I noticed everytime I uncapped a bottle of Bacardi Select, I got a similar aroma to that of Lemon Hart Demerara. Procuring Lemon Hart 80 costs me about twenty bucks and a twenty mile drive, so I gave the two brands the old Pepsi challenge to see how they fared against each other in a blind taste test. Blindfolded, my girlfriend served me both in a clean snifter, with a mouthwash inbetween. The results were surprising. After she noted my preference, I had her do the same.

We both picked Bacardi Select. I know it sounds like blasphemy, but its true! The Lemon Hart was rougher, more alcoholic, and younger tasting. The Bacardi Select tasted like a premium Liquor, smooth, smokey, buttery, and finishing nicely. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about "keeping it real" whatever that means, but at a ten dollar difference in Price (depending on who's got Bacardi on sale, I can find it for ten bucks) I will now only buy Lemon Hart 151, and use Bacardi Select as a better replacement for Lemon Hart 80. How geeky I spend my evenings. My girlfriend was kindof embarassed.

Do you work for Bacardi?

We both picked Bacardi Select. I know it sounds like blasphemy, but its true! The Lemon Hart was rougher, more alcoholic, and younger tasting. The Bacardi Select tasted like a premium Liquor, smooth, smokey, buttery, and finishing nicely.

Rums that become more and more difficult to procure tend to lose favor with me over time anyway. . . but in this particular case I have to agree; I also prefer Bacardi Select over the Lemon Heart 80 for the exact same reasons Registered Astronaut posted.

[ Edited by: DJ HawaiianShirt 2007-06-11 06:32 ]

Well those two rums are completely different. That's like comparing apples and oranges in a blind test and picking one.

Demerara rum has a certain rustic aroma and flavor to it. It has notes of smoke, leather, tar, and can be a bit astringent on the end (Lemon Hart, or El Dorado 5) or sometimes buttery and full (El Dorado 12 or 15). That's just the style of rum.

Bacardi Select is not quite as "provincial" as Demerara. It is made for a wider audience, so some of the sharp edges (so to speak) are rounded off (to the extent you can with a $10 bottle of rum).

I like them both for their own purposes. Lemon Hart when Demerara is called for (in some of the Bum's recipes) or Select in a rum punch or in place of Myers if I have to make large quantities.

I've never drank Bacardi Select straight, but I have used it occassionally for cocktails that call for dark rum. Not the greatest, but I've not found anything particularlly wrong with it.

On 2007-05-31 23:15, Registered Astronaut wrote:
I noticed everytime I uncapped a bottle of Bacardi Select, I got a similar aroma to that of Lemon Hart Demerara. Procuring Lemon Hart 80 costs me about twenty bucks and a twenty mile drive, so I gave the two brands the old Pepsi challenge to see how they fared against each other in a blind taste test. Blindfolded, my girlfriend served me both in a clean snifter, with a mouthwash inbetween. The results were surprising. After she noted my preference, I had her do the same.

We both picked Bacardi Select. I know it sounds like blasphemy, but its true! The Lemon Hart was rougher, more alcoholic, and younger tasting. The Bacardi Select tasted like a premium Liquor, smooth, smokey, buttery, and finishing nicely. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about "keeping it real" whatever that means, but at a ten dollar difference in Price (depending on who's got Bacardi on sale, I can find it for ten bucks) I will now only buy Lemon Hart 151, and use Bacardi Select as a better replacement for Lemon Hart 80. How geeky I spend my evenings. My girlfriend was kindof embarassed.

Well, no, that makes no sense. It's like saying you like the taste of Hershey's milk chocolate over the taste of Lindt, and so, from now on, all recipes that call for chocolate will get Hershey's.

Maybe I am mis-reading you here. You can't just say "side by side, I preferred X and so I will use X instead of Y in recipes." Well, okay, you can, but then you are changing the recipe.

I had left Bacardi out of my bar and noticed The Bum called for it in certain recipes. I was shocked! Well, he knows his rums and he chose Bacardi because it has a certain flavor he was looking for. I may not drink it, but if I want to make that recipe as he makes it, I can't just exchange some Appleton White and get it.

Certainly, I take shortcuts with recipes. I will use any old rum to sample a recipe rather than finding the exact one called for. But I keep a lot of rums on hand and try to get close.

It would be a mistake to pick a favorite rum and use that in all cases, though maybe I am reading more into your post than I should.