Koloa Coconut rum. I’ll admit it, as syrupy sweet and artificial as Malibu is, it was still one of my guilty pleasures that I repurchased probably more times than I should have. Maybe it’s because I’m a bit of a coconut fanatic, but I just can’t deny those sweet tropical flavors.

That said, calling Malibu a ‘rum’ is like calling Fireball a whiskey – sure it’s supposedly made with some amount of the spirit, but it’s really pretty much just an artificially flavored sweet liqueur more than anything. Sooo, when I heard about the existence of a quality coconut rum made by a small-operations rum distillery in Hawaii that actually tastes like natural coconut, and is bottled at a full strength 40% ABV, I HAD to seek it out.

It was a bit of a challenge to find and after FINALLY seeing it at a store, Koloa did not disappoint. The flavors in this Hawaiian-made flavored rum are deliciously rich, pleasantly sweet and nutty, but at its core, there is no denying that it’s still actually a rum. It tastes like the sweetened creamy flesh of a fresh mature coconut mmmm.

I talked a bit about the woes of flavored rum in my post on the Plantation Stiggins Pineapple Rum, but this is probably one of the best coconut rums on the market (let me know if there’s a better one!) and the tropical sibling of the Stiggins pineapple dark rum. If you’re also a coconut rum fan and looking to step up your game beyond Malibu, I’d definitely recommend seeking this out!