Ep. 131: Hampden Estate with Kate Perry of La Maison & Velier

Uptown FUNK

When you think Jamaican rum, you think funk. Funny thing is, most Jamaican rum by both volume and number of distillers is not funky. 

BTW - funky is the unscientific way of saying ester content. All those fruity, dark, tropical, funky notes are esters, the interactions and transformations of acids and alcohols and aldehydes into the familiar flavor compounds we love. 

Hampden Estate, however, is the funkiest of them all. 

Originally built in 1753, Hampden has been producing Trelawney-style rum (named for its province in Jamaica) continuously for closer to three centuries than two. For nearly that entire history, though, they produced rum and rum extracts for other bottlers, lending their flavors to everything from blended rum to confectionary to perfumes. Had rum cake? Hampden. Rum-flavored anything? Chances are, Hampden. 

After the Hussey family bought Hampden in 2009, they made the massive decision to bottle their own rum for the first time. Most of their production is still dedicated to blends and rectifiers - that's what keeps the lights on - but the results of their own bottlings so far have been spectacular. In 2023, they gave the rum world a love letter with their 8 Marks Collection, to be repeated in 2024. Nerdiness abounds, with everything you could want to know about every mark in the Hampden lineup. 

This was a hell of an episode, and I can't wait to do the follow-up. 

Thanks everyone for listening, and thank you to Kate for entering the Whiskey Ring!

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