TCRL Hampden HD selected by La Maison du Whisky 2012

Transcontinental Rum Line selected this 2012 Hampden, marque HD, for La Maison du Whisky, bottled at cask strength 56.9%. Hampden is the Trelawny reference point for high-ester funk, all pot still, its marques running from clean OWH up to the towering DOK at the legal ceiling. HD sits in the funkier, ester-driven part of that range rather than at the light end.

Distilled from molasses on pot still and bottled at full proof, it noses on licorice, tropical fruit, ester and spice, then turns woody and spicy with licorice and ester on the palate, the finish carrying vanilla, wood, licorice and a roasted note. The continental ageing shows in a rounder, more mature shape than a tropically aged Hampden of the same age, the wood notably present. Unsweetened and bottled at cask strength, this is a characterful Hampden for funk seekers, where the spice and oak frame the distillery's signature ester rather than letting it run fully wild.