Old Collector
Cees van Wees Private Stock 1959 (Hampden)
Description
This treasure is the property of the Van Wees family, and more specifically of Cees, a businessman, merchant, and distiller from the 1960s to the 2000s.
From his many professional adventures, one fine day in 1962, he recovered this Jamaican rum, which he would never part with again... until a certain Luca Gargano discovered it by chance during a visit to the Van Wees family cellars in 2019.
That day, Luca Gargano came to visit the Van Wees family accompanied by Giorgia Cassani. Some time earlier, Rene van Hoven, a renowned collector, wrote to Luca Gargano to inform him of the existence of a very old collection that the Van Wees family kept in stock (The Ciguena Collection).
The memory of this rum would never leave Luca, and the frustrations of COVID-19 only reinforced his desire to return. In 2022, he was finally able to taste the distillate with Fenny, and they decided to release this rum together, dedicating it to Cees Van Wees, who passed away in December 2019.
Initially planned for December 2024, the rum was finally bottled by Fenny and his team in February 2025, from nine demijohns (ranging from 7.5 to 20 liters) totaling 151.7 liters. The rum remained in barrels in the family company's cellars until 1988, after a cumulative aging of 28 years.
Limited edition of 218
You can read the story behind this bottle right here: https://www.rowspirits.fr/en/les-collectors/3399-1-bottle-1-story-hampden-1959-cees-van-wees.html
