When the Hussey family took over Jamaica's Hampden Estate in 2009, the now cult rum-maker had only up till that point produced white rum which was mainly committed to exports (particularly to Europe), where once out of the country was either bottled and sold as unaged and continentally aged rums or used for the production of everything from cakes to perfumes and even cosmetics - the funk had many uses!
The decision was made then that Hampden would begin ageing its own rums in the tropical Jamaican heat and humidity, and aged rums would thus come through the estate's own doors rather than the lens of others from far away. As third-generation marketing director for Rum Fire Christelle Harris puts it, if the rums had so much value from the hands of those outside the country, it would only make sense for the rums to be even more valuable if it were to come from its maker itself. Supporting this endeavour was of course arguably the godfather of rums, Luca Gargano, who helms the foremost rum bottler Velier (and operates as LM&V, together with acclaimed French fine spirits retailer La Maison du Whisky).
The Hampden Great House.
This of course demanded boldness and patience, with the first output of the experiment only deemed ready in 2018, almost a full decade from when the idea was first conceived. Hampden's then newly inaugurated 8 Year Old and Hampden Overproof (today the Hampden HLCF Classic) would become the basis for what was called the Rum Tasting of the Century. The entire foray into aged rums has of course proven itself a great success, with every bottling now aged and met with massive excitement, thereby propelling the Hampden name to unimaginable heights - today Hampden Estate is even often cited as the most beloved rum distillery! It is hard then to comprehend that just a little over 15 years ago, most have never even heard of the Hampden name, and that there isn't a single officially released tropically aged bottling from the distillery that dates back to before 2009! All this simply because the estate took a bet to begin ageing its own rums that were branded under its own name, after some 250 plus years of allowing someone else to do it for them instead.
Yet, as much as Hampden's aged rums have been the shot heard around the world - you'll find a bottling or a dozen on any self respecting rum aficionado's shelf - the story on the island itself is far more different. Whilst the whole world was enraptured with Hampden's aged rums, Jamaicans have instead steadfastly held on to their local palate for what they call Ting, or also known as Rum 'n' Ting, which is white overproof rum that's mixed with a popular local carbonated grapefruit soda - they even have a particular white overproof rum of choice, and that is the iconic Wray & Nephew Overproof Rum. And so in 2011, Hampden would decide to produce their own interpretation of a white overproof rum, which is of course the Hampden Rum Fire!
Made with the same molasses as Hampden's aged offerings, the Hampden Rum Fire is pretty much made in the same process as with all of Hampden's rums. The molasses undergo a 10-14 day open top wild fermentation where dunder and muck (the leftovers from previous rounds of distillation) is added to create a really acidic environment that supercharges the yeasts to produce more esters, which is of course the Hampden signature style. It then goes through only pot still distillation where it is then either brought down to 63% ABV for the unaged Hampden Rum Fire or put into barrels for ageing to fulfill the Hampden range of aged rums. The Rum Fire is thus the only unaged rum expression of the flagship Hampden line-up.
Now, Hampden is of course not the only rum-maker on the island who has sought to come up with a white overproof rum to give Wray & Nephew's a run for its money. Arguably the top three most popular white overproof rums in Jamaica are therefore the historic Wray & Nephew, Rum Bar and Rum Fire - all of which are interestingly bottled at 63% ABV. That said, Hampden didn't come to play games, and readily tops the podium for being the funkiest.
By ester count comparison,
Wray & Nephew White Overproof (produced by Appleton Estate at the New Yarmouth Distillery): 100-200 g/hL AA, Pot and Column Still Blend
Rum Bar White Overproof (produced by Worthy Park Estate, and is a blend of three marques, WPL / Worthy Park Light, WPEL / Worthy Park Extra Light and WPE / Worthy Park Estate): 150-300 g/hL AA, Pot Still Distillation
Rum Fire White Overproof (produced by Hampden Estate, bears the HLCF / Hampden Light Continental Flavoured marque): 500-600 g/hL AA, Pot Still Distillation
A last bit about the Rum Fire that's worth pointing out is the noticeable difference in its aesthetics as compared to the classic Hampden lineup. The red and blue flames bearing the massive "RUM FIRE" text looks nothing like Hampden's iconic text-heavy label that extolls the various dimensions of its merits that's then topped with two endemic crocodiles facing snout to snout - the former feels like the t-shirt of an early 90's punk rock band whilst the later is giving crocodile dundee wilderness. This noticeable difference has often been attributed to precisely the Rum Fire's focus on the domestic market, paying homage to the nickname "firewater" that is given to white rums, and also its envisaged placement in local bars where it would serve its purposes for making funky cocktails. The Rum Fire was thus never quite designed to be a sipping rum, and till today remains a cocktail bar staple even as its fame has spread far beyond the Jamaican coastline.
And so with that said, let's get down to tasting the Hampden Rum Fire White Overproof Rum!
Let's go!
Rum Review: Hampden Rum Fire Jamaican White Overproof Rum, 63% ABV
Tasting Notes
Colour: Clear
Aroma: Immediately really creamy and surprisingly gentle and rounded! It’s really rich, mellow and with a great depth of crushed cane, fondant and vanilla cream.
Taste: Medium-plus bodied, it’s really rounded and creamy rich, showing great intensity of a firm punchiness. It’s not sharp or overwhelmingly spicy, made more accessible by its rich creaminess. Wrapped around a core of concentrated sugarcane juice is a layer of fondant, with then wafts of meaty savouriness.
Finish: More bananas here green and yellow, as well as green olives and black olive tapenade, along with that gamey meatiness of air dried beef, laid over a bed of cane juice and syrup. It closes out clean and firm, with a deep warmth, with smashed yellow bananas, green bananas and a streak of saline persisting.
My Thoughts
This caught me by quite abit of surprise! Here I was almost approaching it with the sort of caution you’d expect a bomb squad to carry, and yet as it turns out, this wasn’t at all fiery! Instead, what I found was a really mellow, rich and concentrated rum that was packed with that signature Jamaican funk, with then a really satisfying intensity on the palate. It’s neither sharp nor overwhelmingly spicy, in fact very much intentional and precise in its delivery, which makes clear that this is of course as it was meant to be a cocktail component. It’s really cohesive and showed more complexity and development on the finish, really well integrated, and yet at the same time totally singular in capturing exactly the essence of that Jamaican funk - nothing more, nothing less; the perfect Jamaican kiss for giving your cocktail a touch of the wild!
Kanpai!
@111hotpot
