Koloa Rum Company Reviews

This was my first time visiting Hawaii and were looking to go on a couple of tours. This one stood out not that our party was in it for the rum that came along with the tour but the tour itself was amazing.

The scenery is just beautiful and you get to feed the little pigs along the way. Tons of different plants and trees along with 2 stops for tastings. This is a must do if you’re visiting Kauai, I highly recommend it to be one of your stops.

Our driver and tour guide were great but unfortunately I do not remember their names.

I thought this was such a fun place! Informative tasting that even lets you make your own (shot-size) drink at the beginning. Also, the tastings are free! Can't beat that.

What a delightful tasting! We had a fantastic guide who walked us through each flavor and gave us the rich history behind the company and the unique tastes and blends of each rum. The rum cake is delicious and we left excited to purchase several different rums when we get back home, thankfully we have stores that carry Kōloa rum in our state! We had a great experience.

What a way to start your morning. Learning about the history of the land and how rum, cane sugar and became the number Hawaiin cocktail. Our tasting teacher was excellent and we are happy to report we learned to do the perfect rum topper pour. We have sense practiced at our rental and doing quite well. Good tour to take in.

Miss Jackie was entertaining. The rum varieties were yummy. The Drink of the Day was pretty and delicious. Buy the sampler!

We first visited Koloa Rum Company more than five years ago, and perhaps even during their first year of having a tasting room open. We particularly enjoyed their dark rum, and sought it out on the island. After returning home to the mainland, we found it at a local specialty liquor store, and continued to buy it. It is now part of our first-day shopping excursion purchases, and a rum drink is part of our daily routine while visiting Kauai.

We decided that we should revisit Gaylord's for lunch and then Koloa Rum Company afterwards. Let me just say that Koloa Rum Company was the better of the two experiences. We thoroughly enjoyed tasting some of the newer rums that they were producing. To be honest, we would not have bought them, but after trying them, we may be getting more than one kind of rum as part of our Day 1 shopping.

Tastings occur every half hour. You put your name on a list at the store next door. If all 16 slots are filled, don't despair. During our visit, several people called and cancelled, and so we were able to participate. After you are carded, you will taste three or four rums and one of the mixers. Tasting is free. It was a lovely way to spend half an hour on a grey, windy, rainy day on Kauai. I strongly encourage you to give it a try.

The Rum is SO delicious!! But Jayne is beyond AMAZING! She is seriously the best "Rumpress" ever!!! She is so awesome and makes the presentation!!!

Distillery tours and tastings are something we enjoy and we have done a lot of them. Koloa Rum was a treat! We showed up without a reservation and visited a few shops at Kilohana before our tasting began. The hostess had great energy and presented the product with good humor and lots of recipe ideas. We will be stocking our bar with a variety of Koloa Rum! It is super smooth and tasty!

We had so much fun on the Rum Safari! Taking the ride through the jungle and fruit trees was like being transported into another world. Our guide and his assistant were top-notch professionals, great sense of humor and stories about the property, rum and most importantly, making Mai Tai's and Mojitos. We enjoyed every minute of it and would go back in a minute. Be sure to splurge on the Coconut rum to take back to the states, you won't be sorry!

We arrived at about 2:40pm and were able to get into the 3pm tasting. It was a fun way to hear about the rum and try some different options. We ended up buying two bottles. We drank part of one in our hotel room and didn’t open the other. Both survived in our luggage on the way home.

Appreciated the low fee. We enjoyed the tasting, but make sure you wait for instructions before just downing your sample. You might need to save half to mix with something else. We purchased the premixed Mai tai for convenience, I don’t recommend this one. The flavored rums are GREAT.

This is my husband's favorite stop every time we go to Kauai. They have a good selection of rums and a great gift shop. They have rum tastings daily. Be sure to sign up early because they do get full. The rum cake is really good also.

We wanted something different to do and this was. The weather was really hot and doing an indoor activity was a relief from the heat. What a great presentation. Nice to hear the history from a native who has lived on the island his entire life. You get the history and a bit more information not only about rum but life.... Enjoyed completely. Not bad that the rum was good too. Worth a trip for sure.

If you visit... make sure you take the Koloa Rum Company Safari Tour! The tour was $78 per adult and was worth every penny! The safari is a good hour and a half and you're entertained every minute of the way! The guides are fun and make you some amazing rum drinks also! And... there's nothing like Banana Slapping... I won't say what it is, but it a must experience, once in a lifetime, thing to do!

The tour is highly recommended! Have fun!

Great tasting experience and information about the rum making process. Many ideas for mixers provided as well. It would be nice to have a little flexibility/choice of which of their many flavors to taste, but all of them we had were delicious. We left with 3 bottles to bring home!

We arrived on the beautiful Garden Isle to a lot of rain. Since beach time was out for a while, we decided to drive to Koloa Rum and do the free rum tasting. That was a GREAT decision! We got to taste the dark, spice, coconut, coffee rums as well as the rum punch. They were all delicious. Cale, our “rumslinger”, was fantastic! He was so warm and friendly and really took the time to make the tasting personalized for the guests. Needless to say, we ended up buying several bottles to take back to the Mainland. The gift shop is wonderful. Jayne was a sweetheart and really spreads the Aloha. Highly recommend this very fun activity.

We loved the tour and the tour guide. Very knowledgeable and energetic, and extremely funny. The rum tastings were delicious.

If you are coffee aficionado then you NEED to taste this rum! It’s to die for. Make sure you buy some here if you like it because retailers for this rum is hard to find!!!

A great experience, informative and fun! A must do in Kauai. Did I mention the rum tasting is free? :)

Just 30 minutes and you can learn about the rum company. Kale was our information guide and explained the business. He was not only knowledgeable, kept it fun, and shared personal stories about his family from the days of growing sugar cane to make rum. Although I'm not one who drinks, I enjoyed hearing about the different rums, smelling, tasting, and making a Mai Tai.

Where else can you do a rum tasting of 5 different types of rum for free (please tip your host). Plus, they offered a sample of their rum cake with their chocolate rum sauce-yummy! The staff is very friendly and helpful and the store has a lot of merchandise to choose from. And I believe they ship too.

Sign up early. Tours are on the hour and the shpiel is great. Check the website for the flavors of the day.

Rums are really good but pricey at the gift shop, costco has cheaper. Tastings are free daily and fill up quickly and fun but if you book online they charge for the free tasting. All the tours are good.

We couldn’t have come across a better experience!! Jayne is such a delight! What a phenomenal human and a great representation of the beauty of Kauai! She really provided an interactive and energetic experience — also VERY knowledgeable! Can’t wait to come back — thank you, Jayne :)

We really liked the rum here- free tasting, and it was all quite good. We ended up buying a few bottles to take home- definitely worth stopping by! We'll go back again next time.

Very friendly staff and fun rum tastings! Loved the coffee rum. Don’t miss this tour experience.very nice gift shop with many tasty food products and good selection of T-shirts’

We did the rum tasting and it was very informative. We tasted several different flavors of the company's rum. It was free.

We did the rum tasting it was the best choice we could have made. Get there early to get on the list. The rum is delicious, even my mother who doesn’t like rum loved the coffee rum. I would highly recommend you take the opportunity to go to the free rum tasting if you’re on the island.

A quick stop at the Koloa Rum Co was the first thing we did when we landed on Kauai, and it sure started the trip off right! Cale did a fantastic job explaining everything you wanted to know about rum during our tasting. Their coffee rum and rum punch were especially delicious!

Koloa Rum is amazing; delicious! We love all the different flavors. Rose is wonderful! Mahalo nui loa!

This is a nice little gift shop that also offers rum tasting! I stopped by for a quick visit before my plantation train ride. The store offers a variety of branded merchandise and rum. Really worth a visit if you are in the area already.

We did the rum tasting at this place and it was fabulous. The lady who did the tasting was super high energy and made the whole experience fun and interesting. Take that coupled with absolutely wonderful rum and it was amazing. Go early to get your name on the list.

This was part of a plantation tour that we took. There are a number of unique items for sale in this shop, including bottles of rum.
Since we have to fly home, it is not wise for us to pack big bottles in the suitcase. Luckily, they have the small sample bottles in a box (which travels well). This variety pack is perfect for us as we can keep some bottles and give away some bottles to friends.

She is a bundle of energy in high heels. Fun facts about rum but an astonishing memory in engaging with the guests. She remembers everyone's name and where from. She even recognized us from last November. Oh, and the rum is tasty.

We signed up for the tasting then rode the plantation railway while waiting for our time. The rail trip was fun and informative with a lot of local orchard products and history.
The rum tasting was worth the time and we picked up a few bottles to take home.
Loved the coffee rum.

We went on this tasting on a whim and it was amazing! Nicole had so many tips and tricks about how to incorporate rum into cooking and baking and was overall amazing.

Amazing!! So glad we went and now we know WHY this is superior rum. Thank you!! The flavors were amazing and the descriptions were spot on. My favorite tasting place, now!

Be sure to sign in via gift shop to do the tasting. First name all that's needed for those who can't read the instructions. 5 tastes with a little background. All very excellent. Sample pack in the gift shop are plastic bottles so yea for packing. A worthy stop.

It was a rainy day in Kauai the day we visited. So we stopped here to do a little tasting. I was so much fun and the staff were great. Would recommend it even if it's not raining.

I'd say this is something to do on a rainy day. Maybe pair it with lunch at Gaylords. It really is just a tasting and company store like advertised. Their rum is excellent and what I would classify as craft. Our "guide" was very engaging and gave a nice synopsis of the sugar cane and rum industry. Most of it was a detailed look at their products. It might have been a sales pitch, but they were selling good rum, so we weren't complaining.

I highly recommend the coconut rum. It's a much more refined version of the cheap stuff you find everywhere else.

There are a few shops in the same location, but not enough to take up an afternoon.

Enjoyed the rum tasting event…and I don’t even like rum! Hubby does tho so we enjoyed this fun event. The setup is great…get there early to get your names on the list. Nice setup in the tasting room and you learn a little history. All the workers were very pleasant and knowledgeable. Great rum, cute store to spend some $$$ at before leaving.

we had a great afternoon, the presentation was great, the young man explained the process also created some great cocktails. the shop was not over priced, with lots of choices, a definite MUST if you are on Kauai

We checked out of our hotel and had a few hours to kill before getting our flight so we went to the Koloa Rum Company and are so glad we did! Tip for visiting- as soon as you arrive, head for the gift shop towards the back and just inside the door you will see a “run tasting here” sign. Sign up for your free tasting. I had a full suitcase and thought I could not get anything else in it, and was thrilled when (1) I tried the rums and fell in love with them (yum yum!) and (2) was given really good tips on how to get rum home (put the little bottles in the quart bag of liquids you are allowed to take through security- ah ha!). Each of the 5 rums I tasted were unbelievably delicious. I bought two boxes of the sample bottles and they were gone before I’d been home a week. There is also a train for the kids - it takes you around the property for about an hour and stops to meet and feed the animals. We did it just to spend the time on the property and enjoyed the tour that “Tiny” gave us. Fun time - good gift stores.

The rum tasting is certainly an exquisite sensory experience but it’s Jayne that compels me to give this a 5 star rating. She’s lovely - animated, personable, charismatic, and inclusive. She turns rum tasting into a 30-minute, interactive and engaging show. Go see her and sip some delicious rum.

