This week is dedicated to what is almost certainly the single coolest release I'll see this year: Hampden's 8 Marks collection, a massive horizontal monolith of eight 20cl bottles showcasing every single one of Hampden's distilling recipes, all bottled at 60%. (Also, I've been spelling it wrong this whole time: it's "mark" with a -k, not "marque" with a -que.) There's even an equally massive tech sheet included. So even before you get to the quality of the rum this thing is pretty amazing, with the only real shortcoming being that you should really (no, trust me on this) keep one finger on top of the capsule when you pull the bottles out of the case. And rather than completely blowing out my palate reviewing all of these things in a single video, we're splitting the affair up into this and one on Friday.
Today it's a quick introduction and refresher concerning the world of Jamaican pot still rums (and Hampden Estate in Trelawny in particular), followed by a no-notes review of the first three marks in the set. And even if they're not the highest in terms of ester content, don't let that fool you into thinking they're easygoing...
- Hampden Estate "OWH" Single Jamaican Rum (bottled circa 2022 as part of the 8 Marks Collection; pot-distilled molasses, 40- 80 gr/HLPA esters; 60% ABV), 87/100
- Hampden Estate "LFCH" Single Jamaican Rum (bottled circa 2022 as part of the 8 Marks Collection; pot-distilled molasses, 80-120 gr/HLPA esters; 60% ABV), 87-/100
- Hampden Estate "LROK" Single Jamaican Rum (bottled circa 2022 as part of the 8 Marks Collection; pot-distilled molasses, 200-400 gr/HLPA esters; 60% ABV), 87+/100
What's perhaps most fun about these is that they're clearly not just a "progression": every single mark has its own distinctive style and character. OWH, despite being the lightest recipe (and relatively new at that), has a flowers-and-glue kind of profile that comes off as surprisingly close to the cane. Its bigger (and equally recent) sibling LFCH is much more herbaceous, but be careful about adding water. LROK is the classic entry-level Hampden and I've tasted an unaged version before ( • Habitation Velier Hamp... ), but I like this one better: it's bright and fruity and desserty and just delicious. And we're just getting started...
Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon ( / differentspirits ) -
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20 ноя 2023
