And we're back with another Hampden from The Whisky Jury!

Now we've covered The Whisky Jury before, having tasted their wide range of spirits from whiskies to rums and even Cognacs and their very own mezcal - it's a big point of admiration from us that The Whisky Jury has time and again proven that they've got the mettle to operate as a bona fide independent bottler, bringing us on to a whole range of new experiences in the form of spirits sourced from all around the globe. Very impressive indeed!

Did we also mention we're big fans of The Whisky Jury's art style as well - completely striking and really helping to redefine how spirits engage with drinkers in the modern day. No stuffy labels here, what we find instead are evocative and completely artistic renders. And as a side note, we can definitely also appreciate The Whisky Jury's sense of humor, just check out closely the label above which says "Ester Range At Birth: Not That Much".

Enough of the praise - even if completely deserved, let's talk about the bottle at hand. Courtesy of Singaporean distributor Nanyang Whisky who recently held a showcase of some of the rums in their portfolio, we're over at Bar Madame (Singapore), and representing The Whisky Jury which they so kindly bring in to the tiny country, is this 10 Year Old 2012 Hampden, that as the label suggests comes from one of the Jamaican distillery's lower ester marks (they do produce a very spectacular range of rums that goes from not that funky to rip your face off funky).

Now who doesn't love Hampden and their funky dunder conceived rums?

Let's give this a go!

Rum Review: Hampden HD JMH3 2012, 10 Year Old, The Whisky Jury

Tasting Notes

Colour: Deep Amber

Aroma: Really rounded and mellow, it's giving bananas coated in honey, followed quickly thereafter by warm banana bread and a good amount of melted down brown sugar. It's rich and almost syrupy, without that increasingly common sharpness or funkiness.

Taste: Medium-bodied here, it's delivering an assortment of bananas, in the form of banana puree, banana blossoms and green bananas. Also a somewhat herbal touch of licorice sticks and angelica roots, with a serving of green olives to boot. There's touches of that ghee that comes through too. Some burnt brown sugar savouriness, and altogether incredibly flavour forward and well-saturated, with a really good richness.

Finish: Quite abit of savouriness begins to come through, with that barrel char really making its mark. More on black licorice candy, honey, maltose and then it's back to those green notes of banana blossoms and green olives. It's an incredibly long finish, rich and firm, nice punchiness, with lingering aromatics by way of banana bread and olive brine.

My Thoughts

A classic Hampden that's almost nostalgic, with the high ester incredibly funky stuff seemingly more common than what we've found today. This was rounded, mellow and yet no less flavour rich and well-saturated. Yet don't mistake any talk of this being mellow for the lack of intensity, the flavours here are bold and muscular, yet at the same time rounded about its contours, and with good heft and punchiness to the body too. There's lots of complexity to be had, and with the ability to really lean in without fear of being devoured by the funk, it's really giving us a multichromatic experience. Something too has to be said about this expression whilst being rather classic, yet also having a sort of modern sensibility, where the flavours are forward and powerful but also clean around the edges, really focused and concentrated.