Buy Lemon Hart & Son

Lemon Hart & Son is one of rum’s older names, founded in 1804 and long associated with the Royal Navy and the dark Demerara style. The house sources its signature liquid from Guyana, where wooden pot and column stills give the heavy, smoky, molasses-rich character that runs through most of the range.

Production centers on Demerara distillate, bottled at both standard strength and the well-known 151 proof (around 75.5% ABV). The lineup on RumX includes the Rum Rhum 151 Proof US Import, the Rhum Demerara Rum 151 Proof, the Original 1804, plus imported Jamaican rums, older Golden Jamaica editions and occasional spiced releases like Blackpool Navy Spiced.

The Demerara 151s taste like liquid burnt sugar: thick treacle, dark chocolate, coffee, licorice, dried figs and prunes, with iodine, rubber and charred wood underneath. Reviewers describe them as intense and oily, needing a rest or a few drops of water to open up. The Original 1804 leans softer and sweeter, with butterscotch, caramel and roasted almonds but less depth. The Jamaican bottlings show mango, banana and ester funk, though several tasters found them hot and thin for the strength.

Most people reach for Lemon Hart to build cocktails — the 151 is a standard in corn ’n’ oil, navy grogs and countless tiki recipes where a single powerful Demerara does the flavoring. It also mixes cleanly into cola or a Painkiller-style drink. A handful of fans sip the 151 neat and enjoy its rich, roasty side, while the golden and spiced expressions are best treated as mixers. Note that availability in Europe is a common complaint, with the US Import hard to track down.