Tasting was amazing experience, Jayme was great and the rum was amazing. I attempted to purchase before in TN but wasn’t able to. Great to finally taste some.

If you even sort of like rum, you must do this tasting. Jayne is THE BEST and made the demonstration and explanations fun. Oh, and by the way. The rum was awesome!! One of the best things we did on our vacation to Kauai. Make sure you know you need to make reservations as space at each tasting is limited.

My wife, sister-in-law and I visited Koloa Rum Co. It is on the Gaylord Plantation complex and caught our attention. The island's only rum distillery is fascinating in of itself, and the tasting experience was made even better by Nicole who ran the tasting. She explained the uses of the various flavors of rum from a cooking perspective, which was a fascinating perspective that we will use to enhance our meals. The rums themselves were also interesting and flavorful - we highly recommend this activity for rum lovers and chefs alike!

Great little gift shop. Gift shop does the reservations for the tasting. Usually goes quick. You can taste test many of their rums. You get a little history or some cooking advise depending on who is doing the tasting. They really have a good variety of rums to sample, just wish the samples were bigger....... Its a good time and enjoyed by all.

The location of the tasting room and gift shop is on the grounds of the old sugar plantation. There are numerous, family friendly things to do. I recommend the train ride, which circles the large property and stops for viewing and feeding of pigs, goats, donkeys and waterfowl , which the kids love.
The rum tasting tour costs $5 and is very informative-reservations are a must and no person under 21 is allowed.
The Koloa Rum Company is locally owned and produces high end rums, well worth the cost and you are supporting the local economy in a good way.

This was our second visit to Koloa Rum Company. The tastings are informative, humorous and interesting. The people pouring are passionate about Koloa Rum and very well informed about the history. Always a delight to stop in for a tasting. I am not much of a drinker, but their rums are superb.

Rum tasting with my spouse - We dropped by to taste the rum and discovered reservations are required. We were bummed but were able to get reservations within a few days. They do offer a varied menu of rums for each tasting. Although you don't get to try them all, you do get to try one of their pre-mixed cocktails along with the rum! One thing that stood out to us when compared to the Caribbean distilleries we've been to was that the samples at Koloa were very small. We didn't get to try the coconut rum canned spritzer but I bought some and really loved the light, refreshing, authentic coconut flavor! I highly recommend that one! We also bought the rum runner but neither of us liked it and ended up tossing a full can. We bought 2 small bottles of their top shelf rum, along with the sampler and none of them knocked our socks off.
The rum was good but not our favorite. We've been to many rum distilleries on our visits to the Caribbean islands and we agree the Caribbean rum has a richer, more complex profile, which we prefer. Even so, our tour guide throughout the tastings was engaging, funny and made it a fun experience! We would recommend this tour.

We made a last minute decision to stop and was glad we did. We got into a free rum tasting where we learned about a few of the different flavors that they made. We learned about how the rum is made and what makes their rum different from any other one. We ended up buying several items from the gift shop. If we had more time I would have liked to look into the train that people were riding on.

I'm more of a bourbon guy, but when In Kauai I always stop by the Koloa Rum company for free rum sampling. Yes, I said free. And, let me quality that as it's not always free as their rum is so excellent I can't leave the place without buying 3 bottles. But damn, the rum is fabulous. I love the dark rum and of course the spice rum is awesome. I'm not usually a coconut fan, but the coconut rum is quite refreshing. But my new favorite is the coffee rum. The nose is at first chocolate, then you get the coffee. The taste is smooth and you don't need to cut it with anything, but I can see a glass with some cream and ice in to make a sweet after dinner drink. Too bad I can't get this stuff in Colorado.

So, if you plan to visit Kauai and you like to make your own rum drinks, then stop by the Koloa Rum Company and stock up on rum and mixers. Do the tasting first. Oh, did I mention it's free rum tasting. Also, their rum cake is awesome.

We stopped here at the end of our trip, but I wish we had discovered this place sooner! The grounds are beautiful and worth walking around. The gift shop is also fun and where you need to sign up for the tour in advance. They are every 30 minutes. I think we tried about 4-5 rum samples overall and also had a piece of rum cake at the end. The bartender doing the tasting was knowledgeable, friendly and easy-going. He was great with our group in explaining some of the background on the rums and ideas on what you could use them for. If you like rum at all, you will enjoy this!

Great tasting of world class rums. The server was most entertaining for all to enjoy., She was personally engaging and presented all the rums in their best light. Pleasant joy to watch her "perform" for 20 minutes. We have been going since the beginning when Koloa Rum first opens this tasting room and it's great to see them evolve over the years since 2009.

Went here our first night in Kauai. The rum is very good, so of course we had to purchase some for the rest of our trip. We especially liked the spiced, coconut and coffee flavored rums.

Jaime, Was a fantastic host with a wonderful personality and spirit about her. She made the Rum tasting experience so fun. Cheers Jaime.

Best tasting experience of my life! Jayne is AMAZING! The rum is incredible! Highly recommended. I’m buying the coconut, chocolate and Hawaiian rum punch.

Loved the tasting experience and the rum. Loved all the ideas for drinks. Definitely worth the stop on your vacation.

We have been to the tasting room three times over the years. It is a fun pace to go and they are careful with COVID restrictions.

Love the Pineapple Passion and the Mai Tai premixed drinks! You can only get them on Kauai - don’t miss it!

Terrific, must stop on the lovely Kilohana ranch property. Offers free tastings of rum, and there are a variety of gifts and food stuffs. Try the Koloa Rum Cake! It was so yummy!!

They also have cigars, for you aficionados. They also sell padded clear bubble packaging for your rum bottles, so they are protected in your check-through suitcase.

Tip: you must sign up for tasting, as they have limited space.

I have known one of the major stockholders of Koloa for many years, and he arranged for a tour of the production facility, which was illuminating. The management team and employees are dedicated to producing the highest quality products, and the variety of product offerings are diverse and of the highest quality indeed. I have talked to others who have visited the tasting room, and they confirm that it is great spot to visit during a Kauai vacation.

Koloa Rum Company is close to the airport and was on our way to the South Shore where our hotel was. Wonderful place with great rum. I’m not even a rum drinker and I knew this was top notch stuff. The tasting was fun and we bought 2 bottles and a yummy rum cake (that didn’t last a day). They have a great little gift store with wooden cat sculptures that we bought. I always look for a cat memento from the places we travel to and have been having a hard time finding one in Hawaii. Hubby got rum and I got a cat! I call that an absolute win!

We had heard so much about the Rum Factory that we thought we better stop in for a visit. We enjoyed the shop and as the list for the tasting was short, we signed up. I'm not a rum drinker but hubby is...Bacardi! While he enjoyed the flavoured rums, he said that he's going to stick with his Bacardi. I will say that the bartender was filled with personality and certainly made it a very enjoyable tasting.

This is a must. Even if you are a light drinker you can learn the history of the company during the rum tasting. But if you like rum you will LOVE the 6 different flavors presented to you. The presenter is tremendous. She does a great job of mixing humor with history and recent fact. The rums are outstanding! Love the Coconut. Wife loved the Coffee.

The Koloa rum tasting was such a fun experience! It's a 30 minute free tasting, and you need to sign up beforehand in the shop. They have tastings every hour. The Rumpress, Jayne, elevated the tasting to another level. Her energy and passion for her job shines brightly during her whole presentation. We ended up buying 3 bottles to bring back to the mainland.

The rum tasting host was the sweetest person ever! She remembered every names and city they came from. Her drink mixers was phenomenal. She treated us like family. Words can’t express how great she is.

Had a fun and delicious tasting experience, but a frustrating service experience. We arrived exactly 5 minutes late for our initial booking and were told we had to wait 1 hour for the next tasting, even though our original group had only just entered the tasting room. Appreciate that they got us in later, but we had to wait around on our vacation for a hour. What’s more frustrating, on our rescheduled tasting they let a group come in 6 minutes after it began. So the inconsistency and arbitrary strictness really put a damper on the experience. Make sure you arrive on time… sometimes…

Great fun tasting at the Koloa Rum company. Our bartender was delightful! He gave us a history of the Island in relation to the sugar cane and development of rum. The samples were wonderful and included a sample of Rum Cake. The tastings are less than 30 minutes in length and be sure to sign up in advance at the gift shop since they limit the number of participants per tasting session. Don't miss this. The Plantation itself is interesting and worth a stop. Gaylords Restaurant is very nice as well.

The tour was great!! I highly suggest checking it out!! The guys really made the tour funny, informational and a real good time!!

We were lucky enough to be included in a rum tasting. We just happened to arrive at the right time. This place is VERY busy and we enjoyed the gift shop experience too.

We both loved all of their rums and the rum cake that comes with the tasting. If I could have purchased all of the choices I would have. We did purchase a coconut rum and a coffee rum. Upon check out the cashier is very knowledgeable on what allotment we could bring back to Canada which was really a nice surprise.

The grounds are beautiful and it looked like there was lots to explore. Tour buses were abundant here but there was lots of parking.

Take the tour, and definitely try the coconut rum!
You will get to sample all the others, but the coconut rum is sooooooo good!

The rum tasting was great, the young man doing the presentation was entertaining, informative and engaging with everyone one in the room. Provided history on Kauai’s sugar industry and Koloa Rum Company. A great ambassador for Koloa Rum and Kauai.

We visited with a group of six on 2/28/2021. A fun time and the presentation from Jayne was fantastic. Thank you Jayne.

So happy we stopped at the Plantation and did the KOLOA Rum tasting. Sadly I forget to note the name of our guide, but she was amazing! She had so many great stories about the history of Kauai and the Rum company. Now I like wine and wine tasting, not a fan of hard liquor, BUT each rum we tasted was better than the next! I would love to have brought home Coconut and coffee rum, but my bags were just too full. We did buy several bottle of the Rum Punch and enjoyed it in our hotel and at a hotel Super Bowl party! Don't miss this place!

We did the tasting room and Gloria was amazing! She was super knowledgeable and funny! Highly recommended!!!

No need to ask that question posed by Captain Jack Sparrow in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. The Kōloa Rum Company has plenty of rum for you to taste and to take home. This is not your everyday rum. Although it could be a rum you drink every day. Kōloa Rum Company has taken the time to properly distill some of the best rum you will ever consume. The tasting room and store is located at the Kilohana Plantation next to the Kauai Community College.

I encourage you to take advantage of the free rum tasting hosted every 30 minutes. Be sure to sign up in advance on days Luau Kalamaku is going on at the Kilohana Plantation - sometimes the tasting slots fill up quickly.

To the point, Kōloa Rum Company’s tasty spirits are so good because of the purity of their ingredients and their twice-distilling process. Whether it is the pure ‘tall cane’ sugar grown on the island, the clean crisp water that flows down from Mount Waiʻaleʻale, known as one of the wettest places on Earth, or the fresh coconut and Kaua’i coffee that is used in certain varieties of their rum. Then there is the simple, but essential, Aloha (love) that goes into making each bottle of rum. Kudos to the hard workers who make this excellent homegrown product!

During each free tasting, available seven days a week starting at 1030, you will sample Dark Rum, Spice Rum, Coconut Rum, Coffee Rum, Rum Cake and Rum Fudge Sauce. Then one additional Kōloa Rum Company rum drink. Check their website for tasting hours and the featured rum because they vary from day to day. Last year my niece wanted to taste every rum product they had to offer so we came back several days in a row. We were encouraged to make as many return trips as we liked. Which rum do I like? The three I have had to replenish most often are Dark, Coffee, and Coconut.

