The Rum Tasting of the Century tooks place on Thursday 13th September at the stunning Ten Trinity Square Four Seasons in London. This event marked the worldwide launch of the first two aged releases of Hampden Estate. The Jamaican distillery, one of the best in the world, after 265 years of history, has chosen for the first time to commercialize its aged rums and it has appointed the Franco/Italian joint venture La Maison & Velier (LM&V) as the worldwide distributor. LM&V is a partnership created by Luca Gargano (Velier) and Thierry Benitah (La Maison du Whisky) in 2017 that brings together their expertise to create and distribute new authentic spirits.
The launch of the two Hampden Estate aged rums is a rare event that represents an important milestone in rum history and an opportunity to taste the past four centuries of rum bottlings, which have characterised the long journey from colonial era to the present day. Opening the event, alongside Luca Gargano and Thierry Benitah, Andrew Hussey CEO Hampden Estate and Christelle Harris, Marketing Manager Hampden Estate. Among the thirty guests some of the most important importers and collectors in the world, journalists of the main international newspapers and the most influential rum bloggers on the web.
Luca Gargano has made available from his collection four extremely rare bottles protagonists of a unique experience through four centuries of rum: Harewood 1780, the oldest rum in existence, in the world there are only 28 bottles found in 2011 on an estate near Leeds; Saint James 1885, aged in wooden cask and bottled after 67 years, one of the oldest rums ever sold; Bally 1924, the first vintage of rhum agricole in the world; Skeldon 1978, a legendary Demerara bottling by Luca Gargano. To close the tasting line Hampden Estate 46% ABV and Hampden Estate Overproof. Luca Gargano comments: "The Rum Tasting of the Century is a tasting that can hardly be matched, it will resist more than Usain Bolt's record on 100 meters! And Hampden has demonstrated it can live up to these great tasting bottles"
The choice of London as a location for this historical tasting was not accidental. During the 20th century distilleries finally began bottling their own products, whereas in previous centuries the liquid was traditionally sold in bulk to European traders who would use it in a myriad of blends marketed for various brands. This has been the customary practice over the history of rum and Hampden Estate is among the last surviving colonial distilleries to severe the ancient practice and mark a historic moment in the world of rum: The Colonial era has finally reached the end.
Fonte: www.velier.it