Habitation Velier Hampden Hampden OWH 2016

This is a Habitation Velier Hampden, a 2016 OWH bottled as Pure Single Rum, pot still from a single Jamaican distillery with no additives and no colouring, in the black-and-white botanical livery the line is known for. OWH is one of Hampden's lighter marques, low on the ester scale, so this is a more relaxed face of the estate's famous funk.

Hampden's double-retort pot stills and long wild fermentation still leave their mark, but at this gentler marque the result is bright and fruity, banana and pineapple with light vanilla and marzipan, balanced by a woody, faintly citrusy and medicinal edge. Tropically aged at origin and bottled at 60% with nothing added, it carries full-proof concentration while staying drinkable, an accessible low-ester way into Hampden for those who find DOK too wild. A characterful Jamaican for slow sipping with a little water.