Cynthia, our rum-slinger, was a pleasure to ‘talk story’ with at the rum tasting and made the event educational and fun. If you pay attention and savor the flavor of these premium rums, you will walk away with a greater appreciation of Kōloa Rum Company rum.

The Kōloa Rum Company shop has many souvenirs, as well as their rum to take home with you. Hawaii state law prohibits the company from shipping their rum, but if you check their website you can see where their fine rum can be purchased on the mainland. Only one rum is currently unavailable on the mainland and that is Kōloa Rum Company’s 12 Barrel Select Kauai Reserve Aged Hawaiian Rum. After years of bringing home other rums, 2019 was my year to bring home the Reserve Rum. I look forward to sipping some when I return to Illinois. In Illinois we are fortunate, when it comes to Kōloa Rum, other things like cold winters, crooked politicians, high taxes, etc. not so much. However, we have a liquor store franchise/distributor called Binny’s Beverage Depot that has stores scattered across the state that carry Kōloa Rum. Check out Kōloa Rum’s website to see the select location nationwide or via an online distributor.

The Kōloa Rum Company website has some great mixology recipes for their rums. We have used their rum in a variety of baking dishes. The latest was for my niece’s birthday (yes, it’s my niece who was with me on Kaua’i last year with my sister). Simply put it was rum cupcakes made with the Kōloa Dark Rum and covered with Kōloa Dark Rum glaze. We made a hole in the center of each cupcake and filled it with the rum glaze. I have also made Kōloa Rum Coffee shakes made with Breyers all natural vanilla ice cream.

I enjoy Kōloa Rum and I think those that give their rum an honest taste will see that their rum is exquisite. Cheers to all ... to “Good times, great memories, and friendships to cherish though the ages.”

These are basically flavoured rums. The host was very engaging and we received a free tasting of 4 products and a rum cake. I ended up buying a sampler pack as a gift from ABC, but full bottles seemed to be best bought at the shop.

Even if you're not a drinker, the rum tasting is worth it. They'll let you skip the shots and eat wonderful rum cake and drink rum punch. With a number of different presenters, you'll get all sorts of information about the Island.
I highly encourage all the rum and the silicone cups to freeze the rum punch!

Excellent stop when in Kauai, with a fabulous tasting room that allows one to sample the rums made in Kauai. The coffee rum is an especially excellent choice, as is the rum cake and rum fudge sauce!

Overall we felt like the rum was good but the experience of the rum tasting was very bad due to the harshness of the staff. It really pulled us out of vacation mode and made us stressed. First, the person working the store for check-in was very intense. We got a call saying we would be locked out of the tasting if we did not arrive at 3pm sharp. Next we arrived and despite a group of adults over 40, the staff made a huge deal of carding us forcing IDs to be pulled from ID pockets and removing glasses etc. We were 10min early and thought we'd look around the store while we waited to enjoy the air conditioning but promptly instructed to wait outside in the heat under threat of being locking out of the tasting if we were even a second late by the person who checked us in. The tasting itself was better than the checkin. The rum was good. Unfortunately the tasting consisted of only 1oz total of rum. And rather than letting us enjoy the staff turned it into a timeshare style sales pitch for every rum in the store many of which we were not allowed taste. To this point the experience might have merited 2 or 3 starts but what got the 1 star was the reaction of the staff when we asked for some water. First they had us wait several minutes while they chatted with other people who attended. When they came back to us, we were instructed to take a literal hike to try mountain water and we're not given any water to drink. Unfortunately this experience led us to not buy the rum on principle where we would have normally bought 5 or 6 bottles from this kind of experience. Hopefully the management will see this and learn to hire staff more appropriate for a vacation destination and activity.

This is a great distillery that offers free tastings. The staff was friendly and the quality of the rum was very high. The rum cake was great also.

This was a last minute stop and we were lucky to get on the waitlist to experience this awesome rum tasting. Our Rumstress was phenomonal. She could remember everyones name as she poured 6 different varieties. My favorite was the Chocolate Rum that you can only get in Kauia. A definite must see and it was free! The gift shop was stocked with great items, too. It would be best to get reservations but we got lucky with the wait list.

We signed up for the rum tasting before we went on the train tour, and the timing worked perfectly. It was a super fun experience and the rum was excellent. It was about 20-25 mins. We would do this again for sure.

This was a fantastic chill experience where I learned so much about rum! I'm not a huge drinker and my husband is teetotal, so getting all of the tips from Nicole about how to use it in cooking and baking was fabulous. Can't wait to try some of them out!

Super fun tasting, you get to try essentially all of their rums so plan accordingly! There was a lot of information on how to use rum in cooking and baking, I wish we could have written them all down! great gift shop too.

We weren't sure what to expect and find this to be one of our favorite stops on a rainy day. We completed a tasting and were sold on multiple flavors. We should have bought another suitcase for what we wanted! The coconut and chocolate run is by far our favorite, but they all are honestly wonderful! If you have the chance to try the rum cake, do it- you won't regret it. It's so smooth and just, yummy! Once we returned him, we bought what our local retailer had in stock, 3 bottles. We requested the coconut rum and was told their distributor shared with them that it was discontinued. We found this completing odd and told them that's a lie. 😆 but seriously, that's what occurred, and we requested more! Take the time to stop and have a tasting, and if you have more time, go to the bar and grab a drink and poke!

The Koloa Rum company is situated in a beautiful garden with a nice restaurant and a train ride. The Rum tasting tour is not to be missed. It was great fun and we were able to taste some amazing rums made there. We bought their sample set which has pre-packaged their popular rum bottles that can easily fit into your carry-on luggage as gifts. We also bought a bottle of their Pineapple-passionfruit rum cocktail which was delicious! They also have delicious goodies like their rum cake and rum chocolates.

I love rum. We did the tasting but as other reviewers said, we had to wait so we rode the train. The animals were hilarious because they know they will be getting treats when the train goes by and it was fun to feed them. This was a fun stop and I learned a lot about the Koloa rum. Next time, I think we'll do the Safari tour and/or eat at Gaylord's.

let me start off by saying do the rum tasting its FREE rum! each one was very good! we ended up buying the vanilla one i believe. Our rum taste guy was AWESOME !!! he made it so fun! i cannot remember his name though!! make sure to sign your name on the tasting list they fill up quickly as they are timeslots.

Stopped several times to taste several varieties of rum. The driver and guide were very knowledgeable about the different rum varieties, the plants, and animals. They were hilarious and made a fun and enjoyable 2 + hours. Highly recommend!

Very informative and learned a lot. Demonstrator was very knowledgeable and such a fun person. Learned a lot from our server

We really wanted to do a tasting here but all of the tours were full when we arrived (2pm). We were told that the tastings are scheduled first come first serve starting when they open in the morning and that there is usually a line of people to sign up at opening. We were not able to get by early in the morning to get on the schedule for the day. That said, the staff were very nice and the gift shop was great for souvenirs (the chocolate rum sauce is very good). Maybe next time we will get there to schedule a tasting.

there are SOOO many things about this tour that I loved and cannot just pin it down to 1. The guides were beyond amazing! they were funny and interesting and definately made the tour - I mean lets be real - when you tell people to call the "pigs" and we all start yelling "souie" "souie" you KNOW you have good tour guides. The rum was fun to taste and the drinks were amazing I STILL want to know what was in that last one they made us - I could have had several more. We laughed and all the people on our tour were fun and we all interacted and had a blast as if we all knew each other before going on this tour.

Really enjoyed the rum tasting here!! Yummy sampling the different offerings! The gentleman leading our tasting was very knowledgeable and presented us with a lot of great information in addition to great rum!

For those who imbibe rum, Koloa Rum Company is a must visit on Kauai. We enjoyed the rum tasting and appreciated the presentation provided by the server. It was great to learn about the origins of the company.

The variety of rum provided will suit a variety of tastes. Tasting liquor is a different experience than beer or wine, so be prepared.

We happened upon the tasting and made it in when two others did not show up after signing up in advance. I would advise calling in advance to determine how the tasting availability works. At the time of our visit, it was not clear following a quick visit to the website.

Really well run, fascinating and very tasty!! Our tour guides made a great team and looked after us all well. they were very knowledgeable about the wildlife and birds as well as all the fruits etc that went into the various rums we tasted! It was wonderful to eat fresh lychees picked for us from the trees! Their rim salt was soo yummy!

You get to taste four flavors of rum that are award winning and unique. It’s free but you need to sign up and it is for adults only.

Raymond was a fun host and we enjoyed the tastings! Coffee and coconut rums that actually taste great, and we can’t wait to try the chocolate rum!

We had a great visit and tasting at Koloa Rum Company. If you do a tasting be prepared for some strong rum. Everything was delicious except we did not prefer the coffee rum. Luckily, we can get Koloa Rum locally where we live. It makes the best rum and cokes I have ever had.

Nice tasting experience for free. We were lucky that they had 2 open spots for their next tasting so we didn’t have a long wait. It was nice to be able to taste a variety of their products and have staff provide details about each product. Staff was very friendly. If you plan on purchasing rum here, I found the prices here to be less here than other stores on the island. I liked the Pineapple Passion the best since I like sweet drinks.

One gets the chance to sample excellent rum served by fun & wonderful people, on a beautiful plantation. Can it get any better?

Really nice staff! Nice selection of their rums. Worth a stop! Bought several items for our hosts.
We would recommend to others!

We tried Koloa rum from one of the grocery stores in Poipu after our work was done on a recent business trip. Of course after we tried all the flavors we knew we had to do a tour. Both of us bought the samplers to take home but the tour: Next time!!

We did the rum tasting. It was very informative and the best rum we have had to date. They also have a lovely gift shop with many made in Hawaii items to choose from. If you like rum, it is a great place to visit while on the island of Kauai.

Enjoyed learning about the history of the company and the different products they offer. Tried some great rums and bought some to take home 🧉

This was a fun visit! I heard about this from friends...most of my friends subsequently went to Costco and purchased Kaloa rum for their return home.

Gloria was amazing at her job. Very good speaker, and clearly explained history of the company and gave tips and tricks on drinks to make with the rum you tasted. Would recommend the rum tasting with gloria!

An interesting and fun experience touring the large property and learning about rum. We were treated to different types of rum as well as a delicious rum cocktail. Our guides were engaging and made this a special experience.

I've never done a rum tasting before. Gloria made it entertaining and educational. Who knew rum had so many nuances. A fun addition to the Kilohana Plantation tour.

My fiance and I visited Kauai recently and a stop to the Koloa Rum Company was a recommendation from someone we had visited with on the island. What a fun time! The bartender was great and the rum was out of this world! I'm not even a coffee drinker and I LOVED the coffee flavored rum the most. We also found great souvenirs in the gift shop. Take a little time out of your vacation to stop here; you won't be disappointed.

Nicole is an excellent host and provided such a lovely experience. Her knowledge of the island, history, and ways to incorporate rum into cocktails and foods made for one of my favorite tasting experiences.

I highly recommend you come to the Kōloa Rum Company and come get a tasting.

The best rum in the world. Tasting is free and they give 5 different flavors and top it off with bite of rum cake that melts in your mouth. Restaurant next door has a wonderful happy hour using Koala rum in there mai tais.

