Hampden Rumclub Private Selection Ed. 25 DOK 2009

This is a Hampden DOK, the most intense of the Trelawny distillery's eight marques and effectively the highest-ester rum in Jamaica, sitting at the traditional legal ceiling. Hampden is the purest expression of the high-ester tradition, with wild fermentation, double-retort pot stills, dunder and muck pits and no additives, and DOK was historically a flavouring rum, near-undrinkable neat. This 2009 single cask was aged continentally in Europe and bottled at cask strength.

The funk is the whole point. The nose erupts with pineapple, ripe banana, mango and a glue and varnish ester lift, the palate carries that tropical fruit and solvent character over vanilla pastry, and the finish stays estery, funky and warm. Those solvent and overripe-fruit notes are the prized side of the high-ester style, not a flaw. At 58.2% it is big yet surprisingly round and drinkable for a DOK, and it opens further with a rest and a few drops of water. One for seasoned drinkers who already love high-ester Jamaican funk and want it at full throttle.