Hampden Estate 8-Year

Perhaps the cheapest Hampden you can get. IMHO the weakest as well but I rated pretty much all other Hampdens pretty high.
Nose is typical "compost rotten funk" but nothing scandalous. I feel whiskey there (am I crazy?) Nothing against whiskey but I believe companies like Adrian Rodney handle(d) such flavours slightly better and more interestingly. In fact this rum is closer to "Admiral Rodney 2009 Officer’s Release No2 Irish Whiskey Casks Finish 11-Year" (just go search it here as written) than other Hampdens.
The body is surprisingly weak and resembled me whiskey scent from the first sip. The flavor somewhat sour or even acidic. I don't see this rum as super dry as some of my colleagues; maybe the finish is kind of ashy. The taste is flat and relatively boring for Jamaican rum but it is still some serious drinking, maybe just not my direct cup of tea this time as I prefer stronger and more smelly with deeper and perhaps also sweeter body. 6 to 7 material; downgrading for a big competition in their own lineup. Still not the same league as 5yo, Pagos and Overproof to me.

I finally ran across a bottle of Hampden in one of my favorite liquor stores today. I did not read all of the fine print on the bottle until I got home. All I can say after reading it is that if this is what Jamaican rums tasted like in the 1800's, then I am sure glad that some master blenders have figured out a way to greatly improve on the flavors.

The nose reminded me of many of the Plantation rums, but then the taste was all burn and chemicals hiding any tropical flavors. At 92 proof and being a pot still rum, I compared this one to my Smith & Cross pot still rum at 114 proof. No comparison! The Smith & Cross has lots of tropical flavors with an even less noticeable burn. As an added bonus, Smith & Cross is slightly more than half of what I paid for this one. I don't dare use this Hampden for Mai Tai's. Honestly, I will probably use it after I have sipped on too many of my fine rums and don't want to waste any more of them with a foggy judgement. Adding an ice cube to the snifter of this did not even help. This one was also not cheap at $50.

Later that same night, I drank about four ounces on the rocks to help me get through watching a miserable football game. It was not a pleasant experience at all, but the next day showed absolutely no bad effects at all. Thank this part for the no additives. So, if all you want is a nasty tasting buzz with no penalty afterwards, then spend a nice chunk of change on this one. I would rather suffer a bit the next day after drinking a really tasty rum.

Update: After a half bottle is finally gone, I can only conclude that this rum was made for getting shit faced with absolutely no penalty the next day. I thank Luca for showing us all how awful pirate rums really tasted a few hundred years ago.

So why did I give it a high rating of 5 if I hate it? There are many more rums that taste a lot worse than this one, which it is at least bearable, but not worth the price. As a matter of fact, Don Q Cristal has absolutely no taste at all which makes it better tasting than this one, and at one fifth the price. Both have no hangover effect.

Update April 27, 2021: Thinking that I started out on a bad choice for my first Hampden rum while also liking my recent acquisition of their Rum Fire Overproof very much, I did quite a bit of research into their other products since several are now available nearby. I have now come to the conclusion that most of the Hampden rum fanatics come from the European market while most of the rum fanatics from the USA like myself refuse to fall for this marketing ploy.

I was hoping for a fruit bomb, but this wasn’t it. All the liveliness seems to have been aged away. Lacks that sweet funky punch in the face. Get Rum Fire from the same distiller for a more lurid experience at 1/3 the price.

Love the honesty of the rum. I acquired a bottle knowing it would be a hit or miss. Shared with friends who thought it was interestingly good. I get the funk and the subtle notes but wish the other notes were stronger or changed from start to finish. This rum is a muffled explosion. I know they are not the same. But something like Clarin’s Le Rocher excites with a series of notes from beginning to end.

Frän sträv i smaken och en eftersmak av whiskey. Inte alls i min smak

Day 3 with this in my liquor cabinet. I reached for a Rum Malecon 15 and it actually made me ANGRY that this is in my cabinet! This stuff sucks! I have sure had much better Jamaican rum! This is very reminiscent of subpar agricole. Earthy, funky and unbalanced. Sorry, this just doesn’t work for me. As a novelty ok but it just doesn’t have the taste. No body. No finish. No sir. I don’t like it and I won’t be coerced by “uniqueness” that tastes bad! “Funk” is not always good.

Un gout très vernis qui moi ne me plait pas mais certains de mes potes adorent.

If this cost $20 a bottle, I would just call it a bad rum. At $70 a bottle, it's a scam. I think there's an emperor's new clothes effect here. People spent a lot of money on this bottle and don't want to admit that it's sub-well trash.

Tastes and smells like nail polish remover. Barely mixable. It's put me off from trying other Hampden rums.

Foul. Soap suds and lavender. Don’t even know if there was any burn because all I could taste was soap.

Might as well be whiskey.

Rancid.