Lemon Hart is an iconic rum brand with roots which stretch back to the late 18th century when Mr. Lemon Hart began to supply rum to the British Royal Navy. By 1804, production of his “Lemon Hart Rum” was moved from his small merchant office in Cornwall, England to a larger facility in London. Over 150 years later the rum was no longer being produced in England, rather the blend was being produced at the Hiram Walker Distillery in Ontario, Canada.
It was during this time that Lemon Hart 151 Demerara Rum became a relatively famous cocktail rum. In fact, the rum is called for by name in many of Trader Vic’s and Don the Beachcomber’s tiki recipes. The rum is a 100 % Guyanese rum blend with rum distilled and aged in Guyana. It is currently bottled in Canada by the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation (NLC) for the brand owner Mosaiq.
Here is a link to the Number 6 Mixing Rum in the Rum Howler Countdown of the 50 Best:
#6: Lemon Hart Demerara 151 Rum
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Stay tuned for more mixing rum revelations as I will be adding to this list each day until Christmas Eve.
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The El Dorado 3 Year Cask Aged Demerara Rum is blended from aged stocks (the youngest being no less than 3 years old) and then filtered twice through charcoal filters to produce a clear rum. All of the Demerara Rum produced by El Dorado is aged exclusively in American oak (bourbon barrels).
The Number 9 spot in my rankings of the Best 50 Mixing Rums in the World may at first seem like an unlikely candidate, a young amber rum which is sold only in Western Canada by Highwood Distillers. Upon further examination however, the high esteem I hold for this rum is more easily understood. Although this rum is sold only in Western Canada, it is in reality a Demerara Rum distilled and crafted at the world-famous Diamond Distillery (think El Dorado Rum folks) in Guyana, South America.
Highwood Distillers have purchased aged rum (probably one year old) in bulk from Demerara Distillers and then set the barrels of rum they purchased down to age for a further time at their aging facility at the foot of the Canadian Rockies. This addition aging in the northern latitudes (at high elevation) gives the final blended rum an additional layer of fine oak spice which just begs to be mixed in cocktails.
It was in 1910 that the appearance of Haley’s comet coincided with a total solar eclipse, and this event is said to have inspired Mount Gay to create their Eclipse Rum. The Eclipse is a traditional double distilled gold rum produced from copper pot stills and aged in white Kentucky oak barrels which were previously used to age bourbon.
While the vast majority of the rum distillate produced at the distillery is destined for bulk sales (much of it to Diageo), about 10 % of the rum distilled is set down to rest in American Oak barrels and aged at the NJR facility at Innswood, an older distillery which now serves as an aging and blending facility for Claredon.
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