Disappointing. Coming from Aus, land of many many stunning wineries, where you can drop in and taste and be welcomed, found we were completely disappointed not to be able to drop in and taste or do any of the experiences like the train. Staff were not interested, we stood by whilst staff were talking to a customer, patiently waiting our turn to ask about tasting, and staff member finished up with the customer then completely ignored us and walked away. Then had to chase her down to ask to taste she said no, bookings closed. Then sign in the shop says they do them every hour on the hour but as we had not booked online she wouldnt let us join even though there was still another 10 mins. So then went to look at the train - it was only 2pm but already did its last run for the day. Its Christmas holidays so couldnt believe they would have things closed down when so many visitors around. Their signs mentioned many shops but only found 2, the gift store and the poor excuse for a sweet shoppe. The only thing we managed was to get some lovely pineapple dole icecream.
Feel like they miss out on a lot of tourist business as they close reasonably early and turn you away.

Nicole’s rum tasting was amazing! Glad we got to hear her speak about the different rums and how they can be used not only in cocktails but also in many culinary dishes. 10/10 experience! Thank you Nicole!

They have an excellent little shop to buy their many types of rum and other items. The staff was very friendly and helpful. The lady giving the rum tasting was very friendly and also knowledgeable about the Rums making and future expansion. This was well worth the stop and recommended even if you don't think you are a rum drinker. My wife is not and she really enjoyed the flavored rums and purchased the coffee one.

We spent an afternoon going round the Kilohana Plantation and it was really informative. At the end of the tour you can opt for a rum tasting or just look around the shop for souvenirs and so on. Not sure that what is sold is world beating but the whole experience was worthwhile.

Great tasting menu. Knowledgeable host and entertaining. I’m not a drinker but had a fun time with my wife tasting the different rums and rum mixed drinks.

We really enjoyed our tasting - our "rum guide" Randy was excellent! Had a fun time and learned a bit about the history of sugar on the island.

We went for the rum tasting. The rum was delicious and it was interesting to learn about how it is made and how they use other local ingredients.

Well informed Rum Guide. Really liked the history of the company and how the different rums were produced. Learn something new every time.

Free rum tasting is always fun! Tastings are every hour and lasts 30 minutes. Just go in & sign up on a list. We ended up taking home a cocktail mix that we wouldn't have otherwise.

Great tasting! Wonderful host! The coffee run was my absolute favorite. If you do come here definitely get the rum cake it is very delicious!

The free rum tasting was fun! Menu changes daily so you can try all the flavors! Lots of merchandise and easy convenience to bring it home! Prices and deals were reasonable.

Gloria was our host for our run tasting and she was incredible. The Rums are great & the people are too.

They do tastings every hour so you may be prepared to wait. We were a small parties so we were able to get in pretty quickly. It's a beautiful property - enjoy!

The Koloa Rum Company offers complimentary rum tastings at their Kilohana Plantation location in Līhuʻe, Kauaʻi. The tasting was a nice surprise, we did not know about it when we visited the Koloa Rum Company Store. We checked in and had our names on the list. It was conducted by this guy i forgot his name but he was super cool, knowledgeable and friendly. He positioned us in the room where there were a set of 2 shot glasses in front of us. He shared insights into the rum-making process and the history behind each product. It was honestly like a marketing pitch but it was still super fun. The group we joined was cool as evidenced by voices and laughter getting louder and louder by the minute. I just hoped they let us try more flavors especially the Lydgate Chocolate infused rum. After the tasting, we visited the shop again and we purchased a sampler rum bottles and the chocolate infused rum which they packaged so well with the purple bubble sleeve. It traveled very well. The session though was super short, I hoped it was longer than that.

They do the tasting every 30 minutes. In and out pretty quick. The rum is excellent - we got to taste 5 types. You can do one tasting every day.

This was a lot of fun. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The rum tasting was more educational than expected and the property is beautiful. We left with a couple of bottles to take home.

We did the $5 rum tasting. They give you plenty of rum and a Mai Thai “shot”. Delicious rum made in Kauai. The sell in most states and so this is going to be my go to rum. The gift shop is great, they got lots of money out of me, because I wanted just about everything in there. Koloa rum shop is located at the Gaylord Plantation, the restaurant is delicious, we didn’t do anything else but I heard the Luha in the background, which I hear is amazing.

We've been here on two separate trips over the years and both times we learned new things. Staff are super friendly and talk about their product vs a basic how to distill rum. Plus the rum is really good. Gift shop will help you stock up. Pro Tip: bring another suitcase from home empty to bring your purchase back :D

The gift shop and grounds are nice, but you have to do the rum tasting. Some of the smoothest rum you have tasted. The coffee rum and the rum cake are super.

Rum tasting with Janey was energetic, informative, and delicious. Get there early and take the train around the plantation.

We visited Koloa rum without a reservation, they got us right into the next upcoming tasting which was only a 30 min wait. The best part, the tasting is free! Had the pleasure of meeting Jayne the AKA “rum-tender,” she had great energy and presented the product with good humor and lots of recipe ideas. All that being said, it’s not the best rum I’ve ever had, (not smooth, has more of a bite to it) but definitely worth it to go for the experience. Everyone that works there is very informative and super nice. I would recommend you go and check it out.

We decided to fit in some rum tasting whilst waiting for the Plantation Train trip

So glad we did, the rums were very good and we were shown how to make your own Mai Tai

I especially liked the coffee flavoured one and I bought some miniatures to take home. As we were flying I didn’t want to take a full sized bottle in case it broke in my case. I’d definitely buy the coffee one again as I enjoyed them so much.

3 of us did the rum tasting while the other 2 adults too the children on the plantation train ride. It worked out perfectly.
The rum was yummy...the coffee rum ended up my favorite!
The train riders enjoyed themselves as well.
Great place to visit.

Kale was our tasting tour guide and he was fantastic! Equal parts entertaining and educational, interesting facts, delicious rum (according to my sister - I was the DD!), and rum cake for the final act. The gift shop next door has something for everyone and the staff is friendly. The tasting tour is free, but you have to sign up in the gift shop.

Went with some friends to the rum tasting. The tasting is free and they do a great job of explaining the rum distilling process and providing recipe ideas. The tastings change through out the week so you may get something different each day. We had the traditional gold and spiced rum but we also got to try the chocolate rum…which came home with me. It was so good. We found that many bars throughout Kauai and Oahu use the Koloa rum. Was fun to try something that is specifically distilled on the island

Very cute building! 3/4 of this cute building is gift shop ,wonderfully stocked with rum themed items to drink, eat wear or for the home.The gift shop ladies are very helpful and friendly. They sell an excellent rum cake not overly sweet nor too soaked in rum - best rum cake I’ve ever had. Get the ones wrapped in plastic wrap at the window looking into the tasting area-it is fresher than the already boxed cakes. The other 1/4 of the building is a rum tasting bar . You go in groups of 10 or less, you must sign up at the gift shop ,tastings are every half hour and last 15-20 minutes. You stand at a bar but there are a few tall stools. I think you get to taste about 5 types of rum. They do have a water dispenser so you can cleanse you palate between tastings but you have to be quick about getting it as it is at the opposite end of the room and the sommelier does not stop so you can get water. I thought I was not very fond of rum until I had the Koloa dark - excellent not at all like the Caribbean rum. The sommelier (is that for wine only?) was very knowledgeable and happy tough it seemed he wanted to party as he focused his attention and comments to the younger guests. He gave good suggestions for mixes.There is absolutely no “sell “ here at the tasting. they let the rum speak for itself so if you liked it you go buy in the gift shop. Nice ,fun unpressured experience.

We enjoyed the Rum Tasting session. Reasonably priced: just $5 for the cost of booking for parties up to 5 people. Learned a lot about rum from our very engaging host, the spent money in the adjacent store

Tasting was pleasant and gift shop has great merch, but don’t get fooled into buying a bottle of the single barrel because “it’s only available there”. Imagine my surprise to find the single barrel at a local supermarket back home for $25 less than we bought it for on property less than a week prior!

Fun and very educational taste testing. Rum was very smooth and flavorful. Coconut was my favorite but I like the coffee flavor too! I would definitely go there again!

Enjoyed this free rum tasting experience! Loved getting to sample all the different rums. The woman who does the presentation is fun and enthusiastic about sharing information. Bought a couple of bottles to take home! A great little treat if you are in the area.

Jayne was the best! She grew up on Kauai and had a lot to share about the history associated with making the rum. And she remembered everyone’s names! You must make an appointment for the free tasting. It’s definitely worth it even if you’re not into rum.

Be aware if you have kids with you that they cannot enter the tasting room at all. That being said, we took turns doing the tasting solo and still enjoyed it very much. Great flavors of rum! Be careful and plan in advance as they only have a certain number allowed per tasting and don’t take reservations. We had to come back another day first thing when they opened because they were booked solid for all the afternoon slots. Very neat gift shop too!

We slipped di to a tasting when others failed to show for their reservation. Jackie was very friendly and accommodating. Lots of fun and educational!

We signed up for a tasting within the hour. It was a Saturday, so we were happy to get in so quickly. While we waited, we checked out the grounds and other shops. We bought some delicious caramels at the sweet shop. The tasting was much more fun than we ever expected and full of wonderful information. We already loved Koloa rum, so it was great to taste the other products without having to buy a whole bottle. All of it was delicious, but we especially liked the coffee flavour. The folks in the gift shop were equally fun which made the whole experience worth the drive.

We had an absolute blast doing this tasting...at 1015 in the morning...lol
Prior last minute attempts failed to get us in, so we showed up first thing in the morning and signed up...we could have had a later time, but decided our last day would be a beach day...so we did the first tour.
Jayne...the Rumpress made the tour an absolute blast. Her energy and getting everyone involved made the tour so much fun and the rum tasting was just a side perk. We don't check luggage, so we only got the little bottles...but they told us how to find out where they were shipped to and how to get other bottles even if the store doesn't buy them.
This is definitely a must do...

My cousin and I came for the rum tasting yesterday definitely an experience worth trying if you visit Kaua’i and if you’re a person who enjoys drinking lol.

Randy our bartender and speaker was very well verse and knowledgeable on the product and even the whole process that goes into making each flavor.

My favorite was the Kaua’i Coconut!

The gift shop had allot of cool trinkets and gifts to choose from not to mention all the great alcohol choices lol.

We ended up purchasing some cool looking glass cups which had our favorite flavor embedded on the exterior of the glass.

Would I recommend this to someone? Absolutely!!!

Nicole was a great host! Her culinary expertise added an interesting perspective to the rum tasting and she offered so many great ideas for incorporating the different rum flavors into everyday and special occasion cooking. Now I have to figure out how to ship all of this rum back to the mainland!

We found the staff a little stiff and verging on rude when we arrived. They did warm a little and become more personable and pleasant as our tasting experience progressed. Though f I hadn't have been with a group who went to the effort of booking for us all I probably would have walked out. We ended up purchasing some lovely rum gift packs which were very well received by their recipients.

Stopped by on the way back from the beach. Unfortunately the tastings were completely booked and there was a waiting list. I decided to buy the sample pack with the addition of the cacao flavor and a 4 pack of the mixed pineapple passion cocktail to try it at home. We also picked up a rum cake.

