Lemon Hart 151

Yeah.......... I was in there right after you. :(

Got the last one at Applejack in Wheat Ridge.

On 2010-05-29 09:08, arriano wrote:
I was just thinking: What are all the tiki bars and restaurants planning to do that use Lemon Hart 151 on a regular basis - seems to me that Trader Vic's, Tiki Ti, Mai Kai, Don the Beachcomber, etc etc would have better knowledge of the situation.

Hate to shatter the illusion, but the Mai-Kai doesn't use Lemon Hart rums. They are not available in Florida. I know Trader Vic's Atlanta does not use Lemon Hart either. Don't know about Calif locations.

I know that it's a big ingredient in a LOT of the drinks at Forbidden Island, and I would assume also at Smugglers Cove as well.

Yeah, I was being greedy, but we love the stuff.

I do like El Dorado Demerara, but the only one close to LH is the 15 year and it's almost double the price.

On 2010-06-03 13:57, Mai Tai wrote:
I know that it's a big ingredient in a LOT of the drinks at Forbidden Island, and I would assume also at Smugglers Cove as well.

Yeah, yeah... gloat why dontcha. :wink: It's a big ingredient in my Cannibal Lounge too, I can tell you that.

here's the response I got from demerara Distillers. Definitely worth everyone sending an email...or at least it can't hurt.

Thank you for your email expressing your regret that Lemon Hart rums will no longer be available in the US and we will pass on your sentiments to the distillery who will no doubt forward this to the brand owner Mosaic in Canada. Do note that although our demerara rums were indeed involved with Lemon Hart we were never part of the importation, distributing and marketing activities in the US.

I picked up 8 bottles of 151 today.

Both "local" stores where I normally can find LH 151 in stock have now run dry. Luckily I have a couple of bottles on stand-by, but it's almost come to this...

kevin

"St. John’s, NL, May 10, 2010 – The Newfoundland Labrador Liquor Corporation (NLC) announced today that it has entered into a five-year contract with Mosaiq Inc. to produce Lemon Hart Rum at the NLC’s manufacturing facility in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador."

http://www.nfliquor.com/news/Media%20Release%20-%20Lemon%20Hart%20Contract%20May%202010.pdf

This is promising.... New Hampshire imports other rums produced by NLC.

[ Edited by: rev_thumper 2010-06-05 13:28 ]

On 2010-06-05 13:24, rev_thumper wrote:
"St. John’s, NL, May 10, 2010 – The Newfoundland Labrador Liquor Corporation (NLC) announced today that it has entered into a five-year contract with Mosaiq Inc. to produce Lemon Hart Rum at the NLC’s manufacturing facility in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador."

http://www.nfliquor.com/news/Media%20Release%20-%20Lemon%20Hart%20Contract%20May%202010.pdf

This is promising.... New Hampshire imports other rums produced by NLC.

[ Edited by: rev_thumper 2010-06-05 13:28 ]

I'm very worried about the word 'produce' in that press release. I believe that by law all rums in Canada must be blended with Canadian rum (perhaps one of our northern friends can comment). This means that at best it will be the old DD produced rum blended with some Canadian rum. However, DD has indicated that it is no longer producing the 151 rum that was being used in LH 151. So for the 151 at least, this implies it will be made of rum(s) sourced from other vendors (some of which will have to be Canadian). It might be good, but it will be different.

As far as I can tell since DD is admitting they aren't making the actual LH 151 rum any more, whether you can buy something in a bottle that says LH 151 or not you won't be able to get the same rum you can get right now. (Not that losing LH 80 is all that great either as here in the US you're looking at about twice the cost for a bottle of El Dorado 12 or 15 year to replace it. But at least you can replace it.)

I have bought 22 bottles in the last month. 12 for me, 6 for a friend across town, and 4 for The Bum. I am just sick about this. Hopefully before the 12 I have runs out, there will be a substitute available in the states.

