#hampdenestate — Public Fediverse posts

Recent pickups from Julio's Liquors and Burlington Wine And Spirits

From Julio's I grabbed several recent Loch & Key Whisk(e)y Society picks:
- Bully Boy Distillers 'Wicked Dahka' Single Barrel Bottled-In-Bond Straight Bourbon
- Rittenhouse Rye 'Orange Crush' Straight Rye
- Proof and Wood Tumblin' Dice 'The Big Papi' 11-year Barrel Proof Straight Bourbon
- Middle West Spirits '38 Special' Single Barrel Straight Rye *Dark Pumpernickel*

If you missed out on the 38 Special, I'm sorry. I love rye, and this dark pumpernickel is fantastic. Just different from other ryes and very interesting, a great dram. Middle West does have a pumpernickel rye in their core lineup, which is also great, as long as you can catch it when it is in stock. They sell out fast

We tried these at the recent Middle West Whisk(e)y Wednesday at Julio's Liquors, and everything was great. I tried to be responsible and limit myself, but I did also end up grabbing their Double Cask Collection Ported Pumpernickel Rye. This is their pumpernickel rye that gets secondary aging in French tawny port casks.

The port brings a whole different depth and experience. I wouldn't say better or worse, just different. I really enjoyed both - obviously, given I bought both - but your palate may vary.

And this past week's WW was Maker's Mark, and we all brought home a 375ml of the standard Maker's Mark Bourbon. It's a solid bourbon, can't complain.

I was also over at Burlington Wine recently for a rum event and picked up a couple of bottles that had arrived since the last time I was there. They're both independent bottlings of Hampden Estate Rum, a favorite of mine.

The Colours of Rum Jamaica 1998 HD Edition No.6 Cask 6 23-year Cask Strength Rum

Raising Glasses & Nobilis Rum Papilio 6-year Single Cask, Cask Strength Rum

The Papilio is the C<>H (C Diamond H) mark, the 7th heaviest out of the eight marks Hampden distills, so it has some character. You don't often see the heavier marks bottled outside of a blend. The 1998 HD is HLCF (Hampden Light Continental Flavored), the fourth of the eight marks, and one that is quite commonly bottled by itself.

#Whisky #Whiskey #Bourbon #Rye #Rum #BullyBoy #Rittenhouse #ProofAndWood #TumblinDice #MiddleWestSpirits #MakersMark #HampdenEstate #TheColoursOfRum #RaisingGlasses #NobilisRum

Getting near to the end of the monster auction haul, we're getting into the odds and ends.

- Indri Single Malt Whisky Trini

- Amrut Malt Gurus Greedy Angels 10 year Peated Rum Finish, which is intriguing

- Cotswolds Distillery Single Cask Collection New Vibrations

- Inchdairine Distillery RyeLaw - technically a Single Grain Scotch, but a rye, which is very unusual

- Wild Turkey Heritage Single Barrel 101 Proof

And, for a change of pace, a rum:

- Hampden Estate Rum Great House Distillery Edition 2024. This was the last one I needed to have the complete run from 2019 through 2025, so I'm all caught up.

#Whiskey #Whisky #Rum #Scotch #EnglishWhisky #IndianWhisky #Bourbon #Indri #Amrut #CotswoldsDistillery #Inchdairine #HampdenEstate

Hampden Estate Rum is one of my favorite rum brands, if not my favorite. So I often pick up new-to-me expressions when I can.

In the recent auction haul I had a couple - a Habitation Velier 5 year <>H mark, and a Velier 5 year Magnum Series #1 Elliot Erwitt Edition.

#Rum #HampdenEstate #Hampden #HabitationVelier

I attended a Raising Glasses Colors of Rum / Bedford Park event at Burlington Wine And Spirits recently. John & Lorri were great, as always, and I would have been happy to bring any of the rums home, but I limited myself to two.

The Bedford Park is a 5 year, single-cask, cask-strength rum from Reunion. It was a standout for me and I wanted to explore it more at my leisure.

The Colors of Rum is a 23 year old, single-cask, cask-strength Jamaican rum - more specifically, Hampden Estate Rum HLCF. This was continental aged, which gives it a slightly different character than island aging.

A small confession, this is Cask #7. There is also a Cask #6 from the same release wave. Burlington didn't have it in stock at the time, but they could get it - so that's waiting for me to pick up as well. That's also a 23 year old Hampden HLCF. It'll be interesting to compare.

