Throughout the year, The Whisky Exchange team tries hundreds of great spirits. However, only one can take home our coveted Spirit of the Year award, which this time goes to Jamaica’s Hampden Estate rum for its 1753 release.

Jamaica was hit hard by Hurricane Melissa in October 2025, causing widespread devastation across the island. To help support our friends in Jamaica to rebuild after the hurricane, we will be donating £6 to relief effort charities for every bottle of 1753 sold.

The Hampden Estate’s history stretches back to the mid-1700s, starting with a sugar estate being established in Trelawney parish, a mile from Jamaica’s northern coast. There’s some evidence that suggests that there was distilling going on before 1753, but we know that a Mr Archibald Stirling was producing sugar and rum on site from then. In 1779, Mr Sterling built the Hampden Great House on the estate, which still stands today, honoured by its own special release of rum, and the estate continued to grow. The years since have seen its fortunes rise and fall, but in 2018, the first official commercial bottlings of Hampden Estate rum were launched, giving people around the world the chance to experience its funky Jamaican character.