Hamilton Rum
Edward Hamilton’s importing-and-blending operation, which has done more than any single producer to bring authentic Caribbean rum to the United States. The Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still and Hamilton Guyana 86 are workhorse products in serious modern exotic-cocktail bars.
The man who imports the rum.
Edward Hamilton is one of the most important figures in the modern American rum world, and his namesake import-and-blending operation is the reason most of the rums Forbidden Altar recommends are actually available in U.S. liquor stores. Hamilton spent decades traveling the Caribbean, visiting distilleries, and building relationships with producers; he published Rums of the Eastern Caribbean in 1995, hosts the Ministry of Rum website (which has been one of the central rum-information resources online since the late 1990s), and—starting in the late 2000s—began importing and blending rums specifically for the American craft-cocktail market.
The Hamilton lineup is built around a thesis: that American bartenders need serious, characterful, Caribbean-tradition rums at working-bartender prices, and that the major rum brands aren’t providing them. The rums Hamilton imports are mostly aged, pot-still, and high-character—the opposite of the column-still light-rum profile that dominated American rum shelves in the 1990s.
The products
Hamilton’s most consequential bottles:
- Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black An ester-heavy Jamaican rum blended specifically for cocktail use. ~57% ABV. Comparable to Smith & Cross in profile and role.
- Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Gold Slightly lighter, aged longer, more polished. Useful as a Jamaican base when Smith & Cross is too aggressive.
- Hamilton Guyana 86 An aged Demerara rum at 86 proof. Works for sipping and for cocktails where a serious aged Demerara is called for but the 151 demerara would be too high-proof.
- Hamilton 151 Overproof Demerara Hamilton’s 151 Demerara—a structural alternative to Lemon Hart 151 when Lemon Hart is unavailable.
- Hamilton Beachbum Berry’s Zombie Blend A pre-blended rum mix designed specifically for Jeff Berry’s reconstructed Zombie formula. Combines the proportions Berry’s reconstruction calls for into a single bottle.
Role in the revival
Hamilton’s importing work made the modern American rum revival logistically possible. Before Hamilton, ester-heavy Jamaican rums and aged Demerara rums were available in the U.K. and the Caribbean but largely unavailable in American liquor stores—which meant that even when Jeff Berry’s reconstructions specified them, working bartenders couldn’t actually source them.
Hamilton changed that by establishing direct importing relationships with Caribbean distilleries and bringing the rums in at scale. The Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still in particular has been a structural enabler of the modern Jamaican-rum vocabulary in U.S. craft bars.
To go deeper
- Website Ministry of Rum—Hamilton’s long-running rum information site. Forum, distillery profiles, deep technical detail.
- Book Edward Hamilton, Rums of the Eastern Caribbean (1995). Out of print; worth tracking down used.
- Related Vernacular entries Jamaican Rum, Demerara.