Rum Fire White Overproof

I finally got my hands on this after having a number of aged Hampdens. I have loved all of them; even the ones I have spent $200 on and had to ship from the UK (Kill Devil). So worth it.

This is $30 and available locally (purchased in NYC). The nose is massive. Tons of funk, salt, bananas, pineapple, and other fruit. Actually shares a good bit of similarities with the aged ones that I have had (Kill Devil and Great House). Maybe oak is unnecessary?

On the palate, it is full flavored, but very different from the others I have had. The funk is there, but takes a backseat to lemon, licorice, pineapple, and kitchen/bathroom cleaners (think Pledge and Lysol). The flavors are, all together, pleasant, but the cleaner note is aggressive. Long, lemony, bitter and cleaner finish.

This is crazy stuff and definitely would be a love or hate depending on the person (nothing in between). You could probably say that about all Hampdens.

All told, I prefer the Great Houses and Kill Devils, but those are multiple times more expensive than this. Impossible to argue against this for $30.

From a flavor/complexity standpoint, this may be unbeatable in the price range. Price to quality is impressive. Shelf staple and will def try this in cocktails.

Rum: 7/10, extra point for the price point (massive bargain).

recommended by my liquor shop owner, he told me it was hard to get here in our country, waited for this rum 2 years, and yes a pot still over proof it s a rarity and have to be good ! not decided yet which cocktails to do with it but we will sure use it !

Tasted neat in a glencairn (water added for subsequent tastings)
Nose: from a distance, rotting bananas, yogurt, alcohol and sweet citrus
Mouth: this is not a sipping rum, obviously. Working past the burn of 63%ABV there's some citrus and earthy pungency. With water: more citrus, brine, earth and pineapple funk.
This is surely an incredible mixer and makes an aggressive daiquiri variant!

Kristallklar im Glas.
In der Nase nur wow! Schon beim eingiessen ins Glas füllt sich der ganze Raum mit funky Rum Duft. Diese Menge an Duftmolekülen bringen die Olfaktorischen Fähigkeiten an ihre Grenzen. Frisch zusammengeleimte und lackierte Ananas, Litschi und andere tropische Früchte werden mit kontinentalen Früchten wie Birnen, Trauben, etwas Zwetschgen und Kirschen zu einem Duftstrang zusammengeführt. Weitere Duftgruppen sind zu entdecken und zusammenzufügen.
Am Gaumen, oh ja die 63% Vol. zupfen schon zünftig an den Geschmacksknospen herum, die Aromen bringen sie dann zum explodieren. Früchte aller Art ergiessen sich im Mund, Aromen die absolut fremd sind bereiten eine Erfahrung wie aus einer anderen Welt. Freud und Leid bieten eine Gratwanderung der Extraklasse. Gräser; Kräuter, Gewürze, medizinische Pflanzen, Klebstoff, Bittermandel und und einen gewaltigen Schuss Funk.
Im Abgang langanhaltend und lecker. Früchte und Vanille bleiben nebst dem unbeschreiblichen Funk lange auf der Zunge liegen.
Eine gewaltige Ester Bombe, perfekt für einen Fruchtpusch oder zum pur geniessen. Für Freunde von funky High Ester Rum, Barkeeper, Wahnsinnige und Geniesser.

Crystal clear in the glass.
In the nose just wow! Already when pouring into the glass fills the whole room with funky rum scent. This amount of scent molecules bring the olfactory capabilities to their limits. Freshly glued together and lacquered pineapple, lychee and other tropical fruits are combined with continental fruits like pears, grapes, some plums and cherries to form a scent strand. Other groups of scents are to be discovered and joined together.
On the palate, oh yes the 63% by volume already tugs at the taste buds briskly, the flavors then make them explode. Fruits of all kinds pour into the mouth, flavors that are absolutely strange prepare an experience as if from another world. Joy and sorrow offer a tightrope walk of the extra class. Grasses; herbs, spices, medicinal plants, glue, bitter almond and and a huge shot of funk.
Lingering and delicious on the finish. Fruits and vanilla linger on the tongue for a long time along with the indescribable funk.
A massive ester bomb, perfect for a fruit punch or to enjoy neat. For friends of funky High Ester Rum, bartenders, maniacs and connoisseurs.

