Indian Amrut is not the only fusion whisky
THE SCOTTISH FUSION
WHISKIES STORY
The Glover Fusion Whisky Ltd. was originally formed as
a small enterprise- TBG & Co- with the aim of producing a Scotch whisky to
raise awareness of entrepreneur Thomas Blake Glover’s role in shaping modern
Japan and celebrate Scotland’s historical, economical, cultural and social
links to Japan. They then realised that if Glover and Japan were to be feted by the ceremonial release of a specially created whisky, Japanese malt whisky would have to be included and the outcome could never be a Scotch whisky, but an international blended malt.
Late 2014, the board of TBG & Co contacted Alex Bruce,
managing director and master blender at Adelphi, with the intent of creating a
designated Fusion whisky by 2015 to celebrate Glover’s life. In the end, and despite
the challenges of international procurement and production, they produced not
one but three Glover whiskies, the first two in 2015, all of which sold out. The Glover Fusions gave the
board the opportunity to highlight the unique flavours of both countries, and
create a blend that was even more than the sum of its parts.
In the summer of 2016, they embarked on an ambitious
programme to bring out a series of new fusion whiskies, something that has
never been done before. They changed names from TBG & Co to Fusion Whisky
Ltd to better represent their aims, and, in the autumn of 2016, released the
second title in the fusion whisky series, The Kincardine. This blended malt whisky
is a fusion of the Indian Amrut single malt whisky and Scotch from Glen Elgin and Macallan
distilleries. It honours the life of the “Walking Viceroy” Victor Bruce, 9th
Earl of Elgin and 13th Earl of Kincardine, who spent a lifetime in public
service and whose legacy lives on in both Scotland and India. Incidentally,
Adelphi’s Alex Bruce is the great-grandson of the 9th Earl of Elgin.
With very strong international interest in this pioneering approach to blended malt whisky, Fusion Whisky Limited moved forward with its
series of innovative fusion whiskies. Working with partner
Adelphi, they have produced blended malts in partnership with a Dutch and Australian distillery and are in discussions with other international distilleries in countries where Scots have had a profound influence and where exceptional craft
whisky is being produced.
Fusion has since won a major award from Scotland Food
& Drink for the innovative collaboration with Adelphi, and continues to
attract interest from whisky lovers around the world.
Thomas Blake Glover was born in the thriving fishing
port of Fraserburgh on the north-east coast of Scotland and educated at The
Chanonry House School in Old Aberdeen. After school he joined the largest
British company trading in the Far East, Jardine Matheson, and in 1857 was sent
to work in the company’s Shanghai office. Two years later he was appointed as
the company’s agent in Nagasaki – a brave move, since there was considerable
resistance to Westerners in Japan at the time.
Indeed, until 1858 Japan was closed to all foreign
trade and external influences – a policy which had been followed since 1639,
with the exception of a tightly controlled Dutch trading station on the island
of Dejima. By the mid-19th century, however, a powerful faction grew in the
Japanese central administration, which was aware of the power of western technology and
frustrated by the government’s extreme conservatism, which blocked attempts to
modernise Japan.
It was against this background of political and social
turmoil that Thomas Glover began to operate, initially for Jardine, Matheson
and Co. and then as an independent merchant. He learned Japanese and initially
traded green tea out of Japan, arms which he bought in Shanghai or Hong Kong
and ship broking, the latter through his brothers, James and Charles,
ship brokers and builders in Aberdeen. Between 1863 and 1867 the Glovers sold
twenty ships to Japan, including the first modern warship in the Imperial
Japanese Navy.
In the early 1860s he was also involved in arranging an
(illegal) trip to Britain for five senior members of the Choshu Clan, and later
fifteen members of the powerful Satsuma Clan, based in the south of the
country. These men would play an important part in promoting Western technology
and ultimately became very senior members of the government which overthrew the
old regime with the restoration of the Emperor Meiji in 1868.
The new government was dedicated to learning from the
West, encouraging trade and directly supporting business and industry and
Thomas Glover soon became a leading figure in the industrialisation of Japan.
Among many other ventures he developed the first modern
coal mine in the country at Takashima, had a dry dock built in Aberdeen and
shipped to Nagasaki, founded the shipbuilding company which would later become
the Mitsubishi Corporation and backed the establishment of the Japan’s first
large-scale brewery, becoming head of the Japan Brewery Company in 1894. In
recognition of these achievements, he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun,
the first non-Japanese to be so honoured.
