Hampden Estate Interesting Rum Tour (Falmouth|Jamaica)

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HAMPDEN ESTATE RUM TOUR

Recently, I had the chance to experience the Hampden Estate Rum Tour with a few other blogger friends Adventures From Elle, Pink Peachhh, and As Told By Nella. My journey started off at roughly 7:00am as I had a few stops to make before heading out as I was the only one heading out from St. Catherine. Of course, you can’t take on a journey and not stop to get two patties, which of course I had to do, then I touched the toll, met up with the other ladies on the way and we cruised to our destination at Hampden Estate.

Upon arriving we were greeted by the hostess who was exceptional in assisting us in every way. The first thing done was the COVID protocols, our temperature was checked and we sanitized, and were ready to get started. We were all greeted with, what for me may have been one of the best, if not the best cups of rum punch I have ever had, it was infused with so many things including spices which made it unique and amazing. Also apart from the lush property that has lovely green grass and many different plants, it is home to many peacocks who made sure that you knew they were around.

Now as you know I don’t like to give away the details of the tour as you have to go and explore it for yourself, so here is the concise version.

We were seated for a bit as we were taken back to the history of the estate which started 265 years ago as early as 1753. So as you can imagine a lot of history is there. We went as back as talking about the first inhabitants of the island and how things were back then, as well as we were given information about the entire process, which might I add was very informative and of course, there are some trade secrets that they can’t disclose which makes Hampden Estate Rum what it is today. Following this informative session, we made our way to the Factory.

HAMPDEN ESTATE FACTORY

Now upon arriving at the factory door, I was not very observant, took me a while to realize the gate design here but can I tell you I love it, very creative. As I stated before I won’t get into the full details of what goes on in the distillery as I would love for you to go and get that full-on experience. In there was a bit hot, so be prepared for that. There are also some areas of the tour that you aren’t able to see such as the aging process, which I think would be amazing to see.

There are some things that Hampden Estate pride itself on, such as the fact that:

They use spring water which comes from underground aquifers.
They only use pot stills.
Their rums are aged in the tropics.
They use no added sugar in their rums.
They do fermentation with natural yeast.

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LUNCH TIME

Following that view of the distillery and the great house, we then sat with each other and enjoyed lunch with of course some more of the ‘seasoned rum punch.’ I am trying to figure out how many cups I had, but I totally lost count. Along with the punch at Hampden Estate, I had jerk chicken with festival. However they do offer other things such as pork, so it depends on what you order. The lunchtime was such a good time to just sit, talk a bit, and reflect on what we saw so far amongst many other things.

HAMPDEN ESTATE SINGLE BEST JAMAICAN RUM AND RUM FIRE TASTING

Then came the rum-tasting section, now in a room, there was a bar nestled in the left corner followed by a gift store to the right when you go through this room. As we sat to start testing we were just laughing and having fun. The Rum Fire as the name suggests is the one that has a kick to it, the fire that you hear in the name. This is the rum that has not been aged for a very long time so it still has that intensity to it when tasting it.

It is always good when you are trying these different rums and you look for those layers or ‘rings’ we swirled, twirled, and tasted and man were they good! The Rum Fire had a harsh taste to it so of course, this one would be great with some Schweppes, Pepsi, Ting, etc. While the Hampden Estate Single Jamaican Rum is quite smooth and goes down easier, this you can have on the rocks, neat or even in some cocktails. You can check out some of the mixes here.

HAMPDEN ESTATE GREAT HOUSE

We also got a chance to admire the beauty of the great house from a distance as going inside is not a part of the tour as it is used by the owners. However, I can tell you the lawn is amazing the grass, is well taken care of, nice and green with a few coconut trees swaying in the wind. The architecture of the house was just lovely, and of course, again the peacocks could be seen very close by.

HAMPDEN ESTATE TOUR DETAILS

Hampden Estate tours usually operate from Mondays to Fridays at 10am and 11am. They usually host small groups of about 10 persons or less, however, if it is a larger group they can be contacted here and tour accommodation made. The tour lasts roughly 2 hours. Also, remember that you must be over 18 years in order to do this tour as it does include drinking. You are also encouraged to wear comfortable shoes as you will have to traverse through the factory and of course, it is better to be safe than sorry. The tour costs $4000 for locals which includes lunch and $50 for tourists.