Hampden - 1753 - 46%
Hampden Estate is one of the oldest sugar plantations in Jamaica . It dates back to 1753 when the estate was owned by Mr. Archibald Stirling of Scotland. In 1779, Mr. Sterling built Hampden Great House, the ground floor of which served as a rum store until the early 1900s. The Farquarson family operated the estate, producing sugar and rum until 2003, when it became the property of the Jamaica Sugar Company. The estate is renowned for having the best sugarcane land in Jamaica, producing the most tons of sugar from milled cane. At the time, Hampden rums were exclusively exported to Europe, England, and Scotland. In 2009, Everglades Farms Ltd. , owned by the Hussey family , acquired the estate through a public offering through divestment procedures of the assets of the Jamaica Sugar Company, owned by the Government of Jamaica. Since the acquisition, Everglades Farms has invested heavily in the rum mill, created jobs throughout the town of Trelawny, and provided considerable infrastructure to over 17 communities and schools.
The water used in the production of its rums is not supplied by underground aquifers, but via its own mountain water collection system , and after use, returns only clean water to the earth. Prolonged fermentation occurs with natural yeasts . Hampden Estate is one of the last distilleries that still uses batch distillation to produce its rums; it currently has four operational stills. The oldest is a John Dore, which was installed in 1960 and can hold 7,560 liters. The rums are tropically aged ; both rums are aged for over 7 years in the tropical Jamaican climate, which is equivalent to 25 years of aging in Europe. Hampden's rums are produced, aged and bottled without any additives , without added sugar, tannins, caramel or glycerin.
1753 is produced using unique and partly secret methods, unchanged since the 18th century. The rum is produced with spring water and natural yeasts. It is distilled in a still and aged for three years in a tropical climate. It contains 476.9 g/hlpa of esters.