Hampden HLCF - Bodegas Fundador Sherry Cask #A4 - Kirsch

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 64.4% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

This single-cask bottling brings together Hampden's ester-driven HLCF style and maturation in a former sherry cask from Bodegas Fundador. The rum was distilled in pot stills in 2023 and matured for two years in the tropical climate of Trelawny, Jamaica. Cask A4 was selected for Kirsch, yielding 733 bottles in 2025.

Production uses molasses and sugarcane juice, with dunder and muck also forming part of the fermentation. Since 2018, Hampden has been trialling sherry casks from Bodegas Fundador to mature different marks and vintages. This bottling is therefore part of a series of experiments bringing the distillery's different rum profiles together with these Andalusian casks.

HLCF stands for Hampden Light Continental Flavoured and denotes one of the distillery's distinct production profiles. For this mark, the fresh distillate has an ester range of 400 to 600 grams per hectolitre of pure alcohol. The designation thus describes not just a style, but a profile shaped by fermentation and distillation. In this bottling, preserved cherries, cocoa and toasted walnuts complement the intense fruitiness.

The rum was bottled at a cask strength of 64.4%, without chill filtration or added colouring. The 0.7-litre bottle comes in red gift packaging.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: The nose reveals intense dark tropical fruit, accompanied by mint and a light vanilla sweetness. Notes of coffee liqueur, preserved cherries, blood orange, cedarwood and almonds add further detail.
• Palate: Juicy, sweet fruit leads on the palate. The texture is creamy and full-bodied, with white pepper adding a spicy accent. Cocoa, cane sugar, chestnut honey and exotic blossoms round out the flavours, while light tannins become perceptible.
• Finish: The long finish combines dried fruit with a light chocolate note and a trace of smoke. Coconut milk, pink pepper and toasted walnuts add further definition to the spicy finish.

Distillery/Bottler:

Hampden Estate is located in Trelawny, Jamaica, and its history dates back to 1753. The estate was long associated with sugar production and came under the management of the Hussey family's Everglades Farms Ltd. in 2009. Official Hampden bottlings have been available internationally since 2018.

The distillery ferments with natural yeasts for eight to fifteen days and distils using four pot stills. Its different marks are created through distinct fermentation and distillation processes. This allows Hampden to produce a broad range of its own rum styles within a single distillery, with marked differences in ester content and aromatic character.

Facts: