Old Pali Road Whiskey Review
The small Ko’olau Distillery is tucked away on the island of Oahu, in a small industrial park at the edge of the jungle. Nestled up against a small mountain, they churn out their Old Pali Road whiskey in incredibly small batches, with bottles filled by hand by those who take the in-person distillery tours. Run by two military veterans, some would argue this “retirement project” takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.
Ko’olau Distillery is one of the only whiskey distillers in Hawaii, a place that is typically more known for its rums and other spirits than whiskey. Their Old Pali Road expression is also an oddball– considering it isn’t classified as a bourbon and is instead a combination of 5 year old American whiskey and distillate aged a minimum of 1 month coming from Ko’olau itself. They are quick to point out that this 43% ABV whiskey utilizes local Hawaiian water filtered through the nearby mountains to give it its distinctive Hawaiian flair. Old Pali Road’s distribution is limited, but after visiting and filling a few bottles myself on the tour, I was excited to grab a couple sample bottles to review.
Age: 95% aged 5 years, 5% aged min one month
ABV: 43%
Cask: Combination of new and used oak barrels
MSRP: Around $50
Distillery Name: Ko’olau Distillery
Review Date: 1/9/22
Color: Pale Straw
Nose: The nose starts off light, fruity, with big corn notes. There’s also a slight ethanol burn, pencil shavings, and young grain that mix with an artificial sweetness (Splenda sugar packet?). It reminds me of a corn cookie that has been slightly underbaked. The nose of Old Pali Road isn’t that appealing - coming off as brittle, bright, and young.
Palate: But let’s see if the palate can solve some of the problems found on the nose. The first sip starts with more confectionary sweetness, like a corn cotton candy. Light and wispy, but cloyingly sweet. Despite the high level of sweetness and grain, it remains very soft at 43% - almost watery. Using refilled barrels seems to have stripped all of the depth out of this whiskey, without much a punch of flavor this whiskey instead comes off with very light notes of lemon peel, powdered sugar, light whipped cream, buttered movie popcorn, and rounded out by a rubbery wood note. There’s no spice here, instead the whiskey remains soft and predictable all the way through the palate.
Finish: What little nuance of flavor is found on the palate falls off immediately in the finish. It’s short and leaves you with the taste of stale peanuts.
Final Thoughts: While this whiskey is by no means my favorite, I appreciate what Ko’olau - being such a small distillery - is trying to accomplish here. Visiting the distillery you can immediately tell that they have ambitions of making great whisky – with founders who do want to create something uniquely Hawaiian. But this Old Pali Road expression is just too soft, too corn forward, and lacking any kind of depth that would make me reach for another pour. It’s by no means a bad whiskey, but it’s just unremarkable. And in this crazed whiskey market, that can be just as damning as making bad whiskey. I am interested to see where this veteran owned distillery goes from here, but there is a bit of work in front of them.
