Located in the north-west of Jamaica, in the parish of Trelawny, Hampden Estate sits between sea and mountains in an extraordinary natural setting. From above, and from within, the distillery resembles an old refinery, where the transformation of sugar cane spirit unfolds in an atmosphere that feels magical.
Hampden’s story begins in 1753 – more than 270 years ago – when the Scotsman Archibald Stirling established the property as one of Jamaica’s leading sugar producers. By 1779, a rum distillery had been created at the Hampden Great House. The business expanded across the Caribbean and beyond until the early 2000s, when mounting debts threatened its survival. In 2003, the Jamaican government stepped in to preserve around one hundred jobs, acquiring the distillery before auctioning it in 2009 when profitability remained elusive. The company was then purchased by Everglades Farms, owned by the Hussey family, who undertook substantial investment to restore its fortunes. In 2018, Hampden released its first official estate bottlings, marking a decisive turning point in the distillery’s history.
Defined by an exceptional aromatic profile shaped by time-honoured methods, the estate’s rums are revered by connoisseurs worldwide. Today, Hampden continues to set the standard in pot still distillation and the famed dunder technique, and its momentum shows no sign of slowing.

A Hampden 5 Year Old distilled in 2016 bearing the mark <>H, meaning it has an ester content of 900-1000 g/hlpa (grams per hectolitre of pure alcohol). The Habitation Velier range showcases the stills used by its various distilleries—key and impressive elements in the world of rum, with famous examples including Guyana’’s wooden stills. Velier was founded in Genoa by Casimir Chaix in 1947. It was originally a small, family-run business specializing in the import and distribution of wine and spirits. Luca Gargano, a former representative for Saint James and serious rum collector and enthusiast, bought the business in 1986 and began bottling whisky first in 1992 and then rum in 1996. It was in 1996 that Gargano bottled his first Demerara rums. In 2004, Gargano was invited to Guyana to select casks by his friend Yesu Persaud, then the CEO of Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL). This partnership ended in 2015 when Persaud retired, but the rums bottled in the meantime became legendary. The same can be said for the Caroni casks he bought in 2005, two years after the distillery closed, following a visit to Trinidad with Fredi Marcarini the previous year to take photos. These two lines of bottlings built the renown of Velier, today also known for its work in other parts of the Caribbean, such as Barbados, Jamaica, Haiti and Marie-Galante. Rums selected by Velier are only ever aged in a tropical climate, which explains both their concentration and the high angel’’s share. They are generally bottled at cask strength or just below. Finally, Gargano has, for several years, fought for stricter classification of rum, even proposing his own model, which has since been adopted by several of Velier’’s partners.