Hilo-based Ola Brew has pulled Hawaiʻi's nearly forgotten heritage spirit, ʻōkolehao, squarely back into the limelight. The company’s ocean‑aged take on the traditional kī‑root distillate just scored another top international honor, while state lawmakers moved at the same time to lock in legal protections for what can carry the ʻōkolehao name. Ola's 4‑Week Ocean Aged ʻōkolehao snagged a Double Gold at a high‑profile blind tasting, and the Hawaii Legislature passed a bill to set production and labeling rules for the category. The company’s oceanfront Hilo distillery is already hosting tours and events, and Ola says it has poured significant investment into putting the spirit back into circulation.
Double Gold And A Growing Profile
Ola reported that its ʻōkolehao has now earned a seventh Double Gold, including a second straight Double Gold for the 4‑Week Ocean Aged expression, at the 2026 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. “For us, a seventh Double Gold is more than a medal count,” Naehalani Breeland, Ola's president and co‑founder, said, a remark that appeared in a press release carried by PR Newswire.
How Lawmakers Are Trying To Protect ʻŌkolehao
The Legislature passed House Bill 2475 and sent it to the governor, with supporters arguing that the measure would safeguard the ʻōkolehao name by spelling out production and labeling standards. Under the bill, the spirit would need to be made from kī (tī) root, with a majority of that kī grown in Hawaiʻi, and it would have to be distilled and bottled in the islands. The bill was formally transmitted to the governor on May 7, 2026, according to LegiScan.
From Wainaku To The World
Ola’s oceanfront ʻōkolehao distillery operates out of the historic Wainaku Executive Center in Hilo, where it serves as a base for tours, tastings, and community events while the company scales up production. Local coverage spotlighted a pop‑art fundraiser held on the property, underscoring how the site has doubled as a cultural and tourism venue, and Ola continues to run taprooms on the Big Island in both Hilo and Kona. As Big Island Now noted, the distillery has become an event space, and the company lists details for its Hilo taproom on its website at Ola Brew.
History And A Bit Of Pushback
ʻŌkolehao’s lineage runs deep in the islands. Distilled drinks made from baked and fermented kī (Cordyline fruticosa) date to the late 18th century, according to The Oxford Companion to Spirits & Cocktails. Still, the legislative push has stirred criticism. Testimony submitted during hearings argued that locking a strict percentage requirement for kī into statute could overlook the broader Pacific history of the spirit and create unexpected burdens for producers, concerns reflected in the public legislative record compiled by LegiScan and related committee materials.
What Comes Next
The bill now sits on the governor’s desk. If it is signed, supporters say consumers would gain firmer assurance that any bottle labeled ʻōkolehao was both grown and made in Hawaiʻi, while producers and historians continue to warn about regulations that lean too heavily on a single technical recipe. Ola has told reporters it has “raised and invested more than $20 million” in the revival effort, according to its release, even as publicly visible crowdfunding trackers show roughly $706,000 raised through a StartEngine campaign, a gap the company attributes to private capital and earlier acquisitions, per crowdfunding reports.
