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Lemon Hart question |
Sunny&Rummy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 13, 2013
Posts: 449
From: Melbourne, FL
|  Posted: 2014-06-09 11:42 am Permalink
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On 2014-06-09 10:53, AceExplorer wrote:
Cannonized? That sounds painful! Can't we canonize him instead?
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Oops. . . We'll that is the closest this lapsed Catholic is going to get!
Glad to hear Martin will be at Hukilau. Wednesday happy hour at the Molokai now only 50 hours away!
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AceExplorer
Grand Member (3 years) 
Joined: Apr 03, 2008
Posts: 935
From: Deep in the Jacksonville Florida jungle.
| Posted: 2014-06-09 11:55 am Permalink
I'm driving up Tue night -- fewer (or no) crowds at the Molokai Bar the day before the big event begins!
Smuggler's Cove is a sponsor according to the logos on the Hukilau web site. So maybe he was selling a set of tix for one of his staff members that could not go?
Sorry, I know this is off-topic... [raspberry]  [/raspberry]
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AceExplorer
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Apr 03, 2008
Posts: 935
From: Deep in the Jacksonville Florida jungle.
| Posted: 2014-06-09 12:05 pm Permalink
Hot tip - the Drinkupny.com web site today says they still have Lemon Hart 151 in stock. I just ordered a couple more bottles - no stores around me have any for sale. Shipping is $18, so that jacked my per bottle price up to right around $38. Is it worth it? I think so since there really is no way to tell when this fine elixir will return.
Let's hope they actually can fill my order.
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Sunny&Rummy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 13, 2013
Posts: 449
From: Melbourne, FL
| Posted: 2014-06-09 12:15 pm Permalink
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On 2014-06-09 12:05, AceExplorer wrote:
Hot tip - the Drinkupny.com web site today says they still have Lemon Hart 151 in stock. I just ordered a couple more bottles - no stores around me have any for sale. Shipping is $18, so that jacked my per bottle price up to right around $38. Is it worth it? I think so since there really is no way to tell when this fine elixir will return.
Let's hope they actually can fill my order.
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Does Drink Up NY still offer free shipping on orders > $100? If so, it might be worth doubling that order.
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"If you keep on drinking rum, the world will soon be quit of a very dirty scoundrel."
Robert Louis Stevenson
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AceExplorer
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Apr 03, 2008
Posts: 935
From: Deep in the Jacksonville Florida jungle.
| Posted: 2014-06-09 2:12 pm Permalink
Great idea. I looked and ground shipping is free for orders over $200. So if you have tiki neighbors near you, that's the ticket!
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Atomic Tiki Punk
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 19, 2009
Posts: 5880
From: Costa Misery
| Posted: 2014-06-09 3:28 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2014-06-09 12:05, AceExplorer wrote:
Hot tip - the Drinkupny.com web site today says they still have Lemon Hart 151 in stock. I just ordered a couple more bottles - no stores around me have any for sale. Shipping is $18, so that jacked my per bottle price up to right around $38. Is it worth it? I think so since there really is no way to tell when this fine elixir will return.
Let's hope they actually can fill my order.
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Before Hi-Times here, sold out of LH 151 it was going for around $40 a bottle
so you got a good deal even with shipping costs.
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Hurricane Hayward
Grand Member (6 years) 
Joined: Jun 07, 2008
Posts: 590
From: 16 miles from The Mai-Kai
| Posted: 2014-06-09 8:29 pm Permalink
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On 2014-06-09 10:47, AceExplorer wrote:
Folks, I can share the following thoughts from, and with thanks to, Martin Cate:
"I wish I understood the reasons to stop the production. I think it has to do with wanting to really feel how much demand there is. I think it's a big mistake.
The plan is to restart production and return to the US with a new importer sometime in mid to late 2015. So I do believe it will return. I think they are trying a larger importer with more pull in the hope that it can grow into a much larger brand, but I think their goals for it may be too lofty.
Martin acknowledged that it wasn't much additional information for us, but I think it underscores that he is also very hopeful that the product will return bigger and stronger in the future.
Have you been saving those old "yellow label" Lemon Hart bottles? Well, I think we should think ahead and start saving our "red label" Lemon Hart bottles now too. I'm going to go out on a not-too-risky limb by forecasting another label design change when the product is brought back in its next incarnation.
====================
Fun, fun, fun 'til Daddy took the Lemon Hart away.
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Great, info. Mahalo, AceExplorer. This does make some sense (sort of), and also explains why there's no detailed answer coming from Ed Hamilton, who rightfully should be miffed that apparently he's being shunted aside after personally doing most of the heavy lifting to bring LH 151 back to market in the states. Hopefully he'll get some sort of compensation in the deal.
The plan to grow LH into a much larger brand is interesting. I'm assuming that will involve more than just the 151 product. Here's the current product line:
http://www.lemonhartrum.com/rums
I wonder if there are plans to add any more? I'd love to see the Original One Hundred British Proof Reserve move beyond just the travel (duty-free shops) market:
https://therumhowlerblog.wordpress.com/rum-reviews/dark-rums/lemon-hart-original-one-hundred-british-proof-reserve-rum/
At any rate, if this scenario plays out, our problem of shortages and hoarding may be replaced by a bounty of LH on the shelves. My worry, like Martin, is that if they're expecting massive sales they may be a bit disappointed. But we'll certainly do our part, right guys?
