Hanalei Spirits Okolehao

Modern interpretation of Okolehao ostensibly distilled from fermented, roasted, Hawaiian-sourced Ti root, then aged in charred white oak. Generic for what was once a Hawaiian folk spirit, distilled from Ti root, and produced a bit like tequila, in that the root is roasted underground to convert it to fermentable sugars. “Okolehao” translates literally from the Hawaiian as “iron bottom,” a reference to to style of cooking pot from which the liquor was distilled. Essentially defunct since the 1920s, with some sporadically-available ersatz interpretations, most of which are essentially an American whiskey liqueur sweetened by Ti sugar extract.