"When an unlabelled bottle makes an appearance at a spirits festival, you know you're in for something!" is a saying that I not only made up and will continue to repeat, but is also probably something that flies in the face of anything a parent would raise their kids on, and also likely contravenes any sense of survival instinct.

And yet once again, it's done me well to ask for what's in the unlabelled bottle because we got a sneak peek at the third edition of Hampden's Pagos series, which should've been due for release in 2024, but more realistically it's looking like 2025.

Regardless, let's talk about it!

Hampden Estate, though Luca would hope that before long, it would be "The Hampden Estate".

Hampden's Pagos series was a bid by Velier chief Luca Gargano to raise the profile of one of the rum world's most beloved distillery, Jamaica's Hampden Estate. Luca is credited as helping to advise the Hussey family who had taken over the Hampden Estate in 2009, to move away from selling unmarked bulk rums (much of which were aged in the hands of independent bottlers and released as such) and into estate ageing the distillery's own rums and branding it as such - this was of course a great call because in just a decade and a half, Hampden is today one of the most excitable distilleries in the rum world ever since they began releasing their own aged rums. This allowed the estate to control their own branding and of course benefit fully from the incredible work they were already doing in producing some incredible distinctive and funky rums.

And thus having already become a serious contender of the rum world, it was only a matter of time that Luca's ambition to always break new ground, would become directed at taking the Hampden name further - with the Pagos (which means "Cru" in Jerez, Spain, the land of Sherry wines), the idea was to take a page out of the Scotch whisky playbook and bring Sherry cask ageing to Hampden's rums. This would see the acquisition of several high quality very well-aged Sherry Solera casks from some Jerez's most notable bodegas that would be used to age Hampden's rums.

Luca Gargano, a man whose works you'll very quickly be acquainted with when you start jumping into the rum blackhole. (Image Source: The CEO Magazine)

As this hasn't yet been done for Hampden's rums, it's worth considering it as being rather experimental - not in the marketing sense of things, but rather that the folks behind it are still very much learning, tweaking and refining it as it goes along - which is not something that's of course mentioned by the rum's producers, but is an observation I've come to realise. The first edition released in 2022 was a combination of PX and Oloroso Sherry casks, after which it was concluded that moving forward the Oloroso profile was better suited for the rums, and thus the second and third editions have focused solely on Oloroso. Whilst the full launch hasn't yet been rolled out for the third edition, it appears that the Pagos number three has one more year of ageing in those Oloroso casks as compared to Pagos number two, which seems to be a matter of deliberate intention to showcase side by side how that flavour profile has evolved with an additional year of ageing - you start to see what I mean about the Pagos series being rather experimental in that sense.

| Read: Hampden Pagos 2022 (First Edition) - Review

| Read: Hampden Pagos 2023 (Second Edition) - Review

These casks used to transport Sherry from Spain to the UK, where Sherry was really popular in the mid-1900s, were uneconomical to be brought back to Spain and so fell in the hands of Scotch makers. This obviously went on to significantly influence and shape the whisky-verse. (Image Source: Sherry Wines)

And so materially whilst we don't quite have all the information on Pagos 2024 (Third Edition) yet, we do know that it comes in with less congeners and esters (the 2023 Pagos Second Edition clocking in at 2,304.2 gr/hlpa of congeners with 467.9 gr/hlpa of esters; the 2024 Hampden Pagos Third Edition, we're seeing 1,726.6 gr/hlpa of congeners of which 374.1 gr/hlpa are esters). The proof has been held constant between the second and third Pagos, which again fortifies my belief that the basis of the two releases is to draw attention to the flavour profile's development with some additional ageing.

As is inarguably one of the best places to try the newest spirits, this was tasted at Whisky Live Singapore 2024 - take this as a hot tip that whenever you find a suspiciously unlabelled bottle, there's a good chance you definitely want to try that.

And so with all that said, let's give the Hampden Pagos 2024 (Third Edition) a go!

Rum Review: Hampden Pagos 2024 (Third Edition)

Tasting Notes  

Colour: Gold

Aroma: Rather mellow and rounded, filled in with softer notes of mashed up bananas that takes the top, whilst towards the base there's more nuttiness, along with some of those flor and rancio qualities, giving freshly unearthed mushrooms and black olives. It's got a moderate richness, reinforced by some of that honey in the backdrop, painted across by both brighter fruit tones as well as a gentle, more earthy umaminess. There's a teaspoon of saltiness here as well. Quite powerful, perfumed and evocative.

Taste: Much richer here, much more of that honey, and then interestingly the saltiness too becomes more emphasised. It still retains that mellowed quality, it's not sharp or high toned or acetone here. That's all followed by more umaminess of black olives, banana blossoms, and some more of that mushroom and dashi stock. It's bold yet mellow, at the same time more elegant and brighter even as it keeps its roundedness.

Finish: The umaminess carries through here, carrying along more briny notes as well, with a richness into the finish. Mushrooms, banana blossoms and brown sugar makes up the finish.

My Thoughts 

On its own I found this to be a pretty enjoyable rum, cohesive, approachable, yet also pushing the envelope - certainly adding new dimensions to Hampden's now very recognisable signature profile, which is something to only be found within the Pagos range so far. It's well-balanced yet subtly powerful with bold flavours that keep a mellowness about itself, as well as being a rather complete rum with a good amount of complexity and contrasting shades of brighter and more earthy umaminess - if you like umami flavours this one is definitely something you'd enjoy.

Now compared to the Hampden Pagos Second Edition (2023), I found this far more well-balanced and cohesive, with the umaminess much more tame and rounded this time, more readily held up by that richness of honey and brown sugars. With a more gentle and mellow umaminess, this has also allowed a better appreciation of those brighter, more floral and fruity, banana blossom scents to come through. And whilst some might fear if the mellowness might take away from its power - I can assure you it's certainly still there, almost simply residing behind the veil of florals.