It's a whole new brand of Maui Wowee. And in a really pretty bottle, too. Ocean Vodka is distilled in Idaho from organic grains then shipped to Maui where its blended with pure Hawaiian deep sea water pumped up from depths of 3,000 feet of the Kona Coast of the Big Island by a company cleverly named MaHaLo (the Hawaiian word for thanks). Water from that depth has no man-made chemicals and no bacteria.Or so the sales pitch goes. The salt is removed topside. (Apparently folks in Asia are quaffing MaHaLo like drunken sailors). Ergo, the claim that this is the purest vodka on the planet. Whatever the case, the new vodka is bottled in Kahului, Maui and its pretty dang good.

I thought it sounded gimmicky -- and pricey, with bottles running at $35 to $45. The publicist shipped me an advance tasting bottle and, after a few shots and a vodka tonic, I was more than pleasantly surprised. The new stuff was excellent, highly drinkable and mellow. In general, I concurred with the expert opinions of the liquor specialists assembled by the Honolulu Advertiser for a blind tasting (the only way I'd ever do a blind tasting is...well, we'll leave that one alone). I'd say Ocean is clearly better than Ketel One or Absolut and surpassed only by super-boutique vodkas or Hangar One. I'm chipping out a spot in the frozen tundra of my freezer for Ocean. Only a handful of bars and liquore stores have Ocean in stock right now. It's definitely worth a few extra ducats for a drink or a bottle.

Where to Buy Ocean Vodka

On Maui

On Oahu (only a handful of outlets at present)
* The Wine Stop
* The Diamond Head Grill -- W Hotel in Waikiki
* Sansei Sushi Bar (Google Cache Link -- Site Under Construction)

—Alex, 07/26/06