Habitation Velier Hampden DOK 2017

DOK is the most intense of Hampden's eight registered marks, sitting at the top of the ester scale that the Trelawny estate built its name on through wild fermentation, dunder, muck pits and double retort pot stills. Habitation Velier is the Pure Single Rum line from Velier, single distillery pot still spirit bottled with no sugar, no colouring and no flavouring, here at a full 60.5 percent.

Matured in the Caribbean rather than Europe, this 2017 vintage shows what tropical years do to a high ester rum, concentrating the fruit while integrating the alcohol. The aroma leads with pineapple, ester and overripe tropical fruit, the palate piles on more pineapple with a varnish and glue lift, and the finish runs long and solvent driven. It is wild by design, yet rounder and more drinkable than many continental DOK bottlings, a benchmark pour for anyone who loves the loudest face of Jamaican funk.