Aroma visualization from community tastings
La Maison & Velier Hampden Awakening Series HGML 2020 HGML
Tell me when it gets cheaper
Tell me when it's back in stock
Price alert in the RumX app
Open in the app
Got the app? Open this bottle
Opens this rum in the RumX app
Sipped neat, this is a full-throttle HGML: overripe pineapple and banana, that classic ester-and-glue funk, with a marzipan note and citrus that sneaks in on the palate. Several tasters call it a young but very fun bottle — a bit wild and edgy at the back, and at 63.3% the alcohol is surprisingly well tucked in. Not overly sweet.
The community says- Pineapple ester bomb
- Marzipan note
- But: Short finish
Offers & prices
View price history
Shopping safely on RumX Returns & cancellation
- Secure payment. You pay via RumX with PayPal, Klarna or card. Your payment data is encrypted and we never store your full card details.
- Clear seller. Sold and shipped directly by the partner shop. And you're never on your own: RumX handles support and communication with the shop, so you always get excellent service, whichever shop you order from.
- Honest shop ratings. The stars show your service experience with the shop, not the rum score. They come from RumX users, and critical ones stay visible.
- Returns & cancellation. Your purchase contract is with the shop, so returns and cancellations run through them under their own policy and your statutory rights. If anything goes wrong, RumX helps you sort it out.
10 more payment methodsLive auctions
Current bids for this rum at Europe's leading auction houses.
The look inside the bottle
How does La Maison & Velier Hampden Awakening Series HGML 2020 HGML taste?
Aggregated from 44 community reviews.
Intense young HGML, pineapple and ester funk Members love it as a punchy, fruity young Hampden — full ester profile with pineapple and marzipan. Common gripe: a short finish and youth some wish had more cask time.
Aroma profileFans of high-ester Jamaican funk and HGML
Anyone who dislikes glue-and-ester funk or wants a long finish
Style & occasion: Tropical & funkySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
19 of 44 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Which glass for which rum? The community guide →
Recommendation
Your next rum
Each with how it differs from this rum.
Gifting rum? 3 questions to the right bottle
Sweeter
Precious Liquors Long Pond Jamaican Rum (Selected by RumX) VRW 2005
8.9/10
Milder
TRC Hampden Jamaica <>H 2001
8.7/10
Nothing for you?
5 more similar rums ↓
First choice: 21 of 23 tasters who tried both prefer it.
Community voices
What does the community say?
44 community reviews
19 selected write-ups on this page, all of them in the RumX app
Top 16% of Jamaica rumsTop 24% at Hampden
Rate it in the app
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 Chrischi78
Most helpful positive review
Intense high-ester rum with pineapple and tropical fruit on the nose. Complemented by a fine marzipan note on the palate. Typically strong Hampden, convincing even when young. The finish is quite short and not as intense.
Review by Johnny Rumcask
Most helpful mixed review
Einer von den besseren Jungen Hampden. Typisches Peofil mit Estern, tropischen Früchten und Ananas. Sein junges Alter kann er nicht verleugnen, man sollte hier keine filigranen Noten erwarten. Alkohol ist mir persönlich zu Dome, auch nach langer Stehzeit.
Review by Skyfly
A real high ester taste bomb! In the nose, the typical markers with additional citrus fruits that provide a certain freshness. Also very light roasted and cinnamon aromas. Very spicy and slightly salty on the palate. The sweetness is so intense that it is slightly reminiscent of syrup. The alcohol is perfectly integrated. This rum is great fun!
Review by LukaŽiga
8,8:On the nose, medicinal with esters and glue, polish, fermented, overripe tropical fruits like banana and pineapple, citrus fruits, vinegar, briny olive, roasted wood notes, caramelized, spicy, bump into our nosetrils, intense, funky. On aeration, red fruits arise, molasses is vegetal with mushrooms hints, tomatoes, fresh, pastry, cinammon are out, cheese, meaty tones, pungent. 9:On the palate, the attack is funky, intense with medicinal notes like esters, glue, fruity with fermented tropical fruits like banana and pineapple, red and citrus fruits, some candied, syrupy, the wood is roasted with pastry, sweet, spicy with allspice, ginger, warm, smoky and the molasses is vegetal with briny olive, thick, flowery with violet. 8,7:The finish is long, dry&tannic, intense, astringent with fermented tropical and citrus fruits, sweet, caramelized toasted oak notes, spicy, smoky, meaty, nutty, molasses is floral..
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
#5844 11.10.2025 Visiting the Whisky Live Hamburg 2025 event. It was the first of its kind and went off pretty well. They still have to learn a lot about running an event like this. People were allowed to bring backpacks and even cabin bags to the event and that is a problem in my mind. This is a great HGML in my mind, so good so that I bought two bottles of it. Intense and fruity with very good ABV and wood integration in the fruity ester profile.
