Romdeluxe Hampden Wild Series Rum No. 18 JMC 1993

Wild Series Rum No. 18 is a single cask from RomDeluxe, the Danish house behind very-high-strength, high-ester single-cask funk bombs in black-and-white animal livery. Distilled at Hampden in 1993 from the JMC marque and bottled at twenty-eight years old, it sits well up the distillery's ester scale, here carried by long age into something both intense and unusual.

Distilled on the double-retort pot stills from molasses and matured in ex-bourbon oak, nearly three decades of ageing concentrate the fruit while keeping a sharp acidic edge. The nose is pineapple, tropical fruit, ester and glue; the palate stays fruit-driven with pineapple and a striking acidity, closing on fermented tropical fruit, ester and pineapple. Unsweetened and bottled at 57.7%, it demands time in the glass to settle the lactic, marzipan-laced funk. This is a thrilling but uncompromising high-ester Hampden, one for seasoned enthusiasts who want a wild, acidic twist on the 1993 vintage rather than an easy pour.