Cocktail was a little sweet and needed some diluting with ice. The rum cake was delicious! We scarfed it down in the parking lot. I still have yet to try the rums, but I plan to do my own little tasting.

Delicious (free!) tastes of 4-5 of their rums, which at our tasting included a simple mai tai that far surpassed the one we had at a resort. We bought some to bring home.

I went to the tasting room and Gloria was an amazing, knowledgeable host. The rum is outstanding and it's a definite recommended stop. Plus it's complementary.

This can be your last stop before your flight off the island. The tasting room is about 3 miles from LIH and right off the highway. They're consolidating their farm, distillery, and tasting room sometime in the not-so-distant future out in Kalaheo, where their distillery is now. This puts it closer to Poi'pu...but I digress. The rum will make waiting for your plane better. Plus, you might sleep better on your way back to Seattle :)

Their tastings are free but they are on a schedule (every 30 minutes), so get there and sign up in the shop. We didn't have a problem getting in quickly but I could see how you might if there were a crowd. It was busy but not especially so, so I wouldn't worry too much here.

As for the rum...delicious. Easily the best I've had. Most bottles are in the $30-35 range. Just FYI, we live in Oregon and the OLCC (liquor control) has an inventory search and these are available at my local store, so check there to see if you want to buy on the island or taste and buy at home. We'd purchased first and then found out that we can get the rum 2 miles away for the same price :/ No need to check that extra 20 pounds of rum if you can buy it nearby. You'll want to, though, so it's just a matter of where you find it :)

Highly recommended!

We went for the rum tasting and stayed to walk through the lovely plantation home now partially turned into a restaurant and gift shops. Lovely spacious grounds. Gives an idea of how Hawaiian plantation life was. The rum was good and they don't give you too much of each, so you can still continue driving around the island.

The Koloa Rum Company shop and tasting room are just minutes away from Lihue town on the lovely Gaylord’s Estate.
The little shops sells rum everything - souvenirs, T-shirts, caps and other apparel, rum cakes and chocolate. A very pleasant staff will help you with all things Rum.
Next door, you can enrol for the Rum Tasting experience and a half an hour you can have little shots of mai tai rum, coconut rum, chocolate rum, white rum, dark rum, golden rum…You get the picture. All this is accompanied by commentary on rum making. It’s a great little fun tour and though you can do this tour in the mornings, always remember‘it’s five o’clock somewhere’.

Imagine a rum tasting (of very delicious rums) at 10.15 in the morning! Well, I guess it’s five o’clock somewhere….
Jayne was a pleasure to be with as she explained the various flavours and all sorts of great information and rum stories.
The tasting is free and well worth a stop by. The shop next door has all sorts of Koloa Rum paraphernalia and in particular, some beautifully made rum cake.
Heartily recommended treat on you visit to Kauai. Tell Jayne, Denis sent you…

Rum tasting and shopping was a lot of fun. Tasting in the tasting room didn't take too long, and was scheduled with a small group of others all together. The guy pouring the tastes was a lot of fun, very enthusiastic, and knowledgeable about the product and region. I'm only sorry I don't remember his name so he can be properly acknowledged (we went on the early afternoon at 2pm).

The rums tasted great! We recommend the coconut, cacao, and coffee infused rums.

Jayne was amazing and full of energy! Worth coming through to sample some Koloa Rum. There’s also a nice gift shop next door.

We did a craft tour on Maui and looked for something special on Kauai and found the Rum tour. The tour took place at Gaylord's where the Kōloa Rum Company has a store. We got a expirations what Gaylord does and a lot of information about the rum. We saw such great plants, fruits, places. We learned a much about rum and loved the drinks. And the both hosts where great.

Located just outside of main Lihue, near the local Costco, is the Koloa Run Company which offers free tastings of their various runs. Founded less than 20 years ago to make a new product from Kauai’s abundant sugar cane production, they have made great strides, there is no tour of the rum making facilities, just a foray into their tasting room, 14 to 16 people at at a time. They offer up 4 tastes of their various rums and a piece of rum cake, all free, while discussing the history of the company and the runs being tasted. So for that, they get five stars. As for the rums themselves, just my personal opinion, I would say they are better as mixers than taking straight, as one could with an Anjeo from Havana Club. They are also a tad pricier than the Havana Club I bought in Nassau. But I may be picking nits because I can honestly say their white and dark rums made for some great mai tais.

All of the rum we sampled is very good, we particularly liked the coconut and the chocolate versions. During the sampling the "Rumtress" stole the show, she is super funny and there was 20 of us in the room and with one pass she was able to remember names and locations of everyone in the room.

The rum was awesome! So smooth and the lady running the tasting was really knowledgeable and know her stuff. One of our favorite things we did.

Jayne is the best!!! This has a ton of personality, and remembers everyone’s name
Can wait to go back and see her again

Just dropped in to see the company and sample some of their products. I ended up buying a rum cake and the rum fudge frosting! It tastes GRRREAT!

Such a great place to shop! We got some of our favorite souvenirs here: ornaments, clothing, snacks AND rum. We also tried the rum tasting. TBH, the tasting was underwhelming. Not the rum: it was great. And not the gentleman running the event: he was really fun. But it felt more like a sales pitch than anything. We all agreed that we wished we had tried a rum tour or just visited the shop. But do visit the shop!

The rum tasting was so fun and absolutely delicious! The cacao one was my favorite. Highly recommend if you’re into this kind of thing!

Koloa rum tasting
We spent a little over 30 minutes for a rum tasting – white rum, gold, dark, and coffee rums, and even a little MaiThai cocktail from their bottled mixes… gift shop sells them all. Great historic plantation house and gardens you could do a picnic or a restaurant that we didn’t try And even a train tour or luau next-door. Close to the airport so we saved it for the last afternoon. Probably half a shot total so no worries about driving afterwards

Our rum tasting liaison had a vivacious personality that will leave you smiling and laughing from start to finish. Her ability to remember everyone's names and to make us feel welcomed was very unique and personable. The rum was delicious and gift shop was very nice. We recommend this as a quick stop during your visit!

They give a Rum tasting of their local made Koloa Rum every 30 minutes. You can enjoy a free Rum tasting once per day and each day they slightly vary the tastings, so you may need to come back a few times to try all the different offerings. They give you 5 tastings, each with 1/4ounce of rum. The Rum cake (one of the tastings and not everyday) is especially good. The Koloa Coconut Rum is a great mixer, especially with pineapple juice. They have the recipes on their website.

Here is a secret, you can purchase the standard Rums at a discount price from Longs or Walmart.

Our rumtender, Nicole, was fabulous. Not only did she teach us about each rum, she taught us how to also cook with it. Everything from baking to BBQ. It was great! Thanks Nicole

Go early in your trip to visit and taste delicious rum. Tastings are free but book up fast. Jayne is a wonderful person and excellent rum tender who is knowledgeable and engages her audience. All while you get to relax and enjoy the many rum flavors. Gift shop has so much merchandise to choose from it’s a must after.

We stopped here on a whim and was pleased with the rum tasting. Our bartender taught us how the different rums were made and how best to mix each one! Brought some home with us!

The rum tasting here is awesome. They do it every 30 minutes. Our bartender was really informative and fun. The rum is amazing. The only problem is we only brought one bottle home hah.

Jayne rules the world a hui ho!!! So fun, so delicious, worth every second!! Okole Maluna!! Worth the wait, sign up early they fill up!!

Jean was great she had an upbeat contagious vibe! Rum tasting was very delicious and educational. She has a very great memory in memorizing each persons. Will be back to try some when I come back! I was also believed to be a local. Mahalo! Okule Maluna (Cheers!)

The rum tasting is every 30 minutes and is free. If you plan on drinking some rum and making your own cocktails, this is a great place to see where your pallet is. The bottles are going to be less expensive up the road at Safeway. I did learn that all their mixes, (Rum Punch etc.) are gluten free.

Besides a free rum tasting (which were amazing) we had the pleasure of meeting Jayne the rum-tender. Her infectious personality made it impossible not to have a great time and feel welcomed. If you are on Kauai you'd be missing out to not come visit them! The free rum tastings are popular (weird right) so reservations fill up fast. We couldn't get in the first time we stopped by, so get there in the morning if you can and get on the schedule before the day gets booked up

We ran into construction traffic and got there at 11:03, for our 11:00 reservation… they wouldn’t let us join. We even called ahead to let them know we got stuck and got no sympathy, honestly the only time we’ve had rude service in Kauai. They put us on the waitlist for the next tasting an hour later, but weren’t able to get into that either despite waiting around. The building and grounds looked amazing, and the gift shop had some great items. Wish we could have enjoyed it all. Bottom line, they’re not kidding when they say check in no later than 5min before. No “island time” for this rum company!

Great low cost option, sampling several of their rums, (the selection changes daily). The woman pouring created a fun, educational atmosphere; it made me appreciate rum and so many things you can add it to! Definitely don’t miss this experience!

Stopped for rum tasting with friends. The tasting is free, but you need to sign up at the gift shop for a time slot. They take 16 people at a time. Take your identification. The bartender gave a brief history of the rum and the tasting began by making a rum drink of the day. Rum cake is also served. A lot of fun to do with friends.

Kōloa Rum Company is a cool place on an old sugar cane plantation. Lots to do for all to do, see, shop, and of course, taste! Train rides and feeding animals for the kids and kids at heart. Learn about all plants, fruits and agriculture in Kauai as the train takes you around. Fun shops with island arts and crafts. For $5 you can learn all about rum, its history on Kauai, how it’s made, and taste about five different types. It wasn’t overpowering…just nice sips of different rums, many sweet. We didn’t go to the restaurant or bar to drink cocktails but I’ve heard good things. Very nice gift shop with quality items, rum, chocolate, honey, Hawaiian sugar, spices, nuts, kitchen items, clothing and hats, something for everyone.

Free rum tasting! And some of the best rums I have had. Even my oldest son, who is more partial to bourbons and whiskeys, was impressed. Not necessary to hide this in a sweet cocktail - the dark and spiced rums can be sipped straight. You might balk at the prices, but if you look at other high end rums like Zaya, it is competitive.

The best rum tasting Iv ever done! Jayne was over the moon magical! She remembered everyone’s name and you felt special as she incorporated everyone in the experience!

Great little stop, beautiful grounds, and good quality tasty rums. Combined gift shop and tasting bar. Cashier in the shop was delightful, fun gifts. Tasting experience was the opposite, however. The "bartender" managed to insult 3 of the 4 couples tasting that day with her snarky and rude attitude. We did end up purchasing a bottle because the rum was that good, despite the bad experience. Management needs to rectify this problem, otherwise a fun spot to explore.

We liked the Rum tasting room, you are given 5 different rums to try. We purchase a trio pack of Rum to take back home. They sell bubble wrap in the shape of the bottles for a nominal fee. Our rum made it home in our luggage just fine.

Jayne was awesome, absolutely the best…we will be returning just to see her. Presentation was 🔥🔥!!

