Discover the Hampden Estate Distillery
Discover the Hampden Estate Distillery
Rum
Welcome to Trelawny, a region in the north of Jamaica bordered by Cockpit Country’s spectacular mountainous landscapes. Its sharp peaks and deep chasms, sculpted by the erosion of the limestone bedrock, are covered with dense and tangled forests. This mountain range is home to Jamaica’s largest rainforest and its diverse wildlife, including many endemic species of birds and colourful butterflies. Located near the village of Wakefield, in a rural environment surrounded by verdant hills, Hampden Estate produces high ester rums according to methods which have not changed in three centuries. The path to the estate is riddled with potholes, and winds between bamboo thickets and tall sugarcanes. On the path to the distillery, one is immediately struck by intense fragrances of rum, a prelude of sorts to an unforgettable visit.
◊ Past the lane, flanked with its legendary rows of towering palm trees, the gardens of the Great House are lush with the foliage of yuccas, tropical almonds, bougainvillea, red gingers, and spectacular banyans. The screams of peacocks have been known to startle many a visitor.
◊ Beneath the antique timberwork of the Boiling House, lean out over the huge wooden open-air fermentation vats. Looking from one vat to the next, observe the various stages of wash fermentation: frothy and bubbly at first, and covered by a thick layer after a few weeks. If you can tolerate the acidity, dip your finger in and have a taste! Peek under the wooden lids of the fruit vats at the mixture of jackfruit and other macerated tropical fruits, which will feed the fermentation vats. Afterwards, walk across the footbridge overlooking the muck pit, and smell the powerful scents of butyric acid and sulphur… if you have the stomach for it, of course.
◊ In the heat of the stillhouse, breathe in the aromas of pastry and baked apples given off by the four double retort pot stills. Then, venture onto the platform housing the old Vendome stil — still active, seemingly impervious to the weather under its modest corrugated iron roof. The views out onto the surrounding valley are breathtaking.
◊ The estate’s bar welcomes visitors with a Rum Fire punch —high ester rum with local soursop and sorrel. Do not miss the annual Great House release, an exclusive blend only on offer at the distillery.
◊ In the surrounding villages, try the local street food: curried goat or crab with chillies, conches, or jerk—Jamaica’s renowned national dish—with chicken, pork, or goat. You can also find specialities such as roast yams with saltfish, Jamaican festival (fried dumplings), or ackee and saltfish, which is often served for breakfast.
◊ In the evenings, delve into the nightlife of Trelawny’s villages and dance to the rhythms of reggae, dancehall, and afrobeat inside the colourfully-fronted bars.
◊ The more adventurous visitor can hire a guide and explore Cockpit Country’s rainforest, which in the 17th and 18th centuries was home to the Maroon resistance. Its steep terrain and natural mazes made it an ideal refuge for escaped slaves, who waged an intense guerilla war against British colonial oppression. Today, this nature reserve houses 26 species of bird, some of which feature on the labels of single cask bottlings in Hampden Estate’s Trelawny Endemic Birds Series, launched in 2020.
◊ Hyde Hall, Vale Royal, Cambridge… the ruins of some of the Great Houses of the region’s plantations still remain, relics of Jamaican sugarcane production in the 18th century.
Hampden Estate
Hampden Estate
HAMPDEN ESTATE
HAMPDEN 4 ans 2021 DOK Magnum Series #3
60%rhum1.5Ljamaica
Ref: 69372
With an ester content between 1,500 and 1,600 grams per hectolitre of pure alcohol, this extraordinarily intense expression embodies the most extreme style among Hampden’s marks: DOK (Dermot Owen Kelly-Lawson). A true sensory journey, its aromatic and flavour profile successively reveals all the facets of this outstand...See more325.00 €
HAMPDEN ESTATE
HAMPDEN 7 ans 2018 HGML Magnum Series #3
60%rhum1.5Ljamaica
Ref: 69374
Marking a new threshold in aromatic concentration, this version of the HGML mark (Hampden George MacFarquhar Lawson) displays an ester level between 1,000 and 1,100 grams per hectolitre of pure alcohol. From the outset, it oscillates between lush fruitiness, pure floral fragrances and honeyed notes of remarkable smooth...See more465.00 €
HAMPDEN ESTATE
HAMPDEN 8 ans 2017 <>H Magnum Series #3
60%rhum1.5Ljamaica
Ref: 69376
Acquired in 2009 by Everglades Farms, owned by the Hussey family, Hampden Estate spans 6,000 hectares, a third of which is dedicated to sugarcane cultivation. Made from a ten-day fermentation, this version of the <> H mark (Diamond H) shows an ester content between 900 and 1,000 grams per hectolitre of pure alcohol. Ri...See more525.00 €
HAMPDEN 8 ans 2017 <> H Bourbon Barrel
67.9%rhum70cLjamaica
Ref: 69311
Acquired in 2009 by Everglades Farms, owned by the Hussey family, Hampden Estate spans 6,000 hectares, a third of which is dedicated to sugarcane cultivation. Produced from a ten-day fermentation, this <>H (Diamond H) mark displays an ester content ranging between 900 and 1,000 grams per hectolitre of pure alcohol. Rig...See more159.00 €
HAMPDEN ESTATE
HAMPDEN 9 ans 2016 LROK Magnum Series #3
60%rhum1.5Ljamaica
Ref: 69379
First step in a chronological and gradually intensifying aromatic journey, this LROK (Light Rum Owen Kelly) version displays an ester level ranging from 200 to 400 grams per hectolitre of pure alcohol. A hallmark mark of the Hampden distillery, it elegantly embodies the house style — revealing, in bursts but with great...See more510.00 €
HAMPDEN 15 ans Fifteen
50%rhum70cLjamaica
Ref: 69673
Produced from a five-day fermentation, this expression with an ester content ranging between 200 and 400 grams per hectolitre of pure alcohol belongs to the LROK (Light Rum Owen Kelly) mark, created by Hampden Estate in 1952. Shaped by fifteen years of tropical ageing in ex-bourbon casks, its aromatic and flavour profi...See more379.00 €
