voll und warm. Holz, Karamell, starke Würze(Anis, Piment, verbrannte Lakritze). Langer, sehr holziger Abgang. Toller Caroni, kräftig, aber eher gezähmt. So gut kann Benzin riechen!!!⛽️⛽️⛽️
Review by Romain de L
Takes a bit of time to open. Nose is leathery / a bit « renfermé » / but ample - and complex. Frank attack, strong, complex, liquorice at the finish, fruits, ample on the tongue Very long finish - very agreeable
Review by Thunderbird
In the nose is solvent and somehow smell something dirty, maybe tar or something similar. Light spices and fruit in the background! Overall, however, very intense! On the palate continues that intense: briefly some sweetness, then again the dirty, wood, pepper, somehow leather and all very intense, but super pleasant! Also in the finish this continues.... with time it also becomes slightly astringent.... Overall a grenade... am heavily excited
Review by FischeJ
Dreier Vergleich von 1998 Caroni. Der gefällt mir grade im Mund deutlich besser.
Review by Piotr Ignasiak
This one reminds me alot of good TDLs, especially on the nose. It's flowery, fruity with nutty coffee behind. the dirt notes are more pronounced on palate. For the high abv this is quite smooth. Thanks Dr Django for sharing a sample.
Review by ...and a bottle of Rum.
Ui. Dreckschleuder. Teer, verbrannter Gummi, Werkstatt und Maschinenöl. Ist das Dezember 1998? Der Kill Devil ist ähnlich dreckig. Aber der Velier ist runder, nicht ganz so bissig (aus der Erinnerung). Ist der 5-fache Preis gerechtfertigt? Schwer zu sagen. Vermutlich nicht. Das Profil ist schon extrem. Aber ich mag das. Der Octomore der Rum-Welt. Gestört aber geil.
Review by Mopar Rules
overrated? Compared to the Caroni I had the opportunity to taste so far it’s not convincing and far from the balanced complexity of The Last or the Paradise series. Mmmh, again, a bad day?
No reviews match this filter.
Expert reviews
3 critics scored it, averaging 8.9/10. Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by Single Cask Rum
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Expert review by Zucker und Zeste
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Expert review by Barrel Aged Thoughts
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Expert review by Who Rhum The World
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Expert review by In Spiritus Veritas
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Details about Velier Caroni 4th Employees Dayanand „Yunkoo“ Balloon 1998
A rum from Trinidad, bottled by Velier, at 68,3%.
Community purchases
113 bottles logged by 84 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
3% opened, 2 emptied and repurchased.
What does Velier Caroni 4th Employees Dayanand „Yunkoo“ Balloon 1998 cost?
Community paid 230–1,396 €.
Current best price: 999.90 € – within the typical community range.
What members actually paid for their bottles. A typical range, not the current shop price. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
113 purchased · 67 tasted · 27 wishlist · as of
About the Caroni distillery
The Caroni distillery is located in Trinidad. Rums from Caroni have been reviewed 10,324 times with an average of 8.8/10.
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