Wu Dram Clan Hampden Jamaican Rum HD <>H 2014

First of all, I noticed the beautiful curtains on the glass wall: slowly and lazily, thick drops trickle down. Hardly any sharpness on the nose but a tick in practically all Hampden checkboxes. Develops nicely in the glass and becomes fruitier and the butteriness comes through more. Lots of stickiness on the palate at first and after one or two seconds of thought the other flavors roll over the tongue accompanied by a fruity sweetness, salivation sets in. Very well integrated alcohol. In the transition to the finish, marzipan emerges wonderfully, but also olives and a little salt. A very good, intense Hampden. No sensory surprise but at a very high level.

24.02.2024 Great tasting event at Whisky Watcher with food and lots of bottles. Retasting and I just love the balance and smoothness. ------------------------- #4610 09.02.2024 Nordlichter treffen. An extremely well rounded <> H kind of mellow in a way. Nose Fresh and well rounded, overripe fruits, fruity, ester, light polish, spice, Palate Intense, well balanced and rounded, fruity, light dry, ester, light glue, naturally sweet. Finish Long and warm, wood, light roasted, citrus, ester, naturally sweet.

8,8:On the nose, the hype is strong, with intense estery, fermented, overripe tropical fruits and varnish, a bit on roasted steriods. We get banana, pineapple marmelade out of it, on the second wave, we are hit by bourbon notes with yellow fruits and going towards pastry with some burnt sugar and marzipan, vanilla. When the rum is oxidized, some bacon finds its way out, also cinnamon, ginger, gingerbread. Well rested, candied caramelized fruits, cocoa, prehaps chocolate and prunes make some mark... At the end, there are rubber and some parfum... Complex, but balanced. 9:On the palate, this is a pure perversion.... With estery, sweet, overripe, fermented tropical fruits marmelade(banana, pineapple, papaya) and glue. Quickly it becomes syrupy, dry with some wood, dried fruits, a bit astringent, moving towards roasted side of this rum with honeyed roasted nuts, some vanilla and other spices...Becoming more and more delicious with candied fruits, maple, burnt sugar. After nice resting, we get some twist with salty notes, bacon, tar and little smoke... Another twist is with some lime and quite intense tannins long after our first sip... 8,8:The finish is dry and woody, tanninic, fruity with some citrus, caramelized nuts and honey....

The nose is quite complex with the typical high ester markers in the form of fruit esters, some glue and nail polish, trop. Fruit, citrus, olive, marzipan and vanilla/butter aromas. Slightly astringent on the palate and predominantly fruity and spicy notes. Beautiful bottling with good PLV.

Nice bacony smell on the nose. Otherwise, a beautiful high ester profile, the tropical maturation of which is already apparent from the smell. Full power on the palate. Great marrow. More and more pleasing from sip to sip.

Crosstasting mit dem 2014er <>H vom Bottleshop. Beim WDC sind die Esternoten deutlich intensiver, tropische Früchte (Ananas) rücken dadurch in den Hintergrund. Holz- oder Fassaromen findet man kaum. Alkohol bei beiden super eingebunden. Im Abgang aus meiner Sicht etwas weicher

Another nice high ester in a glass. The three guys have a good hand with their barrel selection. Nose: classic Hampden, classic <>H. Very intense, esters without end with sour-sweet fruits, mainly pineapple and kiwi as well as lime. The esters go hand in hand with glue and solvent, but are tempered by honey and a slight meaty baconiness that almost has a smoky note. Very nice and worth 8.7 points. Palate: wow, very powerful, intense and properly astringent. The glue is here even before the esters. In addition to the clear pineapple, it also has something coarse from young wood, i.e. slightly bitter, a little green, a little rough. There is also a subtle umami note. Not a completely smooth high ester, a little edgy, and therefore interesting. 8,8 A nice explosion of flavor after a long break.

The ninth tasting of the night at Whisky Watcher the 24th of February 2024, with nice company. This was my second favorite. So many aromas in the nose, like tropical fruits, esters and the jamaican funk. Notes of fruits, citrus and a long funky aftertaste

A real fruit bomb, very pleasant apricot and ester on the nose. Young wood with lots of fruit and really pleasant sweetness. Alcohol is well integrated but you can definitely feel the strength. Very tasty

Edit: tore open another fresh bottle to mix on Father's Day. Very refreshing, fruity CubaLibre. It's a real pleasure. Franconian Tasting Gang on 02.03.2024 In comparison, once WuDram from the already opened bottle, as well as a sample that was bottled directly after opening. In contrast, a longer-opened Nobilis, the CoR, the HV 2006 and the rum from Morisco Spirits were tasted. It seems that this is once again a super <>H vintage. In conclusion, the WuDram from the opened bottle tasted better than the fresh sampel. Otherwise, the differences are very small.

Previously had the Hampden Sta(r)um from V&M from the same vintage. The WDC is less palate-flattering, but much more adatring and demanding. A broad Hampden board where you get exactly what you expect. But nothing more.

On the nose the WDC presents itself a bit less vibrant and a bit more towards wood and vanilla versus the excellent Nobilis bottling - at least from memory this is, as a cross tasting is yet to come. On the palate: brilliant. This is just very good and hits very much what I was hoping from this bottling. Intense basket of tropical fruit with just the right amount of notes from the bourbon barrel to round out the edges a bit. Excellent stuff and great bottling from WDC. I feel those 2014 <>Hs are in a very good place after 8-10 years of aging. Exited to see what is yet to come from that vintage.

A strong ester note on the nose, but also beautiful fruit. An explosion of flavor in the mouth. Great natural sweetness and beautiful complexity. Alcohol is superbly integrated. The finish is spicy, sweet and embracing.

Ja hier mal wieder ein erstklassiger Hampden. Wirklich lecker. Alkohol perfekt eingebunden. So muss ein Rum schmecken. Die Banane ist deutlich zu Riechen und schmecken, generell eher fruchtig. Aber auch das Fass ist deutlich zu erkennen

2014 Diamond H just seems to be a great marque / year and I am really curious how these casks develop within the next years. But let’s proceed: Really strong ester but more on the fruity side yet close to solvents and glue. That’s the spot! Ripe fruits, a lot of pineapple, vanilla, some honey and a little bit of young wood. Everything you need for a great Hampden. In direct comparson with the 2014 H CoR I find the Wu Dram bottling a bit too dry, less sweeter and overall a little bit less balanced. We are talking on a high level here but still the CoR is definitely my favourite one.