Funkin' For Jamaica: Papalin 57.18%, Hampden LFCH 2011, NRJ STC❤️E 2010, CDI New Yarmouth, WPE 2017

Описание: The Jamaican rum love-fest continues as I clean out my sample cabinet! By contrast to the relative lightweights in the previous Appleton/Hampden video (   • Oaky Jamaican Head-to-Head: Appleton 12yo ...   ), this flight is an absolute onslaught of high-proof, high-wood, and often also high-ester pot still monsters. Not since the Zind-Humbrecht lineup (   • A Zind-Humbrecht Trio: Marc de Gewürztrami...   ) has my palate felt so utterly thrashed by the end.

So what have I got? Leading us in as an aperitif is the higher-strength version of the Papalin blend that Velier has recently put out (n.b. the regular one is fine but I don't feel like I need a bottle). That's followed by some expensive and hilariously collectible low-ester Hampden from their Endemic Birds series (presumably created to sate the lust of the collectibles market): it's a 2011 LFCH, the older brother to the Habitation Velier one I reviewed a few years ago (   • Sh*t, Suck, Good, Great, and 100-Point Sca...   ).

And then it's on to the big bruisers. There's a higher-ester NRJ Long Pond release which, in retrospect (after all, their TECC rocked my world:    • NRJ Long Pond TECC 2007 11yo Jamaican Rum ...   ), I should have put much deeper into the lineup. And then there's a continentally-aged New Yarmouth - a first for the channel, it's only been unaged ones in the past - and indeed a new edition of one that's become a bit of a legend among online rum reviewers. And finally there's something of a triumph on K&L Wines' part, the US' first tropically-aged, distiller-released bottling of Worthy Park's highest ester marque (the same WPE that went into the stunning HV 502 and 151:    • Worthy Park 502 151 (Velier) Versus Hampde...   ). Hold on to your ackee and saltfish, here we go...

Papalin Jamaica "Navy Proof" 7 Year Old Original Vatted Rum (Worthy Park/Hampden; 100% pot still, tropically aged, bottled 12/2021; 57.18% ABV), 85+/100
Hampden "Becard" LFCH 2011 Single Cask 9 Year Old Pure Single Jamaican Rum (Endemic Birdsbourbon cask no. 299, bottled in 2020 and yielding 240 bottles; 100% pot still, tropically aged; 90-120 g/hLaa esters; 60.6% ABV), 90/100
National Rums of Jamaica Cambridge STC❤️E 2010 12 Year Old Jamaica Pure Single Rum (Long Pond; 15 barrels yielding 4900 bottles; 100% pot still, tropically aged; 550-700 g/hLaa esters; 57% ABV), 92/100
Compagnie des Indes New Yarmouth 12 Year Old Jamaica Rum, 2022 edition (barrel no. JNE16, aged 12/2009-09/2022, yielding 360 bottles; 100% pot still, tropically aged; 59.5% ABV), 90-/100
Worthy Park WPE 2017 4 Year Old Single Barrel Jamaica Rum (K&L pick, barrel no. 1618 aged 2017-2021; 100% pot still, tropically aged; up to 800 g/hLaa esters; 65% ABv), 89/100

The Papalin is, well, fine, but it's totally out of its depth in this company. Beyond that it's all about differences in style and personal taste. Want a raw, brutal display of fruit and funk? The WPE is your jam. Curious about what would happen if George T. Stagg and Braulio had a love child that grew up in Trelawny? Cough up your money for the Becard. Finding yourself more on the aromatic bubblegum and incense side of things? Seek out this New Yarmouth. And the winner for me is the epochal STC❤️E ("Stacy"), which is just a masterclass in what hugely characterful distillate can do with a hefty dose of tropical aging. Just bonkers good.

But here's the thing. During my family's visit to Jamaica I noticed most folks weren't drinking these oakier offerings. No, it was the white overproofs that got the attention...

Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon (  / differentspirits  ) -

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