Jaunted

Hawaii / Maui / Drinking / Drinks / → All Tags

New Maui-Made Premium Vodka Hits the Skies

(Alex Salkever is the editor of Hawaii travel blog Hawaiirama.com and a general travel maven on all things Hawaii.)

Aloha Airlines says "Mele Kelikimaka!" to haute vodka tossers with the post-Xmas introduction of Ocean Vodka for its First Class bar carts. This zippy liquor comes straight outta Maui, where it's made with deep sea water sucked up from 3,000 feet off the coast of the Big Island.

The grains that go into it are organic. Yet despite these wow ingredients, Ocean still manages to land squarely in the middle of the premium pack with retail prices per big bottle at $40 or less. One catch: due to some weird legalities, an Aloha flight may be the only place you can get the stuff outside of Hawaii. It's not sold on the Mainland, even though you can buy it at Costco, for crying out loud, in the islands.

I've personally tippled Ocean and it's right up there with Hangar One, Ketel, Grey Goose and the other super-premiums. After its First Class debut, Ocean should flow back to Economy in the not so distant future, sez the vodka maker. Make that a double Ocean with tonic, Aloha.