Koloa Rum - yay or nay?

I saw three varieties of the Hawaiian-made Koloa Rum at my local Total Wine and More. It's in the "premium rum" price range ($28-32). What's the verdict?

http://www.koloarum.com/aloha.htm

Its good, not fantastic, but better than the Maui rum. I have not cracked my bottle open yet but I went to their tasting room on Kauai. I am reserving full judgement until their 5 year is finally available. I think they told me its one more year.

I really really like it... I picked up a bottle here at Costco last month and finished it off much to quickly, this second bottle is even better than the first :wink:. I like appletons and myers in my Mai tai normally but have been using the Koloa lately... Try Em!!

On 2011-07-02 01:57, Beachbumz wrote:
I really really like it... I picked up a bottle here at Costco last month and finished it off much to quickly, this second bottle is even better than the first :wink:. I like appletons and myers in my Mai tai normally but have been using the Koloa lately... Try Em!!

Which is better, the gold or the dark?

Only bought the Gold but I'd like to try the Dark next.. or both..:wink:

On 2011-07-01 20:19, Shaun of theTiki wrote:
I saw three varieties of the Hawaiian-made Koloa Rum at my local Total Wine and More. It's in the "premium rum" price range ($28-32). What's the verdict?

http://www.koloarum.com/aloha.htm

Aloha Shaun of theTiki, Mahalo for your interest in our products...I'd say give it a try! We just won the Gold Medal Best in Class and a Gold Medal for our Kaua`i Dark Rum and Bronze Medal for our recently launched Spice Rum at the Miami Rum Renaissance in April, 2011. We also won a Gold Medal last year at the Miami RR for the Dark. The White and Gold have won Bronze and Silver Medals at the 5th Annual International Rum Festival in 2010, so our entire portfolio are award winners. It's Aloha Spirit in a Bottle, Okole maluna!

the Dark Looks good,
I am gonna keep an eye out for it.

The dark is very good, I picked up a bottle at Hi-Times last Fall when I was down visiting Hinano Paul.

Any chance of a coconut flavored Koloa?

I've mentioned in another thread what a fan I am of the Koloa Dark, which I picked up 2 bottles of on Kaua'i. Delicious stuff. I envy you folks who can get it in your state - there's none to be had in Massachusetts and we can't ship it in. :(

I can vouch for the Gold, but they all are well made.
Even though rum tasting on Kaua'i of course adds a certain something, each had its own benefits which made them a better selection than other established brands.

I picked up a bottle of the white (Total Wine was out of the dark) and it made for a very fine daiquiri as well as a great mai tai. For the mai tai I mixed it with some Appleton 12 year. While not as complex as Appleton plus a martinique rum, I found it to be a very good combination. Might be making one more later to close out the weekend in fact.

kevin

I haven't had it myself but there's some pretty mixed opinions on Yelp!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/koloa-rum-company-lihue

The Dark rocks

Their web store has some nice looking barware for affordable prices.

1 or 2 liter wood cask.

I attended a tasting for Koloa a few weeks ago and I was impressed.

On the low end, I couldn't tell the difference between the silver and gold, and both tasted like a vodka martini with an olive.

The dark was nice, but a little pricey for a mixer.

The spiced rum had a nice flavor, and is the only one I would consider a sipper.

Their coconut rum was outstanding, and from what I understand, completely natural. If I ever have need for a coconut rum, this will be my choice.

I haven't seen it in any of the liquor stores in my area.

Gotta agree on the dark - its fantastic, but is pricey at roughly $30 if memory serves me. I have a small bottle of the spiced, which I'll be trying soon on my next flight. I tend to pass over gold rums without much concern or interest.

YAY for the dark, the coconut, and the spiced. The spiced has a bit too much honey for me personally, but for a spiced rum, it's good. We just stocked up on all three at K&B in Del Cerro.

The white & gold are less exciting; we thought the gold was the least memorable.

Good tip B :)

I will report back soon.

For those of you in the South Florida area we have a tasting event scheduled for March 6

https://www.facebook.com/events/622524684479425

I wrote a review of it last september - http://www.amountainofcrushedice.com/?p=18197&cpage=1#comment-84262

I liked the rums, especially the Coconut one.

The coconut is fantastic, I just tried it at rum renaissance.

Storm

Pretty much the only coconut rum I can tolerate anymore is the stuff I take the time to make myself, and that has pretty much ruined Malibu, Cruzan, etc. for me. They all taste very chemical and artificial and make any drink you put them in taste that way too.

But the positive reviews from respected sources for Koloa coconut rum has me intrigued. I look forward to giving this a try.

I bought a bottle of Koloa Dark, which is a given, and Coconut. If I weren't sick as a dog...still...I'd give the coconut an immediate tasting. I'm very eager to see how it lives up to the hype. Meanwhile, I might have thrown away the Costco-sized bottle of Malibu that my wife bought awhile back... :D :D :D

I tried it at Rum Renaissance as well. Not a huge fan of coconut rum, but it didn't have the horrible chemical mouth feel that you usually get with a flavored anything. If you like coconut rum, it's worth a try.

