Hampden’s Rum Fire
This Jamaican unaged, “overproof” rum will put you in your place
Sipping tips: When you pick this up, I implore you to chew your food before swallowing. Most spirits taste harsh if you down it immediately (taking shots or drinking it like its juice): you’re blasting your palette and taste buds with high-proof alcohol. Take a small swig, let the liquid sit in your mouth, and hug every crevice for 4-5 seconds (open the taste buds). Down it. You’ll pick up all the flavors and truly know what the beverage tastes like. Once you do that 1-2 times, your palette is ready. Drink away neatly.
And to my NY’ers, I am sorry for all the wild language.
This is the opposite of Worthy Park’s Rum Bar Silver as far as heat goes. I could not, in good faith, have started you off with Rum Fire because if it were the first unaged Jamaican rum you tasted, assuming you’re uninitiated, you would’ve cursed me out. Not because it’s bad. But because it takes a slightly trained (in the routine-drinking sense) taste bud to not assume that your mouth is on…(for dramatic effect)…FIRE (*slaps knee*)… when you drink this. The Sipping tips are critical for drinking this rum. A Jamaican would say – I don’t understand. Is this not regular rum? Don’t follow Jamaicans.
My friends, Rum Fire is good, oh it’s good. But it’s also HOT.
A disclaimer.
Going against the grain: this rum article will not have a Part B (Historical, Technical). But that’s because I'll also write a review on Hampden’s Great House 2023. Given Great House’s (broadly speaking) ties to chattel-slavery and early-plantation societies, I felt it was more appropriate to dive there vs. here. I ain’t getting lazy on you. Re-routing for where I think that history fits best. I’ll also talk about the driving journey to Hampden and some interesting stories I picked up while visiting the distillery…in the Great House 2023 review.
= )
Local context that will be missed by non-Jamaicans.
On the Western side of the island, Rum Fire is more readily available primarily because of its location (i.e., Hampden Estate is in Trelawny). I tested this with a friend who lives in Montego Bay. He confirmed that you’ll see bottles of Rum Fire all over. Less time (i.e., lower costs) for transportation of the product throughout the Western part of the island.
If you are in Kingston, Rum Fire is fairly difficult to find. A local market beverage that’s hard to find in the local market. What do you call that? A product destined for the export market. Ding ding ding!
And you shouldn’t be surprised if people (in Jamaica) have never heard of either Hampden or Rum Fire (more on this in the Great House 2023 review…which even more people in Jamaica likely have no idea exists). I went into a popular pharmacy in Kingston, saw 1 flask of Rum Fire, and didn’t buy it because I wanted a full bottle. Very bold of me, I should have just bought the damn small bottle. Would’ve actually finished the rum.
Where did I get the full bottle? I put “few and few” together, as Jamaicans would say, and thought about the businesses the Hussey family (owners of Hampden) rumn. Kick your dyslexia around a little bit. There’s the well-known hotel in Kingston the Husseys own, but you’d only get cups of Rum Fire at the bar and a few Great Houses. And they also own a different pharmacy (I think it’s a small chain). Popped into that Hussey pharmacy, and voila – full bottles of Rum Fire. And so it generally goes in the land of maintaining your business interests.
I’ll dive deeper into the history and family (to the extent that info is available) when I get around to the Great House 2023 review. We’ll leave it here for now.\
Part A – Nothing but the feels.
I've yet to meet a rum enthusiast who has anything short of undying love for unaged Jamaican overproof rums. Rum Fire is no exception, but may somehow be even more beloved than its counterparts. – Memphis Rum Club
The aroma is beautiful. I can smell the liquid in the glass all day long. It’s as if a flower was dipped in a light woody/musky oil (for those with a fragrance-bent). Read: that’s my fragrance-bent. Be careful not to nose it too strongly. At 63% ABV – a pretty-much-accepted Jamaican standard “overproof” level – it will nose you back…quickly. Make you raise an eyebrow like Dwayne Douglas Johnson (the wrestler, not the actor).
A traditional tasting review may throw around words such as burnt rubber (IN A GOOD WAY), fried bananas, roasting pineapple, green apples, etc. Man, the entire distillery smells like one big roasting pineapple, but that’s for another review.
