Hanalei Spirits Distillery Corp. — Local services in Kauai

My husband and I got the chance to visit, tour their botanical farm and taste these amazing spirits recently. To say it was one of the highlights of our trip would be an understatement. I have to credit my husband for making this experience happen. He tried a cocktail at a local bar in Kapaa and liked it so much he hunted down the specialty small batch liquor used to make it, their Okolehao. We called Vindi two days before we were set to fly off the island and inquired about swinging by to pick up a speciality bottle and she instead offered us the chance to tour the farm and do a taster with them. We gladly jumped on her offer and are so happy that we made the trip there. She and her husband Grant were so welcoming and really made us feel like family while we were visiting their facility. The farm tour was my favorite part, we got to see where they grow almost all of the ingredients they use in their spirits. Learning about the unique botanical species they grow, from passionfruit to ginger, and hearing about the labor of love that they both put into their spirits was so interesting. I have a lot of respect for the way they run their farm and how sustainable their practices are.

If I hadn’t been amazed with everything up to that point, the tasting would have done it for me. Their spirits are fantastic. They were so smooth and drinkable. When I say that we would have taken a whole suitcase of these spirits home if we could, I’m not lying. As it is, we got 3 different bottles home and have plans to roundabout order through a friend of ours in California.

Long story short. If you want an unforgettable experience on Kauai, that is so personalized and leaves you feeling like you’ve just made great friends, this tour is for you. If not, you should still try their spirits because they are amazing and some of the best Dark Rum and Vodka I have ever tried. They sell them at local grocery stores (like Safeway) if you don’t get the chance to visit the farm. Vindi and Grant, thank you so much, we cannot...

We wanted to do a tasting at Hanalei Spirits, and I initially contacted them through Instagram. Vindi (co-owner) responded and provided me with a number to call to organize an appointment. We almost did not get our schedules to line up, but Vindi was able to squeeze us in right after her local deliveries(yes! They do their own local deliveries!).

Vindi was an amazing host, I loved her personality and her story telling. The history of how the Distillery became to be along with their current hurdles, is an amazing and motivating one! As she toured us around their farm (where many of their ingredients for their spirits come from), and going through their creation process, we became more intrigued on wanting to taste the product!

Once we began the tasting after the tour, Vindi spoke through each one of their current offerings and the story behind each one. I am amazed at the pride that the family put into this business and also doing what they think is right for their community along with keeping the Hawaiian culture and history alive.

I absolutely loved their Tutu’s Gin, the flavor is complex and just pure delicious.

If you have not heard of Okolehao, and you are into whiskey, you need to get yourself a bottle of this and try it out. They use the same old traditional methods of creating it, and through their blood sweet and tears, it ends up being worth it!

Lastly, to end the tasting, we got to try a chilled lilikoicello on the rocks and that thing is dangerous! It is sweet with a thicker consistency, almost like a desert wine. Vindi mentioned folks add it to vanilla ice cream, and I am thinking of using it into an ice cream of its own!

Thank you Vindi and Hanalei Spirits for the enjoyable time, literally having the last thing we did on this trip as one of the most enjoyable experiences with an...

My wife and I were visiting Kauai for our honeymoon. I had an old fashioned with their Okolehao that was so good I knew I wanted to get a bottle. We looked around the island and while we found other spirits by them we couldn’t find the Okolehao. So we looked up their website and saw they even put together craft cocktail kits with locally sourced or made components of the cocktail. I called them, left a voicemail describing the above hoping I could get some before we left two days later. Vindi got back to me shortly after and immediately I felt how warm and welcoming she was. We ended up setting up a tour for the following day. We pulled up to a small group tour (6 people) and had an absolutely amazing time. Vindi gave us an excellent tour of their land where they grow just about everything (if not everything) that is used in their spirits. Her and her husband, Grant’s, commitment to being sustainable in their process and making exceptional spirits was extraordinary. After the tour of the grounds Grant discussed the distilling process with us right before getting to taste all their spirits. Even spirits I don’t typically like, like vodka, were so smooth and delicious. They were so good we ended up going home with three different bottles instead of just one and we would have taken more if we had the room. Overall, it was such a warm and welcoming environment and it was hard not to be excited when seeing their dedication and hard work first hand. This was truly one of our favorite parts of our trip and we could not recommend this experience enough. Not just for the great spirits or tour, but for great people as well. We will be going back to visit them any time we...