Kuleana Rum Works
Our Story
Kuleana Rum Works was founded on Hawaiʻi Island in 2013 to make and share exquisite rum while celebrating the richness of Hawaiʻi. We grow Hawaiian heirloom kō, distill fresh sugarcane juice and blend rum with no added sweeteners, flavoring or coloring.
Our Story
The idea began with a taste of agricole.
In 2007, Steve Jefferson and his wife Jackie were sailing through the Caribbean with their two children when they tasted rhum agricole on Martinique. It was made from fresh pressed sugarcane juice instead of molasses. That taste changed what they believed rum could be.
They returned home with a question: what would rum taste like if it began with Hawaiian kō?
Kuleana Rum Works was established in 2013 with partners Chris Schlarb and Charlie Sander. The company purchased 45 acres near Upolu Point on the northern tip of Hawaiʻi Island and began growing heirloom Hawaiian sugarcane in Kohala.
KULEANA
/ ku·le·a·na /
Why this name
A word that asks something of us.
In Hawaiian, kuleana describes responsibility held with care. It is a right, a privilege and an obligation awarded by your community for your ability to care for a resource.
For Kuleana Rum Works, it shapes how we farm, distill, blend and welcome people in. The name is not decoration. It is the standard.
Hawaiian Heirloom Sugarcane
The rum starts with kō.
Kuleana Rum Works grows roughly 30 varieties of Hawaiian heirloom kō on its farm in Kohala. These varieties trace back to the original cane brought by Polynesian Wayfinders around 1,000 years ago.
Each variety carries its own story, character and flavor. That is why the cane matters. It gives the rum flavors that were removed in the processing of molasses or processed sugar
World Class Blending
Built to elevate rum.
Kuleana Rum Works built Hawaiʻi Island’s first distillery and built its program over six years, with whiskey icon David Perkins and master Rhum Agricole maker Gilles Cognier, to help elevate rum as a category. It all starts with Hawaiian Rum Agricole® made from fresh kō juice and includes blending it with carefully selected rums from around the world for purity, balance, and depth.
