KoHana Kokoleka Cacao and Honey Infused Rum

Kokoleka means chocolate — and one Rum Ratings taster said it tastes like they squeezed a Fig Newton's soul and bottled its essence. Kōhana is Hawaii's heirloom-cane distillery, founded in 2014 in Kunia on Oahu, where Robert Dawson and Jason Brand grow more than thirty varieties of ancient Polynesian sugarcane and press each separately for single-varietal agricole. Kokoleka starts with the Kea white — fresh cane juice, pot-then-column distilled — and infuses it with heirloom Hawaiian cacao nibs from Madre Chocolate, Trinitario beans grown on the islands, then blends in raw Maunawili honey from Oahu's windward side, bottled at 30% ABV in a 375ml bottle with nothing artificial; the spent nibs are reborn as a chocolate bar sold at the distillery. Rum Ratings' drinkers are effusive: the honey and cacao truly shine and taste fully natural, unlike artificial flavored rums — a great, interesting dessert sipper, and heaven over vanilla ice cream or in a shake; another found it absolutely loaded with raw honey with a beautiful cacao nose, a little like drinking honey, and fun to try. Gastronom's tasting favorite for anyone who loves chocolate. Expect a nose of raw honey and cocoa, a thick, sweet, chocolate-and-honey palate over the cane spirit's faint grassy edge, and a smooth finish. Honest note: it's a sweet liqueur, priced as a small-batch specialty, and a novelty for some. For a dessert pour, a Chocolate Old Fashioned, an Espresso Martini, or over ice cream, it's Hawaii's cacao and honey in a bottle.

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