Hampden Estate 8 Year Old Jamaican Rum

Hampden Estate is a renowned distillery located in the Trelawny Parish in the north west of Jamaica, an area historically representing the grand cru of Jamaican rum, characterized by an incredible biodiversity.

Hampden Estate has been in continuous operation since its founding in 1753, making it one of the oldest estates in the Caribbean. It has maintained the same production methods and techniques for the last two centuries, such as the use of its own spring water, prolonged fermentation time with wild yeasts, tropical ageing, no added colorants and sugar, and distillation exclusively in pot stills.

With these rums, Hampden Estate have created their very first aged distillery releases in 265 years, which both celebrate the uniqueness of Jamaican rum production and present Hampden to the world stage. A global premiere.

Aged for a minimum of 8 years in the tropics after a long, natural fermentation, this blend of 100% traditional Pot Still marks is characterised by a high ester profile and tropical notes.

Nose: Pineapple, passion fruit and new-car leather. Candied and jellied fruit notes develop: papaya, guava, lime, Seville orange, blood orange and nectarine. Banana and toasted spice notes build, with prominent clove notes.

Palate: The spice and bananas lead: creamy banana pie with a generous dusting of ground clove and cinnamon. The banana remains as apples and pineapples roll in. Dark and weight oily notes sneak in behind.

Finish: Cinnamon spice and sweet banana fade to reveal apple jam and mint.

Nolan - From the Spotlight on the Grape and Cane Spirits of the America’s Blog

In all the rum world, it is Jamaican rum that I have always gravitated to. Jamaican rums should be intense, fruity, a little bit weird and uncompromising. The unique flavour profiles are something that I find particularly alluring, but I know that these rums are not for everyone’s palates. Jamaican rum is often described as the rum worlds equivalent to the smoky bruisers of Islay in the whisky world. Hampden is one of the hidden gems of the rum world and they achieve their unique flavour profile through techniques honed over an unbroken production cycle going back to their founding in 1756.

The first key to Hampdens production is in the fermentation cycle. Industrialised rums such as Bacardi can complete their fermentation cycles using cultured yeasts within 24 hours. Fermentation at Hampden takes a minimum of two weeks though can be drawn out to around a month.

The fermentations at Hampden are all carried out with natural, ambient yeasts and with the addition of dunder, (similar to the sour mash process in bourbon). It is during this extended fermentation that all the wonderful flavours are created. These flavour compounds are called esters and are generated when the acids in the wash/molasses wine react with the alcohols. The acids present are created through a secondary fermentation of the alcohols and the actions of lactobacillus bacteria on the residual sugars. Further esters are created by the organic reduction of aldehydes, which are themselves created through the oxidation of alcohol. All this science, (sorry about that), is not possible during short fermentation times. These extremely long fermentations are somewhat of a Jamaican speciality.

The second key to Hampden’s production is the stills. Being a traditional Jamaican distillery, Hampden has three pot stills. These pot stills are old fashioned, each with a double retort and a condenser. A retort is essentially an additional, small pot still, it conducts a further distillation of the spirit vapours, increasing the alcoholic strength and removing the need for a second run through the original pot stills.

The results are a rich, oily spirit absolutely packed full of flavour. This spirit is then aged in ex-bourbon casks for 8 years in Jamaica’s tropical climate before bottling. By law, Jamaican rum cannot have any sugar added post distillation so is completely dry, despite what the unctuous nose tells you!

Here are your extensive tasting notes for this flavour packed rum, directly from the importers, Speciality Brands:

On the nose, pineapple, passion fruit and new-car leather. Candied and jellied fruit notes develop - papaya, guava, lime, Seville orange, blood orange and nectarine. Banana and toasted spice notes build, with prominent clove notes.

On the palate, spice and bananas lead: creamy banana pie with a generous dusting of ground clove and cinnamon. The banana remains as apples and pineapples roll in. Dark and weight oily notes sneak in behind.

Cinnamon spice and sweet banana fade through the finish to reveal apple jam and mint.