I can't find a lot of info on it, but it seems that Caribbean countries who, like Canada, are part of the Commonwealth have the right to ship their rums in bulk to Canada to bottle and distribute them here. At that time, they may blend their rums with 1-1.5% Canadian rum. This would certainly make distribution in Canada less expensive. I can't find a specific reason for the blending or anything that states all rums bottled in Canada must be blended. At some point, legislation was passed that stated only rum from Commonwealth Caribbean countries and Cuba (not part of the Commonwealth, but a good trade partner of ours) could be labeled "Caribbean Rum". I don't think all rums from these countries are blended and bottled in Canada, but most of the big ones are: Bacardi, Capt Morgan, Malibu, Lambs, Myers, etc. I read something about Lemon Hart being produced in Windsor, Ontario, so I think the LH we've been getting here is blended as well. Maybe that's why I don't think it's anything special. I'm not likely to change my mind after NLC takes over, either. LH151 has never been available here, so I doubt very much that NLC will produce it.
As for other rums, we get lots of pure, unblended rums from South and Central America and the Caribbean, Commonwealth or otherwise. It's probably a regulation for distributors who want to do their bottling in Canada. Cuban rums aren't allowed to do the bulk ship, bottle, and blend in Canada thing, luckily! Here are some links for more info about our strange rum laws, not specifically pertaining to Lemon Hart.
http://www.legalalcohol.com/?p=5
http://www.rumproject.com/WIRSPA.html
The fact that so-called authentic, Caribbean rum in Canada could be something distilled from molasses from anywhere in the world and be blended with 1-1.5% Canadian rum is a joke. But that's a topic for another thread.

An excellent summary of the data, Brandomoai. I read the same information and found it very confusing.

I just wanted to add some info about the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Commission. As the name suggests, it's a provincial crown corporation - the same one that runs the province's liquor stores. Oddly, they're the only such provincial body in Canada that is also a producer and distributor of alcoholic beverages. Their most famous product is Newfoundland Screech, which is a Jamaican rum bottled in Newfoundland. Historically, Screech was made from residue cleaned from wooden barrels used to ship molasses and/or rum from Jamaica to Newfoundland. "Real" Newfoundland screech was much stronger and less smooth than the product now being sold under that name. Essentially it was illegal rotgut. The stuff you get in stores now is actually quite a nice rum.

Hopefully they do a nice job producing the LH.

Am I missing something here?

I can't believe that Lemon Hart would just kiss their entire US market 'goodbye' when a simple change in labeling would seem to solve the problem!
You see familiar products with new labels all the time . . . they usually have a temporary sticker on with something like, "New Label - Same Great Taste" or something along those lines. What would be the difficulty in Lemon Hart doing something like that?

Just bought several bottles of Lemon Hart 80 and several more of 151 from two different on-line retailers, all at a fair price.

Both retailers are shipping rather large boxes of booze from California to Illinois as we speak.

It is still out there.

Stock up.

Am I missing something here?

I think part of what you are missing is that there is no "Lemon Hart". It was Pernod Richard, it is now Mosaiq. The brand name was bought up by Mosaiq, but the distribution and rum itself was not. Indeed Demerara Distillers (the company that actually made the rum in the bottles) has confirmed that they are no longer making the 151 rum that was being sold to Pernod Richard to be bottled as LH 151. So no matter what happens, unless DD starts making that rum the stuff that was in LH 151 bottles will never be available again. This is a done deal, it's already happened. You could hope that Mosaiq makes a LH 151 product sourcing the rum from somebody else but who knows what it will taste like. And as a Canadian poster has indicated that LH 151 isn't available in Canada it would seem to make little sense for them to try to pursue making such a niche product.

The best bet is to write nice letters/emails to DD asking them to re-release this rum under the El Dorado brand, short of that happening I don't think we will ever see it again.

I'd like to see the Bum weigh in on this for his opinion on what to do once the supply (and everyone's hoards) dries up.

Ah! Now I see. That's a shame. The El Dorado overproof is no substitute.

On 2010-06-07 23:40, rangda wrote:

Am I missing something here?

I think part of what you are missing is that there is no "Lemon Hart". It was Pernod Richard, it is now Mosaiq. The brand name was bought up by Mosaiq, but the distribution and rum itself was not. Indeed Demerara Distillers (the company that actually made the rum in the bottles) has confirmed that they are no longer making the 151 rum that was being sold to Pernod Richard to be bottled as LH 151. So no matter what happens, unless DD starts making that rum the stuff that was in LH 151 bottles will never be available again. This is a done deal, it's already happened. You could hope that Mosaiq makes a LH 151 product sourcing the rum from somebody else but who knows what it will taste like. And as a Canadian poster has indicated that LH 151 isn't available in Canada it would seem to make little sense for them to try to pursue making such a niche product.

The best bet is to write nice letters/emails to DD asking them to re-release this rum under the El Dorado brand, short of that happening I don't think we will ever see it again.

I'd like to see the Bum weigh in on this for his opinion on what to do once the supply (and everyone's hoards) dries up.

I am delivering The Bum his bottles this weekend and I'll get his input. He said that he wanted these to be able to take to other distillers to try to replicate the taste. So he is thinking ahead.

The best, of course, would be for a domestic craft distiller to pick up the torch and run with it.

Prichard's in Tennessee manufactures rum. Perhaps they could be convinced... There's also Rogue. They've been in the game even longer than Prichard's.

