Ocean Vodka, Maui

Hooray for vodka! Especially if you just spent time with your kids at Surfing Goat Dairy next door. Surfing Goat Dairy is uninteresting to say the least, making Ocean Vodka look like an oasis if the distillery is going to be your second stop in the area. (I don’t think anyone is going to stop and tour the nearby landfill, but hey, you never know.)

The first thing you’ll notice when you get to Ocean Vodka is how nicely landscaped the grounds are; simple and clean. In fact, simple and clean is how you might describe the entire operation, from the vodka they make to the facility itself which is shockingly spotless, not to mention mostly self-sustaining. Another thing I like about OV as a company is the fact that almost all the employees (except for the girls in the gift shop) participate in most aspects of the company, from playing tour guide to bottling. And on tour, the guides are quite knowledgeable and friendly. My wife and I were fortunate enough to have Kai on our private tour and he answered our numerous questions without missing a beat. While there isn’t a whole lot to see on the tour – it’s really just a look at and explanations of the different sugar canes on site and the facilities – the tour is very informative and ends, appropriately enough, with a vodka tasting. Yes, OV is definitely the smoothest and most enjoyable vodka I’ve ever come across, though that’s coming from someone who is more of a whiskey man.

At $10 a pop for the tour, I feel the tour was worth its price (unlike at Surfing Goat Dairy, sorry). It’s also nice that the on-site gift shop does not charge anymore for a bottle of their vodka than you’ll find in the store. Actually, it’s the same price at Costco in Kahului and more at other retailers. It would be nice if Maui Brewing Company did likewise at their facilities, but I guess you can’t have everything.