El Dorado...8?

I know such a beast exists (it's on the ED website) but damned if I can find one for sale locally.

Does anyone know of any retailer (preferably but not necessarily in South FL) that carries the ED8?

Thanks in advance!!

i just tried my first bottle, from some hole in the wall in tampa (cant even recall the name).

i like it neat.

for some reason it hasnt mixed well in everything so far (thumbs up on navy grog, mai tai; thumbs down on a daiquiri), seems to me to have funky aftertaste when mixed in drink w/strong lime component.

sorry cant be more helpful, havent seen it much that i can recall either.

I am finding the ED8 as readily as ED5 in the Melbourne area, usually for around $4 more than ED5.

I think it is a pretty versatile product that does work as a sipper, but I think I still prefer ED5 for all-around mixing.

The El Dorado product that continues to elude me is the ED 3 year old white rum which I have heard very good things about. I have yet to find it in Florida.

The ED3 is pretty available in the Miami area...just saw the at our local Total Wines.

Perhaps this has been talked to death, but what'd be the closest approximation to LH80? ED8 or 12?

Total wines. Those sob's never called me about the case of a certain dark rum that I ordered from them. Dirty so and so's.

On 2013-06-17 11:07, jokeiii wrote:
The ED3 is pretty available in the Miami area...just saw the at our local Total Wines.

Perhaps this has been talked to death, but what'd be the closest approximation to LH80? ED8 or 12?

ED 3 really is in the Miami area now, huh? I will have to see if it's something our Total Wine can get for me. Have you mixed much with it and what is your verdict?

I think somewhere on Hurricane Hayward's blog is a discussion about basically diluting LH151 to about 50% strength as the best bet for approximating LH80. I think the info may have originally come from somewhere on Ministry of Rum and it talks about doing the dilution very slowly — over the course of 24+ hours I think. I am no chemist so I don't know the reason for the slow dilution and never bothered. At any rate, it turned out I was burning through my LH151 way too quickly using it for 80-proof mixing purposes as well so I stopped.

It has been a few years since I have tasted LH80, but I think there was a bit more of the burnt caramel in the flavor profile than the 5, 8 or 12 year products have. I think a good substitution might be 50% ED 5or ED 8 and 50% ED Superior Dark which has that burnt caramel taste in spades.

Honestly though, I think any of aged 80 proof ED products work as a decent sub for LH80 and I just use whatever I have on hand.

[ Edited by: Sunny&Rummy 2013-06-17 12:18 ]

sunny, are you able to find LH151 out your way?

havent been able to find it anywhere out here.

On 2013-06-17 12:24, thePorpoise wrote:
sunny, are you able to find LH151 out your way?

havent been able to find it anywhere out here.

It's very spotty by me. Roy's Liquors in Fort Pierce has been my best bet since it's come back to Florida. Not sure if they have it on the shelf at the moment but I am currently out and need to make a run so I will find out soon.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2013-06-17 15:04 ]

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2013-06-17 15:04 ]

Finding ED Special Dark is an even bigger mission than finding ED8! I think that, unless I can score ED8 and/or ED Sp. Dark, I'll just stick to ED5 and be happy.

-J.

P.S. Not really sure why my last post showed up THREE times at bizarre intervals...sorry, sorry, sorry.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2013-06-17 15:15 ]

I'm able to get El Dorado 5, 12, 15 and"Cuba Libre" dark rum. No complaints . . . I do quite well with what's offered around these parts.

The perfect can be the enemy of the good, right?

I had a bottle of the ED superior dark once, it was.... not good...

also had a bottle of the Cuba Libre silver, which may or may not be same as ED superior white? anyway, not good...

[ Edited by: thePorpoise 2013-06-17 18:23 ]

the 15 is great as a sipper

8 is smooth too

On 2013-06-17 11:07, jokeiii wrote:
The ED3 is pretty available in the Miami area...just saw the at our local Total Wines.

Perhaps this has been talked to death, but what'd be the closest approximation to LH80? ED8 or 12?

My opinion - El Dorado 8 is closer to Lemon Hart 80 than El Dorado 12. However, I've never done a direct comparison.

I have all 3 on hand; perhaps a blind test is in order over the weekend.

kevin

On 2013-06-17 18:18, thePorpoise wrote:
I had a bottle of the ED superior dark once, it was.... not good...

also had a bottle of the Cuba Libre silver, which may or may not be same as ED superior white? anyway, not good...

[ Edited by: thePorpoise 2013-06-17 18:23 ]

I hear you on the ED Superior Dark. I had a bottle for more than a year because it was initially a challenging rum to mix with, and something you wouldn't ever contemplate as a sipper. I ended up putting it to good use in 1/2-ounce measures in a Jamaican house party punch whose primary rum constituents were J Wray Overproof and Coruba. It also punches through pineapple juice nicely so it worked well as part of the dark rum component in Hawaiian-style Mai Tais like the Damon's Mai Tai from Taboo Table.

