Plantation Extreme No.3 Collection from Long Pond Distillery
01/03/2019
Plantation dazzles with two exceptional rums from the mythical Long Pond Distillery. Eagerly awaited, these very old 22-year-old rums represent two faces of a rare vintage.
Every year, rum lovers eagerly await the latest edition of these exceptional bottles. Last fall the Extrême N°2 collection created a sensation, particularly in Sweden where their entire stock sold out online in 27 seconds! This year, don’t wait to enjoy these nectars. For its Extrême N°3 collection, Plantation selected the quintessence of Jamaican rums with two very old 22-year-old expressions from the mythical Long Pond Distillery. After lying dormant for eight years, the distillery known for producing the world’s most esteemed high-ester rums reopened in July 2017. This news did not fail to delight fans of funky and intense rums. Bottled at cask strength at a quantity of around 2,000 each, Plantation Jamaica HJC 1996 and Plantation Jamaica ITP 1996 are the fruit of meticulous selection and double ageing.
Plantation Long Pond HJC 1996 is bottled at 56.2% alcohol by volume (112.4 proof) and Plantation Long Pond ITP 1996 is bottled at 54.8% alcohol by volume (109.6 proof). They both have a suggested retail price of $250.00 and are available in select U.S. cities as of January 2019.
Long Pond Distillery suffered a terrible fire on July 16th of this year, losing all its wood fermentation vats as well as 65,000 liters of freshly distilled rum. Fortunately, the stills remain intact.
"At a moment when Long Pond is experiencing such a dark moment, for us, this edition takes on even more meaning and historic significance," explained Alexandre Gabriel, Creator and Master Blender of Plantation Rums.
The Plantation Extrême Collection
With its Extrême collection, Plantation boldly presents its most daring rums. Alexandre Gabriel, Plantation Rums creator and Master Blender, unearths unusual barrels and, charmed by their harmony and unique profile, classifies them as "extreme." These carefully selected casks are set aside to be bottled at cask strength, like rough diamonds, in very limited editions. The design of this new release is the creation of Troydel, a Jamaican artist whose work emphasizes the raw beauty of the island with its colorful landscapes and ancestral savoir-faire.
Plantation Jamaica HJC 1996 and Jamaica ITP 1996, two exceptional marques
As sublime as they are rare, these two vintages were both distilled in 1996 at Long Pond Distillery with the famous John Dore still and distinguish themselves through their typical flavor concentration. The distillery produces a wide variety of styles of rum, indicated by initials (rum marques) that range from lightest to most intense. While the HJC has an ester rate of 345g/hlap and a profile marked by rich spiced notes, the ITP has an ester rate of 386g/hlap and differs in its notes of very ripe tropical fruit. To highlight their exceptional characters, these two expressions are bottled at cask strength. These two Long Pond rums are further enhanced by Plantation’s signature double ageing technique, combining 21 years of maturation in bourbon barrels in Jamaica with a subsequent year of ageing in Ferrand casks in France. As a result of this unique journey, Plantation Jamaica HJC 1996 and Plantation Jamaica ITP 1996 represent two faces of an exceptional vintage.
Plantation Long Pond HJC 1996, 56.2% ABV
Plantation Long Pond ITP 1996, 54.8% ABV