Velier Hampden Rare Cask Series HLCF 2010

Velier, the Genoese house at the heart of collectible rum, bottled this Hampden HLCF from its Rare Cask Series, distilled in 2010 and aged 12 years in the tropics. Hampden is the high-ester benchmark, and HLCF sits in its fuller fruity band, here matured long enough at origin to gain depth and colour.

Distilled from molasses on a double-retort pot still and matured in ex-bourbon wood, it shows pineapple, ester, tropical fruit and marzipan on the nose, then balanced, oily pineapple and tropical fruit on the palate, finishing woody with bitter orange, chocolate and banana. Bottled at 61.9% and unsweetened, the tropical ageing brings a darker colour and more sweetness than continental Hampdens, the pineapple and banana funk rounded by floral notes and polished oak. This is a mature, well-balanced single cask for experienced drinkers, best sipped slowly, the funk present but refined into something harmonious.