Background: finally, I was allowed to access my office. This is the first of a few bottles I had intended to review before the lockdown. A special bottling by rum fans, for rum fans, of Singapore.

Nose: light and perfumey; mild and alluring floral scents; sweetened chrysanthemum tea; marzipan and other baked sweets; the sting of alcohol becomes apparent as I delve beneath the top notes; anise; camphor; apple juice; American apple brandy; liquorice stick; coconut shavings; a faint hint of canned pineapple; lemon rind; barley; dry sake.

Palate: very drying attack; wood soup; rather acidic espresso; grapefruit; mandarin peel; camphor; some kind of floral tea; sweetened black tea.

Finish: savoury spice note, maybe coriander; the Hampden-esque notes of brine and tropical fruits finally arrive, even though it is still very much muted as far as Hampdens go; vanilla; more drying wood, leaving an aftertaste of sweet chrysanthemum tea.

Conclusion: what an atypical Hampden! LFCH, although low in esters for a Hampden, should still give off much of the distillery's signature funk. Yet there is hardly any funk in this rum. In its place are floral notes of various forms. As much as this is a breath of fresh air, the palate is a letdown in the overall experience. The entry and the entire front-palate are somewhat too tannic (this level of tannins would not make me blink an eye in an old Caroni, but here it is obviously out of place), which is not commensurate with the age of the rum. Not bad by any means, but far from top-drawer.

Score (assuming a normal distribution with mean 50): 79/100

Image Courtesy of u/zoorado. 

u/zoorado