I could be misremembering how much acrid bitter/burnt caramel was in the flavor profile of LH 80, but I seem to recall it had more of that flavor element than any of the premium aged El Dorado products have, so I think at least a small amount of ED Superior Dark might be useful in approximating the LH 80 flavor profile.

I have also been under the impression that the Cuba Libre line of products were identical to the El Dorado line, so I assume the Cuba Libre silver is the same beast as the ED Superior White. I have not been in a hurry to try either of those products, and until the ED 3 year came out the notion of a white Demerara rum had no appeal to me.

On 2013-06-17 17:28, jokeiii wrote:
The perfect can be the enemy of the good, right?

"You go to war with the Rum you have, not the Rum you wish you had."
-- Donald RUMsfeld

:)

UPDATE! Also asked Martin Cate and Blair Reynolds their own bad selves, and they both agreed w. Beachbum that ED5 is the best substitute for LH80.

FWIW, I just had this brief exchange w. Beachbum his own bad self:

Me: Please help settle this: Which El Dorado rum is the closest substitution for Lemon Hart 80 Proof: 5 Year, 8 Year, 12 Year or ED Special Dark?

BBB: Oh, the 5 Year.

Which is great, because it's a) the cheapest (I just missed it on sale at my local Total Wines for $18!!) and b) very available.

So there you go.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2013-06-18 13:56 ]

got a bottle of ED 3. like it very much in a daiquiri, where the demerara flavor really stands out. i think in most cocktails tho you can get similar flavor profile for much less $ by using a jamaican white rum.

The mythical city of gold. So, I've been really enjoying the El Dorado 3-year white as my standard mixing white for Daiquiris and pretty much anything tiki where a white rum is called for but won't be totally obliterated by large amounts of dark rum and syrups. I think it's great and am about to pick up some more at Hi Time for $17. But if there is an equally tasty mixing white that isn't Bacardi (well I guess that wouldn't be equally tasty) for significantly less I'd be glad to try an alternative. Any suggestions?

But my main question here is about the ED 8 vs. the ED 5. I've been using the ED 5 for mixing anything that calls for a Demerara. Though I also picked up some of the Hamilton 80 which is very tasty, even neat, but I'm thinking of saving more for truly Demerara-oriented drinks. My question: Hi Time has the ED 8 for the same price as the ED 5 - $18. I see from the notes above that the 5 is generally recommended for mixing. Is there any good reason to pick up the 8 as well? Anybody prefer the 8 to the 5?

Then there's the 12... I understand this is going to be a nicer sipping rum and at $25 it's not too steep. Would most of you use it in place of the 5, or 8, or do you keep it for special occasions?

And while I'm bugging you all - slightly off-topic - do I need a rhum agricole? For what drinks is it di rigueur? And is there a good one that won't break the bank?

Thanks in advance!

I enjoyed the ED 8 in a rum manhattan, and enjoyed it neat. I didnt like it mixed as well as the ED 5.

On 2015-02-15 16:37, wupput wrote:

And while I'm bugging you all - slightly off-topic - do I need a rhum agricole? For what drinks is it di rigueur?

oh no he di-int! :drink:

On 2015-02-15 17:22, thePorpoise wrote:
I enjoyed the ED 8 in a rum manhattan, and enjoyed it neat. I didnt like it mixed as well as the ED 5.

On 2015-02-15 16:37, wupput wrote:

And while I'm bugging you all - slightly off-topic - do I need a rhum agricole? For what drinks is it di rigueur?

oh no he di-int! :drink:

Wupput must be trolling...

:)

oh no he di-int! :drink:

He did! He's di-mented! He's di-lirious! He's di-runk!

On 2015-02-15 16:37, wupput wrote:
My main question here is about the ED 8 vs. the ED 5. I've been using the ED 5 for mixing anything that calls for a Demerara. Though I also picked up some of the Hamilton 80 which is very tasty, even neat, but I'm thinking of saving more for truly Demerara-oriented drinks. My question: Hi Time has the ED 8 for the same price as the ED 5 - $18. I see from the notes above that the 5 is generally recommended for mixing. Is there any good reason to pick up the 8 as well? Anybody prefer the 8 to the 5?

Then there's the 12... I understand this is going to be a nicer sipping rum and at $25 it's not too steep. Would most of you use it in place of the 5, or 8, or do you keep it for special occasions?

And while I'm bugging you all - slightly off-topic - do I need a rhum agricole? For what drinks is it di rigueur? And is there a good one that won't break the bank?

I rate the 8 year much higher than the 5 year - the 5 years more of 'a demerara light' & has far less uses IMO.

I have the 12 year too, I keep it for special occasions (mainly mai tais). Here's a thread that may whet your appetite.

An agricole is a good addition to any bar - I rate Clement VSOP & Saint James Rhum Vieux. Here's another thread that might whet your appetite a little more!

Ps I use agricoles in Donga Punches, Three Dots & A Dash, Pina Passions & sometimes Mai Tais :)