Habitation Velier Hampden HLCF 2010

Habitation Velier is the Pure Single Rum line built to showcase pot still spirit from a single distillery, bottled without additives at full proof, and this is a Hampden from Trelawny, the very heart of high ester Jamaica. It carries the HLCF marque, Hampden's higher ester threshold mark and the same DNA behind the estate's Rum Fire, distilled in 2010 and matured tropically in ex-bourbon oak.

At a towering 68.5% it is an ester bomb in the fullest sense, explosive overripe pineapple and banana, glue and solvent and honeyed spice, the funk that Hampden made famous turned up to its most intense. Six years in the Caribbean heat give just enough young wood and structure to hold it together, so it stays thrilling rather than broken. This is one strictly for seasoned drinkers who already love high ester Jamaican rum and want a reference cask strength Hampden, unsweetened and undiluted, best met with patience, a little air and a small glass.