On 2010-06-08 12:39, CucamongaChango wrote:
The best, of course, would be for a domestic craft distiller to pick up the torch and run with it.

This would be good in that they would be happy with smaller numbers and thus the product would be more likely to continue even in the face of low sales. It would be bad in that it would probably affect availability for those outside of the US.

One problem with this is all of the hoarding everyone is doing. I've got enough bottles of LH 151 at this point to last me at least 5 years, probably longer if I start rationing as I get low. If enough people do this, aside from buying one bottle just to give them business when someone makes a replacement how much would it sell?

The sales numbers had to be low on LH. A particular retailer in California I called said his supply was gone. When he called his distributor, he was told their supply was gone too. But he also told me his store was the only one that bought LH from that distributor.

Also, be aware that though some retailer web sites out there still say they carry it, their supply may have already dried up. So call them first.

On 2010-06-09 05:53, GatorRob wrote:
Also, be aware that though some retailer web sites out there still say they carry it, their supply may have already dried up. So call them first.

Yep, my east coast supplier is now out so I orderd 5 bottles of LH151 from my west coast supplier.

Chris

What's a good price for a bottle? Want to make sure I don't overpay. Thanks.

On 2010-06-10 11:49, seabass wrote:
What's a good price for a bottle? Want to make sure I don't overpay. Thanks.

I bet prices vary wildly due to local taxes, but here in MA the 151 generally goes for $22-$24/bottle. One place had it for $20 but they never had more than 1-2 bottles.

I just got two bottles via mail order from San Francisco Wine Company. They still list it as in stock on their web site:

https://www.sfwtc.com/

On 2010-06-10 13:42, arriano wrote:
I just got two bottles via mail order from San Francisco Wine Company. They still list it as in stock on their web site:

https://www.sfwtc.com/

That's where I got mine. They have 12 left according to Alex in customer service. He told me they'd heard of the situation with LH, so they ordered a lot of product and now it's almost gone.

Chris

Ordered one bottle of LH 151 from sfwtc.com yesterday. I will be saving it for Dec. 21, 2012's cataclysmic events.

Hi

Received a case of 12 bottles of the Lemon Hart 80 yesterday from Beltramo's.

After shipping, my price per bottle was a very reasonable $22.24.

My half-case of the 151 is due to arrive Monday from sfwtc for the slightly high price of $33.79.

So, now that we're all thirsty for some Lemon Hart, let's discuss: what's your very favorite recipe that calls for demerara rum?

On 2010-06-10 13:42, arriano wrote:
I just got two bottles via mail order from San Francisco Wine Company. They still list it as in stock on their web site:

https://www.sfwtc.com/

Thanks for sharing my honey hole! When I ordered my last bottles last week they had over 30 in stock. Otto asked me where to get it thsi weekend at Hukilau and I pull it up for him and ZERO....

Oh well. Maybe he'll get motivated to help find a replacement. Delivered my bottle to The Bum and he intends to put them in the hands of other distillers to recreate the flavor of this fine 151.

On 2010-06-14 09:21, Swanky wrote:

Thanks for sharing my honey hole! When I ordered my last bottles last week they had over 30 in stock. Otto asked me where to get it thsi weekend at Hukilau and I pull it up for him and ZERO....

Oh well. Maybe he'll get motivated to help find a replacement. Delivered my bottle to The Bum and he intends to put them in the hands of other distillers to recreate the flavor of this fine 151.

Sorry for revealing your secret stash there, Swank.

I'm hoping Berry can pull it off. But with the wrangling, agreements, approval, and aging process, we could be lookin' at years even if he is successful.

On 2010-06-12 14:33, tikibars wrote:
So, now that we're all thirsty for some Lemon Hart, let's discuss: what's your very favorite recipe that calls for demerara rum?

Jet Pilot... hands down. That's what I'm hording mine for.

I'm the Bartender at the Tonga Hut 1958 in No. Hollywood Ca. 3 of our very large well known nation wide WHOLESALE distributors have confirmed that Lemon Hart Rums will be back on the shelves in a few weeks. What the label reads is not known yet. But they confirmed it's our Lemon Hart as we know it. For what it's worth. In the meantime I'm using Cruzan 151. It tastes nothing like Lemon Hart and is no replacement by far, not smokey but palatable.

If you can get Gosling's 151 that would be a better substitute.

On 2010-06-17 13:59, Hiphipahula wrote:
I'm the Bartender at the Tonga Hut 1958 in No. Hollywood Ca. 3 of our very large well known nation wide WHOLESALE distributors have confirmed that Lemon Hart Rums will be back on the shelves in a few weeks. What the label reads is not known yet. But they confirmed it's our Lemon Hart as we know it. For what it's worth. In the meantime I'm using Cruzan 151. It tastes nothing like Lemon Hart and is no replacement by far, not smokey but palatable.

