Hampden Estate 8-Year

This rum is almost as good as some of the $100-150 rums that I have. Deep burnt rubber funk, rotting fruits, and the oak to mellow it and balance the flavors. Not a funk bomb but not at all tame either. Excellent.

This is to rum what Laphroig is to scotch. Lot's of funk and brine, but backed up with depth and subtle sweet rum notes. It's well crafted and always interesting, and definitely not for everyone.

Lots of banana and acetone on the nose. Lots of the same when tasting as well. Very sippable though. Doesn't last overly long on the pallet.

I love everything about this rum. From the nostalgic medicinal looking bottle to the statements about “tropical aging”. I just imagine this rum fermenting in a humid hot open air jungle facility. The muck pits and dunder just reeking and bubbling in the hot sun.

I was at my local liquor store deciding between a bottle of something when the staff member I usually get bourbon advice from said, “you ever try Jamaican rum?” I said I had and I enjoyed it. He directed me to Hampden 46 and Overproof stating I couldn’t go wrong with either. Boy was he right!

Nose is slightly sweet to me, kind of jungly. Not at all overpowering alcohol. It’s got a molasses and pineapple scent to me. Less banana than some other Jamaican rums. Palate is very slightly sweet, with tropical fruits and finishes with an almost acetone bitter bite but in the best way possible. The finish is almost like the nose but spicy and oaky. It’s long and sits with you for a bit. It leaves a bananay taste in my mouth I can’t get enough of.

The liquor store staff member told me if I didn’t like it to try it a week later. Well I liked it
right away but it has truly only gotten better with each tasting. It reminds me of the first time I had an islay scotch like Ardbeg or Bruichladdich Port Charlotte. I loved it and I didn’t know why. That’s how the Jamaican funk is too and Hampden is that funk done beautifully and unapologetically. Thank you Hampden!

This rum surprised me when I tried it the first time. Tons of banana flambee, overripe pineapple, coconut, persimmon even, hints of rubber and petrol fumes on the nose. Interesting combination, and I suppose not for everyone.

Bit of a burn and drying on the palate, with some grassy notes on the finish.

So, for starters, I would like to say that I am a relative rum novice. I have been drinking rum for many years but mostly as a mixer, and when I entertained various rums for sipping I was primarily catering to my wife's taste which lean in the direction of much sweeter expressions. So my primary tasting experience for a long time consisted of things like Diplomatica Reserva exclusiva, Papas Pilar and El Dorado 12 year. There's nothing wrong with that style of rum, it's just not my personal preference. For sipping spirits I had been more in the camp of bourbon. I strongly favored Blanton's when I could get it, and staples like Angel's Envy, Chestnut Farms, Michter's US1 or Hancock when I couldn't. Sorry for the digression. Anyway, I am starting to find expressions of rum that I like equally to some bourbons for sipping and this is one of the few that I really enjoy neat, or with a few drops of water.

The complexity, depth of flavor and richness of this rum would be difficult to overstate. I have tasted it carefully at least four, maybe five times and I am just feeling comfortable trying to describe it. The nose, at first, is strong alcohol followed by very ripe bananas and glue, like the old mucilage brown glue in a bottle, rubber, more tropical fruit, pineapple , strong vanilla and coconut. The taste palette is intense with a slight alcohol burn up front, followed by hints of cinnamon, clove, more overripe bananas, banana bread and again a slight rubber on the back palette, along with lingering notes of vanilla, oak and coconut with a lingering pleasant sweet alcohol flavor. The way this spirit coats your palette is just so luxurious feeling, the nose, taste and aftertaste are all so long lasting and satisfying. Adding a touch of water opens all these flavor up even more and brings out some of the more subtle notes of spice and fruit.

This is making me want to try the over proof version more and more. At first it seemed like an extravagance but it is starting to feel like an eventual necessity.

Candid fruit, ananas and banana in aroma, clove, cinamon and fenol in the body, long-term body.

Very smooth and pleasant. It reminds me of aged Brazilian cachaça.
Notes of fresh grass and sugar cane juice. Finish medium to long. Not too dry.
No smell or taste of alcohol. It looks lighter than 46% ABV.
100% pot still, no added sugar or color, as all rum should be.

In my opinion, superior to Appleton 12 Rare Blend.

notes of banana, mango, coconut, passion fruit, peach, caramel, chocolate, a little agave, and pepper.

Tasting together and comparing it with another blended rum from Jamaica, I understood both of them. Blending is good because that combines good sides of different distillation methods, different maturing methods, different cane varieties and different types of casks which they were matured in. However this rum is a piece of history and fully deserves respect. This rum is not for everyone either because Jamaican funk or what I wrote about blended rums. So, I warmly recommend this rum for everyone to taste at least once in a lifetime. It has a good price-value ratio and I really enjoyed all its drops. In addition, it is very different after tasting mostly blended rums which are mostly available today. And no additional flavoring and dosage! Serious respect to Hampden for still following the traditional way!