Nine Leaves, a Japanese rum odyssey

Established ten years ago, the Nine Leaves distillery is a very important chapter in the history of Japanese rum.

The result of the ambition and passion of one man, Yoshiharu Takeuchi, Nine Leaves is the materialization of the possibility of making world-class rum in Japan. And the essence of tradition, craftsmanship and the quest for excellence, which have been the key drivers of this great adventure, do not end there. With the sale of the distillery to La Maison & Velier, a new chapter is ready to be written.

With the final closing of the distillery, La Maison & Velier acquired the barrel stock and will now be carrying on Yoshiharu’s work to give rum lovers around the world the chance to enjoy these amazing rums. The new bottlings are the result of the deep friendship between Luca Gargano and Yoshiharu.

Founded in 2013 by Yoshiharu Takeuchi, the Nine Leaves distillery boasts the family crest, designed around nine bamboo leaves. After working with Chichibu owner Ichiro Akuto, Takeuchi clearly expressed a desire to produce superior rum using craft methods traditionally applied to single malt whiskeys. 

The distillery is located in the city of Otsu, on the shores of Lake Biwa, in the heart of Shiga Prefecture not far from Kyoto. This is clearly not a random choice, considering it's located next to an underground spring known for its exceptionally soft, pure water flowing down from the Ishiyama mountain and filtered through volcanic rock. This excellent water adds a unique mineral note to the spirit, the unmistakable mark of Japanese terroir.

In order to pursue his all-absorbing passion for rum, Yoshiharu Takeuchi left a thriving career as a Toyota supplier – he and his family had been in the automotive business for generations. In his distillery he did everything himself, from moving barrels, fermentation and distillation to filling the barrels and placing the labels on the bottles. He never wanted anyone else with him. From start to finish, Nine Leaves was the adventure of a single man, a true reflection of his dedication.

“I met Yoshiharu around 2014 during a rum festival, when he had just started his distillery. I immediately understood he was both the least Japanese and the most Japanese person I’d ever met. I was impressed and curious about his rum and visited his booth three times. I had what you’d call a Mediterranean intuition because I felt this man was special,” says Luca Gargano as he retraces the story of an intense friendship cemented by mutual respect. “For Velier’s 70th anniversary I asked him for a cask to make our first co-bottling and he just gave it to me as a gift, which I, being from Genoa, found unbelievable. Every year I would ask him how many casks he had produced and he’d always give me these small numbers - one year it was 60, the next 84. Then, in 2019, when I went to visit the distillery, I finally understood - Nine Leaves really is a Single Man Rum.”

“The distillery was an amazing place,” recalls Luca. “You’d walk into this mine through an underground tunnel, and the earth looked like white chalk. It was full of small lakes that formed as the mine was being dug. The water was so pure it was like an underground Polynesia.”

At the end of 2023, after ten years in the business, Yoshiharu Takeuchi decided to close the distillery. 

“I decided to close for two main reasons,” says Yoshiharu. “The first is age. My nose isn’t as good as it used to be, and having a good nose is essential in rum. In addition, after my father died I had to take over the family company, of which the distillery was a division.”

What happened after his decision is the story of shared friendship, passion and dedication. “I called Luca and asked him, ‘do you know anyone who might want to buy my rum?’”, recalls Yoshiharu. “His answer was, ‘No one except me.’”

A few months later, he sold the entire stock of aged rum and the last batch of white rum to La Maison & Velier. 

“What mattered to me was to ensure Nine Leaves would continue,” says Luca. “Ageing the rum in Japan for as long as necessary will show everyone Yoshiharu created some of the best rum in the world. It’s a piece of rum history that will live on through me. It’s not business, it’s my mission – a way to give Yoshiharu’s work the value it deserves.”

The legacy of Nine Leaves will live on, maturing and evolving, and we can expect exciting future releases.

Takeuchi's approach to rum production, focused on meticulous attention to every detail, is deeply rooted in Japanese tradition. This concept is known as monozukuri, the spirit of craftsmanship that his family has been embracing for generations and that has found its ultimate expression in the creation of unique, authentic rum. 

As mentioned, strong emphasis is placed on water quality, which plays a crucial role in the production process. Its mineral-rich composition promotes the fermentation of Kokuto sugar, a key element.

Takeuchi found the perfect raw ingredients in the Okinawa archipelago and more specifically on Tarama-jima, an island famous for Kokuto brown cane sugar also known as Okinawa black sugar – a 100% sugar concentrate like rapadou in Haiti. This detail was initially misunderstood in Europe, which lead critics to pan Yoshiharu’s products at a time when the ideological debate on adding sugar to rum had created factions and confusion.

Lastly, fermentation involves a specific native yeast strain normally used for baking and lasts about four days.

As for distillation, on Ichiro Akuto's advice Yoshiharu bought two Forsyths pot stills from Scotland. This type of still is ideal to bring out the aromatic complexity of spirts and create a unique balance.

One has a wash still similar to Chichibu's and a wide base that ensures slower heating, thus promoting the creation of powerful aromas. The other has a slender, Glenmorangie-style design allowing for greater contact with the copper and more reflux during distillation, thus separating the lighter components from the heavy oils for a purer, more refined spirit.  The length and angle of the still neck are particularly important, as they contribute to Nine Leaves' clean, smooth style while retaining the aromatic richness brought by esters.

By combining the action of these different types of pot stills as well as traditional craftsmanship and modern innovation, Yoshiharu has been able to create a unique balance poised between character and uncommon elegance.

Thanks to this type of distillation, Nine Leaves has become Japan's first and only Pure Single Rum.

Once distilled, the rum is aged in different types of barrels and two different places - a warehouse with significant temperature fluctuations or an abandoned mine with high humidity and very low temperatures. The climate is unique to Otsu, with hot summers and cold winters.

