FOOD & DRINK
Peppie Grant Tour manager, Hampden Estate, Jamaica
It was 1753 when Scotsman Archibald Stirling opened a sugarcane plantation on
the rolling hills of Jamaica’s Queen of Spain Valley. Rum production was simply the next step, and so, among the sultry jungles that cloak much of the country’s interior, Hampden Estate was born. “This is one of the world’s oldest distilleries,”
says tour manager and rum devotee, Peppie Grant. “The smell — wafts of bacon, molasses and candy — hits you as soon as you walk through the door. It’s like being inside Willy Wonka’s Factory.” It’s perhaps unsurprising that Peppie’s workplace
smells better than most, for the estate has a claim to fame wholly distinct from the four million bottles of liquid sunshine it produces each year. So aromatic are the compounds created at the distillery, that they’ve found their way into one of the world’s most iconic perfumes: Chanel No 5.
Needless to say, the rum here is also full of
these spicy, fruity notes, thanks in part to long fermentation times and distillation in copper pot stills that have been used since the 1700s. “The batches are smaller, but the fl avour is fuller,” says Peppie. “Unlike most distilleries, we recycle the residue left over after the fi rst distillation. If you add it to rum later down the line, it supercharges the fl avour — that’s what makes us famous.” Peppie made an extreme career jump from
pharmaceuticals to rum relatively late in life, but growing up in Jamaica he says the spirit is woven into your very identity. “According to Guinness World Records, Jamaica has more churches per square mile than any other destination — but it’s also got more rum bars,” he says with a smile. “You grow up with it. We’ve always used it to cure
ailments, for example. People will treat fevers by soaking a rag in rum and putting it on their necks
and when I was a kid, my grandma rubbed rum on my forehead every time I had a cold.” Peppie’s happiest when exploring the 3,500-acre
estate. “We sit atop the island’s largest aquifer and still use the same water tapped from our own spring,” he says. “And then there’s the history. The house was built in 1779; it’s gone through hurricanes and earthquakes, but it’s still standing. My favourite part is the dining room; it’s got these gorgeous wooden fl oors and beams. It’s a living museum.” But it’s not just this that makes Hampden Estate
special. “You get to the grounds, with all its palm trees and you just feel calm.” And as for Peppie’s favourite way to enjoy rum? “Neat with two ice cubes, but let it sit for a while and aerate so the fl avours really come alive.” HOW TO DO IT: Take the two-hour Hampden Rum Tour for $50 (£40), which includes lunch, starting at 10am or 11am.
hampdenestaterum.com
Hampden rum is known for being particularly aromatic Clockwise from top left: Cacao pods take about four months to ripen; every bean is shelled by hand at Tonči Chocolates & Coffee; Hampden Estate is situated in the hills of Jamaica’s Queen of Spain Valley Previous pages from left: Jamaica’s interior is humid and densely forested; as well as cacao, coffee is another famous Caribbean crop
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER – CARIBBEAN COLLECTION 35
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