Rum, Jamaica. Distillery operational. Owner: Everglades Farms Ltd.

Independent & family-ownedKnown primarily in the rum, perfume and food industries, Hampden began to move out of the shadows in 2009 when the Jamaican government decided to disinvest from the national Jamaica Sugar Company and auctioned off its assets. The family-owned company Everglades Farms Ltd (owned by the Hussey family) secured the lot and became the owner of this gem which is now considered the alter ego of the Scottish distillery Ardbeg. This link with Scotland is no coincidence. Hampden Estate was bought in 1748 by Robert Stirling, who had left Perthshire (Scotland) in 1742. The Hussey family sells two expressions of its rum, including an Overproof which is particularly well-known in the bar and HORECA segment. But it was in 2017, when family-owned Italian (Velier) and French (LMDW) companies began distributing the first old rums, that Hampden really took off, rising to the ranks of the finest rums currently on the market.

Previously known for bottling niche brands, the Hampden distillery located in the heart of Jamaica has now, after 265 years of operation, begun bottling its own production. The distillery’’s rums stand out for their power and extraordinary aromatic complexity, and for being aged entirely on the island, in a tropical climate.
This single cask molasses rum was bottled from cask No. 299, previously used for bourbon. It was bottled at the cask strength of 62.8% ABV. The OWH mark indicates the rum has one of the lowest ester contents in the Hampden distillery range.
The rum’’s copper colour leads into a powerful and expressive nose centred on very ripe exotic fruit (mango in particular), as well as notes of spices (pepper) and nuts (cashew nuts). The palate is powerful and reveals lovely length.
Watch out, though, this is a limited edition and only 260 bottles were released.