While Hampden’s appearance hadn’t changed dramatically since 2016, there is plenty to see with fresh eyes. Two 23,000 liter (5000 imperial gallons) double retort stills were installed circa 2020, increasing Hampden’s batch distillation capacity to the same level as Appleton’s. Two recently built aging warehouses enable a significant quantity of rum on-site for the first time in the estate’s history.
It’s crazy I grew up on the estate in the nurses home. I even went to the primary school Fun days. I remember Ms Wint. Mrs Brown Ms Sterling. Principal Mrs Campbell
Mate! Thanks again for this. With you guiding us through, it feels like I was there, ESPECIALLY since you seem to be drawn to many of the things I would have been keen on, especially the liming of the lees!! I was meant to be on that trip with you and Mrs. Wonk, but with the birth of my son, I had to step aside ::heavy sigh::
Couple questions:
- Are you at all able to describe the orders emanating from the fermentation building?
- When referring to the lees, are they meaning the left over yeast bodies from the fermentation? I understand that in different distillation categories (Rum vs Cognac for example) the same word could mean different things respectively.
Hey Patrick - I love your enthusiasm! Congrats on your kid as well!
Re: fermentation smells. I didn't note down specific impressions, but very much in line with other wild fermentations I've experienced. Not super "fruity" to my nose. More "weird". Someone who's not familiar with fermentation forward rums would call them "unpleasant". 😊
Re: lees. Yes, same word, different meanings here. Just like high wines/low wines being different in Jamaica and Scotland.
Lees in the Cousins context are what remains behind in the retort. If you read through the whole document (Highly recommended) it'll make much more sense.
Matt: Thank so much, mate!! I really am very passionate about rum, haha 😅
Re: Fermentation smell - I was actually referring to the aroma of the Muck. If that is, in fact, what you are referring to, are you saying that muck and wild fermentation smell similar? I have read different accounts: (Boston Apothecary) seems to imply muck has an almost fruity aroma. Other accounts have said muck smells vile and putrid.
I can say the experiments out back smell putrid and look gnarly with a cap of mold or bacterial bloom....I can say our extra-long ferment smells fruity/savory and had developed it's own little cap about 3 months in.
Re lees: haha, yes, I've been reading the Cousins document and it is brilliantly fascinating! As soon as I discovered what "lees" means in the Jamaican context (not in the Scottish or French) I was a little embarrassed and thought to myself "I should have just read the articles", haha.
It’s crazy I grew up on the estate in the nurses home. I even went to the primary school Fun days. I remember Ms Wint. Mrs Brown Ms Sterling. Principal Mrs Campbell
Mate! Thanks again for this. With you guiding us through, it feels like I was there, ESPECIALLY since you seem to be drawn to many of the things I would have been keen on, especially the liming of the lees!! I was meant to be on that trip with you and Mrs. Wonk, but with the birth of my son, I had to step aside ::heavy sigh::
Couple questions:
- Are you at all able to describe the orders emanating from the fermentation building?
- When referring to the lees, are they meaning the left over yeast bodies from the fermentation? I understand that in different distillation categories (Rum vs Cognac for example) the same word could mean different things respectively.
Cheers!
Hey Patrick - I love your enthusiasm! Congrats on your kid as well!
Re: fermentation smells. I didn't note down specific impressions, but very much in line with other wild fermentations I've experienced. Not super "fruity" to my nose. More "weird". Someone who's not familiar with fermentation forward rums would call them "unpleasant". 😊
Re: lees. Yes, same word, different meanings here. Just like high wines/low wines being different in Jamaica and Scotland.
Lees in the Cousins context are what remains behind in the retort. If you read through the whole document (Highly recommended) it'll make much more sense.
Matt: Thank so much, mate!! I really am very passionate about rum, haha 😅
Re: Fermentation smell - I was actually referring to the aroma of the Muck. If that is, in fact, what you are referring to, are you saying that muck and wild fermentation smell similar? I have read different accounts: (Boston Apothecary) seems to imply muck has an almost fruity aroma. Other accounts have said muck smells vile and putrid.
I can say the experiments out back smell putrid and look gnarly with a cap of mold or bacterial bloom....I can say our extra-long ferment smells fruity/savory and had developed it's own little cap about 3 months in.
Re lees: haha, yes, I've been reading the Cousins document and it is brilliantly fascinating! As soon as I discovered what "lees" means in the Jamaican context (not in the Scottish or French) I was a little embarrassed and thought to myself "I should have just read the articles", haha.