Here’s what it tastes like to me? You ever tasted something so powerful it makes you send an “I miss you” text after it soaks in? Me either.
But that’s what Rum Fire tastes like. Have you out here singing Wet The Bed (see Spotify link) over the phone…or through a WhatsApp voice note…you get the point.
Lip lip lipssss is hilarious.
If you tried to make a friend laugh while they held this in their mouth, it would be attempted murder. Rum Fire is completely taking you out if you swallow and it goes down the wrong pipe. My fault.
Seriously though, here’s how I’d describe the taste:
I wasn’t joking
Rum Fire makes you sit up straight like your belt-friendly parent walked into the room. Sit at attention when you drink this because it hugs your chest like a child who can’t let go of your finger. The baby death love grip. You don’t conquer these beverages. There’s no rushing when you drink Rum Fire, even for my shot-heads. Stop taking shots if you’re over 30, you know your body can’t handle that much pressure anymore. You can’t muscle this down back-to-back.
And anything that forces you to settle yourself and slow down, I’m a fan of. But after the second or third sip (see Sipping tips), you’re off to the races. Goes down easy. Even after 5 mins, as I’m writing this down, it’s hugging the chest as a reminder to sip meaningfully.
It almost has a bubble gummy taste after a while (IN A GOOD WAY). If you can balance out the complexity of the flavors, this would make a monster cocktail. Just try it neat first, or at least on the rocks, please.
If you’re craving a slight dash of technicality.
Disclaimer: This will be relevant for keeping up with the Hampden reviews since their “marques” are always big chatter among the rum "aficionado" community.
Rum Fire is the product of one of the best in the game at heavy, Jamaican funk. It features extra-long wild fermentation, meaning yeast endemic to the Estate in Trelawny Parish are the drivers of the process. Distillation is conducted via Hampden's copper pot stills, and bottled at 63% ABV without aging. The final product measures in the ester range of 500-600 g/hLAA, which coincides with the HLCF marque. – Memphis Rum Club
Translation: the further down that list you go (i.e., higher esters), the more likely you are to do this after taking a sip –
The esters are the result of the interaction between acids and alcohols during both fermentation and the distilling process. For Jamaican rums, it is the first fermentation phase which is determinant. Many esters generate aromas similar to those we perceive as fruit and flowers. Ethyl acetate is the lightest and most volatile. It is not especially aromatic but it always predominates, accounting for 90 to 98% of total esters and acting as a vector for other, more aromatic, esters. These esters - each one heftier than the next - bring floral and fruity notes such as green apple and pear and then more intense citrus, pineapple and banana flavors (brought by ethyl butyrate and isoamyl alcohol) characteristic of Hampden's historic marks. – Velier
Without diving too deep, ester prominence should not be misconstrued or equated to tasting bad. Taste is subjective, first off. However, a reasonable consensus would be that the more esters there are in the rum, the more your palette will be shocked by the liquid. Not to mention that some of these rum marques were distilled with "things" other than raw consumption in mind (i.e., additions to different products to create a final product).
So, what drives the decisions on ester prevalence for Hampden (and Rum Fire)? A mix of heritage, profile & reputation goals, adherence to a part of Jamaican rum legacy (for some) in having prominent ester levels in their marques, appealing to a “rum aficionado” community (modern-day decision), having relevant rum profiles for varying export communities (perfume makers, ice cream manufacturers, chocolate manufacturers, (in)dependent bottlers & blenders, etc.), and a host of other ‘keep the lights on’ business rationales.
…alright, just one more thing.
The bottle design is antithetical to the rest of their product lineup (see Hampden 8 below for comparison) –
(vs.)
I’ll let your mind wrestle with the differences. Promised to keep it short(er), I shouldn’t even be in this section right now.
Till next time.
I hope you enjoyed this review. I’m sure you’ll enjoy Rum Fire even more. Beyond the beverage, my goal is for you to walk away feeling an ounce more knowledgeable than you did however many minutes ago. If so, then mission accomplished. Cheers.
#rumresponsibly
Nice synopsis of Rum Fire! I truly enjoy opening it and allowing the aroma to fill the space.