Definitely lives up to the name. Pretty much the funkiest stuff you can get your hands on where I live. You can smell this stuff from the next room!

Edit: Downgraded from 8 to 7 after trying it in some some Tiki recipes that call for a pot still overproof. The esters are just not quite right... Too much rubber and solvent, not enough ripe fruit.

If you know Jamaica you may know the reggae music of Scratch. Earthy, funky, spacey, odd, intense. Full of soul and life. That also describes this beautiful rum. Drink it neat and each sip is an adventure in your month, and a long adventure at that. Loooong finsh. Entertaining.

I thought it would be harsher but it seems to down down easier than Smith and Cross. Very good and unique rum.

And I'm not sure where it lands with me. I love agricoles, unaged maybe more than aged, and I'm not afraid of bold flavors. I don't pretend to have an amazing palate, but this review reveals a part of my palate that has never been activated. And I don't yet know if that's a good thing!

For my tasting, I followed a vague process I found on the Internet:

Step 1 - Sip neat
Step 2 - add water to 50% abc
Step 3 - add ice, let melt

Tasting glass: Some sort of slightly flared/tulip shaped Japanese whiskey glass. I prefer it to my glencairn, which IMO tends to bottleneck flavors of really complex spirits.

Ok, fresh bottle, batch L233, crack it open, here goes!

Nose:
first impressions, smells sweet, a bit fruity, and I instantly recognized Hampden funk

Swirl, second sniff: reminds me of a hot aguardiente with some vegetal, fresh cane scents.

Second swirl, third sniff: realized something else is going on underneath the surface.

Palate:
Neat: sweet, fruity, fresh cane, and lordy that's hot. 63% no doubt. Second sip followed quickly with freshly cut Lexan plastic sheets and a box of bandaids for when you cut your finger on the Lexan. And then you decided to eat some pineapple to console yourself. But the pineapple is underripe and hung out in a very clean doctor's office.

Diluted to 50%: hitting the plastic notes again, with a bit of funk, but mostly if you were to serve funk in a plastic cup. More notes on the bandaid, not the fabric bandaids, but the cheaper, rubbery ones.

Ice cube, fully melted: here is where it got more complex. Still hitting some sort of note that I don't yet like, as well as a bit of anise.

Finish:
Very long, as everyone experiences. And to my taste, the most intriguing part. More pineapple, more funk, and the plastic seems to dissipate.

The nose and the finish were my favorite parts. The palate threw me, way more than any aguardiente or agricole. I suppose it would land similar with clairins, maybe le rocher or more “advanced” unaged rums. I don't mean to say advanced from a point of pretension, but rather with regards to how your rum journey leads you to seek out different flavors.

My rating: N/A.

I ultimately need more time to see where these flavors land. I will revisit Rum Fire but not sure when. I have a bottle of it and have since smelled it a few times over. It's nice, fruity, funky. Maybe it needs some time to oxidize a bit, maybe I'll try it in a 50/50 shot with Cynar. Maybe my flavor journey will take me somewhere else than the involuntary memory of cutting Lexan sheets in 8th grade shop class.

Updated review: after my first experience, I let the bottle sit for a week and I must say, it's much more tolerable than my first go. I had it neat and then mixed with sparkling water, and I'll say it was pleasant, but jam packed with flavor. Some of the undertones are still in some rusty industrial factory, but I'm getting a sense of the same terrior you taste in older Hampden offerings.

Too strong for me can't taste the rum just burnt mouth not for me

This has a similar banana funk style to Hampden 8yo, which is one of my favorite rums. Overall its not as good, but at less than 1/2 the price of the 8yo its worth a try if you like banana ester. The higher ABV makes it a bit harsh for sipping neat, but a little water tames that down.