Plantation Extreme No 3 Jamaica 22-Year-Old HJC

A 22-year-old Jamaican rum distilled at the Long Pond distillery and bottled as part of Plantation’s Extreme series.

The Extreme No 3 edition was released in 2018 and made it to Australia in very limited quantities in 2019. The two Jamaican rums were both distilled at the Long Pond distillery in 1996 through a John Dore pot still.

In both cases they spent a mammoth 21 years maturing in the tropical Caribbean climate before they were transferred to Europe. That’s a remarkably long period of aging for that region and is partly why these two releases fit the ‘Extreme’ mould. The two releases differ for their marques, ITP and HJC.

While both of these are big, funky Jamaican rums, the HJC is the more balanced of the two. More approachable than the ITP, which is a flavour playground for those seeking intensity.

This HJC was fermented for three weeks and has an ester count of 345 g/hl AA. They’ve also listed the high volatile acid count, which is 1,205 g/hl AA.

It was matured for 21 years in an ex-bourbon cask in the tropical climate, before a one-year finish in ex-cognac casks in France.

Bottled at 56.2% August 2018, the batch yielded 2,121.

The Extreme series from Plantation is reserved for small batch editions usually offered at cask strength and as close to their original form as possible.