Hampden Pure Single Jamaican Rum Classic HLCF 2017
For curious explorers ready for full Jamaican funk, this 4‑year Hampden HLCF hits hard at 60%. Overripe pineapple, banana, glue and pastry notes dominate. RumX members love it neat and in Mai Tais, praising its value and intense ester character across 236 reviews.
- Intense tropical fruit
- Classic Hampden funk
- Great for cocktails
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Details about Hampden Pure Single Jamaican Rum Classic HLCF 2017
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How does Hampden Pure Single Jamaican Rum Classic HLCF 2017 taste?
Aggregated from 245 community reviews.
Funky, punchy Hampden ester bomb For curious explorers ready for full Jamaican funk, this 4‑year Hampden HLCF hits hard at 60%. Overripe pineapple, banana, glue and pastry notes dominate. RumX members love it neat and in Mai Tais, praising its value and intense ester character across 236 reviews.
Fans of high‑ester Jamaican funk who enjoy powerful 60% rums both neat and as a standout mixer, and value seekers wanting real Hampden character without indie‑bottling prices.
Beginners, those sensitive to high ABV, or drinkers who dislike solventy, smoky, umami funk and the sharper edges of young, ester‑heavy Jamaican pot still rum.
How is Hampden Pure Single Jamaican Rum Classic HLCF 2017 rated?
RumX's 0–10 scale is strict — 8.3 lands squarely in the "Very good" band. 97% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 0% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
Rum reviews
A selection of the most popular reviews from our community. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by A13M
The same brand as the 1753, but stronger, denser, and more complex. On the nose, the first aromas that hit are pineapple, bananas, and acetone, with a very fresh, green, slightly minty character. Behind that, you can gently detect almond, wood, and yeast. On the palate, it is surprisingly drinkable, oily, and well-rounded. Notes of wood, spices, light vanilla, a touch of salinity, and grilled pineapple appear. The finish is medium-long, spicy, warm, and woody with a slight peppery note. Hints of cherry, black plum, and a brief touch of cocoa also show up. The final taste is slightly charred wood with a light iodine-like aftertaste. A very good Hampden, and although it is overproof, it is truly a great sipper. Definitely worth buying again and a bottle that deserves a place in any private collection.
Review by Mirko Frosini 🇮🇪
Nice rum, but a little under compared to batch1. The presence of a slight solvent note I liked less and it is less intense. However, we are talking about finesse and personal taste. We are dealing with a rum that I would drink all the time! I do not understand all these new versions of Hampden Velier that I find little different from each other and especially pòco justified in terms of value for money. Velier lately is focusing too much on collectors with the result of making the bottles unobtainable already upon release and overpriced.
Review by Michael Janek
I can't rate this at all it rolls its tongue back and forth It's a chainsaw cane massacre. 500-600 esters. you have to drink it in very small sips, and the power that's in it is unbelievable.
Review by Stefan L
I’m a bit confused about this rum replacing the Overproof, as they are so different from each other. I may recalibrate this another day. - Now another day, but still no recalibration 🤪 however this is really good and I’m bumping it a few points. - Coming back to this rum again and I still consider it’s a completely different but better rum than the original. - Almost a year later from the above tasting. This bottle is better than the original, but less complex and lacks some of the asphalt notes that I like however is more potent in esters and more funky. 250701: Agree with myself above.
Review by Christoph
Nice umami, typical Hampden Ester notes that come across strong due to the young age and are not always pleasant.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
This is a retaste and I stick to my initial score 😊 A pretty good HLCF release and I have ordered a bottle after testing the sple I got. Leave to rest for a good while in order to release all the flavours. You can also add a few drops of water if you think it bites too much. The nose is intense and fruity with wood, clove and varnish and a hint of mint. The palate is also intense and fruity with smoky wood and nice spiciness to it. The finish is long and fruity with smoky wood, sugarcane and light herbal notes.
Review by Righrum
A really poor performance IMHO. This rum retains all the edges of the High Ester despite not having the positive sides. Too smoky and aggressive, not a pleasant sip
Review by Mirco
Solid Hampden with good PLV.
Review by Pavel Spacek
... Hampden, the legendary Jamaican distillery that produces rum as well as alcohol for perfume. In all the rums from this distillery you will taste wild esters, after which your whole organism will soak up the smell of golden tropical fruits - mango, papaya, pineapple, peach. One of the "must try before you die" rums
Review by Lukas Jäger
What I was looking forward to this tasting. Its predecessor was my introduction to Hampden and it still tastes great to me. Unfortunately, my fears with the HLCF Classic have come true. Old and with are difficult to compare here, because yet something clearly different, nevertheless, this comparison must be allowed in my eyes, because one finally replaces the other. The "new" is for me flatter, more one-dimensional. Less fruit, less barrel, less depth, but a little more varnish and perhaps even more alcoholic.For a standard bottling still a good rum, which stands out far against the usual standards, but for me personally unfortunately somewhat disappointing...
Review by Joël
Good Hampden, but nothing spectacular. For just under 70 euros at armagnac.de, a very fair price. If necessary, you can still make great cocktails with it.
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
Clearly more fruity on the nose like the 8y old predecessor. Taste then slightly acidic, buttery fruity and somewhat smoky and umami. Definitely a very nice HLCF and surprisingly sweet and tasty! Overall, however, I like the predecessor a little more and does better in the Mai Tai due to the longer maturation, which comes through in the Mai Tai with much more glue and butyric acid and fermented pineapple, but with too little wood. Pure I like the better here, in the Mai Tai the "standard" overproof. Both but absolutely top!
Review by Adrian Wahl
Very cool release from Hampden. Great extension of the range with this HLCF single mark. Pure a really solid and beautiful HLCF, a little young and wild. Really cool, but he will be in May Tai. There he delivers brutally and convinces at full length 5/5. In these times a really great release at a fair price. 4 years tropically stored, single mark and bottled by Hampden with 60%....all that for just under 70€ is ne cool story.🇯🇲🔥
Review by mto75
clearly he can not hold a candle to the 92s HLCFs of Nobilis and RumClub etc. (have the RumClub Ed. 18 in the other glass for comparison), but the HD HLCF Classic can score for it with a lot of power💥 💪 and a successful mix of Marque / maturity / ABV. For me, clear thumbs up 👍
Review by Thunderbird
Once again a great Hampden, where the PLV is right!In the nose funky Jamaica, on the palate rather young, slightly smoky wood, perfectly integrated alcohol and gentle esters!The finish nice soft woody fruity!Class
Expert reviews
Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by The Auditor Reviews
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Community purchases
434 bottles logged by 52,000+ RumX members. The ratio of closed / opened / emptied, indicates whether this rum is meant to be drunk or is a collector's item.
Also on the wishlist of 144 members.
About the Hampden distillery
The Hampden distillery is located in Jamaica. Rums from Hampden have been reviewed 18,347 times with an average of 8.4/10.
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