Hampden Kill Devil (The Whisky Barrel)

 Often Fiji rum reminds me of Jamaican. Here, rather the other way around. The smoky and peppery barrel notes made it remind me of a South Pacific. Relaxed Hampden. Of the tasted three 01 vintages for me the best.

 pretty relaxed 2001 <>H. On the nose yogurt, pastry, pineapple, the fermented fruit not super dominant at all. On the palate toasty-smoky.

 Least funky and well rounded nose. Brings cookie dough and marzipan to the table. For me somewhat the surprise winner out of my small cross tasting. Definitively the least funky. But on the other hand nicely combining fruity notes with cookies and honey creating the most balanced and enjoyable out of the bunch. If you are more into high esters, this is not the best for you. But then why would you go for <>H anyway..? 😉 So far I liked all out of the 2001 <>H batch. Looking at a close field: KD > TB > RC-M > RC

 07.02.2020 Private tasting i was invited to. Notes. Light in colour. Nose: Intense, wood, varnish, vegetal, herbs, fruity, banana. Palate: Warm, wood, roasted, pineapple, orange, ginger, vegetal, light nutts. Finish: Long and warm, wood, fruity, light chocolate.

 I really liked the nose marked by something like candied orange and traditional marzipan. It was very sweet, not the fruity slap either. I didn't like the mouth as much. I have a hard time describing it. It's simpler, fruity and pastry but it lacks a little complexity and flavors I think. It's still a good rum, but we know much better ones from hampden.

 First typical High Ester Hampden nose: roasted pineapple, almond croissant and rather chemical ester (solvent).In the mouth comes to first the sweetness of tropical fruits, then come spicy and floral notes - it reminds me of pepper and curry leaves.Despite the 17 years, the barrel remains very much in the background compared to the 10 year old of TWB this is nevertheless clearly rounder, but also less exciting - is also the significantly weaker mark. This slight brake makes it somehow unbalanced for me.

 Solid Hampden, very smooth, but without that very special touch....

 At the beginning, a classic, and very pleasant estery finky fruity scent, which I like on hampdens. On the palate, I get sweet biscuit flavours, pepper and spice alongside the usual fruity notes. The finish is medium-long.

 C: W wine Kill Devil is Hunter Laing´s rum line, otherwise a renowned independent whisky bottler. The black bottle and the dancing devil should be familiar to every rum geek who seek single casks/cask strength. A couple of years ago HL selected exclusively a few Hampdens for The Whisky Barrel and this was one of them. It was a time when Hampden wasn’t what Hampden is today. S: 2001 means the <H> mark and 900-1000 g/hlaa esters. Intense nose despite 17 years in the barrel, it reminds me of the 2007 vintage, my favourite. Pineapple, lime and in less magnitude, acetone M: Here is where I think the barrel might’ve influenced the rum badly. It´s the kind of sourness you find in a spoiled lemon. Bitter. It lacks the sweetness of the 2007 vintages F: Finish follows, unfortunately, the palate

 Not an exceptional but a very relaxed Hampden, I like it!

 Charming nose but very empyreumatic and monolithic palate, without being bad, but a bit disappointing contrast (seems to open up to something more fruity)