TAST’TOE Hampden MDEN Jamaican Rum HLCF 1998

TAST'TOE bottled this Hampden from the 1998 vintage, an HLCF marque rum at 57.2%, unsweetened and twenty three years old. HLCF is a high ester Hampden mark, but more than two decades of ageing have taken it somewhere drier and more refined than the estate's youthful ester bombs, a fine pick for drinkers who want Hampden funk with maturity.

Distilled on double retort pot stills from molasses and matured in ex-bourbon oak, it opens on bright esters, pineapple, banana and tropical fruit, the wild Trelawny character clear but settled. The palate carries overripe banana and pineapple alongside more esters, with light glue and solvent humming underneath, and a touch of menthol. The finish is fruity, spiced and faintly astringent. Long ageing has lent balance and a clean, dry profile, making this an elegant, well aged Hampden rather than a raw blast of funk.