Overview
Brand: Roaming Road
Origin: Hampden Estate, Wakefield, Trelawny Parish, Jamaica
Still: Pot
Age: 9 years
Finish: ex-Rum
ABV: 66.6%
To conclude our trip through my samples of Roaming Road rums, we embark to a fan-favorite origin of sometimes heavy, often fruity, but always enjoyable pot still rums.
Roaming Road Jamaica 9 year is a single cask, pot still, molasses-based rum. The exact distiller is undisclosed, reports indicate this is in fact a Hampden Estate rum, possibly the <>H marque. After production, the distillate was placed in an ex-Rum cask, in which it aged for 9 years before bottling at a devilish 66.6% ABV.
Appearance
Gold, low viscosity
Nose
Fresh ripe pineapple, permanent marker, underripe blueberries, kiwi, red pepper flakes, hint of butterscotch
Palate
Ripe pineapple, banana peel, candied grapefruit, underripe blueberries, hint of sport pepper
Finish
Long, fruity, slightly spicy; butterscotch, pineapple, grilled jalapeños, vanilla
Rating: 7/10
Summary
This is one of the spicier Hampden rums I've had, bringing tropical fruits and low-heat peppers in a slightly off-profile but serviceable package.
Fresh, tangy pineapple and a heap of permanent marker leads off on the nose, before blueberries and kiwi show up. More unexpectedly, slightly spicy and savory red pepper flakes appear, a new aroma for me on any Jamaican rum. On the palate, this translates to a mild sport pepper, which is surrounded by banana, grapefruit, and pineapple. The finish balances between being slightly savory and spicy, and tropical/cask oriented.
This is a unique pour, and not quite one I'd expect from Hampden Estate. It's certainly still a tasty and entertaining rum, but less in line with their typical fare than other bottlings I've had.
Thanks for joining me on this journey! It's always fun to see new bottlers, and even more fun to sample through their offerings.