New Rum Release Updates – Mount Gay and Hampden Estate

Two quick updates on new and upcoming releases from Mount Gay and Hampden Estate. Specifically Mount Gay’s future Master Blender Collection release of Coffey still rum and Hampden’s 8 Marks set.

Mount Gay Coffey Still

Last month we saw Mount Gay receive and then surrender label approval for their Coffey Still rum. Those who thought there might have been a mistake in the back label were correct – a new label was approved towards the end of the month with a new back label.

The previous approval is on the left, the new approval is on the right:

The UPC code is also updated. The rear label of the original filing appears to be an accidental copy of the Black Barrel Cask Strength label. That release is currently only available at the distillery visitor center.

So no real changes here, just a corrected label.

Hampden Estate 8 Marks Set

While the rest of the world has enjoyed the new 8 Marks Set from Hampden Estate over the last year, those of us in the US have had to wait. I was fortunate to attend the first tasting masterclass by Daniele Biondi at Whisky Live Singapore last year, and I was really blown away by the entire package, including the included notes on each marque.

Information about when the set would be released in the US was scarce, but Kate Perry from La Maison and Velier broke the news on 28 September that sets would ship shortly.

Some states will take longer to receive their orders. I’ve heard from retailers that Winebow (who distributes LMV products in Georgia) won’t have their Hampden sets in stores until mid-November (ish).

LMV is launching this set with a new campaign designed to help pull these bottles out to distributors – notice the @askforit tag in Kate’s post. The link points to their list of distributors with email links (subject line: “Desperately seeking rum!”) to a contact at each. I know in the past it’s been a little spotty getting orders through to Winebow, and I hope that this campaign helps. If nothing else, it should help keep us from annoying Kate about things she can’t directly change.

What about the new aged 8 Marks Set? All but one bottle have label approval so far. This set hasn’t launched internationally though, and I would assume it’ll make an appearance outside the US before it comes here.

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