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AceExplorer
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Apr 03, 2008
Posts: 935
From: Deep in the Jacksonville Florida jungle.
| Posted: 2014-06-09 9:36 pm Permalink
Yup. I keep hoping the craft cocktail craze causes people to start discovering and drinking higher quality products and stop drinking the pop-culture crap we're so inundated with. Lemon Hart requires a bit of education to really appreciate it.
How do you drink and really enjoy a fine rum? It's similar to tequila where much of the population thinks Cuervo Gold is a good brand of tequila. Only with a little research did I discover that there are awesome tequilas out there, and guess what, they don't taste like Cuervo at all. Same with rums. With a little research you discover that there are awesome rums out there and they don't taste like the low-end Bacardi products at all.
Lemon Hart does have a bit of a challenge to overcome with "lemon" in the name. But with a good ad agency, and good market research, and a good strategy, they can do it. A lot of their success will depend on the mind set and commitment of the brand owners. I'd love to see them turn people on to the amazing things they have to offer. But to do it they have to make their move quickly and immediately differentiate themselves from the other rums out there. I don't think they'll have anywhere near the same deep pockets for ads that the big distilleries have, so they have to go big right out of the gate and hit people right between the eyes with their message.
Let's see how this develops. Until then, I'm going to be well stocked with enough LH151 for at least 1.5 or 2 years.
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Sunny&Rummy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 13, 2013
Posts: 449
From: Melbourne, FL
| Posted: 2014-06-10 05:47 am Permalink
If cutting the supply is intended as a way to gague potential demand for the product by pissing off the small but fiercely loyal customer base, it is a huge mistake and one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. Grow the market demand through strategic advertising, (sponsor some events and turn curious consumers into hardcore fans), moderately INCREASING production and increasing the number of retail distribution outlets. I can't think of a product with a better defined current customer base (Tiki/tropical drink fanatics) or a better defined potential customer base (craft cocktail fanatics). If they understood their own product at all they would know exactly how to increase exposure and expand their market. Choking off the very people who clammored for the return of an essentially extinct product and who go to insane lengths to seek it out when it is available is not the way to do it.
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Oxybeles
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Sep 23, 2013
Posts: 33
From: RSM, CA
| Posted: 2014-06-11 07:07 am Permalink
Quite frankly, I am very dismayed about this situation and believe that taking away our rum rations is not the best approach to foster morale or loyalty.
Negotiate for a better distribution contract, but do not punish the Customer!
As such, Bring Back Lemon Hart 151, now. BBLH151
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Limbo Lizard
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 24, 2006
Posts: 683
From: Aboard the 'Leaky Tiki', Dallas
| Posted: 2014-06-11 10:03 am Permalink
I wonder what percentage of LH151 sales are to bars/restaurants, as compared to retail customers? Unless they've stockpiled heavily (thus, tying up operating capital), establishments will have to adapt and alter their recipes. My fear is that the LH producer's plan may backfire on them. Once establishments go to the trouble to produce good substitute recipes, using more predictably available rums, they may be hesitant to fully switch back to LH151, when it again becomes available. The commercial demand may actually decrease, due to the drought! And if there is no longer sufficient demand,...
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A Frame
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 16, 2009
Posts: 257
From: Mr. C's on the Coast Highway
| Posted: 2014-06-11 1:18 pm Permalink
With all the great new Rums being produced lately, my gut feeling is that some new start will step up and produce both a "Lemon Hart like" 80 & 151 Demerara Rum which would have the tasty, smoky characteristics that made LH so popular to use in the cocktails we like.
I'd really like to think that this could be happening right now and that this Rum would become the standard by which all Demerara's are judged by, blow us all away and be readily available to enjoy...pretty please?
And while I'm at it, there was this rum called "Dagger"...
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AceExplorer
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Apr 03, 2008
Posts: 935
From: Deep in the Jacksonville Florida jungle.
| Posted: 2014-06-11 3:28 pm Permalink
Yup, new rums are being produced, and many are searching for Lemon Hart subs. This stop-production situation may create enough of a gap that a suitable substitute could really undercut the Lemon Hart brand. Sad, but true. All it takes is for someone to say something like, "Hey, mix X ounces of Rum A with Y ounces of Rum B and you get something similar, as good, or better than Lemon Hart..." and see how the LH distiller's market share tumbles. It may never recover. Who came up with this gamble at LH I wonder?
There's been a bit of discussion about this at the pre-Hukilau gatherings last night and today. I'm sure there will be more.
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GentleHangman
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Jun 23, 2006
Posts: 462
From: Stuart, Florida
| Posted: 2014-06-11 3:44 pm Permalink
I'll repeat . . . this is a great opportunity for El Dorado to step up to the plate and product a dark 151 Demerara rum. They are already a Demerara rum . . . how hard could it be? They could very easily steal Lemon Hart's consumers from them . . .they already have a larger distributorship. . . C'mon El Dorado - let's get with it!
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hang10tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 18, 2010
Posts: 3742
From: Las Vegas
| Posted: 2014-06-11 7:02 pm Permalink
What's the definition of a great friend?
One that finds several bottles of LH151 on a shelf, buys em all, then sends u a photo with a text that says
"half for me and half for you"
Sweet........
Jon
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