Appleton Estate, Jamaica’s premier rum distillery and one of the very best in the category, just announced the launch of the latest release in the Hearts Collection, a 1998 vintage rum aged for 25 years. This outstanding expression is one that fans of aged scotch or bourbon should try, and we got an early taste.
The new 1998 vintage is the eighth expression in the Hearts Collection (previous vintages were from 1994, 1995, 1999, 1984, 2003, 1993, and 2002), which is curated and selected by esteemed master blender Joy Spence in partnership with avid rum collector and aficionado Luca Gargano. On a recent Zoom call, Spence referred to this rum as a “session rum,” meaning it’s something you should sit with for a while and savor. “This rum was the heart of the Apple Estate Joy blend,” she said. “I said, ‘Let’s use this to celebrate the next release in the series.’ We selected 19 casks, took the rum out of the casks, put it into tankers, and shipped it to Luca, who did the bottling in Europe.”
The rum was distilled in pot stills and aged in ex-bourbon barrels for a quarter century in Jamaica’s tropical climate, so the barrel influence is pronounced. According to Spence, the character of pot still rum is much more interesting than rum distilled in column stills, so there’s no plan to do a release of that style for the Hearts Collection. There is an herbal fruit note on the nose, along with a whiff of spice. The palate has notes of orange, ginger, espresso, banana, pineapple, cherry, oak, and dark chocolate, with a warm burn on back of the throat on the finish. It’s bottled at a strong 126 proof, so a little water goes a long way and opens up the palate nicely. Overall, this is a fantastic rum, and another strong entry in the excellent Hearts Collection.
Appleton Estate Hearts Collection 1998 is being released in a run of just 2,700 bottles, so you may have to do some hunting to find one. For all you rum nerds, the labels have much more information than your average release, with the amount of congeners and barrel numbers that the liquid was aged in listed. The SRP is $650—well worth it if you can afford a bottle—which is higher than some previous releases. The new 1998 might be a little hard to find at the moment, but you can find those other vintages now at websites like ReserveBar.
