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Hampden old pure single Jamaican rum.
The 2021 Distillery Edition of The Hampden Great House Old Pure Single Jamaican Rum produced at The Hampden Estate Distillery.
Located in the parish of Trelawny, it produces an inimitable style of rum packed with tradition.
Bearing the name of the family residence built in 1753, Great House wonderfully embodies Hampden’s exuberant and eminently Jamaican style.
The Hampden Estate was founded in 1753 by a Scotsman called Archibald Sterling, in the Queen of Spain valley of Jamaica’s Trelawny parish.
For 250 years it remained family owned, selling rum to third-party blenders and independent bottlers. Mismanagement however meant that by 2003 it was in financial trouble, with the Jamaican government stepping in to assume ownership and some of its debt in order to preserve the jobs of its employees.
They sold it in 2009 to the Hussey family’s Everglades Farms, who as first point of business began laying down the casks that would eventually become the first Hampden Estate labelled official bottling of the distillery’s rum, launched in collaboration with Velier in 2018.
Famed for its heavy, ester-driven style, Hampden is joined by Worthy Park as the only two Jamaican distilleries that produce exclusively pure single rums (using only pot stills).
It currently has four pot stills: two from Forsyths in Scotland, one from Vendome in Kentucky, and another from T&T Engineering in South Africa.
Nose: Initially cane sugar, juicy pineapple, cocoa beans and mint. Acacia and linden blossom honey, aromatic plants (verbena, sage) and candied citrus fruits (lemon, grapefruit) follow. Finally, the smells of nutmeg and coconut milk come out of the glass.
Palate: The flavors are very similar to what you smell. The pineapple comes out very clearly, along with coconut milk and floral notes. In the middle of the mouth, the taste transitions to lemongrass, rosemary and umami, complemented by jaggery. Here too, honey returns, just like in the nose, and gradually turns into medicinal notes (ointment, mustard poultice) and spicy (star anise, cloves).
Finish: Wonderfully long. The aftertaste is an extension of the taste and is medicinal (iodine) and musky. With incredible finesse, it reveals sweet flavors of pastry, blossom and finally coriander, lime and honeysuckle.
