Amidst the multitude of rum bottlings vying for attention at Whisky Live Singapore 2024, it’s the familiar label with the silhouette of the Hampden Estate Great House that draws me in. Now in its sixth iteration, this annual release has become a reliable mainstay of the distillery’s lineup for those looking for a taste of the iconic Jamaican rum powerhouse’s signature character and blending capability at very decent value.

The actual Great House in the Hampden Estate. 

The marques chosen for the Great House blend have been shuffled considerably since its debut in 2019, but the core approach seems to be always a marriage of a base of a lighter formula of lower-ester rum marques and a smaller proportion of some of its famous high-ester rum marques.

The 2019 and 2020 releases, for instance, both featured blends of 80% OWH, Hampden's soft and lowest ester marque, and 20% Diamond H, a fairly high-ester marque with a pronounced tropical fruit profile of overripe pineapples and bananas and sometimes acidic undertones of cream cheese and white wine vinegar.

This year, however, the blend takes a slightly different turn and I hear it’s composed of 3 different marques - 70% low-ester LFCH and 15% high-ester HGML. The remainder is composed of the legendarily potent DOK that’s so funky it’s barely legal to produce under Jamaican law due to its incredibly high ester count.

Let’s give this a taste!

Hampden Great House 2024, 57% ABV – Review

Tasting Notes

Nose: Satisfyingly intense and complex, brimming with fruits and earthy-smoky accents. Opens with brown sugar and vanilla intertwined with a feinty note, while light apricots mingle with liquorice, grassiness and banana blossoms. A touch of citrus brightening the profile, alongside subtle hints of burnt brown sugar, touch of briny green olives and a very mild presence of diesel engine and burnt rubber.

Palate: A much cleaner and brighter sweetness takes the lead, bursting with rich brown sugar, banana bread and red apples. It gets increasingly warmer at the mid-palate, delivering baking spices, bird's eye chilli, green and black olives, brine, a touch of diesel, against a persistent backdrop of grilled pineapple and caramelised bananas.

Finish: Settles into a classic Hampden profile, with banana bread taking centre stage alongside hints of burnt rubber and smoked sandalwood. A subtle tropical fruitiness lingers in the retronasal passage, with nuances of banana blossoms and green banana.

My Thoughts:

A solid expression of Hampden. Perhaps owing to the slightly younger rums in the blend, it presents a brighter, more fruit-forward profile with caramel and brown sugar, albeit with some undeniable warmth and spice.

I like that it’s got this spectrum of banana notes, from grilled to green, with banana bread in between. Flashes of high-tone liveliness and those empyreumatic burnt and smoked characters emerge without becoming overpowering. Compared to earlier Great House releases, particularly the 2019 and 2020 editions, this one seems a bit spicier but with less funky fruits (applies, grilled pineapples) on the palate. Another excellent introduction to the Hampden style without overwhelming the senses.

@CharsiuCharlie