Planted on June 9th, 2018 this heirloom, 90 day bourbon corn enjoyed a great summer of growth at our personal farm in Lihue. It wasn’t without its challenges, though. We were fortunate to have survived hurricane Lane in late August, hungry ear worms, wild pig, and droves of parakeets that sought to consume our crop. Special mahalo to Boyd and Gaylene Gayagas at Grove Farm for their eradication efforts. They saved a lot of our crop from the parakeets.
Harvest day finally arrived at the Lihue farm on Friday, September 7th. Having pulled in over 300 bushels from Koloa the day before it looks as if the total in Lihue may exceed that amount. Great news for the distillery as we will be able to make more bourbon than originally planned!
5 GALLON BARRELS 201809071-17 (Released to HI Market) Contains our first small barrel, micro aged lots of bourbon in seventeen 5 gallon barrels and is intended for release no sooner than in the Spring of 2019, or when we determine it is ready. We will continue to update each 5 to 30 gallon barrel on this page and attempt to identify the tasting characteristics of each small barrel as they age over time. When we first started the research and development of Kauai bourbon in 2014 it was all produced in small lots through a 50 gallon process that included a 50 gallon stripping still, and 26 gallon column spirit still. Naturally, and because we never produced runs that could fill full 53 gallon barrels, we turned to smaller barrels ranging in size from 1 gallon to 5 gallon. The result was nothing less than amazing as aging times ranged from 45 days to 6 months. At that point we figured our bourbon could only get better in larger casks. Still, it is the smaller barrel and micro aging that led the way in the early days, and it would be a mistake to not feature it as one of our selections. Tasting Notes: 93 proof, vanilla front and sweet and the right amount of oak for such short aging. Very different from the earlier batches I had tested in the smaller shine stills. Most likely the result of higher proof (160) distillation on the finishing run, and the fact that the grain went with the wash in the stripping run. The flavors were much more pronounced in this young bourbon in small barrels. Very approachable, though, and best enjoyed at 93 proof, but not so much at 120!
10 GALLON BARRELS 2018090718-23 (Released to HI Market) Contains our first small barrel, micro aged lots of bourbon in six 10 gallon barrels and is intended for release in the Summer of 2019, or when we determine it is ready. We will continue to update each 5 to 30 gallon barrel on this page and attempt to identify the tasting characteristics of each small barrel as they age over time. When we first started the research and development of Kauai bourbon in 2014 it was all produced in small lots through a 50 gallon process that included a 50 gallon stripping still, and 26 gallon column spirit still. Naturally, and because we never produced runs that could fill full 53 gallon barrels, we turned to smaller barrels ranging in size from 1 gallon to 5 gallon. The result was nothing less than amazing as aging times ranged from 45 days to 6 months. At that point we figured our bourbon could only get better in larger casks. Still, it is the smaller barrel and micro aging that led the way in the early days, and it would be a mistake to not feature it as one of our selections.
15 GALLON BARRELS 2018090724-36 (Released to HI Market) Contains our first small barrel, micro aged lots of bourbon in thirteen 15 gallon barrels and is intended for release no sooner than in the Fall of 2019, or when we determine it is ready. We will continue to update each 5 to 30 gallon barrel on this page and attempt to identify the tasting characteristics of each small barrel as they age over time. When we first started the research and development of Kauai bourbon in 2014 it was all produced in small lots through a 50 gallon process that included a 50 gallon stripping still, and 26 gallon column spirit still. Naturally, and because we never produced runs that could fill full 53 gallon barrels, we turned to smaller barrels ranging in size from 1 gallon to 5 gallon. The result was nothing less than amazing as aging times ranged from 45 days to 6 months. At that point we figured our bourbon could only get better in larger casks. Still, it is the smaller barrel and micro aging that led the way in the early days, and it would be a mistake to not feature it as one of our selections.
30 GALLON BARRELS 2018090737-53 Contains our first small barrel, micro aged lots of bourbon in eighteen 30 gallon barrels and was released in the spring of 2022. Considered a straight bourbon this whisky and aged for 2 years and 6 months. We found it to impart notes of oak, and coffee with a chocolate finish.
53 GALLON BARRELS 2018090754-62 Our Kauai grown corn is blended with premium North American grains to create a wonderfully complex and titillating Hawaiian American bourbon. Containing our first 477 gallons of bourbon these nine 53 gallon new American Oak, Char #3 barrels are intended for a lengthy aging of no less than 2 years. We will continue to update each barrel on this page and attempt to identify the tasting characteristics of each as they progress.