The jungle stop on the rum safari at Kilohana, August 2025.
Koloa Rum Company is honestly one of my favorite places in Hawaii. We’ve been there on two trips, because there’s so much to do and it’s such a great experience. It’s not so much the rum company store and tasting room themselves, although that’s a stop every time.
It’s at a place called Kilohana, a plantation estate in Lihue (Kilohana). Kilohana also has The Plantation House by Gaylords, Luau Kalamaku, a train ride that goes around the plantation grounds, and what they call a rum safari. You get in a little off-road vehicle, they take you around the plantation, stop at a couple of places and make you drinks. It’s really awesome.
The first visit
We found Koloa on our second trip to Kauai, in July 2024. It was MeLinda and me, and she really wanted to ride the train, so we took the train ride around the plantation.
We had lunch at the bar at The Plantation House, then did our rum tasting, and we absolutely fell in love with the place. A bottle of their 5 year came home with us. It didn’t last long.
The tasting room
The tasting itself is a fun experience. They talk about their rum and where their water comes from: rainwater from Mount Wai’ale’ale (Koloa Rum). The rum itself is distilled in Kalaheo (Koloa Rum).
They also talk about how their chocolate rum, the Kaua’i Cacao Rum, is made in partnership with Lydgate Farms, a Kauai chocolate farm. Lydgate’s roasted cacao nibs steep in Koloa’s gold rum for 9 to 18 days, and then the rum-soaked nibs go back to Lydgate and become a rum chocolate bar (Craft Spirits Magazine). The chocolate rum tastes absolutely decadent and amazing. You can just pour a little over ice cream, and it’s fantastic. The rum chocolate is also amazing. Lydgate runs a farm tour of its own (Lydgate Farms), but that’s a different story.
The store is fairly small, but it has some pretty cool and unique things: exclusive merch, island arts and crafts, and snacks. It also gives you easy access to the high-end aged expressions.
The rum safari
We went back in August 2025 and did the rum safari. It’s run by Kauai Safaris, a separate company on the same plantation (Kauai Safaris), and it was great.
The two guys running it were fantastic. They know so much about the rum and about mixing drinks, and they’re very creative. The cocktails are unique every time. The first drink was a classic mai tai, at a little tasting deck down in the jungle under a really old tree. The final stop was a little tasting area in the middle of the orchard, where they made something they just made up. The best part is that they picked the fruit for it from the orchard.
I enjoyed the safari far more than the train, but there was also a lot more booze. I highly recommend it.
We came back to the tasting room five days later. A bottle of the 7 year came home with us from that trip.
The rums
The great thing about Koloa rum is that it isn’t limited to Hawaii. You can get it at Spec’s in Central Texas.
Their coconut rum is exceptional, because it isn’t a coconut rum liqueur or anything like that. It’s a full 80 proof rum (Koloa Rum) that just tastes like the best coconut you’ve ever had. I’m a big fan of their spiced rum, which is heavily vanilla influenced. Then there are the mixers, the white rum and the gold rum.
One of the best cocktails you can get in Hawaii is basically a bottle of the spiced rum paired with your favorite Aloha Maid nectar drink. We always keep both in the resort while we’re there. Koloa also makes premade bottled cocktails you can buy that are really good, and often it’s the Mai Tai in our resort. Floating a little of the spiced rum on top is the way to drink it.
They also do aged expressions. I have a 5 year and a 7 year on the shelf right now. Both are absolutely gorgeous sipping rums. Or maybe make an old fashioned with them.
The bottles in Dram+Vine
The 5 year on my shelf now came from Spec’s. It’s a single barrel, bottled at cask strength at 111.72 proof, and the label says it was selected exclusively for Spec’s stores of Texas. The 7 year we brought home is a single barrel too, at 112.73 proof.
In Dram+Vine both are open, and the app’s note on the 7 year reads: “At 56.4% ABV this holds up well, though oxidation still speeds up as it empties.”
Planning a visit
Definitely reserve the tasting ahead. Koloa books tastings online only and says walk-ins aren’t guaranteed. Tastings run every hour, Monday through Saturday from 11 AM to 4 PM, and are complimentary with a $5 third-party booking fee for parties of up to six. Everyone has to be 21 or older and show a photo ID at least 15 minutes before the tasting. The store is open Monday through Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM (Koloa Rum). The rum safari is a two-hour tour, also 21 and up, booked through Kauai Safaris.
Doug