We had loved 2022's edition, this is the newest version, fully aged at the distillery in proper oloroso butts from Bodegas Fundador. Now for how long, we don't quite know, but they would no doubt have indicated the age if it had been for a long period. Colour: deep gold. Nose: I'm not saying that this time there wasn't a real exchange between the rum and the sherry, but nothing would suggest any sort of dissonance was generated. Chestnuts roasted over a diesel fire, I'd say, coal tar, amaro (Montenegro), Barbour grease, new tyres, slightly rancid old walnuts (which I love), cigars, and orange too, lots of roasted almonds... With water: a few rusted nails in an old tin box, engine oil, jute bags of walnuts, and a little bit of 'old wine'. Mouth (neat): actually it's quite extreme, I don't know which Hampden marks they used but the whole thing is extremely powerful in taste. A lot of shoe polish, a bit of plastic material, old metal objects (silverware), pipe tobacco, more walnuts, grape seed oil, very strong honey, mead... In fact, it's not very classic. With water: not many changes. Liquorice, old nuts, a bit of rubber, a touch of mustard, anchovies. Finish: long and salty. Perhaps the oloroso itself was salty. Maybe two or three very, very dry raisins as a signature. Comments: it's perhaps a little more sensible than the 2022 edition, but in any case it is excellent, as expected.
BOW (89)
Founded in 1753, Hampden Estate has been distilling rum for over three centuries in the Trelawny Parish, historically the grand cru of Jamaican rum.
This bottling is the first in the history of the distillery to mature exclusively in sherry casks. The Jamaican rum from Hampden blends perfectly with the notes of the Sherry and shows a completely new profile of aromas.
It's the perfect bottle to appeal to rum aficionados and fans of sherry cask Single Malts alike.
Hampden Estate Pagos was born from a collaboration between Luca Gargano and Bodegas Lustau in Jerez with the idea of aging a Hampden rum fully in prestigious Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez 500-litre Sherry Butts.
After three years, the barrels were emptied and shipped to Jamaica, where they were filled with Hampden Rum.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Refined and typical. Notes of wax, chocolate, apricot, sugar cane, mango and passion fruit.
Taste: Fine and spicy. Gasoline, star anise, cloves, chocolate, eclair and rum baba.
Finish: Balanced and persistent. Cocoa, citrus fruit, ripe apricot, quince, wood and spicy notes.
