Maui’s Waikulu Agave Spirit: Better than your favorite tequila?

Back in December, a video popped into my social media feed. It was a video about an agave distillery on the island of Maui. The video discussed the agave spirit they were producing and its uniqueness, attributed to the exceptional growth of their Blue Weber Agave in their soil and climate. I found it highly intriguing and bookmarked it. I returned a few days later and decided to send an email. I had to know more. The Spirit Gods must have been looking out for me, because it just so happened that my wife and I had booked our Spring Break trip a month or two prior. My wife’s brother happens to have a home in Maui, and we had decided to head there for Spring Break. 

After conducting some internet research, I reached out to Paul Turner, the owner of Waikulu Distillery. I introduced myself, telling him who I was and what I do for Bourbon & Banter, and that I would be on Maui in April. I said I was hoping to come by to see the operation, take a tour, try some of his products, and chat with him. He replied and said, "Absolutely." I was excited to have an opportunity to check out what seemed to be a really unique distillery and it also gave me an adventure/side trip on our family vacation. I don’t like to sit still when on vacation. 

Waikulu Distillery is located on the windward side of the island in Makawao. So my brother-in-law and my 16-year-old son all loaded up in the car and drove about 45 minutes away to check out Paul’s distillery. Upon arrival, we met Viv. She helps run the place and was also going to show us around. The setting of this place is gorgeous. Yes, it’s Maui, everything looks amazing,  but the farm is nestled on 6 acres on the side of a hill/mountain/volcano. It’s stunning. 

Since it is not produced in one of the five states in Mexico where blue Weber agave spirit must be legally made to be called Tequila, this is an Agave Spirit. Everything they produce is from 100% blue Weber Agave. 

Paul opened the distillery about three years ago. But about 10 years ago, Paul bought a few blue Weber Agave plants for his property because he thought the plants were tough, rugged, and all around pretty cool. He noticed that after about six months, the plants had gotten huge. Like WAY bigger than they normally grow in Mexico. So Paul started doing some research which eventually led him to change up his plans for some of his property. Because the temperatures are pretty much in the 70s during the day and dips into the 60s at night year round, combined with the rich volcanic soil and the tremendous amount of rainfall he gets, Paul figured out that his property was located in pretty much the ideal spot to grow these plants.

This led him to purchase 200 more Blue Weber Agave plants and start a farm. 

The Numbers

• That was 10 years ago and Paul has never had to buy another Blue Weber Agave plant. The plants continuously propagate new plants. 
• The farm currently has roughly 3,000 plants and they harvest about 10 plants a week. 
• Each plant produces an average of 10-12 "pups," offshoots of maturing agave that are cut away from and transplanted to create new plants. 
• Each plant is harvested by size, not age, and the sweet spot for harvesting is between 6-7 years.
• The plants on the farm grow to roughly three to four times the size of a typical blue Weber Agave plant in Mexico in only about 25% of the time due to the climate and the soil.
• Due to the island's copious rainfall, irrigation isn't needed on the farm. In fact, the farm is on a residential water plan.
• No pesticides or chemicals are used in the entire operation or production process.
• Each plant produces between 30 to 40 bottles of distillate.
• It takes roughly 8 pounds of raw agave to produce 1 750ml bottle.
• The hearts of the plants cook for 2 days in the steam oven once they are harvested.
• The oven holds between 800 and 1,000s pounds of raw agave.
• Waikulu Distillery produces around 12,000 bottles annually. 

The Process

Paul has a background in fabrication so he designed and built pretty much every piece of equipment used in the production process. He built his own agave crusher that uses a steel and rubber tahona. Instead of a traditional stone tahona, Paul’s crusher uses a urethane rubber wheel. His original tahona was made from the more traditional volcanic rock, but it is now displayed outside of their tasting room. The crusher grinds the cooked pieces of agave into a paste where the production team adds water and continues the process until they dilute the sugar content to about 12%. Each batch of cooked agave takes about 1.5 to 2 hours to crush and get ready for the fermentation tank. The fermentation process takes about six days. After that, it’s distilled on the 250 gallon still that Paul also made himself. They distill every batch twice.

For aging, the agave distillate is barreled at 110 proof. Paul uses only medium toasted barrels sourced from Independent Stave Company, the world's largest cooperage, and which is based in Lebanon, Missouri. They bottle their product twice a month and can do 450 to 500 bottles in three to four hours.

The Product

In the tasting room, you can sample all five of their labels.

• Batch One Silver is an 80 proof silver (essentially what would be called a blanco in Mexico).
• Ohana Reserve is their 87.2 proof super-premium, triple-distilled silver.
• Opio is an 80 proof reposado aged just under 6 months.
• Ohana 18 Month Reserve is an 87.2 proof anejo aged in Heinrich Barrels (Australian-made, American oak wine barrels).
• Smoke Pepa is a batch aged with three different types of chili peppers and is 80 proof.
• Waikulu Reserve Cask is a fantastic barrel strength treat bottled at 112.4 proof.

All of these products were fantastic, but the absolute standout was the 18-month Ohana Reserve. I can honestly say that this bottle is every bit as good if not better than any ultra-premium tequila that I’ve ever had. Yes, that includes any Fortaleza, Clase Azul, Don Julio 1942, or Dobel that I’ve ever tried. It was that good.

I brought home two bottles of it as well as another bottle of their Ohana Reserve Silver. The only negative is that you can’t get their product unless you are on Maui. Unfortunately due to laws, carrier restrictions, and production limitations, they cannot ship directly to you. But you can buy directly from their tasting room. It's recommended you make an online reservation to visit and take a deluxe tour on Mondays and Wednesdays, or just book a standard tasting here. Maybe this is the little extra push you needed to finally book that trip to Maui. This place is worth it.