Japan’s Nine Leaves distillery in the Shiga Prefecture of Honshu opened in 2013. Although founder Yoshiharu Takeuchi wanted to produce rum, he asked for the help of Ichiro Akuto (Chichibu), who recommended he buy Forsyths stills and Glenfarclas-style washbacks. The wort is an original combination of muscovado sugar and water, which is double distilled after fermentation then matured in French and American oak casks.

A 3 year old Nine Leaves single cask (#3) distilled in 2014 and bottled in 2017 to mark Velier’’s 70th anniversary. The label was designed by Singapore artist Warren Khong. Velier was founded in Genoa by Casimir Chaix in 1947. It was originally a small, family-run business specializing in the import and distribution of wine and spirits. Luca Gargano, a former representative for Saint James and serious rum collector and enthusiast, bought the business in 1986 and began bottling whisky first in 1992 and then rum in 1996. Rums selected by Velier are only ever aged in a tropical climate, which explains both their concentration and the high angels’’ share. They are generally bottled at cask strength or just below. The company’’s selections from Diamond’’s vaults as well as the Caroni bottlings and the bottlings from various distilleries in Jamaica, Barbados and other countries have played a key role in rum’’s history and are today some of the most sought-after in the category.