Post #134046 by OceaOtica on Wed, Jan 5, 2005 2:45 PM

Just found this article at spiritofaloha.com, some of the same info in the article link above but this has some dates for release:

Other good drinking news this issue comes from our far-flung correspondent Phil Hayworth, who reports that a former president of the company that owns Jack Daniels will commercially produce the famed, potent Hawaiian beverage called 'okolehau (pronounced oko-lay-how) and sell it only in Hawai'i. According to Steven Thompson, president of Sandwich Islands Distilling, the first 5,000 cases of this drink, which was once outlawed as a bane to society, will roll off a temporary bottling line at an old sugar mill in Pa'ia in April 2005. By April 2006, the distillery plans to open a permanent plant and showroom near Kïhei and distribute to the Mainland. According to Hayworth, who is a connoisseur of the famed beverage, 'okolehau is a clear, smooth rum or brandylike whisky, which gets its base flavor from the local ki plant. Its potency depends on how much sugar cane and/or rice is added. The new drink will come in 80- and 140-proof versions, aged in used bourbon barrels. "The formula will be the original, but our 'okolehao will also be filtered through a secret filtering medium available only in Hawai'i," says Thompson. 'Okolehao, by the way, means "iron bottom," after the vats in which it was originally made, which were intended for boiling whale blubber. Here's to ya.

[ Edited by: tikitanked on 2005-01-05 14:47 ]

[ Edited by: tikitanked on 2005-01-05 14:48 ]