The Rum Mercenary & Kintra Hampden Sample Seventeen (Work in Progress)
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Hampden fans hunting a young, high-ester blend will feel right at home here. It's a pineapple-and-banana ester bomb with plenty of glue, a bit of overripe fruit, and a surprising sweetness that softens the funk. The 21 months in cask leave it raw with a little sour edge and light wood bitterness creeping in on the finish. Members widely praise the value.
The community says- Big ester fruit
- Pineapple and banana
- But: Young and raw
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The look inside the bottle
How does The Rum Mercenary & Kintra Hampden Sample Seventeen (Work in Progress) taste?
Summarized by AI from 33 community reviews.
Young, funky Hampden ester bomb Most love this as a young Hampden with huge fruit, esters and glue at a great price. A few find it too sour, sweet, or raw and unfinished — it's literally a work in progress.
Hampden fans who like young, high-ester funk
People who want a rounded, well-aged sipper
Style & occasion: Tropical & funkySipping neatCocktails & mixing
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
17 of 33 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
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Community voices
What does the community say?
33 community reviews
22 selected write-ups on this page, all of them in the RumX app
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Ranges include their upper bound: “7–8” means above 7 up to and including 8. See the full rating guide
Positive from 8.0 · Mixed 6.0–7.9 · Critical below 6.0
Review by SaibotZtar
Most helpful positive review
Delicious young Hampden. On the nose, pineapple, mango, banana, a hint of wood... butyric acid and glue, alcohol barely noticeable. On the palate, it fills the mouth wonderfully, mmm, a fruit ester bomb that literally bursts in the mouth, immediately revealing banana, pineapple, mango, and plenty of Uhu 😅... However, I also taste a bitterness and wood in the finish, which reminds me of Virgin Oak (fortunately only slightly). PLV must be mentioned. Absolutely top notch!!!!
Review by Leo Krüper
Most helpful mixed review
Compared to the unaged version, a few off-notes have somehow crept in. I am very curious to see how the product develops, as it is a work in progress. Perhaps this rum needs some time to unfold the full power of its brute raw product. In the second tasting, it is even stronger and more unbalanced. I am not convinced; it needs significantly more barrel aging to become more rounded.
Review by Thunderbird
If this Hampden tastes so intense and classic after just 18 months, I'm really excited to try a longer-aged bottling! This bottling is first-class, with a full load of esters and fruit on the nose, fruit on the palate, then wood and spice, and a very hearty finish with a hint of oversteeped black tea! It's pretty funky. Today is the second time in the glass and my enthusiasm remains! I really hope that a longer storage period will follow.
Review by Vincent D
I thought this blend was really good. I'd been seduced by the start of the range. I particularly liked this one. No doubt about the rum's origin. Ripe fruit. Funky as can be. Really nice.
Review by Adrian Wahl
An exciting bottling and also an exciting project, as there will probably be another and then an older bottling. It is a blend of LROK / HGML / DOK that has been in the barrel for 21 months. The wood and a slight bitterness are already coming through at the back. The price is really almost sensational for today's market (just under €50 for 0.7 liters).
Review by DomM
Nice and intense blend. Interested to see this after a bit more time in the barrel.
Review by Tom Buteneers
You can taste that it’s still pretty young, but value for money it’s a hard to beat HD blend (especially at todays prices). Esters and glue, I like it. Keeps lingering for quite some time. A bit of time makes it sweeter and smoother. The shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S 🍌
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
#6890 07.06.2026 Time for a few samples to get back on track after yesterdays nice tasting arranged by Charles from Rum Depot in Berlin.
Review by Christian Rudt
Work in Progress is in the name of the rum, and what's in the bottle lives up to that. It will be interesting to see how the rum develops further, and then it will certainly be worth a cross-comparison. There is a lot of room for improvement. Here we simply have a young Hampden. Lots of esters, lots of tropical fruit. Intense, but a little too sour in taste.
Review by Johannes
Exciting blend! Very harmonious and balanced!