I like it. A buddy of mine and I special-ordered a case of Koloa Gold from our local merchant and split it. We are planning an outrigger week on Kauai next year and will be hitting the tasting room to try the other varieties and get their special in-store only tiki mugs

We did the tasting while visiting Kauai in 2012. Love the dark...has a really nice hint of vanilla. Have played around and sub'd it in a couple of drinks that traditionally call for silver with nice results.

I'll shamelessly plug the 2 episodes of my podcast that I devoted to the 5 Koloa rums (and associated cocktail suggestions) that are currently on the market.

White and Gold:
http://5minutesofrum.com/episodes/2014/2/1/episode-20-kloa-white-and-gold-hawaiian-rum

Dark, Spiced, Coconut:
http://5minutesofrum.com/episodes/2014/3/8/episode-22-koloa-2-dark-spice-and-coconut

The coconut rum is the real deal - I generally don't care for flavored rums. The white makes a great daiquiri, plain and simple. I'm not as effusive in praising the Koloa Dark but I played around with it and found some classic recipes where it worked well. I found it fared better in cocktails with a orange/lemon profile and not as well with those that have a lime/falernum type profile.

kevin

--
if it's not a little complicated, it's probably not worth it.
5 Minutes of Rum
http://twitter.com/heylownine

[ Edited by: heylownine 2014-05-01 18:30 ]

I also tried it at Rum Renaissance and liked the flavor. We were told it was a mixing rum used at the Mai Kai. When we arrived home and went to purchase a bottle was a little surprised at the $40 price. I guess shipping all the way from Hawaii to Florida can get pricey. But still a very nice line of Rums.

At Tiki Oasis 12 in Martin's seminar I first got a taste of the Koloa dark. It had a distinctive nose of toasted marshmallow, which I thought was great. I bought a bottle at Total Wine, and no toasted marshmallow. Just an OK black rum. It's better than Myers's, which has a pool water like chlorine note, but I still like Coruba better.

I'm also offput by Koloa's price, and haven't tried it yet. I do want to get ahold of their coconut though. And of course Coruba is awesome!

On 2014-05-30 07:00, Kill Devil wrote:
I'm also offput by Koloa's price, and haven't tried it yet. I do want to get ahold of their coconut though. And of course Coruba is awesome!

Broken record here but to me you should buy their coconut rum blindly, because its just correct. Its made the way it should be and its as simple as that. Personally I can't compare their dark to Coruba, because to me its a much richer dark. Could be killer in mixing but also sippable, to me. The price, yes, is off-putting, so maybe you try it and move on, but for that price I'll still be buying the coconut whenever I need it.

Koloa is pricey in Hawaii as well...I don't love it enough to shell out the extra $$. I haven't had the coconut rum, yet, though...

Koloa Rum is doing a test run of their rums at various Targets in Southern California. Only the dark and gold for now, but here's the list:

Dark Rum:
2270 N Bellflower Blvd Long Beach CA
10820 Jefferson Blvd Culver City CA
3433 Sepulveda Blvd Torrance CA
16400 Beach Blvd Westminster CA
24425 Magic Mountain Pkwy Valencia CA
3750 Barranca Pkwy Irvine CA
8148 E Santa Ana Canyon Rd Anaheim CA
777 E Colorado Blvd Pasadena CA
30602 Santa Margarita Pkwy Rancho Santa Margarita CA
12300 Seal Beach Blvd Seal Beach CA
3121 E Colorado Blvd Pasadena CA
7100 Santa Monica Blvd, STE 201 West Hollywood CA
1601 Kingsdale Ave Redondo Beach CA
2300 Park Ave Tustin CA
651 W Sepulveda Blvd Carson CA
855 E Birch St Brea CA
6000 Sepulveda Blvd Ste 2250 Culver City CA
8480 Beverly Blvd Ste 1A Los Angeles CA
17170 Camino Del Sur San Diego CA

Gold Rum:
2270 N Bellflower Blvd Long Beach CA
10820 Jefferson Blvd Culver City CA
3433 Sepulveda Blvd Torrance CA
16400 Beach Blvd Westminster CA
24425 Magic Mountain Pkwy Valencia CA
3750 Barranca Pkwy Irvine CA
8148 E Santa Ana Canyon Rd Anaheim CA
777 E Colorado Blvd Pasadena CA

OOH - I wonder if any NorCal Target stores will be getting it!

Laughlin yesterday

Dark n coconut
Always have these 2 in my bar

$15 ???? It's more like $40 here in Florida!

Here too

Not sure why it was 15.00

Couldn't say no to that price :)

I live right in Koloa and can't get that price! It's more like 29.99.

Yeah, even the Costco in Maui was $30.

Total Wine in Brea, Ca; White or gold @ 29.95
Coconut or dark @ 33.45