During our time on Kauai we drove by the Koloa Rum Company several times but never went in. On our last day, it was rainy and we decided to check it out. We got there right in time and were able to have two spots in the last rum tasting of the day. The rum tasting is free, you have to check in at the gift shop and show your ID - it is a first come first served, places can't be reserved ahead of time. We had 30 min. to spare and spent it at the gift shop.
Once our tasting started we were brought into the tasting room and one of the employees led the tasting. We were able to taste 5 of the different Koloa rums - since I was the desginated driver, I only tasted two ;-) The tasting was super fun and we learned a lot about the rum business on Kauai. We loved the experience and I would recommend it to anyone with a love for rum - especially cause it's free.
We also bought a couple of bottles to take home

Sugar Cane + Paradise = Rum! As lover of rum and not so fond of rainy days, we essentially stumbled upon the Koloa Rum Company while looking for activities to fill our last few rainy hours on Kauai...and we weren’t disappointed! Not sure what to expect we found a great gift shop, lots of unique gifts and souvenirs for everyone in the family. Oh and all the rum flavors you can imagine! One of the staff members, Cynthia was kind enough to fit us into a rum tasting even though we showed up 5 mins before it started. She was very knowledgeable about the rum making process and describing each of the 5 flavors we tried. Very reasonable tasting portions. Enough to enjoy and savor the drink without having to worry about any alcohol related problems.

There is a train-ride tour that we unfortunately didn’t have time to enjoy this trip but we will sure to check it out next time we visit!

Had a great rum tasting here. The dark rum and the spice rum were excellent. Would recommend doing this tasting if you have the time.

We had a fun rum tasting experience four times while we were there. Rumpress Jayne was outstanding! She is so friendly, humorous, and has a lot on energy which made our experience memorable. The guy who works Wednesdays, Roger, I think his name is, was good, however, I found it odd that Roger WAS DRINKING the rum with us. Can he do that while doing the presentation? Wonder if anyone else noticed. Anyways, we will definitely be back and we have Jayne to thank for help making our vacation one we will never forget. Tell her Kimo and Millie sent you.

Free rum tasting and educational experience on a beautiful plantation. Great cocktail ideas from the fun rumtender! Get there early to sign up for a later tour as they do fill up.

Had the best time with Jayne, very energetic, creative, and FUN! Great way to taste rum snd learn about rum.. The gift shop has many delicious items you should not miss. Don’t miss this free rum tasting.. go early they book up.

Be sure to sign up and schedule the rum tasting! The 45 minute presentation tasting was the most fun I had the entire day. I'll definitely be back just for that...

We have been huge fans of Koloa Rum since 2013, making annual trips to the tasting room and shop and special ordering Koloa while back home in CA. We have shared the Koloa story with friends and recommended Koloa products and the tasting room/store experience in particular to countless visitors.

Last week, we made a point to stop in for the newly released 5 year Kauai Reserve. On past visits, large purchases were granted a small discount. This time, I asked for a complementary $3 “rum skin” bubble wrap bag to transport our $99 bottle home in. This is in addition to logo items we were purchasing. Not only was the cashier short with her reply as if such an offer was absurd, when I left the store I found a notecard in the bag with wording to the effect of “thanks for buying our most expensive product... please note we use plastic caps and they often leak. If they do, it is your problem, not ours!” I had to wonder if it cost Koloa as much to print up the note cards and stuff the shopping bags as the wholesale cost of a rum skin.

I noticed other customers were treated in the same less than warm manner and recalled a similar experience during our last visit (pre-COVID).

I am getting the feeling the Koloa Rum management is having growing pains. I miss the days of a friendly greeting from Jayne making us feel like valued customers; not the latest sucker to step off a flight from the mainland.

I hope when we do open our bottle of Reserve, it will remove the bad taste left in my mouth by our recent experiences.

Commented tasting which allows you to discover the rums sold at the store
Possibility of taking a tour of the plantation

We did a rum tasting with Gloria today and she was fantastic!! Very knowledgeable and super passionate about Koloa rum and Hawaiis history! And the rum is incredible. Very flavorful and smooth - our new favorite! Thanks!

It was a rainy morning so we decided to visit the Koala Rum company. You have to put in your name to attend a rum tasting. We arrived at about 11:20 am and snagged the last 2 of 3 spots available for the noon tasting. The gift shop is nice if you are into buying pricey souvenirs. You can also purchase the rum products on site, and we would have except that we were flying and we couldn't have added any more weight to our checked luggage! You can do other activities on the grounds ( it was a sugar plantation), like toured and train rides but it was raining so the tours were temporarily cancelled.
The tasting was fun and informative. I saw a lot of reviews with complaints about this place is a tourist trap. To that I say, if you don't want to buy anything, then don't open your wallet!

Great time. Great rum. We headed over to Gaylord s for happy hour after rum tasting. The BEST Mai tai s and moscow mules I've ever had. Great afternoon. Also on site pretty handy where you can go for a lesson and take home your handiwork

Fun and tasty experience! Friendly staff and quality gifts. This is a good way to get a palette foundation for quality rum. Please note: you must sign up in person for the tasting. A line forms around 9:30 am and they open at 10:00. We stopped by in the morning, made the reservation for the afternoon and then went about our travels until our scheduled time. The presentation was humorous, informative and of course, tasty! They alternate the flavors because there’s a lot to sample. We enjoyed all of what we sampled, but our favorite was the coffee. Highly suggest walking next door for the happy hour Mai Tai at Gaylord’s. Hope you enjoy your visit as much as we did!

We stopped here on a rainy day and it was packed so understandably, we didn't get a chance to do the rum tasting. It seemed to be very touristy. We bought the rum sampler pack in the gift shop that contained all the rums they make and took them back to our hotel for our own tasting. Also, the cashier said it was a good way to sample them since they don't offer all of them in the tasting. Some of the rum is flavored (coconut, chocolate, coffee, etc..) so was sweet and wasn't really for us. The unflavored rum was fine but not worth buying a bottle to take home. They have a lot of fun things in the gift shop and I found a couple of tiki glasses that I can't wait to use at home for mai tai's! :)

We stopped here and looked over their selection and had a tasting. I found their Koloa Rum with coconut quite tasty!

How can anyone complain about free rum? The products are very tasty and the rum slingers informative. They change featured rums daily, so one visit more than once. Pretty cool merchandise for sale also.

Didn’t get to try the rums as we didn’t know you had to sign up for the tastings on line ahead of time. We did their plantation tour which was just okay and then planned to do the tasting. Nope…. Didn’t have reservations. The store is really nice but upscale and expensive. I found their rums cheaper in the grocery store than their on site store. That’s why I gave them 4 stars. What is it with factory places charging more than the local stores for their products?

Visited with friends & family in OCT-23 and had a great time. The rum tasting was very informative and educational. Came home with the sampler pack and plenty of thier Spiced & Coconut Rums!

We loved the tasting so much we returned our last day of vacation! Each bartender had their own "routine" and information so it was not repetitive, plus we even tried some different samples. Super tasty and smooth, definitely would repurchase and recommend as a fun experience.

Everyone should do the rum tasting here! It’s awesome! And it’s the person doing the tasting that makes all the difference! We had Jenny and she was fabulous! She memorized everyone’s name and where they were from and was very informational about the rum! Made it fun! I loved the coconut and coffee ones the best! Thankfully they sell these at Total Wine in Vegas! Everyone should try! Which ones do you like?

Ask for Jaime in the Tasting Room! She dah bess! Off season is the best for reservations, btw. Okole maluna!

We had a rum tasting which was very cool and free. We can get the rum in California at a competitive price, and we will.. Liked the dark rum and the coffee rum the best.. Very informative and FUN! .Did not buy any but they do have a lot of nice gift packs.

This was a great way to spend two hours on a rainy and cloudy afternoon. Our tour guide Kai and driver Leon toured us through the Kilohana Plantation, one of Kauai's hidden gems. Bring your camera to capture pics of the lush vegetation and the farming areas teeming with a wide variety of fruits from avocado to papaya... Our tour guide Kai was incredibly knowledgeable and entertaining. Rum tasting along the way enlightened us about the varieties of Koala Rum and the tour culminated with a yummy mai tai made with fruits of the plantation.

Love all flavors of Koloa Rum, especially Spice, Coffee, Cacao and Coconut. I believe we have visited Koloa Rum Tasting Room, since opening in 2009. There are no other rums that compare to Koloa Rum, for smoothness and taste. There are so many recipes for drinks and desserts, that you can make using Koloa Rum. We are saddened to see that some of the Rum Pourers, in the tasting room, are no longer there. Jayne was "The BEST" putting on quite the performance of her presentation and information of the products. "Nobody did it Better!" Always a FUN Experience! Others that have come and gone, for one reason or another, are Kale, Cynthia, Jabrielle, Nicole and Roxanne. Their presentations of information were all different and very informative. Liisa and Michael in the gift shop are always very friendly and helpful. All of these staff personnel show the "Aloha Koloa Spirit!"

We had such a good time here with Jayne during the tasting. Loved the Coconut and Chocolate rum. Jayne is the star of the show. Full of energy and remembers everyone's name. Come early and get on the list. Bring your driver's license or you will not get in. Tell Jayne King Kimo sent you.

Some of the best rum I’ve ever had. And the staff was amazing!! My favorite by far was the coffee rum.

Wish I could write a review based on the product but unfortunately the check-in process was so terrible we weren't able to partake in our scheduled tasting. After booking online we received our confirmation email where it states "arrive 15 minutes early and have your ID ready for check-in"...great we're there an ready. After entering the tasting room we were told our booking was CANCELED because we didn't check-in and due to COVID they were only allowed so many people in the room. Clearly they can't due anything about those restrictions however there were ZERO instructions for check-in so we missed out on the tasting because they were fully booked. A sign on the door or additional information in the confirmation email would have been great.

Another great place to visit for rum tasting and see the wonderful shop. Rum tasting, as always, was delightful, educational, and entertaining. Also we tasted several varieties of rum. We have been going to this place since it opened in 2009. It never disappoints and now delivers an aged rum that is high proof for sipping at a premium price. The aged rum is not tasted

What a great time, from the Rum tasting to the train. Highly recommend. Janey in the tasting room was a blast for the adults, feeding the pigs,donkeys and cows was fun for the whole family.

Loved the free rum tasting! Kale, the rumslinger, was great! We got to taste 4 different types of rum. They were all amazing! We ended up buying 2 of them. Definitely 100% worth visiting!

We had a blast! You will get a little buzz.
Don't worry if it rains they have a bus with no doors and rain ponchos, if needed. Very entertaining. We had a fun group with us. It's a must do when visiting lihue.

Jackie did an amazing job for our rum tasting. The rum was so tasty and included locally sourced ingredients. I highly recommend this rum tasting.

Since rum has always been my favorite I was anxious to try this place. So glad I did. Their runs are legit!!! They have won numerous awards for their various offerings. You won’t find cheap store bought junk. These are the real deal. Higher in alcohol content that most commercially produced runs they are both wonderful flavor and potency which any true rum lover will appreciate. Using locally grown sugar cane and locally sourced water the flavor is amazing. The dark rum and spiced runs were wonderful. The coffee rum with Kaua’i coffee was an amazing surprise of incredible flavors. The coconut rum is the real deal and not like some artificially flavored/scented junk (Malibu). The perfect balance of real coconut and rum. This has become my new favorite rum brand. So much so I have already begun to research how and where to buy it here on the mainland. The free rum tasting room is wonderful also.

Amazing venue, amazing staff, and amazing rum. 6 different flavors of rum to try and a seventh that we bought after our tasting. If you enjoy rum, this is the place for you on Kauai.

