Pau Maui Vodka

A Vodka made from a unique base, on unique stills, with unique filtration and a sweetheart flavor profile.

How would you like to spend your days on the Hawaiian island of Maui making Vodka from pineapples? Sounds like a dream job to us. Mark Nigbur was distilling in Colorado. In the process, he invented a unique glass still — great for fruit Spirits, bad for grains. The LeVecke Family had been in the distilling business for more than fifty years and wanted to start a micro-distillery in Maui (who wouldn’t). They got together and founded Hali’imale Distilling Company located in "Up-country" Maui at Makawao in the middle of huge pineapple fields.

First, you’ve got to know that Pau Maui Vodka is NOT pineapple flavored Vodka. It is a pure Vodka made from pineapples — there’s a BIG difference. Pineapple tailings are collected from the local processing factories and made into a mash fermented with natural yeasts. Mark’s unique glass stills pass the resulting Spirits through volcanic rock and charcoal filtration on the way out, arriving at 95.5% ABV in one pass. It is then cut to 40% using natural, local spring water. It is a bit sweeter than a grain Vodka with a light, exotic fragrance.


Smartass Corner:
Glass is a perfectly fine material for a still. The main benefit of copper is that it acts as a catalyst during distillation to naturally bind loose sulphur atoms — which taste remarkably bad — that are common in grain-based Spirits. No grain, no sulphur. That’s why glass is fine for pineapple-based Spirits. And it’s better than stainless steal in this case due to the natural acidity of pineapple juice.