This is the first single cask release from Ninefold Distillery, located in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland. Dr. Kit Carruthers, who runs Ninefold Distillery, was kind enough to provide me with one of the cutest miniatures I’ve seen which contains juice from the said cask. Technically this is the second aged rum from Ninefold, the first one being Edition #0, a charity release of 10 bottles aged for 8 months which I reviewed here.
A blend of experimental rums made from molasses, distilled in the Ninefold custom made hybrid copper pot still. There are 3 more casks with this experimental batch ageing at Ninefold as we speak. This rum was aged for 1 year in a virgin oak cask (Cask #3) in Scotland. A limited number of 246 bottles were released (which sold out) at 59.6% ABV, free of any additions.
On the nose smells quite sweet and deserty. Toffee sweets, milk chocolate with coffee filling, agave syrup, marmalade and vanilla. The virgin oak did quite the number here. Wood shavings with some lemon zest, mango puree, ginger and cinnamon.
On the palate it has a bite to it. Sponge cake, caramel, red chili, ginger beer and a rubbery note. Camomile tea with honey, lemon and biscuits on the side. It’s deceptively sweet on the nose, but then it kicks you in the teeth a bit from mid-palate towards the end. Maple syrup and a touch of smoke and cardamom. The finish is medium to long with toffee, charred oak and a lot of black pepper.
Definitely an improvement from Edition 0 where there was mostly sweetenss and a lack of spice and tannins. I feel like it still needs more time in oak in order to achieve its potential, but this is a nice sneak peak of what aged Ninefold rum can be and I’m not disappointed. Easy to understand why it sold out, especially at only £45 a bottle.
Ninefold Barrel Aged Pure Single Rum Edition #1 score:
Flavour/taste: 50/70
Value for money: 14/15
Transparency/purity: 15/15
Overall: 79/100
Cheers!
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