Hampden Estate Pagos 2023 Edition

Now then, this is an interesting dram!
Previously, these were like gold dust, but this year Hampden seems to have increased the release of this and the Great House, and finally, I've got to try it.
Fairly pungent aroma wafts out of the glass. I get sweet and sour, rotting fruit, vinegar, and yes, syrupy sweet sherry, all with an undercurrent of funk.

The first tasting out of the bottle was all PX sherry, date like vibes smothering the spirit, but now a few days in, the sherry has softened a lot. Instead, it's almost as if the sherry has turned and gone bad, and I get fire and heat, funk and ester complexity almost to HLCF scale but moderated with the sweetness. The PX date likeness has morphed and now it's bordering on sour.
The finish is long, astringent, sour, slightly woody and only a touch of funk. Perhaps it's only really here that it marks itself out as top drawer juice. And it has that flavour that I just know will still be popping up now and again tomorrow!

I'm not really sure what to make of this. I love Jamaican rums and I love pot still, but I think this is like the HLCF Classic in the sense that it needs more time in the cask. The sherry butt experiment is great, and it really adds something new to the Hampden range, but although I'm definitely enjoying this, it's hugely expensive and feels like it could and should be better.

And then, over time it comes back again. A few days later and a bit more oxidation, it seems to have re balanced yet agiain. The sherry cask comes back, tbe burn fades a little, and what's left is a big fat smile on my face. This is fantastic, and truly original. It's dramatically better than the 8yo, and either that's a 7 and this is an 8, or more reasonably that's an 8 and this is a 9

Már az illatából kiderült hogy hampden, ajánlom minden rumszeretőnek. Jamaika a legkeményebb. 😁

Kongenery: 2304.2 g/hlpa
Estery: 467,9 g/hlpa

Po destilaci zrál 3 roky v 500l sudech po sherry Bodegas Fundador z Jerezu.

Aroma: Zralé tropické ovoce, med, květiny. Vše podbarvuje sherry zatuchlost s jódem a gumou.
Chuť: Silný sherry výluh se stopou ovoce, dřeva a koření.
Dozvuk: Dřevo, kořenitost, sušené ovoce (rozinky), jód. Dlouhý a hořknoucí.
Sladkost: 0/3
Ochutnán vzorek
V porovnání s poznámkami s verzí 2022 je skoro totožný, až na nepříjemně hořknoucí chuť a dozvuk. Tudíž 2022 v porovnání vítězí. Slabých 8/10.