[1] Koloa 12-Barrel Select Hawaiian Rum: heavenly (photo © Koloa Rum).

[2] Round Barn Winery’s Mint Chocolate Cream is a delight for any chocolate lover [of drinking age] (photo © Round Barn Winery).

We taste lots of spirits, and most of them are delicious. But we’re not a spirits website, so we only write about those that truly stand out.

Just in time for Father’s Day, we have two recommendations.
 
 
1. KOLOA SINGLE-BATCH HAWAIIAN RUM

Rum is typically made from molasses, a by-product of sugar refining. Most rum comes from the Caribbean, where sugar plantations abound.

Koloa rums have a different pedigree. Their handcrafted premium rums are not made with molasses, but with pure sugarcane.

The second ingredient, water, is the pristine rainwater from Mount Waiʻaleʻale and nearby mountain peaks and rainforests. The water is captured after it filters through volcanic strata and into vast underground aquifers.

The Kaua‘i Reserve 12-Barrel Select Hawaiian Rum is artfully crafted in single batches, then carefully aged for at least 3 years in charred American oak barrels.

It is remarkably smooth on the palate. We’re not excessively poetic when we say that every drop is to be cherished.

Take a sip: The first drops introduce you to a natural sweetness that’s profoundly different from the big brands.

It’s not a sugary sweetness, but a profound depth of flavor from the sugarcane, followed by rich and complex flavors that linger throughout the exceptionally clean finish.

This is a special expression that any connoisseur of fine spirits will appreciate. Non-rum drinkers who have only tasted the big brands will discover how wonderful rum can be.

It’s a great sipping rum, straight up or on the rocks, and a wonderful discovery.

Koloa Rum does ship to all 50 states via partnerships with Mel & Rose and Drizly, among others.

> Discover more about the brand at Koala brand at KoloaRum.com.

> Check out the history of rum and the different types of rum.

Round Barn Estate in Baroda, Michigan began in 1997, when the Moersch family discovered a 1912 round barn in northern Indiana, and envisioned it as a place to enter thirsty and leave happy.

Today it is Round Barn Winery, Distillery and Brewery: a lovely home to the family’s handcrafted wines, spirits and brews.

What a contribution to the community: great drink, entertainment, beautiful grounds and event space.

In the liqueur category, they began with Black Walnut Cream Liqueur, then Salted Caramel Cream, and now the latest, Mint Chocolate Cream.

Based on our tasting of the Mint Chocolate Cream, our next liqueur purchases will be the Black Walnut and the Salted Caramel.

The Mint Chocolate Cream liqueur tastes like a chocolate shake with a hint of mint—and a hint of distilled spirits.

Served it after dessert and/or coffee, add it to coffee or hot chocolate, make adult chocolate milk, top off a dish of ice cream.

If you need a gift for a lover of chocolate, this is it!

Discover more at RoundBarn.com.
 
 

[3] A lovely destination in Michigan: Round Barn Estate (photo © Round Barn).