Overview

Brand: Hampden Estate, Great House series

Origin: Hampden Estate, Wakefield, Trelawny Parish, Jamaica

Still: Pot

Age: NAS

Finish: ex-Bourbon

ABV: 57%

The latest edition of Hampden's annual rum blend has arrived, and is finally making its way to American shelves. For the fifth edition (if you count the distillery-exclusive 2019 expression), two relatively light– but frequently-seen– marques were chosen for this release.

Hampden Great House 2023 is composed of 60% LROK rum distilled in 2021 and aged for ~2 years, and 40% HLCF rum distilled in 2016 and aged ~7 years. If you followed our Hampden 8 Marks Month during February, you will have a primer on these marques already; they are steps 3 and 4 on the 8 marque spectrum, and collectively range from 200-600 g/hLAA in esters.

Both these marques have been featured in standalone self-labled releases, including LROK The Younger and HLCF Classic.

Appearance

Gold, low viscosity

Nose

Green grapes, ripe pineapple, overripe banana, vanilla, blueberries, starfruit

Palate

Banana, ripe pineapple, green grapes, green pepper, caramel

Finish

Long, warm, funky; vanilla, cinnamon, green grapes, overripe pineapple

Rating: 7/10

Summary

There's a lot to enjoy about this edition of Great House: it's fruity, funky, and actually, a bit spicy. It does lack a bit of punch that came through in the previous Great House expressions I've had, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The nose is very reminiscent of the LROK component, with green grapes, pineapple, banana, and blueberries, while the palate echos the shared essences of the blended components, with the tropical fruits, plus green pepper, caramel, and cinnamon. It's very well-balanced in its blend, which has been echoed by other reviewers I've seen analyze this.

Great House 2023 is a fun pour, and thoroughly enjoyable as a blended, high-proof, Hampden Estate rum. I feel like it's the perfect entryway for someone who likes Jamaican rum to dive into the higher end of the category, given that this isn't as brazen as earlier editions like 2022 or 2020; it is approachable and downright tasty.

Further Reading