That's good to hear, so long as it's still the same rum.

Chris

On 2010-06-17 16:29, rev_thumper wrote:
If you can get Gosling's 151 that would be a better substitute.

All a matter of opinion, I don't care for any Goslings Rums. Across the board Cruzan makes very good rums in this price point. My suggestion is that anyone concerned buy a bottle of the rums you might be interested in and have a taste test. Everyone has a different palate. It's easier to blend in say an 80 proof rum and hide a flavor or chemical balance you might not care for but 151 is such a bold taste it's not going to be easily hidden. Taste test the rums for yourself, it's your best bet.

Best price/performance replacement that there is: O.V.D. Old Vatted Demerara Rum 1 Liter - sells for 26,20 EUR in Europe and brings the demerara flavour back to your drinks.

http://www.drinkology.de/webshop/rum/ovd-old-vatted-demerara-rum-1-liter.html

Only problem - it´s 80 proof..

On 2010-06-14 20:36, CucamongaChango wrote:

On 2010-06-12 14:33, tikibars wrote:
So, now that we're all thirsty for some Lemon Hart, let's discuss: what's your very favorite recipe that calls for demerara rum?

Jet Pilot... hands down. That's what I'm hording mine for.

Got a Jet Pilot recipe you really like? I'm interested in the drink but there are SO many recipes!

On 2010-06-17 23:18, marcus_at wrote:
Best price/performance replacement that there is: O.V.D. Old Vatted Demerara Rum 1 Liter - sells for 26,20 EUR in Europe and brings the demerara flavour back to your drinks.

http://www.drinkology.de/webshop/rum/ovd-old-vatted-demerara-rum-1-liter.html

Only problem - it´s 80 proof..

80 proof is the best sub for LH 151. I use El Dorado in drinks if I want less punch but the same taste.

Hi all I usually order from drinkupny, but they ran out yesterday, On a Hunch I called a liquor
Store on the big island, they have lemon hart 151 and I wAs able to place an order, their prices were very reasonable
If you are all interested, call Howard at 808-329-9400 it's the Kona wine and spirits

Amy

[ Edited by: Queen Kamehameha 2010-06-18 19:35 ]

On 2010-06-18 09:22, kludge wrote:
[Got a Jet Pilot recipe you really like? I'm interested in the drink but there are SO many recipes!

The Beverly Hills Luau Jet Pilot recipe in Sippin' Safari is my favorite. Outstanding cocktail.

That must be the one I make, then. I don't have Sippin' Safari, but the Kaiser Penguin has the recipe at his blog, which is where I found it. Since it's out in the public "open", I imagine the bum knows it's there, so I'll go ahead and post the link.
From the Kaiser Penguin: http://www.kaiserpenguin.com/jet-pilot/

It is my very, very favoritist rum drink on the planet Earth.

[ Edited by: CucamongaChango 2010-06-18 22:09 ]

Did the label on Lemon Hart 151 use to be white? I was in a ratty liquor store when I was happy to find a bottle of Coconut Cruzan (now hard to find since Bevmo stopped carrying it) and up on the top shelf I spied an ancient bottle of Lemon Hart 151. But the label was white. I have already hoarded two bottles and was afraid this bottle had spent so much time in the sun it had faded. I didn't buy it but was just curious about the old bottle.

On 2010-06-22 23:29, SuperEight wrote:
Did the label on Lemon Hart 151 use to be white? I was in a ratty liquor store when I was happy to find a bottle of Coconut Cruzan (now hard to find since Bevmo stopped carrying it) and up on the top shelf I spied an ancient bottle of Lemon Hart 151. But the label was white. I have already hoarded two bottles and was afraid this bottle had spent so much time in the sun it had faded. I didn't buy it but was just curious about the old bottle.

Look here and see if you recognize your label....or you can send it to me :)

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.rum.cz/galery/eur/uk/hart/img/uk_117.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.rum.cz/galery/eur/uk/hart/&usg=__Iz5aXV_xjnbwkBCJb3Yfqh70ptE=&h=324&w=303&sz=25&hl=en&start=19&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=1Xm_cc8An5Y7nM:&tbnh=118&tbnw=110&prev=/images%3Fq%3DLemon%2BHart%2B151%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26tbs%3Disch:1

wow, I sudenly am very thirsty for a rum drink.

Jeff(btd)

No time like the present!

Lemon Hart 80 showed up at the drinkupny.com site a week or so ago, so I ordered some, and received it. I was on the site just now and they list the 151 as well.

If you are concerned, I would go for it.

Jack

[ Edited by: tabuzak 2010-06-24 14:22 ]