Thanks to John & Lorri I was also able to pick up the Raising Glasses Pelee's Fury II cask-strength Grand Arome Rum from Martinique. I had previously picked up Pelee's Fury I & III, but it was long since sold out by the time I was looking for it. They found a lone bottle hiding in old stock and brought it to the event for me. Very kind.

#Rum #RaisingGlasses #BedfordPark #TheColorsOfRum #HampdenEstate

It isn't always whisky, sometimes it's rum instead.

These are two Bedford Park bottlings of Hampden Estate Rum - a 10 year from 2014 and a 23 year from 2000.

#Rum #BedfordPark #Hampden #HampdenEstate

Trying these two tonight. 1753 brings the expected Hampden Estate Rum funk, with a young edge. It's light, and a little sweet, but it has a long finish that fades into burning tires for me (in a good way). It's a pleasant sipper if you like funky Jamaican rum.

The Maverick comes across as having more age. It is more complex and has more room influence. It has a lot of spice right off, but as that disapates some sweetness and vanilla comes forward.

At 59% ABV it is no surprise that it has some astringency and dries the palate. Bananas, pineapple, and coconut with cinnamon, clove, pepper, and baking spices. The finish is long and rich, like a creme brulee with brown sugar adding a molasses note.

A little water really mutes the heat and spice, and massively brings out the tropical fruits, sweetness, and vanilla. Creamy and sweet, but the funk becomes more prominent as well - making for a nicely complex dram.

Without or with water are two very different experiences, and I like both.

#Rum #HampdenEstate

A little birdie told me the other day that Burlington Wine And Spirits had Hampden Estate Rum The Maverick in stock. I was up in Burlington picking up my R1S from Q Car Care (I had running boards installed to make things a bit easier for my dad, as well as detailing and some other work), and having lunch at The Friendly Toast with Jess, so I popped in.

I ended up picking up The Maverick, of course, and I also grabbed a bottle of Papalin Jamaica High Ester 5 year old Original Vatted Rum.

And I took the opportunity to pick up three bottles of Raising Glasses that I hadn't previously: Yowie 16 year Australian, The Yowie Strikes Back 17 year Australian, and King Kai 17 year Guyana.

#Rum #HampdenEstate #Papalin #RaisingGlasses

The other special order that came in tonight was much more affordable, and one I've also been interested in trying since Arminder / Rum Revival covered it last month. (https://youtu.be/ZG5D-sgEBfU)

It's Hampden Estate Rum 1753, their HLCF mark aged three years in ex-bourbon barrels. Typical of Jamaican rums, this should have a good deal of funk. Hampden is one of my favorite rums.

#Rum #HampdenEstate

Today I met up with a friend who kindly accepts shipments on my behalf when I can't ship directly to MA. He's been holding this for me for a while and today we were finally able to connect.

The first part of the haul is from Compass Box Whisky. K&L Wine Merchants just did a new bespoke with CB, a sequel to their original 5th & Harrison release. This time they did two labels for the same release - one a new 5th & Harrison and the other Culver & Sepulveda.

I picked up another bottle of the 2000 inaugural Hedonism. I like being able to have friends try this and see where Compass Box started, and how Hedonism evolved. Having a backup bottle makes you a little less reluctant to pour. There were only 690 of them.

The last Compass Box is a UK release of Secrets of Smoke which came with a leather carrying bag, an envelope with 11 puzzles, and a padlock. See my previous post about the puzzles, which are frustrating me.

I can solve all but one of the puzzles, but I have no idea what the numeric answers mean, and how they relate to the padlock - if at all. I feel like this was part of an event where there was a large puzzle these answers helped to solve, or that this auction was missing some item that would tie things together. And I can't find any information online.

I also picked up Amrut Malt Gurus European Exclusive Ex-Oloroso Cask Lightly Peated, Cask 3822. Filled July 2015 and bottled August 2022.

Last, but not least, I picked up the 2019 Hampden Estate Rum Great House Distillery Edition. This was the release that kicked off the Great House annuals. I started with the 2020, so this backfills the run.

#Whiskey #Whisky #Scotch #IndianWhisky #Rum #CompassBox #Amrut #HampdenEstate

The auction lots weren't all whisky, there were also a couple of bottles of rum.

Specifically, Hampden Estate Rum Great House Distillery Edition 2021 & 2022. I've been filling in the gaps in the Great House run of annual releases. Hampden is one of my favorite rums.

#Rum #HampdenEstate #Hampden

Why is the rum gone? Because I bought it all. 😁

Back on June 7th a friend of mine was working an Ardbeg event at Burlington Wine And Spirits and he invited me along. I already own all of the Ardbeg, but while I was there I checked out the rum aisle as I knew they had a good selection of Raising Glasses.

