Ninefold Distillery Scottish Pot Still Pure Single Rum. Here we have another rum from one of the current “hot beds” of Rum production – Scotland. More famous without doubt for their whiskies, small distilleries such as Ninefold have been popping up all over Scotland these last few years.

This white unaged rum from Ninefold Distillery, has been a work in progress for its distiller for quite some time now and he now has this very striking bottle of white rum on the shelves.

I have spoken to Kit a fair bit over the past year or so and I requested a few more details on the rum ahead of this review. Kit was very accommodating and offered me the following information. I have not altered this as it is straight from the horses mouth.

“Ninefold Distillery is set in a converted cattle byre on Dormont Home Farm in Dumfries & Galloway. The farm buildings are around 200 years old and had fallen into disuse over the past 30 years of neglect. The byre would’ve held cows for milking, as did the adjacent modern byre which has been converted into a bonded warehouse for cask maturation (space for around 250 casks). The conversion works took around 7 months, with a further 4 months of equipment installation.

This has been documented on YouTube in a series of vlogs. Dormont Home Farm is the central farm on Dormont Estate, which belongs to my family. We were looking to set up a business to diversify the estate income and with the strength of craft gin, thought a sideways step to rum (always a favourite but never an enthusiast) might be a good idea.

I have no background in distilling, not even as a hobbyist, but brought skills from my academic background in experimental geochemistry to help get the place up and running.

The distillery itself comprises a 1500 litre stainless steel fermentation tank and 500 litre copper pot still with 4 plate rectifying column and condenser. The still was hand-made in Scotland by Speyside Copper Works, and is heated by steam. The fermentation is short and hot, using blended North African and UK molasses and a combination of yeasts.

The wash is ready for distilling after 4 days. A double distillation (stripping then sprit runs) over 2-3 days completes the process. The rectifying column works in a similar way to a retort system, having the benefit of producing a smoother, higher strength, and higher volume spirit than a simple pot and condenser set up, but also induces esterification of the spirit in the column to produce a clean but flavoursome spirit (hopefully…). The rum is cut to bottling strength (90.3% to 40%) and left to rest for a week before bottling. The whole process is two weeks long.

Ninefold Pure Single Rum uses the Gargano classification for rum, and the company logo – a six winged angel – that adorns the front of the bottle is the Carruthers family crest. ‘Ninefold’ meaning the ninth level of the celestial hierarchy within which the angel sits.

As noted earlier, it’s my intention to get rum into casks ASAP. Currently I have some Virgin Oak American Standard Barrels waiting for me with offers of ex-bourbon from a couple of whisky distilleries. These are long-term projects, though. Expect nothing soon I don’t want to rush a cask release just for the sake of it. Quality spirits are what I’m about; no marketing bollocks, nothing to hide.”

So there you have it. I think Kit has put together a really strong brand and the bottle really does stand out on the shelf. The design is particularly striking and modern. A nicd synthetic chunky cork stopper also gives a Premium Appearance to this rum.

It is available at few online retailers such as House of Malt  it retails at around £35 for a 70cl bottle. As mentioned already the rum has been bottled at 40% ABV. It has been noted on the rear label that this is made for Premium Cocktails.

I think we’ve covered pretty much everything so far as we may as well move and see if this white rum is as good as the likes of Sugar House Rum.

In the glass we have a crystal clear spirit. The nose thankfully, is nowhere near as neutral. An initial sweet burst of molasses, toffee and some light vanilla gives way to some spicy notes of ginger and a slightly medicinal note which hints towards some Jamaican funk. Maybe a tiny hint of lemon juice right at the end.

It’s a sweet, clean smelling rum with not a great deal of alcohol on the nose. With it being unaged there is a boozy element to this but it mingles with the sweeter notes of molasses and caramel rather than overpower them.

As a sipper this works much better than you might expect. I don’t think it is as funky as Sugar House Rum or Jamaican style white but it has a very nice balanced flavour and profile to it. What was on the nose has certainly carried through and you are left with a very toffee and molasses heavy sweet drop of white rum. At an ABV of 40% it is lighter and perhaps easier to get along with than some of the unaged cask strength Jamaican’s or Clairin’s.

Funk wise it is not going in that particular direction. In many ways it has quite a lot in common with Veritas from Foursquare. It tastes very much like their is some column distilled or lighter rum in the mix which adds a nice balance to this rum.

As a mixer, which seems to be what Kit sees this rum as it works really well. It makes a lovely Daiquiri and works well in a Mojito. Obviously I’ve given it a few run outs with some cola and I’ve found that it makes a very tasty rum and cola.

It works quite like Appleton White in that it isn’t hugely funky but it has a really nice almost buttery note which makes it very smooth and easy to drink. Flavour wise the toffee and molasses remain throughout.

If you are looking for a flavourful white rum but maybe want to dial the funk and the more “out there” flavours down a bit this will be worth checking out. It’s got an extra level of depth in terms of flavour than a lot of the more generic and well known white rums.

This rum will be available to try at the London Rumfest this year and I would recommend you give it a try, especially if you are skeptical about the Scottish Rum Revolution.