The Nectar Hampden The Nectar Of The Daily Drams OWH 2012

The Nectar bottled this single cask Hampden under its Nectar of the Daily Drams label, distilled in 2012 and aged nine years, carrying the OWH marque. OWH is Hampden's lightest, cleanest recipe at the bottom of the ester scale, so this is the distillery in an unusually subtle, restrained mood.

Distilled from molasses on a double-retort pot still and matured in ex-bourbon wood, it shows fruity, banana, tropical fruit and dried fig on the nose, then turns dry and savoury with black tea, smoke, dried fruit and tobacco on the palate, finishing woody, roasted and smoky. Bottled at 60.8% and unsweetened, the alcohol is well integrated, but the classic Jamaican funk is largely absent, replaced by a mineral, whisky-like bitterness. This is a niche Hampden for drinkers who enjoy the dry, low-ester end of the house and don't mind smoke and bitterness standing in for tropical fruit.