Lemon Hart 151

This is the last word, as far as I’m concerned, on commercially available 151s. Don’t fuck with it.

Lemon Hart 151 yellow label (current) - 75.5% ABV. Review forthcoming. 7+

Lemon Hart 151 red label (previous) - 75.5% ABV. N: Deep caramel and Demerara sugar. Tickles nose, but doesn't smell like alcohol. P: Huge. Explodes with molasses and oak. Semisweet chocolate chips. Rich chocolate chip cookie dough. With water: spice; anise? Pineapple!? Finish: medium-short. 8-

Ah, the venerable Lemon Hart 151. Unmistakable in cocktails. And strangely, while I don't get a chance to use it often, it is one of the few things that I've actually experienced cravings for as a long afternoon at the office draws on. "Oooh, you know what sounds good right now—something with that rich, deep, demerara profile you can only get from a certain kind of rum..." Cobra's Fang, 151 Swizzle, Jet Pilot, Trader Vic's Myrtle Bank Punch, Don the Beachcomber's Zombie... any Guyana 151 will work beautifully these. My favorite is probably Hamilton's, followed closely by the red label (which he had a hand in). The current yellow label is fine, but my least favorite of the bunch. How fortunate are we, now, to have more than one option to choose from, compared to just a few years ago when you would be hard-pressed to find any?

Lemon Hart 151 is the first overproof rum I have ever tasted. I acquired this bottle in Nova Scotia (as it is not available in my area) based on the high ratings it gathers on rumratings.com. While I was encouraged to add water before sipping on this rum I had to try it neat first to get the full experience of this rum. The colour of this rum is a dark almost reddish tone which by itself puts it in a select company. On the nose this rum smells fruity and the alcohol does not overtake the rum as one might expect. First sip, WOW, you can feel the higher percentage of alcohol but in a good way and I compare it to a nice Tawny Port on steroids. This will not be my go to rum but I certainly will enjoy it every now and then. I can now appreciate and agree with the ratings this rum has been getting. Well done. 👍

I have not had this legendary staple to making Tiki drinks for more than 25 years now. I finally found a bottle this morning. Since I have been spoiled by Plantation OFTD Overproof, I had to compare that one to this new arrival here. I poured about a half ounce each into their own Glencairn glass, which is how I like to test neat for side by side comparisons. The slightly weaker OFTD had so much burn that I had forgotten about that part. ALWAYS add at least one ice cube when comparing overproof rums.

The Lemon Hart 151 is noticeably darker than the Plantation OFTD, but not by much. After the ice cube melted in each, my test began. The OFTD was fruity with no bitter after taste. The Lemon Hart was not nearly as flavorful as the OFTD and had a bitter after taste. The OFTD was the clear winner, which I rated long ago as an 8. This one was lucky to get a 6. I would not buy it again even though it is now readily available. The Lemon Hart also warns that it is flammable, but the OFTD is not.

So what will I use this bottle of Lemon Hart 151 for? Adding to morning coffee sure beats wasting it as a Tiki Topper that it was designed for. Yes, it makes for an authentic Mai Tai, but why bother ruining an already perfect combination of a drink.

One of the ‘must have’ rums to keep on hand. Very similar to Hamilton which is also excellent. Side by side though the Lemon Heart has a bit more depth in it’s complexity.

Big and rich, with gunpowder like quality. Essential for many a tiki drink, especially when making the classic (original) Zombie. This is powerful rum, and with great flavor of molasses / toffee. If you desire for your bar to be tiki-style, you need this rum almost by default, lest Mr. Donn Beach turns in his grave when you make a zombie... Spookie :P

I get the hints of toffee and molasses, but mostly this is a mixer for my tiki drinks. I also used this as the base for my homemade allspice dram, which made my Three Dots and a Dash my signature tiki drink!

Only for mixing. The flavor is raisins. Adding water makes it drinkable, yet somehow diluted, so it is suited only for drinks as a flavor component.

Look, you must know this is not a sipping rum, I use it for many Don the Beachcomber classic tiki mixes. It is meant to stand out amongst the many fruit syrups and juices and is a must have for any self respecting Polynesian mixologist! I sipped it and almost went blind, haha, but I digress, this is a special legendary and useful rum in use to this day at such tiki temples like the Mai Kai in Ft. lauderdale, Aloha!

My local store finally got this in on my request. It does not disappoint! Aroma of molasses and spice with just a bit of alcohol. On the tongue it's molasses, cooking spice and smoky wood with a powerful but pleasant heat. A bit more of the smoky wood in the aftertaste than I'd like, but this is not a sipper and it's presence in tiki drinks more than makes up for that shortcoming.