That may have been a tactical error, as I ended up buying ten of their bottlings. They make it so tempting with affordable 375ml bottles.

I was back a couple of weeks later for a Raising Glasses event and I took advantage of the event discount to pick up four more bottles. That brings my Raising Glasses selection to 16, including two I'd picked up a while back at Julio's Liquors.

On that first trip I also spotted, and grabbed, the 2023 Hampden Estate Rum Great House release. I'm working on having the full lineup of Great House bottles.

#Rum #RaisingGlasses #Hampden #HampdenEstate

A new arrival today, a Habitation Velier bespoke blend of three marks from Hampden Estate Rum. I heard good things from the Rum Revival Discord community and had to pick one up.

#Rum #HabitationVelier #HampdenEstate

Another recent pick up that gets its own post. Hampden Estate Rum The 8 Marks Collection, Aged 1 Year In Ex-Bourbon Casks.

This is the second 8 Marks release, with last year's not being aged. I haven't cracked that yet, so I'm looking forward to running through the eight marks and not only comparing the marks, but also comparing the two variants of each mark.

I wonder if this will become an annual thing, with a two year age next year, or maybe finished in a different type of cask, etc.

#Rum #HampdenEstate

I've loved Hampden Estate Rum since I first tried it on a visit to the distillery in Jamaica in 2018. I was able to try some not-yet-launched rum while I was there, and since then Hampden has launched several new rums into the global and US markets under their own brand. It has certainly made it easier to obtain - I used to have to hunt for it in foreign auctions and the like.

Recently I saw The Rum Revival review the Hampden Estate Single Jamaica Rum, The 8 Marks Collection, and I had to have it. https://youtu.be/rHdUQpjqh5w?si=xRkIdxKtPWkmpdmj

Fortunately, I was able to find a local retailer, Burlington Wine And Spirits, who had it available, and now I have one to try.

I can't wait to try these for myself.

#Rum #HampdenEstate

Anyone who doesn't know me who reads my feed probably thinks I drink like a fish.

And this post isn't going to help.

Today a shipment arrived from Scotch Whisky Auctions. A smaller one this time, with three The Scotch Malt Whisky Society bottles - one Hampden Estate Rum and two Glenmorangie, two Compass Box - The Spaniard and a signed, but unfortunately smudged, early The Spice Tree, and, finally, a The Clan Denny 45 year old Single Grain from the Carsebridge Distillery.

#Whiskey #Whisky #Glenmorangie #CompassBox #Scotch #SMWS #Rum #HampdenEstate #TheClanDenny #Carsebridge

The latest round of acquisitions - local and auctions.

A bunch of Glenmorangie (including that The Scotch Malt Whisky Society UK bottling), a couple of Clase Azul, the Compass Box Bern's #1 I'm really looking forward to comparing with the #2 we've already tried, some rum from last night's Maison Ferrand tasting at Julio's Liquors (the Long Pond and Canerock) and a new bottle of Hampden Rum Fire as the last one gave it's all, a Wild Turkey U.S. 12 year European release I was hearing good things about, and the Loch & Key Whisk(e)y Society Catoctin Creek "Leaky Binders" barrel select rye.

#Whiskey #Whisky #Glenmorangie #CompassBox #Scotch #Rum #ClaseAzul #HampdenEstate #WildTurkey #CatoctinCreek #SMWS #Canerock #Tequila #LongPond #Rye #Bourbon

Recent acquisitions, mostly from auctions.

I've really been focused on Glenmorangie and Compass Box, but there were a couple of lots of Hampden Estate Rum that were a good value that I couldn't pass up.

#Whiskey #Whisky #Glenmorangie #CompassBox #Rum #HampdenEstate

Who needs Santa Claus when we have UPS?

Latest auction winnings. Closing the gaps in my Glenmorangie collection for the most part.

But the one that has me literally giddy, like a kid on Xmas, is the Glenmorangie Pride 1974. The Pride editions are the Holy Grails for Glenmorangie, and priced accordingly. I've had the chance to try a Pride before, but it was like $400 a pour so not something I've had much of. A special treat to savor.

I had aspirations of obtaining one someday, but didn't expect it to come up at auction and to win with a bid *substantially* lower than MSRP. Still not cheap, but an opportunity I couldn't pass up.

I know packaging is just packaging and it is the contents that matter. But, c'mon, just look at that packaging! And that comes ensconced in a special carrying case, which is inside of a padded shipping box.

I can't wait to crack this with some close friends.

#Whiskey #Whisky #Glenmorangie #Ardbeg #Rum #HampdenEstate