02/09/2026
Next stop on the 11 September world tour: Japan. There are still seats at the table.
Two labels run through this evening. Habitation Velier is the young, unaged and lightly aged side of the house; Velier is where the rare, aged and finished stock ends up. This bottle is the second kind — and it exists because a distillery closed its doors.
Nine Leaves was founded in Otsu in 2013 by Yoshiharu Takeuchi, who did everything himself, from rolling barrels to filling bottles. At the end of 2023 he decided to stop, and a few months later La Maison & Velier bought the entire ageing stock and the final batch of white rum. The raw material is unusual to begin with: kokuto sugar from the Okinawa archipelago and water from an underground spring, fermented for about four days and distilled in two Scottish Forsyth's pot stills — one built in the spirit of Chichibu, the other in Glenmorangie style. This small batch spent five years in two 400-litre casks that previously held Pedro Ximénez sherry. Deep and toasted on the nose, full-bodied with citrus, dried fruit and noble herbs, and a honeyed, pastry-like finish lifted by verbena. A distillery you can no longer visit, in a glass.
📅 Friday 11 September 2026 · 20:00
📍 Rum Stylez, Budastraat 7, 8500 Kortrijk
🎟️ €50 · hosted by Christopher Bellaïl, Brand Ambassador La Maison & Velier
🔗 https://rumstylez.com/product/la-maison-velier-masterclass-at-rum-stylez/