Best White Rum: Koloa Kaua’i White Rum, Hawaii It’s a testament to the worldwide surge of rum that distilleries are popping up everywhere, whether in the heart of Brooklyn, in the mountains of Colorado — or even in Hawaii. What you might not know is that there’s a long tradition of sugar production — and rum production — in the Hawaiian Islands, and the archipelago’s top producer right now is Koloa, set on the lush island of Kau’ai that first launched in 2009. And while the company makes a range of aged and flavored expressions, its white rum is unusually good. There’s just something remarkably clean about this cooper pot-still rum, something beyond the smoothness and the cane and-citrus-zest notes. It’s best used in a daiquiri, but it could hold its own on the rocks, too — the true test of any white rum.