These locations influence the evolution of rum flavor in different ways.

In the warehouse, temperature changes cause the spirit to expand and contract inside the barrel, accelerating the extraction of aromatic compounds from the wood. This leads to stronger flavors and helps create a more robust profile. The constant changes also accelerate oxidation, making the rum smoother and counterbalancing its intensity.

The mine, on the other hand, offers a stable, cooler environment that slows down the aging process, with similar conditions to a traditional Scottish dunnage warehouse. Here the rum ages at a more gradual rate, retaining a greater amount of liquid thanks to lower evaporation, aka the Angel's Share. The slower ageing favors the development of subtle, delicate flavors, giving the rum a refined personality.

At the molecular level, ageing triggers complex chemical reactions between alcohol and wood, influenced by temperature and humidity. Flavors are not just extracted - they change and evolve over time. Takeuchi experimented with different types of barrels for aging his rums, including ex-wine, ex-bourbon, American oak, Russian oak and several others. Each one adds unique aromas.

After the distillery was closed La Maison & Velier curated the first five bottlings with labels inspired from a traditional Japanese card game called Unsun Karuta.

“Choosing the right packaging for this series was extremely challenging. We tried many ideas, including a few odd ones which we immediately discarded,” remembers Luca. “Then I thought about the Card Series by Hanyu, a now-closed distillery which achieved cult status among collectors and now fetches 6-digit prices at auctions. That series used Portuguese playing cards, which were introduced in Japan by traders. I wanted to celebrate Yoshiharu’s rum, so entirely Japanese in every way, and wondered if there was such a thing as Japanese playing cards. Turns out there was.”

Unsun Karuta dates back to the end of the 17th century in the Edo period. Composed of 75 cards, the deck features four suits of cups, clubs, swords and coins like the original but with a clearly Japanese twist, plus a fifth one, the guru, whose pips are mitsudomoe - a typical comma-shaped abstract motif. The deck is also unique in that it also has cards with dragons, which have a different value depending on the game you are playing.

New expressions of Small Batch Single Casks are set to be released in the coming years, and each label will unveil a new card from the collection.

We are looking at one of those exceptional events that might well shake the world of rum and collecting as a whole - Nine Leaves will no longer produce anything, and its jealously guarded heritage is sure to increase in value over time.

The five expressions include:

Nine Leaves White - Last Drops is the last spirit bottled before the distillery was finally closed.

A delicious combination of power and refinement, this expression stands out for its oxidative character and fresh sugarcane aromas. The nose is rich and dense, revealing hints of honey, brown sugar, rose and apricot in a highly concentrated palette of aromas extending into notes of anise and menthol, with a layer of licorice over the finish. The mouth is lively and round and becomes creamier as it reveals notes of fresh cane juice, lemon and fermentation mash, with gradually developing medicinal and mustard nuances. The finish is energetic and persistent, and gets closer and closer to sugar cane.

Nine Leaves 2017 ex-Bourbon Cask Small Batch and Nine Leaves 2017 ex-Russian Cask Small Batch are two expressions resulting from a micro-selection and subsequent blend of barrels - the former was aged in four ex-Bourbon barrels while the latter is a blend of rums aged in four Russian oak barrels.

The nose of the ex-Bourbon version is fine and ethereal, buttressed by notes of sandalwood and eucalyptus. The aromatic palette opens with tropical fruits, toasted nuances and pralines and evolves into aromas of flowers, cane sugar and marshmallow. The mouth is clear and straightforward with skillfully combined notes of coconut, mandarin, apricot and toffee candy evolving into grassier flavors of ripe sugar cane and pepper. The finish is refined and persistent, with sugarcane honey gradually enveloping the taste buds - a rich sensation soon counterbalanced by more pungent hints of lemon, orange and apricot. The retro-nasal aromas combine vanilla, licorice and delicately grassy notes of tobacco.

The release aged in Russian oak barrels features a full, smooth nose with hints of fruit and honey, as well as medicinal and smoky notes gradually evolving into more winy, chewy nuances. The mouth is lively with a flavor palette rich in grassy notes of freshly cut hay and alfalfa, gradually fading into creamy vanilla and salt. The finish is smooth and lingering, with a bitter chocolate undertone exploding into brown sugar aromas. The retro-nasal aromas include vanilla and ginseng root.

Nine Leaves 2016 ex-American Oak Single Cask #7 and Nine Leaves 2014 ex-American Oak Single Cask #5 are both Single Casks distilled in 2016 and 2014 respectively and aged in second-fill American oak barrels.

Single Cask #7 has a rich, intoxicating nose starting out with hints of iris, grapefruit, walnut and vanilla, then gradually becoming fruity, fresh and medicinal. The mouth is strong and powerful, full of energy and rich in notes of lemon and honey with brown sugar gently coating the tongue. The pleasant freshness is strengthened by nuances of aromatic plants. The finish is persistent, revealing the tropical richness of lime, yellow kiwi, banana and coconut. The deliciously vanilla-y retro-nasal aromas add a hint of sweet spices.

Single Cask #5 has a refined nose revealing hints of pepper, tropical fruit, yogurt, sugar cane fiber, ginger and coconut powder in a triumph of maturity and freshness. Allowed to breathe it releases aromas of arnica, camphor, smoked cured fatback and curry. The mouth is clean and lively with an aromatic palette that paints a clear picture of a superior quality bourbon, rich in notes of orange peel, pumpkin and sugarcane honey. The finish is full and persistent, naturally shifting towards shades of honey, spices and chocolate. The retro-nasal aromas include fermented cane juice as well as gentian root and salted caramel.