Review by Rare Akuma
Starts off unbridled and sharp on the nose with lots of acidic influences, primarily sour pineapple juice, vinegar, juniper berries and a hint of red currants. The cask influence is purposely kept very low, leaving the barrel notes dialed down. Glue gun makes a cameo, but not enough to make this super funky. Smelling again during tasting reveals more of the DOK profile shining through and drastically increases complexity with notes of BBQ-sauce, honey-glaze, cloves and ash. In the mouth more round than expected. Top notes of sour pineapple juice, unripe banana and then immediately interrupted with sweet marmalade and raw honey. It’s less roasted than on the nose, but the campfire is still simmering. The base is heavily influenced by chamomile tea and ginger. The finish is short and dry with more pineapple juice and spicy ginger. Admittedly the spicy tingle lasts for quite a bit. Considering the LROK/HGML/DOK blend, I expected more red fruit and medicinal notes. In reality we ended up in -my best guess- HLCF range. It’s good, and the price/quality is high at release, but it’s too raw to need a bottle off.
Review by Lukas Jäger
Exciting nose, boring palate! Clearly a Hampden with the standard notes that you can probably recite in your sleep after the first sip. The blend of the three marks is quite round and strong, with the buttery creaminess of the HGML seeming to dominate, which I personally like. On the palate, there is a brief burst of esters, a little creaminess with the taste of brioche, and then that's it. Due to its young age, it lacks depth, but thanks to the blend, it is not an absolute high-ester bomb either. The HGML struggles to deliver any flavor, but is not as present as on the nose. Overall, it is rather average, but as it is a work in progress, there may still be hope.
Review by Johnny Rumcask
A Hampden for the "sweet tooth" faction: very sweet, honey. Pineapple, not very complex, surprisingly few edges and corners for a Hampden given the short aging. For those who like it sweet and boring...
Review by Luca
Rich fruit esters, yet not too astringent and easily digestible. After the initial explosion of esters, other notes of spices emerge, and I detect subtle hints of cinnamon and cloves. I wouldn't have expected this from a 1.5-year-old rum, nor the fantastic integration of the alcohol. I'm very happy to have two bottles of this great value rum in stock 😅
Review by zabo
Unlike a completely unaged rum, I find this one better. But I don't really know yet if it will become my favorite. It's still a good experience, and in retrospect, I find it delicious, but it takes some getting used to. But that's probably just me.
Review by lars
Too bad I missed this one. Definitely much better on the second tasting than on the first. Surprisingly sweet, but otherwise everything I would have hoped for from Hampden. Therefore, a decent upgrade.
Review by Cedric_
Very tasty Hampden with great PLV. Fruity and surprisingly sweet. You can tell its age a little, so I'm very excited about the older version.
Review by Vidaa Wz
Very beautiful Hampden expression despite the young age, it does the job well and will delight aficionados of this origin. Lots of fruit, a bit ripe and esters, candied pineapple and bananas, a bit of solvent, very nice, affordable expression for the price. I love the finish on roasted hazelnut notes.
Review by Jean Louisss
What a punch! A blend of Hampden that doesn't leave you indifferent. All the markers are there. And the quality-price ratio is excellent.
Review by Renato
Very characteristic of Jamaica. Funky. Concentrated. Powerful. Long. Pleasure.
Review by Rummiamo
Personally, I found it to be an excellent unaged Jamaican rum. Neat, it is truly intense; mixed, it makes a 9/10 daiquiri.
Review by Fasen
This is pure Hampden!
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Community shelf
29 bottles logged by 20 collectors.
A drinker's rum.
37% opened, 8 emptied.
What did the community pay for The Rum Mercenary & Kintra Hampden Sample Seventeen (Work in Progress)?
Community paid 40–70 €.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 52 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
29 purchased · 34 tasted · 5 wishlist · as of
Details about The Rum Mercenary & Kintra Hampden Sample Seventeen (Work in Progress)
A Pot Still Rum from Jamaica, bottled by The Rum Mercenary & Kintra, at 60.5%.
Read on in the RumX Guide
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