A week ago I had the opportunity to visit KōHana Rum in Kunia, Oahu. And that visit was precisely what I needed to get my groove back. The trek to the distillery from Honolulu is a picturesque paradise. But the one thing that I didn’t see on that drive was sugarcane.

Sugarcane used to be an important crop for Hawai’i, but the industry up and vanished – seemingly overnight. So starting a distillery that not only highlighted native sugarcane (kō) but also worked to preserve heirloom varieties native to the islands was a monumental task. And it is a task that Kyle Reutner takes seriously. As the General Manager of KōHana Rum his charge is to make sure that heritage, culture, and terroir is translated into every bottle. All of their rums are made direct from the fresh-pressed sugarcane juice, much like rhum agricole in Martinique. But with fewer restrictions on production methods, and dozens of local canes to work with, their palette is infinite.

During my trip to the distillery I chatted with several members of the KōHana team and I couldn’t find a single person that wasn’t passionate about the rum that goes into those bottles. Everyone from the distiller to the tasting room. And that kind of enthusiasm starts with the management team.