Written by Mika Tanimoto, Owner-Bartender, Bar Little Happiness — Hiroshima’s specialist whisky & rum bar with 1,000+ bottles
In the world of Japanese craft rum, Nine Leaves occupies a particular place: it was there early, when very few Japanese producers were making rum at all, and it produced bottles that serious rum drinkers in multiple countries recognised as exceptional. And then, in circumstances that many in the industry found painful, it stopped.
Nine Leaves Distillery, based in Shiga Prefecture, produced agricole-style rum from fresh sugarcane juice using a column still — a Japanese approach to a Caribbean tradition that resulted in a spirit with a delicate, clean character quite unlike most of the molasses-based rums available in Japan at the time. The expressions ranged from unaged white rum to aged expressions in bourbon and wine casks, each showing a different facet of the same carefully managed distillate.
The Gap It Left
When a distillery closes, it leaves two things: the remaining bottles and the memory of what they represented. Nine Leaves leaves behind both.
The remaining stock — bottles already produced and distributed — continues to circulate in specialist bar collections. The memory it leaves is of what Japanese rum could be when approached with technical precision and a clear flavour philosophy. That memory has influenced subsequent Japanese rum producers, including LAODI and others who came after.
At Bar Little Happiness, I have carried Nine Leaves alongside our LAODI selection. The two represent different Japanese approaches to rum — different scales, different raw materials, different philosophies — and tasting them together tells a particular story about what Japanese craft spirits can be.
Read the full Japanese column: little-happiness.jp/columns/nine-leaves-distillery-japan-rum/
Bar Little Happiness | Hiroshima, Japan
Rum & Whisky specialists | 1,000+ bottles | English menu available
Open Mon–Sat 7PM–12:30AM, Sun 7PM–midnight
No cover charge. Walk-ins welcome.
english.little-happiness.jp