Aroma visualization from community tastings
Velier Nine Leaves Armagnac Cask 2018
Tell me when it gets cheaper
Tell me when it's back in stock
Price alert in the RumX app
Open in the app
Got the app? Open this bottle
Opens this rum in the RumX app
Opinions land mostly in the middle here — people recognize the Nine Leaves signature but few are wowed. Expect that distinctive sake and plum-wine character, light wood, pepper, orange and a green vegetal edge. The Armagnac finish barely shows, and the alcohol often reads a touch hot. One taster called it "average rum at an expensive price," while a few genuinely enjoyed the glass.
The community says- Nine Leaves character
- Sake and plum notes
- But: Faint Armagnac finish
Offers & prices
View price history
Secure payment Sold by Inn-out-shop Returns & cancellation
- Secure payment. You pay via RumX with PayPal, Klarna or card. Your payment data is encrypted and we never store your full card details.
- Clear seller. Sold and shipped directly by the partner shop. And you're never on your own: RumX handles support and communication with the shop, so you always get excellent service, whichever shop you order from.
- Honest shop ratings. The stars show your service experience with the shop, not the rum score. They come from RumX users, and critical ones stay visible.
- Returns & cancellation. Your purchase contract is with the shop, so returns and cancellations run through them under their own policy and your statutory rights. If anything goes wrong, RumX helps you sort it out.
10 more payment methodsBuy Velier Nine Leaves Armagnac Cask 2018:
Compare all 7 shop offers
Prices & availability last updated on
Offers & prices
No shop currently delivers to Germany.
Live auctions
Current bids for this rum at Europe's leading auction houses.
The look inside the bottle
How does Velier Nine Leaves Armagnac Cask 2018 taste?
Summarized by AI from 51 community reviews.
Sake-driven Japanese rum, faint Armagnac Divides the room: the classic sake/plum Nine Leaves DNA is here, but many find the Armagnac cask faint, the body thin and the alcohol not fully tucked in.
Aroma profileNine Leaves fans and people who like sake-forward, vegetal Japanese rum
Anyone expecting a strong Armagnac finish or a rich, well-integrated sipper
Style & occasion: Mature & oakyFresh & grassySipping neat
Full aroma profile Aroma families · nose & palate · top aromas
15 of 51 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Which glass for which rum? The community guide →
Recommendation
Your next rum
Each with how it differs from this rum.
Gifting rum? 3 questions to the right bottle
Rated better
Excellence Rhum Saint James Brut de Fût (Excellence Rhum's 10th Anniversary) 2006
8.5/10119 €
Milder
Rumclub Private Selection Ed. 60 Galapagos 2015
7.9/10120 €
Similar rating, cheaper
South Pacific Rum Artesanal Fiji Rum FSDP 2001
7.8/1099 €
Nothing for you?
5 more similar rums ↓
First choice: 24 of 25 tasters who tried both prefer it.
Community voices
What does the community say?
51 community reviews
18 selected write-ups on this page, all of them in the RumX app
Rate it in the app
Ranges include their upper bound: “7–8” means above 7 up to and including 8. See the full rating guide
Positive from 8.0 · Mixed 6.0–7.9 · Critical below 6.0
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
#5717 27.09.2025 Day one of the Whisky Live 2025, which this year looks better organized/arranged inside. This one is also a try to change the original profile that in my mind didn't really pay off. Light wood and peppery profile with some fruits and some medicinal notes.
Review by zabo
This is probably the best of the new Nine Leaves (at least of the 3 I've tried) from Velier, although in my opinion this one isn't really good either. A bit experimental, but at least not drowned in sherry.
Review by Timo Groeger
Good thing I already drank most of it yesterday :-) Definitely a heavily vegetal one. Some sake and also sherry are slightly recognizable here, but it is mostly floral.
Review by Oliver
Great nose with clear Nine Leaves DNA. On the palate lots of sake/plum wine, but a bit too wild. Still a nice Nine Leaves rum.
Review by TheRhumhoe
Velier continues to unveil its stock of Nine Leaves, but it must be said that the overall lineup leaves much to be desired, especially compared to last year. The nose fits the distillery’s spirit with notes of rice alcohol, herbal, peppery, vanilla and roasted notes forming this very particular aromatic mix. Lime, dried fruits, armagnac and sugarcane are perceptible and positively influence the nose. It remains pleasant without being great art. The palate does not live up to the nose, the aromas are weak and lack coherence. Sake, armagnac, vegetal side, sugarcane, spices and orange (which bothers me a bit here) form a little developed profile, without much interest and missing everything. The alcohol remains quite well integrated despite this obsolescence. The finish is like the palate: timid, without great flavor or identity, it’s both quirky and puzzling. The vegetal side accompanies the lemon, pepper and sake, without shining. We leave through the back door with this batch which is more like an experiment with an exotic cask for the region than a true tasting rum (even if the price makes the wallet taste it).
