In the fall of 2025, a rather peculiar rum release from the Lowlands of Scotland really piqued my interest. Nestled within the grounds of the Dormont Estate in Dumfries and Galloway lies the Ninefold Distillery, a craft distillery housed in what used to be two cattle byres up until the 1980s. It was in the spring of 2019 that its founder and distiller, Dr Kit Carruthers, began distilling rums on his family estate, utilising a blend of molasses from around the world, though mostly of Algerian origin, which is then fermented in its 1,500-litre fermentation tank for a period of between four and seven days, and thereafter double-distilled through its hybrid copper pot still. An interesting little anecdote from Ninefold Distillery that isn’t commonplace, particularly in continental Europe, is the use of “dunder” — the leftover liquid from the previous distillation, to not only kickstart the next batch of ferments, but also quintessential in introducing additional flavour to their rums.

While most of Ninefold’s rums are primarily matured in American oak, be it virgin oak or ex-bourbon barrels, about a third of their casks are of other types, including a very small number (nine to be exact) of virgin Scottish oak casks. The wood from these casks was in fact sourced from the estate’s grounds itself back in 2018 when Kit commissioned a local forester to fell six Quercus robur trees on the banks of the River Annan. The wood was then left to air dry for the next four years, before being coopered at Yorkshire-based Jensen’s Cooperage into nine 200-litre barrels.

Of the nine, eight have a medium toasting, while one has a medium char. I might not be the best person to explain the differences between toasting and charring, but in simple terms, a toasted barrel is subject to gentler heat for a shorter period of time, allowing for less intense Maillard reaction to occur, often resulting in a lighter-coloured, vanilla-forward spirit.

A charred barrel, on the other hand, is exposed to higher heat for longer periods, developing a heavily charred layer which not only contributes to a darker shade of spirit, but also produces more caramelised notes and tannins that affect the mouthfeel.

For this inaugural release, a medium toast barrel DO32 was selected, filled on 29 September 2022 with two experimental batches of rums that were fermented with its “dunder”, which Kit says has resulted in a rum that was deeper and more complex than the standard rum marque it was producing. On the nose, there was something about it that just reminded me of Christmas, a glowing warmth, like freshly roasted chestnuts by the fire, and thick, creamy peanut butter. It had tremendous complexity — a blend of vanilla, poached pears, and a sweetness that I could recall from chestnut cask-aged rums. There was a hint of savouriness too, along with very unique notes of cassis-flavoured Läkerol pastilles and curry leaves.

Yet the palate was vastly different from what I was expecting it to be. It had a thick, oily texture, and as expected from a virgin oak cask, packed with lots of intensity for a continentally aged three-year-old rum. It reminded me a lot of liquorice sticks, alternating between sweet, savoury, and a tinge of bitterness all at the same time, as well as delicious wafts of toasted marshmallows. The finish was considerably lighter in nature, though staying the savoury theme of the rum, reacquainting with those curry leaf notes, spice, marsala tea, and a little hint of brown caramel.

Ninefold’s inaugural Scottish Oak rum was a very unique rum in so many different aspects, in particular, delivering a whole new take on what it means to be terroir-driven; while the raw material for its rums is sourced globally, I can hardly think of a spirit distiller who can boast ageing distillate in casks made from wood sourced from the distillery grounds. It was a thoroughly enjoyable release, and I am eagerly anticipating what Ninefold Distillery will bring to us next.

Your occasional rum addict!

@weixiang_liu