Lemon Hart Goes Red

Next time you go searching for the always-hard-to-find Lemon Hart 151 rum (a critical ingredient in many tiki drinks), don't look for the familiar bright yellow bottle. The sought-after product has a new importer, and they have changed the label. The new red look was displayed at the recent Tales of the Cocktail convention in New Orleans. Can't say I like it better. But can't say I like it worse. One definite improvement: the "151" is good and prominent, rather than hiding in the corner, as it did on the old label.

Lemon Hart 151 Rum on Its Way Back to U.S.

Lemon Hart 151, a high-proof rum distilled in Guyana and bottled in Canada, is an essential ingredient in many classic tiki cocktails and a product beloved by bartenders and rum patrons. But it has been hard to find for some months, owing to the sale of the brand by liquor giant Pernod Ricard to Mosaiq in February 2010.

This past weekend, however, brought news that the coveted rum may soon be back on the shelves in certain states. A posting on the Lemon Hart Facebook site read "At 9:39pm Feb 18, 2011 the COLA [certificate of label approval] for the last 481 cases of Lemon Hart 151 bottled by Pernod was approved for import to the US... There are a lot more papers to file, taxes to pay and state approvals to get but this is a huge step in the right direction." First shipments will go to New York, California, Illinois, Washington DC, Louisiana, Colorado and Hawaii.

According to the website A Mountain of Crushed Ice, the holdup was because, "in order for the last cases of Lemon Hart 151 that Pernod bottled to be sold, Mosaiq has to make a deal with a US importer to import and market this rum. Then in addition to paying for the rum, there is the Federal Tax that has to be paid when the rum is carried across the border. The old labels say ‘Imported by Pernod.’ This isn’t a big deal but it takes time to get a letter of exception for the rum to be imported by a third party or a sticker has to be added to the bottle."

Lemon Hart, Ahoy!

Renowned Tiki drink master Jeff "Beachbum" Berry is a lovely fellow, but he has one annoying habit. He'll be schooling you on the make-up of some wonderful, forgotten tropical drink from Tiki's storied past, and when he gets to the rum component, he'll say, "Now, the best rum for this particular drink is Lemon Hart. If you can find it, use it. Of course, you can't find it."

After this observation, the sound of teeth grinding can distinctly be heard.

I have been searching for an opportunity to taste Lemon Hart from the first time Berry mentioned the name of the old rum. There is a Demerara version, in 80 and 151 proof, and a Jamaican version. Lemon Hart, if you can believe it, is actually a guy's name. (What mother names her son Lemon?) Way back in the late 18th century, he became the first supplier of rum to the British Royal Navy—which I'm betting was a pretty lucrative gig.

The Demerara rums can be pretty readily found in the U.S—so I'm told. But either I'm blind or they ain't on the shelves of the liquor stores I frequent (and I frequent good liquor stores). So, when I heard last week that there would be a rum tasting event at the New York Yacht Club, I asked, "Will you have Lemon Hart there?" Yes was the answer, and I signed on.

c entering the grand Model Room at the NYYC, which its Hall-of-the-Mountain-King fireplace and soaring ceilings, I, like a heat-seeking missile, whisked past the Bacardi, the 10 Cane, the Mount Gay, the Cruzan, to a table in the corner that seemed to be serving only one thing: Lemon Hart Demarara 151 proof rum, by itself or in a punch. "The bartenders stole all the 80," shrugged the man behind the table.

He offered me a glass of punch he had made from the Lemon Hart. No, no, no, I said. I want the stuff straight. OK, he replied, but be careful, it's strong. He wasn't kidding! The 151 is lethal. Hot. Very hot. But great, with flavors of burnt caramel and (am I dreaming this because of the name?) lemon. Then, I tasted the punch, which was excellent, telling me that Lemon Hart makes for a great mixing rum, as Berry had indicated.

Lemon Hart's Jamaica rums were not on hand, and remain the Holy Grail. For some reason, they can only be had in Europe. (Who makes there weird decisions?) Looks like I know what to do on my next trip at a London or Paris Duty Free shop.