Appleton Estate releases rare, limited time offers with Hearts Collection

Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum has released its Hearts Collection, a trio of three vintages that accompany the brand’s ultra-premium range. This limited-edition collection is unlike any expression ever released by the brand, comprising the first and only single marque, 100 per cent pot still rums released by Appleton Estate.

The Hearts Collection consists of 1994, 1995, and 1999 vintage rums aged 26, 25, and 21 years, respectively. Like all Appleton Estate’s premium aged rums, the Hearts Collection acquires its characteristics from American Oak barrels and topical ageing. Ageing three times faster than in temperate climates, tropical ageing results in supreme flavour, complexity, and depth of character.

This collection is also the first collaboration between Dr Joy Spence, the legendary master blender of Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum, and renowned rum connoisseur from Italy Luca Gargano. Gargano is one of the most influential rum experts today and is the proprietor of Velier, an importer and distributor of premium spirits. He has one of the most extensive collections of old rums, with more than 40,000 bottles in his personal repository.

To create the Hearts Collection, and with a particular flavour profile in mind, Dr Spence pulled just 10 casks from the almost 200,000 barrels ageing in Appleton Estate’s warehouses, incidentally one of the oldest and most comprehensive collections in the world. Gargano, who had long been interested in collaborating with the master blender, travelled to Appleton Estate from Italy to conduct a blind tasting. Ultimately, the pair landed on the same three casks as their favourite, giving birth to the Hearts Collection.

Named for the heart of Jamaica, where it was created, the Appleton Estate Hearts Collection also signifies the passion for rum shared by Spence and Gargano.

Extremely rare and limited in quantity, only 1,000 bottles of each vintage make up the Appleton Estate Hearts Collection, with only 50 of each available in Jamaica. The new Hearts Collection is to be sipped and enjoyed neat from a snifter and may be purchased from select retail outlets and the Joy Spence Appleton Estate Rum Experience in Siloah, St Elizabeth.