Last year Bowmore brought us a Scottish/Japanese collaboration in the shape of its Mizunara Cask Finish expression, but now Adelphi Distillery Ltd. has gone a stage further, creating a true Scotch/Japanese fusion whisky. It is named the Glover in honor of Thomas Blake Glover, born in the Scottish east coast fishing port of Fraserburgh and often referred to as “The Scottish Samurai” due to his major role in the industrialization of Japan during the second half of the 19^th century.

Both 14 and 22 year old versions of the Glover are available, and Adelphi’s managing director Alex Bruce says, “The 14 year old is a small batch release (no more than 1,500 bottles per batch) that we intend to bottle ongoing. It has been designed to appeal to whisky drinkers from around the world who enjoy the flavors of west coast scotch, with a little twist of Japanese fruit and freshness. It has a good level of peatiness, yet still shows off its Japanese heritage with more exotic fruits on the nose and mid-palate.” The suggested price is $145.

The 22 year old expression—retailing at around $1,500—is the real jewel in the crown, being based around a single refill sherry hogshead from the ‘lost’ Japanese distillery of Hanyu. Alex Bruce explains, “Charlie MacLean and I spent some considerable time selecting not only the right partner for it from our own Scotch whisky stocks, but also the correct amount. We ended up choosing just 35 percent of an American oak sherry hogshead distilled at Longmorn. This has allowed the Japanese element to remain alive, especially on the nose and mid-palate, where the texture is both rich and long-lasting. We also added a drop from a sherry butt distilled at Glen Garioch, as homage to the birthplace of Glover.”