The Whiskies
To honour the achievements of a unique man, Thomas
Blake Glover, and the historical relationship between Scotland and Japan,
independent bottler, Adelphi Distillery Ltd., was asked to create a blend of
Japanese and Scotch malt whiskies.
To this end, Adelphi was offered the chance to select a
single refill ex-sherry hogshead from one of the few remaining casks from Hanyu
Distillery. It was disgorged and shipped to England for marrying with a
carefully determined volume of Scotch whisky from two single casks: 35% from an
American oak ex-sherry hogshead distilled at Longmorn, and just a drop from a
Spanish oak ex-sherry butt distilled at Glen Garioch.
The final ratio was assessed through extensive trial
vattings by Alex Bruce and Charles MacLean. "We wanted the final whisky to present
the unique flavours of both casks, but also to be even more than the sum of its
parts. We added a drop of whisky from Glen Garioch Distillery in homage to
Thomas Glover’s home in Aberdeenshire, to complete the flavour profile," they
said. It was launched as a 22 year old malt whisky in 2015 at an ABV of 53.1%.
The Glover whiskies edition was completed with the Glover 18 of 2017. It followed the launch of The Glover 22 and The
Glover 14, both in 2015 & The Glover 18 of 2016, but is said to have a “a little more
Sherry cask influence” than its predecessor. In line with the rest of the
range, the whisky is composed of liquid from Scottish distilleries and the
Hanyu distillery in Japan.
“Both mouth filling and teeth coating (waxy), it’s
initially tangy with decadent marzipan and milk chocolate leading to a very
well balanced finish warmed by a hint of fresh pepper and the slightest hint of
distant smoke,” Alex Bruce, MD & Master Blender at Adelphi Distillery. The
Glover whiskies are blended at Adephi Distillery and released under the Fusion
Whisky company. There is every likelihood of a fifth edition of the Glover Fusion series.
THE GLOVER 14 YO 44.3% (2015) 18 YO 48.6% (2016) 18 YO 49.2% (2017) 22 YO 53.1%(2015)
THE FOLLOW UP
The Kincardine: Fusion of Indian and Scotch Whisky
The Kincardine is a fusion of Amrut single malt whisky from
India and Scotch from Glen Elgin and Macallan distilleries. It honours the life
of the “Walking Viceroy” Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin and 13th Earl of
Kincardine, who spent a lifetime in public service and whose legacy lives on in
both Scotland and India. The edition consists of two blended malts, the
Kincardine 7 YO and the E&K 5 YO.
Victor Alexander Bruce was the 9th Earl of Elgin and
13th Earl of Kincardine. Incidentally, he is Adelphi’s Alex Bruce’s great-grandfather.
In 1894, Queen Victoria, the Empress of India, granted him the most prestigious
appointment in the British Empire – Viceroy of India. As Viceroy, Victor Bruce
had responsibility for the entire sub-continent and its population of 320
million people, who were covertly hostile towards the foreigners who they
considered marauders out to loot India, and who ultimately plundered £43
trillion.
Unrest, famine and colonial politics all reared their
head; the north-west frontier and border with China were sources of tension
too. In 1895, he took decisive action to lift the siege of Chitral. Two years
later he authorised a force of more than 35,000 troops to recover the Khyber
Pass. The boundary line that his government negotiated with the Chinese in the
Eastern Himalayas – India’s Line of Actual Control – remains a source of
tension today.
To cope with the pressures of office, Victor took
regular early morning walks, accompanied only by a solitary detective and his
trusted walking stick. These walks, often incognito, gave Victor an invaluable but
Anglo-biased insight into India and its people and earned him the nickname “the
Walking Viceroy”. After his return to Scotland in 1899, Victor returned to
public service.
The Kincardine 7 YO Blended Malt Whisky, 52.9% ABV
Created using whisky matured in American oak hogsheads
from Glen Elgin in Speyside and Amrut Distillery in Bangalore, The Kincardine
is a fusion of burnished copper and summer gold, of honeyed sugars and tropical
fruits.
Perfected by Adelphi’s master blender Alex Bruce, The
Kincardine is a majestic whisky that brings together the best of Scotland and
India. it is believed to be a fitting tribute to the “Walking Viceroy”.