Review by zabo
Oh yes, it's really fun. The HGML profile is also very young, but it's still fun because it has those rough edges. I think it's even better than the WLP release
Review by Timo Groeger
Well, what more can you say about Hampden? Yeah, I've written that a lot already, but it keeps being true. Ester, overripe tropical fruits like pineapple and banana, but also funky and a bit of glue.
Review by w00tAN
Thanks to Kevin for the opportunity: On the nose fruity, esters, slightly rotten/floral, tropical fruit, pineapple. On the mouth intense, astringent, full-on fruit, first, floral, funky. Finish long, sweetish, astringent, funky slightly sharp. Alcohol very well integrated, very drinkable!
Review by Fuwi
Tasting with Kevin in Blåvand, Denmark Extensive tasting evening. This HGML is very powerful, the nose is full of esters, sugarcane and plant fruits. The alcohol fades over time and the rum becomes milder and more accessible. On the palate the expected ester explosion, very funky and with a wild mix of pineapple, banana and barrel notes. It doesn't seem too sweet and a bit edgy at the back, very pleasant.
Review by Schnubbii
Tasting at Whisky Live Hamburg 2025 again calmly: Despite the youth and high ester content, quite smooth, very tasty and fruity. A bit more complexity and a longer finish would make it even better, but even so a very successful bottling.
Review by Thunderbird
A wonderfully fresh, strong HGML... delivers the full load of esters and fermented pineapple, paired with vanilla and marzipan. That's how it should be. On the palate, there are also some notes of allspice and roasted aromas. The whole thing is nicely funky. I like it very much
Review by Nils123
This one is really fun. Lots of esters without being one-dimensional. Also very fruity. Exciting are the citrus fruits that suddenly appear in the taste, even though you wouldn't expect them on the nose.
Review by Christian Rudt
This is high ester and that's exactly what you get here. Nice intensity from first smell to finish. Pineapple above all and many other tropical fruits in the aroma. Also a beautiful marzipan note comes through in taste. At Hampden you just know how to make great rum that tastes great even when young. Only the finish doesn't please me quite as much.
Review by Serge
A bit young, but still quite fun. Everything that makes the HGML profile is there. For me it could rest a bit longer, but still tasty. Especially really good for the release price.
Review by Adrian Wahl
With HGML and tropical aging I always get all tingly. Delicious rum, but not epic.
Review by Jarek
Franconian Tasting Gang Novemver 2025: It wasn't a completely fair duel, of course, against the RA 1983 HGML (RX328, thanks to Dom), but the 2020 didn't go down completely. It has everything I expect from my favorite Hampden brand HGML, even if I would have liked to give it a little more time in the barrel.
Review by FischeJ
Nose intense, esters, creamy fruity (although not as creamy, yoghurt like the parallel tasted <>H Single Cask). But with more wood (positive). In the mouth, everything you'd expect from Hampden HGML. A little wild perhaps. In addition, a nice barrel impact that is not too intense. Nice subtle bitterness on the finish.
Review by rbfsnow
🥰😍🤩😋HGML ☠️💯💣 Amazing young HGML !
Review by Buddudharma
Very nice and balanced for its age. HGML is simply the best Hampden profile for me.
No reviews match this filter.
Community shelf
53 bottles logged by 37 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
11% opened, 6 emptied.
What did the community pay for La Maison & Velier Hampden Awakening Series HGML 2020 HGML?
Community paid 119–163 €.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 136 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
53 purchased · 44 tasted · 27 wishlist · as of
Details about La Maison & Velier Hampden Awakening Series HGML 2020 HGML
A Pot Still Rum from Jamaica, bottled by La Maison & Velier, at 63,3%.
Read on in the RumX Guide
You may also enjoy
Rum enthusiasts who like this rum have also given the following rums high ratings:
Velier Hampden Specially Bottled for Whisky Live Paris 2023 HLCF 2020
Precious Liquors Long Pond RUM Jamaica (Selected by The Bottle Shop) VRW 2005
Wu Dram Clan Hampden Jamaican Rum HD <>H 2014
The Whisky Jury Hampden The Many Faces of Rum C<>H 2007
The Whisky Jury New Yarmouth The Many Faces of Rum NYE/HM 2009
Never miss a price drop.
Set a target price in the app, and we'll let you know as soon as the rum becomes available at that price from one of our partner stores. This works for any rum on your wish list.
Oliver · FounderBy rum lovers, for rum lovers
I'm Oliver, and RumX began in 2018 as a small passion project in Stuttgart, back then under the name Rum Tasting Notes.
Oliver, Stuttgart
About RumX →YouTube channel (in German)
