WPE vs. <>H and comparing high ester rums

To my knowledge WPE is the highest ester mark (around 700 gr/hlpa) that is produced at Worthy Park while the <>H mark at Hampden is in the “middle” of the range at around 900-1000 gr/hlpa.

When I compare the 3 YO Worthy Park WPE 57% with the recent Habitation Velier <>H 62% the HV is quite boring in comparison when looking for a high ester rum (high ester is not just DOK :wink: ). I wonder why that is so, is it just the ageing difference of 2 years so the HV is tamed down a bit while having a higher level of esters on paper and also higher ABV? I also wonder if that is just my perception or if others can follow my findings. To me the 3YO WPE was an exceptional release this year considering it’s low price tag compared to other rums calling themselves high ester rum.

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Fully agree. One of the “under the radar” or “hidden gem” releases.

The RumX overall score is 1pt in favor of the <>H, however I think that this can be attributed to a name bias. A blind comparison would be interesting. Maybe a theme for a crosstasting?!

I have not put them head to head yet and only tried the WPE at GRF against the LROK Younger (spoiler: WPE won). But I would not be surprised to come to the same conclusion as you, @Chris . This is probably a great example why the ester count does not tell the whole story and can only serve as a rough indicator of taste/profile. To get the full picture, one would probably need the full chemical analysis of esters, congeners and all that other stuff that I’m absolutely no expert in.

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I have to admit that I did the same test with the 3 years WPE vs. HV <>H and I preferred the HV

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Comparing the SBS Jamaica 2019 WPE German Rumfestival 2020 55% and the SBS Rum Jamaica DOK 2019 - Rum & Co Edition 68,7% the WPE is much more “Interesting” than the DOK, even though alcohol and age are lower. Maybe the active oak cask of the WPE induced more spice and added more to the overal taste than the double ester count of the DOK would to. What do I know…

This WPE bottling is still on my wish list