Koloa Rum Company, Hawaii

History

Company was established in 2008.

The Koloa Rum Corporation was created for a number of reasons. We wanted to make something on Kauai that would be a source of pride, to assist in saving plantation jobs, to develop new good paying jobs, make a Kauai Product and to allow tourists to experience a little Hawaiian history, in an authentic Hawaiian atmosphere and take a little piece of Hawaii home with them along with their great vacation memories. Tasting rooms are a proven business model and are located in nearly all fifty states. Like a winery tasting room the Koloa Rum Corporation will provide a unique visitor experience that employs local agricultural products, gives tourists another reason to visit Kauai and creates new employment opportunities.

The Koloa Rum product line will include light, amber, dark, spiced and coconut rums in 750 ml, 1 liter, and 1.75 bottles. A premixed Mai Tai and a Mai Tai mix will also be part of the product line. We are planning on offering a line of rum cakes once we have the bottled rum production up to speed.

The tasting room micro distillery will be located at the Historic Kilohana Plantation just outside of Lihue on the Kaumualii highway headed toward Koloa town. The tasting room will be conveniently located between Gaylord’s Restaurant and the Plantation Railway station next to the new Kalamaku Luau pavilion. The tasting room has been designed to be in harmony with the historical Hawaiiana feel of the Kilohana Plantation. We are planning on starting the construction of the tasting room June 2008.

The production of the majority of our authentic Hawaiian rum will take place at our 19,000 sq feet facility in Kalaheo. We expect to order the distillation equipment in the near future. Installation is expected in mid 2008. Our stills have been designed specifically to make world class rum using molasses and sugar from Gay & Robinson Plantation.

To this day Gay & Robinson sugar is considered to be the finest in the world. When you combine rain water the wettest spot on earth, (with its origin in the pure waters of the north pacific) cascading down from the top of Mt. Waialeale, caressed by the pure ocean breezes, intense tropical sun, volcanic soils and the Kauai Island Ohana you create the most productive sugar plantation on earth. From this sugar plantation comes the finest sugar and molasses possible. Having access to best ingredients insures you can make the best rum. Our rum making process will combine traditional pot distillation techniques, aging with toasted oak as well as the most up to date technology to insure a consistent premium high quality product.

Kauai is the natural home for the Koloa Rum Corporation. Captain James Cook and the crews of the HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery first arrived off of Kauai in 1779. Kauai was site of the first Hawaii landing of Captain James Cook in 1778. In the holds of both ships were barrels of rum.

In addition to being the first Island Captain Cook contacted in 1779 the Koloa mill was the first sugar mill in the Hawaiian Islands, beginning in the 1830s. The first successful sugar cane plantation was started in Koloa, Kauai in 1835. It’s first harvest in 1837 produced 2 tons of raw sugar.

The old timers tell us small batch rum was produced from the very beginning. Gay & Robinson our primary source for our molasses and cane juice is one of the only two remaining sugar mills in operation on the Hawaiian Islands. With the current statewide ethanol mandate in place sugars survival is assured.

As one sugar mill after another closed in the 1980’s it became evident there would be a need for value added agricultural business that could employ local Hawaiian workers. The Koloa Rum Corporation was founded as a way to continue to use land to produce world class, value added agricultural products coveted around the world for their unique flavor and quality. Our rum fits the bill perfectly.

Initially Koloa Rum products will be distributed in Hawaii and on the west coast of the United States. We will expand to the rest of the United States and begin international distribution once we insure we can supply these markets.

The Koloa Rum Corporation is owned by Greg Schredder a long time resident of Kauai, John Stallcup a frequent Kauai visitor who resides in Napa and a group of mostly local investors.