The E&K 5 YO Blended Malt Whisky, 57.8%
The E&K 5 YO Blended Malt is a unique fusion of
Scotch whisky from Ardmore and Glenrothes distilleries and malt whiskies from
Amrut Distillery in India. The E&K is an exquisite tribute to a remarkable
Scot, the “Walking Viceroy” Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin and 13th Earl of Kincardine.
The Winter Queen: A Majestic Blend of Scotch and Dutch
Whisky
The Winter Queen is the third in the series of iconic blends from Fusion Whisky and Adelphi, created in honour of the Scottish
princess, Elizabeth Stuart. A blend of Scotch malt whisky from Longmorn and
Glenrothes distilleries and malt whisky from Zuidam Distillery in the
Netherlands, only 866 bottles of the iconic whisky were produced.
Elizabeth Stuart was born in Falkland Palace in Fife in
1596, the eldest daughter of King James VI of Scotland and Queen Anne of
Denmark. By the time of her death in 1662, she had been heir to
the crowns of England, Scotland and Ireland, survived murderous plots and
bloody sieges, borne 13 children, been crowned Queen of Bohemia, took domicile
in the Hague and revolutionised cultural life in the Dutch Republic, her
adopted home of forty years.
The teenage princess modelled herself on her famous godmother, Queen
Elizabeth I. She clearly had aspirations, and her wedding to Frederick V,
Elector-Palatine of the Holy Roman Empire, was a lavish event, even by royal standards.
In 1619, the couple left their home in Heidelberg for Prague after Frederick
was elected King of Bohemia. But rebellion erupted and they were deposed after
barely a year, earning Elizabeth the sobriquet the “Winter Queen”.
The Brisbane: A Heavenly Blend of Scotch and Australian Malt Whisky
The Brisbane 5 YO Blended Malt 57.5% ABV
The Brisbane is the fourth in the series of iconic blends from Fusion Whisky and Adelphi, created in honour of the Scottish
soldier and astronomer, Thomas Makdougall Brisbane.
Born near Largs in Scotland in 1773, Thomas Brisbane
was a distinguished officer in the British Army, and served as Governor of New
South Wales from 1821-25. As well as the city that bears his name, Brisbane
opened the door to the foundation of Melbourne, enabled a free press, and
worked to improve conditions for colonists and secure compensation for
Aboriginals who lost land.
A unique fusion of Scotch malt whisky from two Spanish
oak ex-sherry hogsheads distilled at Glen Garioch, Highland, part of an
ex-sherry butt distilled at Glen Grant, Speyside and three ex-Apera casks distilled
at Starward Distillery, Melbourne, The Brisbane is a heavenly tribute to a
remarkable Scot.
Mahogany with amber lights. initially nose drying, with
freshly baked croissants topped with butterscotch sauce, pecan pie, ginger,
runny honey, chocolate éclairs and banoffee.
Chocolate éclairs in the taste with stone fruits in the
development: ripe plum, apricot and tinned prune juice.
Sweet overall in the finish; creamy mouthfeel, bitter
chocolate and more toffee to finish.
The Glover Fusion Fifth Edition 2020
The Glover 5th Edition Fusion By Adelphi 4 YO Cask Strength 54.7% ABV
The
5th release of the innovative and sought after 'Fusion whisky', named after
Thomas Blake Glover, who opened up trade between Japan and Britain in the 19th
Century and was awarded the Order Of The Rising Sun (the first
foreigner to receive this) took place in 2020.
This bottling contains two of the most exciting single
malts in the world: Chichubu from Japan and Adelphi's own Ardnamurchan
Distillery. Two young 4 YO casks from each were blended together and the result is a dram
of excellent balance and depth despite it's youth. This particular bottling has not been dedicated to any one, deceased or alive.
Official Tasting Notes: This is the 5th Glover in the
series and all derives from 1st fill bourbon barrels. 2 from AD & 2 from
Chichibu. This whisky has a lovely colour of summer gold. On the nose one finds
honeycomb, melon, clementine, panatone, flaky almonds & Sour Plooms. The
palate delivers a great balance of pineapple cake, mandarin and barley juice
& lemon bonbons. Becoming maritime with a light peat smoke to finish, very
moreish.
