Aroma visualization from community tastings
Nine Leaves Clear 2017
The thing that catches everyone off guard is the sake note — this unaged, pot-still white from Japan really does taste of koji, marzipan and white tea alongside citrus and something floral and grassy. It runs surprisingly soft and gently sweet for 50%, with herbal edges. One taster half-joked "is this even rum?" A few find it too dry and short; most find it genuinely unusual.
The community says- Distinctive sake note
- Soft for 50%
- But: Short finish
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The look inside the bottle
How does Nine Leaves Clear 2017 taste?
Aggregated from 26 community reviews.
Floral, sake-tinged Japanese white rum Polarizing but memorable: a floral, citrus-and-sake white that most find soft, dry and unlike anything else. A couple wanted more body and a longer finish.
People chasing an unusual, floral white rum with a Japanese sake twist
Anyone wanting a rich, full-bodied or classically sweet rum
How the community classifies this rum. Each category takes you to similar rums.
Which glass for which rum? The community guide →
12 of 26 left detailed tasting impressions · Click an aroma to explore similar rums
Recommendation
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How is Nine Leaves Clear 2017 rated?
RumX’s 0–10 scale is strict: 7.5 sits in the “Good” band. 76% of tasters rate it Good or better; only 0% rate it below average. See the full rating guide →
Community voices
What does the community say?
77% rate it between 6 and 8. 9 selected write-ups from 26 community ratings. You can view the complete list in our app.
Review by Christoph
Most helpful positive review
I can understand why this rum has won awards. While you can still smell the alcohol in the nose next to fruity-floral notes, is just transferred, you are surprised in the taste of an incredible mildness and pleasant sweetness. In addition, there are then herbal notes of herbs. The Nine Leaves typical sake note I notice here only in the finish. The best unaged rum to drink neat that I know so far!
Review by cigares
Most helpful mixed review
A fairly neutral nose with a clear sake and marzipan character. You can't smell the watts. The palate is surprisingly smooth, with little aroma and a lingering aroma of sake, pastry, smoke and herbs. The finish is very short. A 50% rum, too dry and not generous enough to be a rum I could enjoy.
Review by Timo Groeger
Ganz cool eigentlich dieser Nine Leaves. Also dss man den Sake so heftig herausschmeckt, schon interessant. Ansonsten ist dieser Rum doch recht fruchtig, viele Zitrusfrüchte, aber auch sehr pflanzlich und floral. Interessanter Rum.
Review by Kevin Sorensen 🇩🇰
#6508 19.03.2026 Time to relax after work and there is no training today. Listening to the latest tracks from Alex Ender and Vini Vici. This is an OK bottling and it performs pretty well in a cola. The nose is fruity with nice mint and herbal notes. The palate is naturally sweet with marzipan, salt and sake. The finish is medium to long and dry with sake and a herbal touch.
Review by Romain de L
Interesting ! Nose is quite fresh, floral, engaging. Body is balanced, not too strong for a white, enjoyable. Quite long in finale. Honestly pleasant Since the distillery is now closed, thought I would enjoy again a taste gone somehow. It’s still interesting and pleasant. Worth a try!
Review by TheJackDrop
Euuuuh Is it really rum? Amusing To sum up, my tasting notes: On the nose: Sake, Alcoholic, Marzipan On the palate: Sake, Herbaceous, Fermented Finish: Herbaceous, Sake
Review by Rummiamo
Un mostro di eleganza. Unisce riferimenti tipici dei rum bianchi con un fil rouge tutto giapponese che ricorda il koji e il te bianco. Francamente per quanto mi riguarda questa è la vera espressione della distilleria, molto più che gli invecchiati.
Review by Han
❤️ Nine Leaves
Review by BnBrt
Mon préféré de Nine leaves sur ce que j'ai goûté jusqu'ici. Nez plus alcoolique que les autres rhums japonnais que j'ai dégustés mais avec le même côté floral. Pour moi un super rhum blanc, bien équilibré, un côté ti punch en bouteille. Une belle attaque, un peu d'agrume, du fruit et le suave du sucre brun. Longueur intéressante avec encore les notes fruitées/ fruit d'automne déjà senties dans d'autres rhum japonnais.
Expert reviews
2 critics scored it, averaging 8.0/10. Reviews from RumX's blog partners, independent experts who have tasted, evaluated, and described this rum..
Expert review by RUMprobiert
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Expert review by The Secret Rum Bar
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Current bids for this rum at Europe's leading auction houses.
Market value
Avg. community purchase price 101 €
What members paid for this bottle, self-reported. Not a market value — the purchases are over three years old at the median and unverified.
Details about Nine Leaves Clear 2017
A Pot Still Rum from Japan, distilled by Nine Leaves, at 50%.
Community purchases
12 bottles logged by 11 collectors.
A drinker & collector.
25% opened, 1 emptied and repurchased.
12 purchased · 28 tasted · 11 wishlist · as of
About the Nine Leaves distillery
The Nine Leaves distillery is located in Japan. Rums from Nine Leaves have been reviewed 848 times with an average of 8.0/10.
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I'm Oliver, and RumX began in 2018 as a small passion project in Stuttgart, back then under the name Rum Tasting Notes.
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