Review by crazyforgoodbooze
Super intense aromatics that strongly remind me of sake and Chinese plum wine or also Japanese umeshu. The Armagnac finish is rather subtle in the background here. Basically, though, a nice solid release with the typical Nine Leaves DNA! The alcohol could be integrated a bit better, but all in all a nice release.
Review by Nils123
Much better than RX 25054, but unfortunately not a good barrel selection here either. Quite sweet and therefore somewhat one-dimensional. Does not change with water. A re-tasting will be necessary here.
Review by Mentalo
There have certainly been worse Nine Leaves releases than this one. I think this release nails the typical Nine Leaves profile. Plum, sake, spices. I might have rated it 2-3 points higher, but the finish is quite sharp. Not much comes through from the Armagnac cask either.
Review by Djehey
Honestly not great... Alcohol poorly integrated and watery texture. As for the aromas, more orchard fruits with a vegetal and spicy side on the nose and palate. It remains clear for 7 years. I perceive very little of the armagnac finish. Short finish.
Review by ArminK
Unfortunately not my thing, but better in taste than on the nose.
Review by Johannes
Nice Nine Leaves profile, but alcohol could be better integrated. A little too young for me.
Review by Rhum Mirror 🇧🇪
This year, I was able to taste the whole lineup, and... unfortunately, it's not better. The rums are younger (2017 to 2020) and overall even less convincing. The series mainly relies on the finishes: 2020 Sherry Pedro Ximénez – 60% and 59% 2018 Spanish Oak – 59% 2018 Armagnac Cask – 59% 2017 Red Wine Cask – 60% If I had to save one, it would be the 2018 Spanish Oak: a dense, full-bodied finish, with this impression of “chewing a stick of licorice.” Interesting, without being transcendent. You clearly feel that this range remains experimental, seeking a balance between the base and the type of aging. But for now, I must admit: I am not the target audience. Tasting rums more than pleasure rums, perfect for a tasting club or a discovery session, but not really bottles I would want to keep in my bar.
Review by Giuseppe Ambrosio
In the glass, it has a light golden color and is quite viscous despite the light color; on the nose, it is very pleasant with the typical sake note that characterizes the distillery; on the palate, the alcohol is quite integrated with a very dominant sake note, and over time it opens up releasing a more fruity aftertaste; the finish is fairly long. A nice bottling but for this second release I much preferred the sherry PX version.
Review by Stefan L
260730: Second tasting and better this time. This might be that it’s now 28+ degrees Celsius at my balcony.
Review by Pierangelo Pianta
You can smell the wood but I don't understand its purpose.
Review by Carlitooo
Surprisingly alcoholic at first, also surprisingly light in color. It improves with time, but unfortunately it doesn't come close to the significantly younger RumClub Armagnac Single Cask.
Review by cool runnings
Avarage rum at an expensive price.
Review by Leo Krüper
The mix of alcohol-sharp sake and the dark raisin notes of Armagnac does not make a good result.
No reviews match this filter.
Expert reviews
2 critics scored it, averaging 8.5/10. Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum.
Expert review by Le Blog À Roger
Read full review →Too bad about the price which hurts quite a bit for a 7-year-old rum, but taste-wise it's a very nice success, I like it a lot! I see quite a few rather negative opinions about it, which surprises me a bit. Sure, the price positioning stings frankly, hard to say otherwise, but apart from that, I find the time spent in the glass rather very pleasant.
Expert review by The Dunder Hut
Community shelf
29 bottles logged by 23 collectors.
A collector's bottle.
6% opened, 0 emptied.
What does Velier Nine Leaves Armagnac Cask 2018 cost?
Community paid 23–169 €.
Current best price: 139.00 € – within the typical community range.
Purchase prices reported by members, not a shop price. Avg. 148 €. Full price & collection history in RX+ →
29 purchased · 53 tasted · 9 wishlist · as of
Details about Velier Nine Leaves Armagnac Cask 2018
A rum from Japan, bottled by Velier, at 59%.
About the Nine Leaves distillery
The Nine Leaves distillery is located in Japan. Rums from Nine Leaves have been reviewed 865 times with an average of 8.0/10.
To Nine Leaves →Read on in the RumX Guide
You may also enjoy
Rum enthusiasts who like this rum have also given the following rums high ratings:
Velier Nine Leaves Sherry Pedro Ximénez 2020
Velier Nine Leaves Sherry Pedro Ximénez 2020
Velier Nine Leaves Bourbon Barrel 2017
Velier Nine Leaves Russian Virgin Oak 2017
West Indies Planteray Barbados High Ester WLP Foundation 2022
Never miss a price drop.
Set a target price in the app, and we'll let you know as soon as the rum becomes available at that price from one of our partner stores. This works for any rum on your wish list.
Oliver · FounderBy rum lovers, for rum lovers
I'm Oliver, and RumX began in 2018 as a small passion project in Stuttgart, back then under the name Rum Tasting Notes.
Oliver, Stuttgart
About RumX →YouTube channel (in German)
