Hampden Presents New Trelawny Endemic Butterflies Series With Debut American Lady Single Cognac Cask

So you thought the hunt for rare Hampden's was over? You really thought Hampden was going to let you off the hook that easily? Well, think again because Hampden is launching an all new, incredibly exciting series that it's calling the Trelawny Endemic Butterflies Series!

This of course follows the conclusion of Hampden highly sought after Trelawny Endemic Birds series which taught fans that Jamaica is home to many birds - a hard lesson that collectors learnt by having to trace down all 29 expressions (now, who got Mango?) - and is likely set to help fans learn just how many butterflies call Jamaica home too.

The first release from the new series will be a single cask (Single Cask #881) - very interestingly a Cognac cask, which is sure to make fans excited - and will be named after the American Lady butterfly, containing Hampden rum that has been tropically aged on the estate for 2 years, having been distilled in 2024 and bottled in 2026, at 57% ABV.

But that's not all, it also intriguingly bears the R<>H mark which is not a standard Hampden mark, and has been incredibly rarely seen, perhaps most notably in the unaged Hampden expression that was bottled as part of the Velier Triple Entente set that included also a white expression of Foursquare and Neisson. At the time of the release of the Velier Triple Entente set - a project that was conceived as a collaboration between three rare independently family-owned rum distilleries that shared a common objective - it was said that Hampden was asked to create a special mark for the set, and thus produced the R<>H mark, which it calls a tribute to the distillery's owner Andrew Hussey's mother, Ruth Hussey, who had together with her husband Lawrence acquired Hampden in 2009, saving the distillery from the chopping block. The R<>H mark corresponds to Hampden's rum with an ester range of 800-900 gr/hlpa.

The new Hampden R<>H Trelawny Endemic Butterflies Series American Lady Cognac Cask will be presented at Whisky Live Paris 2026.

Kanpai!

88 Bamboo Editorial Team