We liked the train ride and the rum sampling experience. It was close to the hotel. We passed it several times while on Kauai in the past but this was the first time we went in. Fun watching the pigs chase the train after we stopped to feed some of the farm animals . Spent about 2 hours here.

Awesome place, great rum wish I could find it where I live! Make sure you eat lunch at Gaylord's and order the quick fried brie you will not be disappointed!

We’ve watched this place grow up from nothing to what it is today. A great place to taste delicious varieties of rum. And it’s pretty decent. Also supports the local economy and something that Kauai can be proud of. You can get this rum at lost places on Kauai and it’s finally starting to be available on the mainland.

We did the rum tasting with Randy and he did a phenomenal job! The rum is very good and he had a great presentation. The chocolate is also very good!

We visited the Koloa Rum Company today for the first time. Jayne was working the tasting room and she is amazing. She made the experience feel like a little party. Everything was delicious but the favorites that we tasted were the coconut rum and the coffee rum.

Did a tasting-- was so much fun and informative. You write your name on a sheet so be sure and do that ASAP when you arrive to ensure a spot.
We also had lunch at the restaurant which was really tasty.

We were on a guided tour of the plantation. At no point was it mentioned that we should sign up for a tasting (which was one of the main reasons we took the tour). By the time we found out of the need to sign up, it was too late. There wasn't enough time remaining before our scheduled departure. Although we explained, there was no willingness to be flexible. As such, we were never afforded an opportunity to taste the rum or rum cake. We, therefore, did not purchase any. No winners here.

Really enjoyed this. Our host was fabulous! Ee sampled 6 different rums that were wuite good. They will ship to your home.

Takes about 20 min. Great service. You get to try most of the rums available in 1 oz size. prices are good. Worthwhile if you like rum or want to get a spirit that is made locally!

This was a fun, informative Rum tour. Our Rum-slinger was funny and entertaining. Free tours every 30 min. Located on Beautiful grounds. Great way to spend a couple of hours in Paradise. We did the train ride and rum tasting separately before finding out there's a Rum Safari. That sounded like a lot of fun!!

The Pineapple Passion Cocktail Tasting was so much fun! The host was super excited and energetic. We tasted 5 rums and all were good. I would have like to hear more about the making of the rum but we had a good time tasking and then, of course, buying some to take with us!

Rum tasting was great, train ride not so much. We enjoyed our bartender and the cocoa rum was excellent. Tiny could give way more information about what is growing. Instead of what they don’t have anymore. Or at least have signs we could read. Feeding farm animals is ok, we can do that anytime at home. Might be better to see what a real farm environment is like than they come to greet you.

However, it must be five o’clock somewhere…The Rum Company shop and tasting room are in the Plantation Grounds next to Gaylord’s and the Plantation Railway.
You can get all things rum in the little shop - gifts, apparel, rum chocolates and cakes, rum-flavored all sorts. Then book your tasting session, which is a fun little experience (about 30 minutes) hearing about all the great flavours the Rum Company offers and sampling a few along the way. Your hostess will entrance you with every rum fact and suggest many a way to incorporate the nectar into your food preparations. A nice little interlude from the Hawaiian sun…

Rum tasting for an awesome rum. Book in advance to save your spot, 30 minute very informative rum tasting. Glad we booked it, purchased several bottles after the tasting.

I heard about Kōloa Rum company while on a tour in Kauai and decided to check it out. I did the free rum tasting that they offer every half hour. I enjoyed trying the different rums and learning about the history of the company. All the staff was very friendly and informative. While there we saw that there was a new rum Safari and bought tickets for it. Totally worth it, 2 hrs of going around the plantation and learning about everything grown there. There’s also two stops for rum tasting and drinks made there. I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a good time.

We had a blast at our rum tasting. It was free, educational and delicious. They do the rum tastings on the hour. Highly recommend getting there early, booking your tour and then heading to the restaurant to get food and a Mai Tai while you wait.

Apparently this is where all the cruise ship passengers end up. They eat next door at Gaylords and come here for free samples. There is now a waiting list. Rum company only allows about a dozen people in there every 30 min. Not worth the wait. Nice souvenir shop but didn't want to check a bag just for rum that may or may not be good. Best rum I have had is Ron Zapaca aged 24 years. Rum here is aged 3 years.

Make this your first stop when you get to Kauai so you can stock up on their wonderful rum for cocktails during your stay. We enjoyed a wonderful rum tasting with Randy in the Koloa Rum Company tasting room. He was very knowledgeable and gave us some great cocktail recipe suggestions. Make sure to go early in the day to sign up for a tasting as the tastings do fill up and you don't want to miss this great experience!

This was our second visit to the Koloa Rum Tasting Room and store. The tasting room experience is fun and informative. We got some ideas for new cocktails. It is a must stop for us when visiting Kauai.

We did the rum tasting after the train ride around the planation. Obviously, the whole point is to get you to buy rum but I thought the sales aspect was stressed too much during the tasting, as opposed to other tastings I have been on. Still a fun time.

Amazing rum. Really enjoyed tasting all the different rums they have. Great host and the shopping was amazing. Stopped at Gaylord for a wonderful lunch as well

Visiting the Koloa Rum Company was recommended by a friend that lives on the Island (born & raised) and this friend enjoys a good cocktail, frequently. We went specifically for the Rum tasting, so we showed up early, to get signed up for a tasting. Go early for this, by 9:50am would be good. We had time to walked the property before our tasting started. We visited the main house that is now a bar/lounge and restaurant. The house furnishings are gorgeous. The antiques are truly exquisite. The gift shop opens and we previewed possible purchases to consider. And then off to the tasting we go. It was explained each day of the week has been scheduled as to which rums will be offered. Not all the rums are offered for sampling on any given day. Our tasting presentation was delivered by Randy. He is quite personable & offers an entertaining experience. Randy shared a few recipes & drink concoction ideas—all sounding so delicious. And, we just happened to get to sample the Kauai Cacau Rum. Wow! is it Good! Randy shared a little tidbit about the Cacau beans being used by another Kauai Company, Lydgate Farms, they use the used beans to develop a dark chocolate rum candy bar. That’s all I needed to hear…I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE dark chocolate. And so, off I went to the gift shop to purchase a chocolate bar. Okay here’s the reason I refuse to give the Koloa Rum Co a higher rating. The candy bar is by the cash register—do not recall seeing a price posted, nor did my friend. Unfortunately, I didn’t ask prior to the purchase, nor did I look at the receipt until I had left the property. I own my mistake. Big mistake! Huge! I bought a few items—bottle of rum, and a rum sampler box, along with the candy bar. BUYER BEWARE!!! How Much Would You (or anyone) Pay for a Chocolate Bar?!? Well! Koloa charges $22.95 for theirs!!! NO, you’re not seeing things, NO, this isn’t a typo…I actually was charged $22.95 for a 2.2oz chocolate bar with rum in it!! I had to call the gift store and verify for myself, that this was the true price they charge. Yep!! And the voice on the phone was actually proud to own it!! No shame for the highway robbery they commit, over & over. A Hershey chocolate bar may not have the rum, but it’s bigger in weight and doesn’t even cost $ 2.00. I have been taught a very expensive lesson. Oh, and the saying about “if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it”, that doesn’t apply here. It was sheer stupidity on my part not to inquire before buying, but who would ever think it costs $23 for a 2.2 oz candy bar, rum or no rum…it’s asinine!!!

The rum is delicious! Each one we tasted is very smooth. I didn’t think I liked rum, but this changed my mind!

The free rum tasting was so fun! Jayne made the experience incredible with her friendliness and Aloha spirit. Go early when they first open at 10 am and avoid the crowds. We pretty much had a private tasting all by ourselves. The staff at the store were also friendly and helpful. Can’t wait to make Mai Tias back at home!

Went to the rum tasting before the luau and I must say Rumpress Jayne is spectacular. She includes everyone in the room by name and provides alot of knowledge and humor on the rum you are tasting. Had a great time with party of 6. Please tell Jayne the "commissioner" says Aloha.

I had never had rum on its own before. Went for the free rum tasting- great experience. Bar tender/guide was very informative and engaging. Learned how to make a proper Mai Tai.

I 'll start by saying I'm a big rum fan, I mostly stick to whiskey. The rum here was rather tasty, and it nice it know you are trying a local product. The tasting was fun and is nice to do.

Very high quality rum production. Rum tasting event is interesting and informative. The old train ride around the plantation is very interesting and informative. Lot of history, some nice shops, and a nice restaurant.

We love the Koloa Rum Company not just because of the excellent rum and tasting experience but because of the incredibly kind people here. We come back each year! Here is a photo of Jayne and our family way back from 2015. Mahalo, Jayne, for your aloha spirit then and now!

Amazing! So much information on the history and how to make drinks. The tour presenter was fabulous.
So much fun!

We did a quick visit and were lucky enough to get into a tasting that started right after we arrived. They give you some history about Koloa Rum company and you get to taste several of their rums. Coconut was my favorite but they are all good. It’s a fun, free activity.

Did the rum tasting and tried the rum cake - had to to buy one it was sooo good! Very moist and fresh.

Took the tour and wasn't impressed. Appreciated the free tasting, but learned very little about rum. Had a sampling of 4 rums, and liked the dark rum the best. All contained high alcohol content (80 to 88 proof, which is 40 to 44 %). Excellent for getting bombed quickly, but not something I would opt to drink. I could hardly taste the coconut in the coconut rum. Very disappointing, as I love Malibu rum and was hoping to experience something better.

Ok the tour/safari was so fun and the drinks are the best! The tour guides are amazing, one of the best on Kauai! Fletcher is awesome!

We’ve been meaning to do the rum tasting for a long time but we were very lucky that we stepped into a cancellation and checked it out. We tasted a handful of delicious Koloa rums and due to physical distancing, the parties were all comfortably separated. The best part of the tasting was our hostess, Jamie (or maybe Janie? - she was way better at remembering our names than we remembered hers). She was enthusiastic, cheerful, knowledgeable and made us all feel very comfortable and relaxed. Due to her enthusiasm (and the tasty rums), every member of our group purchased a bunch of Koloa rum. Would definitely do again and highly recommend! Be sure and make reservations early as we were extremely lucky at being at the right space at the right time to get in on the cancellation. Mahalo!!

Who doesn't like tasting flavored rum. Had reservations, mid-day on a Saturday. They only can fit around 20 max, into the tasting room, so I don't recommend just showing up. They have an informative website, and booking a tasting session is only $5 per reservation, up to six people. Well worth it, and fun. Jackie, was our over-the-top hostess. She was fantastic! A good variety of rums to taste. Different selections on different days (see website when booking). DO NOT be late for the tasting. The gift shop next door has lots of unique souvenirs at reasonable prices.

There are some family friend activities here as well, walked around the grounds, good photo opportunities of the historic mansion.

Mahalo

Well I thought a rum tasting, not exactly my specialty, but I was down for the experience. I didn’t get the man’s name that did our tour group, but he was worth it alone. There are a lot of different types of rum, something for everyone. don’t come to this island and miss this tour.

Nicolle was very informative and delightful. Looking forward to her cookbook. Loved all of the rum tasting samples. So good.

Wonderful experience. Great rum recipe suggestion! Worth every minute. My wife and I had a great time sampling rums and talking to the staff.

Our tasting was one of the best we have been to. He not only gave us the history of rum in Hawaii, but as he shared each rum, he gave us many options for recipes, ways to drink. He was personable, fun, and made this a fun experience. I would highly recommend the product and the company!

