HAMPDEN 4 ans 2021 DOK Magnum Series #3

For its third edition, the Magnum Series sets sail for Trelawny Parish, Jamaica, into the atmospheric heart of the Hampden Estate distillery. Each year, La Maison du Whisky and its Italian partner, Velier, invite a Magnum Photos photographer to capture the soul of a distillery through a week-long creative immersion. For Series #3, Spanish photographer, Cristina De Middel explored Hampden’s maze of fermenters, pipework, overgrown facades and humidity-soaked rooms, transforming these raw spaces into surreal, cinematic compositions. Four of her photographs illustrate the labels of this new collection of rums, distilled between 2016 and 2021 across a variety of Hampden marks.

This Hampden 4 Year Old 2021 DOK represents the most extreme point in the Magnum Series #3 ester ascension. Bottled from the legendary DOK mark (Dermot Owen Kelly-Lawson), it carries an extraordinary ester content of 1,500 – 1,600 g/hlpa, placing it among the most intense distillates produced anywhere in the world. Explosive yet remarkably structured, it unleashes a sensory rush of overripe tropical fruits, heady floral tones, medicinal flashes and gripping mineral notes. Alternating between extroverted exuberance and laser-sharp precision, this young rum strides boldly across every aromatic terrain where half-measures simply do not exist.

Founded in the mid-18th century and operating continuously since 1753, Hampden Estate is one of Jamaica’s oldest and most revered rum producers. Famed for its long fermentations, wild yeast cultures and traditional pot still distillation, these techniques give rise to Jamaica’s most iconic high-ester profiles, with each mark reflecting a distinct facet of Trelawny’s rum heritage. The 2021 DOK bottling captures Hampden’s most uncompromising expression, offering an unforgettable demonstration of intensity, terroir and craft.