This unaged pot still distilled by Worthy Park in Jamaica and bottled by Ed Hamilton's Ministry of Rum gave us notes of butter, grass and sweat, with hints of cream, flowershop, leather, and coconut.

I’m a firm believer that comparing something to a similar point of reference allows you to be more objective and specific. If your point of comparison is too different, you may only notice the broad strokes: for example tasting an unaged high-ester overproof Jamaican alongside a long aged Demerara is likely to just make you say “yup, those are very different”. To that end I’ve been attempting to taste a large sampling of lightly aged Jamaican rum together.

Of course to know a rum is lightly aged you need a trustworthy age statement, which, if you’re casting a wide net, may not always be available. So in the process of sourcing I’ve been permitting rums that are at very least being marketed as “dark” or “gold”—for example it seemed reasonable to include Coruba Dark Jamaica Rum in this lineup even though it doesn’t carry any age statement. Additionally with many expression containing primarily aged distillate blended with a small quantity of unaged rum, it seemed expedient to not be too precious.

With the above context, it seemed reasonable to include Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Gold in this round of tastings, but in hindsight it probably wasn’t. This pot still rum distilled by Worthy Park and bottled by Ed Hamilton’s “Hamilton Ministry of Rum” Collection at 46.5% ABV is unaged, but lightly colored with “gold tint caramel”.

In the lab we measured a density of 0.936g/cc, which suggests no added sugar.

On the nose it’s lack of age is pretty clear; pungent butter and leather, coconut, sweat, and some overripe banana (we are working with Worthy Park here, after all). On the palate it’s fairly creamy; the banana is back but fresher, almost grassy. There are also some mild floral notes and a touch of something butterscotch-y. On the mild finish there’s a distinct medicinal bitterness.

In our blind taste test it had a middling performance; we thought it was decent as a neat sipper (6.0/10), and pretty good in a daiquiri (7.0/10). While it’s certainly interesting, it’s not particularly easy to work with. Compared with something like Smith & Cross who’s fruity funkiness is an excellent team player, Jamaican Pot Still Gold seems to stick out like a sore thumb.