This was a cool little side trip to allow for some adult beverage sipping and chill axing. The staff was awesome and very friendly. A great afternoon event.

This is so much fun! Kale was a blast and he really enjoys what he does. We bought 4 more bottles to take home!

So we have done the rum tasting twice over the past year or so. Jayne is amazing at the demonstration and a real asset to the company. Great fun way to spend a little less that an hour and learn about the company and Koloa rum.

Jayne impressed our family in the Tasting Room because she was very enthusiastic, warm, entertaining and is an amazing asset to the Koloa Rum Company. She is extremely knowledgeable about all the rum types and we truly enjoyed our tasting experience. After the presentation, we purchased bottles of rum and other merchandise in the gift shop. Jayne is an incredible employee and our family is looking forward to seeing her again when we are in Kauai next time! Thank you very much!

Free tasting!! I was shocked, you don't get much for free these days, along with an explanation of each type of rum.

Great time. Be sure to get there early bc they only have a few spots per hour for tasting. They ask you get there 10 minutes before your scheduled tasting time. Don’t be late or they will give your spot away. We grabbed a mai tai next door at the bar and waited for our time. Best Mai tai on the island!!! Beautiful restaurant.

We had a great tasting! She had a lot of energy and was very informative. I love the chocolate rum! Definitely a great stop!

Lots of rum, lots of fun!

It's a free tour and you get to try a lot of rums that you can buy also next door at their gift shop (sadly more expensive than at other stores on the islands, ABC Store to name an example or even Costco, though the latter has the Coffee one only)

I was familiar with the brand and very much enjoy their Coffee and Coconut rums - I find them the best "flavored" rums out there but I was very disappointed that there was no option to even upgrade/pay extra to sample their high end aged bottle... this is super fun and geared at groups rather than "rum lovers" but everyone can find something fun here, the lady running the "tour" is super energetic and fun - if you don't care for rum come for her, you won't regret it

TIP: you can leave this place pretty hammered... don't do that if you drive the car!

great plantation train ride 40 min long got to see a lot in a short train ride..very informative..lots of animals lots of treets and more to view had a great time on the train and you get to feed the horse and pigs..

Great rum tasting on the island. They provide a great education on their history and various rums. There are also train rides for the kids, an art gallery, and so on. We visit the Koloa Rum Company at least once during each of our trips to Kauai. On this visit, we made our new son-in-law a convert.

Highly recommend Kploa Rum Company.

The staff was all very friendly and the lady leading the tasting was amazing! The rum, especially the coffee flavor, was excellent.

Jayne was amazing! She was entertaining and informative. Such a fun experience. Will repeat in future trips.

Stopped to check out the local rum and do a tasting. A fun way to spend a little time and get a taste of the local rum. I would recommend a stop into the Koloa Rum Company, it’s well worth it!

Great tour that we took with family plus tour guides were amazing and to top it off we had dinner and the Gaylord’s restaurant. Food was great the ambiance was good plus shout out to everyone that works there!!!

Situated within a large green area (plantation), this is a really nice place to visit. The rum tastings happen every hour -- refer to their website to see what rums are being tested when. Their shop offers a lot of fun and interesting merchandise.

Fun to go to the Rum Company but also walk the grounds, see the train (which you can ride on), visit the little shops and art gallery. Also an upscale restaurant called Gaylords on site.

Nicole was so wonderful and knowledgeable. She gave excellent food suggestions as well as cocktail suggestions. She made us want to buy all the different types of rum so we could enjoy them as drinks and in food recipes

Jayne is incredible! She is witty and funny. Gives an excellent presentation, with history of the island and “How Koloa Rum, came to be.” All of the Rums are smooth, and can be enjoyed “on the rocks” or with your favorite mixers.

We did the rum tasting and really enjoyed the opportunity to sample rums of many flavors and types. As a result, it increased our enjoyment of the Koloa Mai Tai cocktail which we had purchased at a retail store, by knowing how much it could be improved upon simply with floating Koloa Dark rum on top...yum! We went back on our last day on Kauai for a second tasting room visit...they encourage return visits.

When visiting the Kilohana Plantation take a little time out to visit the Kōloa Rum Store, for all sorts of rum flavoured ‘goodies’ and then call into the tasting rum for a 30 minute taste of their various rums and the beautiful rum cake. It is a great way to spend a little bit of your day on the Garden Isle. Your tour guide will be full of all facts ‘rum’ and you’re sure to enjoy all those yummy flavours.

Really fun and informative tour. Tiny and Kai were funny, knowledgeable and most of all knew how to entertain their guest on the tour. Drinks were fantastic!!!!

I cannot say enough good things about this place. We came here on our 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 8th day in Kauai, lol. We did the rum tastings on three of those days... it's free so why not!! They do the tastings every half hour. I absolutely looked the coffee rum and bought a bottle to bring home. They have these sleeves you can purchase to help transport your glass bottles home as well. We also purchased some of their ready to drink mixed drink bottles and some small rums to take to family. The rum cake was good as well. We learned some history about Hawaii during the tastings which was very interesting. Loved this place... service was always great. Definitely stop by when visiting Kauai.

We came 2 hours before our luau at 3 on a Friday and there were no reservations left for tastings for the day. The associate in the gift shop where the rum tasting daily sign-ups are kept let us know that they are booked by 10 am every morning because as she said "who knew free rum would be so popular!" I wish I had known this before we arrived because we were really looking forward to this experience. So my review is only for the gift shop which was a great place to purchase souvenirs and gifts for myself. We bought the mini rum sampler pack, a t-shirt for my son and a Koloa Rum kitchen towel. Great products and I think this was actually the best price on the island for pre-made Koloa Rum Punch, Mai Tai, etc. by the bottle. Would definitely recommend.

The rum tasting is amazing ! It’s reasonable priced at 5.00 for two people !! They call you in by groups. You’ll learn a bunch of new recipes and the gal giving us the tour has a husband who works at the coffee company, she’s very knowledgeable and took time to tell us much of the history of the distillery, I feel like if you love rum you must know quality , if you want quality come to Kōloa Rum in Kauai !

Jayne, was super fun, knowledgeable, and engaging! She really kept us in good spirits as we rumbled through their different offerings! It also didn't hurt that the rum was delicious! 5+ stars!

Nice restaurant here and interesting shops. Two tours available on the property .. Kauai Rum Safari and a train journey.

The Koloa Rum Company was an excellent experience. It is a small place with a tasting room and a retail shop. The gift shop has an assortment of rum related merchandise and sells all of their rum. You sign up for a specified time for a tasting. They were very thorough in their Covid precautions taking the temperature of each participant as they entered the tasting room and making sure that all couple were at least six feet apart from each other. We got to sample a number of their different rum flavors. I don’t normally like flavored rums but their Cacao Rum was amazingly smooth. Also the Coconut rum was delicious. Ultimately we bought a bottle of the dark rum to enjoy on the island. They do distribute to the mainland so we will be looking for it when we get back.

We had a great time at this run company! It was filled with wonderful staff; they seemed very knowledgeable about their products. We bought cigars and rum from them mostly for gifts. The tasting is a must see! Jayne was awesome and very entertaining. She gets to know all the people at the tasting. She enjoys joking with us as we sample their fabulous products. We got there mid afternoon and it became busier so we lucky made a tasting time.

Great tasting with Jayne, our incredible guide. Very energetic, funny and wonderful. Would have loved to see the actual distillery and casks. But otherwise a very pleasant experience

Definitely worth doing we’ve done so many wine and beer tastings, had to do rum too!! Our rum slinger was friendly and her speech was informative on the history and tastes of the rums.

If you do this - DEFINITELY head over to the bar in the mansion and grab a Mai Tai!!! Best Mai Tai I’ve ever had!!

The Koloa Rum Company has a great rum tasting room of rums distilled right on Kaua’i. The rums are great presents for the folks back home who could not make the trip to Hawaii. Very good store as well with bar ware, clothing and the like. It’s within the property of a very nice old sugar plantation.

Janey was a superb host to help guests sample your rums. This is our second tasting in several years and Janey always makes the experience exciting and very enjoyable but at the same time she lets the rums speak for themselves. Excellent!

Their tasting room closed too early for us to be able to go after our planned late-afternoon garden tour, so we had to book a spot on their first tasting of the day...at 10am. The sacrifices we make.... :-)

Our host, Siana, had been a teacher before moving to Kauai, and she taught us a lot about rum, starting with how to float dark rum on a Mai Tai.

All told, we tasted four of Koloa's rums: dark, spice, coconut, and "Cane Fire" (cinnamon); I liked the dark the best, but the spice was pretty good, too.

The pours are small (Hawaiian Liquor Laws), but ample for tasting and figuring out what to have later (or bring home!).

The tour is free (there's a $5 reservation fee for up to six people), educational, and tasty.

This is a great tour for the afternoon! Staff was educated as well as entertaining! The drinks were so good! Mahalo

We stopped by to check out the plantation and take the train ride with the kids. The train ride was amazing they did a great job, it was about a half hour ride and had a short stop to feed the animals. We tried a little rum tasting at Koloa. The coffee rum is great, but to my surprise, it was the spiced rum that was excellent. The people who work there are very helpful and kind. Going toward the plantation mansion, there are several shops and galleries, and Gaylords restaurant which appeared to be family friendly. We did not eat there. But it smelled great, and the menu looked good.

Plan ahead and schedule a time for tasting. This is a great experience and the shop has a lot to offer. The staff are very amazing people and this is a must stop spot.

They have a good selection of rum, but they are not all on the tasting list. The tasting list rotates, so its a bit of a gamble what you will get each time. Flavor profiles are wide ranging from sweet to strong. It is worth the $5 online registration fee.

Perfect thing to do while visiting. Try to get there early to at least make the list since it’s first come first serve. If you’re not a rum fan…these tastings could probably change your mind. I personally love rum, but this is different, it was better than expected. They’re flavors literally have something to cater to everyone. I had to leave with a couple bottles. The host was also pleasant, funny, and made the whole experience worth while. I forget her name, but she was a hot mama in a pink dress 😜

We ended our 1-week vacation in Kauai with a Rum Safari Tour. It was an excellent experience. We planned ours in the afternoon right after lunch. An awesome tour around the plantation and tour guides with great personalities that made it even more fun. They do not skimp on the drinks. You may want to make sure you have a designated driver if you get tipsy easily. An activity to add right before the dinner you planned later in the evening. A must do on your itinerary.

Gloria gave the best presentation! Little rum, little history, high energy. Definitely would recommend and go again!

This was our final attraction before we had to leave beautiful Kauai. What a fun experience. Jayme was amazing, warm, funny, informative, and entertaining. How she remembered everyone's name and location is beyond me. It helped make the rum tasting experience feel very personable. The rum was so good. We loved the variety and the special cocktail. Highly recommend

The tasting is free - you just have to pay a $5 fee to reserve a spot online for your party or group. Our bartender/hostess was fantastic (Gloria). Very informative and fun. Great sense of humour and really knew her stuff. The samples were really tasty. The rum is excellent quality and you end up making tastes of 2 mixed drinks while sampling. The store attached has all types of rums and different merchandise (pricey). When you visit there, you’re on the same property as the Luau and plantation/farm so you can combine your visit with a train ride around the property etc.