For my husband’s and my 20th wedding anniversary, we were fortunate to take a 10-day trip to Honolulu, Hawaii, in February 2020. We all know what happened right after that! We flew back shortly before the Pandemic became a worldwide outbreak, changing life as we know it.
It was an incredible vacation, and I love how we did our trip. I would do it again the same way in a heartbeat! One destination we visited on our stay was a newly opened Rum Distillery on the southwest end of Oahu. Since we chose to rent a car and not do public transportation (the best choice for a Hawaiian vacation if you want to see the most you can), we jetted 24 miles from our hotel, about 45 minutes away.
The Rum Distillery, Ko Hana, is a small-batch, agricultural-style rum distillery—the only one in Hawaii. They started 2009 as a farm, and all their rum is made from locally sourced Hawaiian-grown sugarcane.
Ko Hana Distillery has a wide variety of different types of sugarcane, and up until 2022, they hand-harvested it all! They have finally invested in a John Deere harvester to help with the process as they have expanded.
Two different tours are currently offered: the Estate Farm tour and the Distillery Tour. Each has unique items to offer.
I found a few distinct characteristics of Ko Hana Rum. First, they are the only rum that is entirely bottle to table. This means they don’t add molasses or another refined sugar source. They don’t have to because of the sugar content of the sugar cane. Each sugar cane variety has its distinct flavor, giving them a lot of variety for experimentation.
Second, their barreling process has more varieties of barrels. Like most distilling of hard liquor, they barrel in white oak barrels, but they don’t just use white oak, but other types of wood for their rum. They use second-use barrels for a distinct flavor.
The most beautiful barrel was the KOA wood barrel. Ko Hana is the world’s first distillery to use this kind of wood in distilling rum. Early Hawaiians historically used koa wood to build canoes, surfboards, ukuleles, and various tools.
Today, it is one of the most valuable hardwoods in the world. The rum distills for two years inside this barrel, becoming a dark, smooth rum. I enjoyed the distillery tour we received. It was thorough and fun! At the end of our tour, we were able to taste four different rums that were popular. My favorite, and we went home with a bottle, was the Kokoleka. It is crafted with Cacao & Honey. It is so smooth and so good!
I also bought sugar cane sticks for mojitos in their gift shop area while we were there. It was a lovely place!
If you are a rum lover or need a gift for someone unique, this is a place to check out! Or, if you’re planning a trip to Honolulu and want to see the place for yourself, book a tour and taste the fantastic rum you can only find on Oahu!