Whisky: The Glover 18 Year Blended Malt, Adelphi

Country/Region: World Blend (Scotland/Japan)

ABV: 49.2%

Cask: Oak

Age: 18 Year (Bottled 2017)

Nose: Fruit, salt, and wood, mellow minerals and wisps of smoke, shortbread cookies, cedar wood, and herbal tea.

Palate: Medium-bodied, honey, tropical fruit, pastries, subtle florals and herbal, occasionally medicinal, tea; woody and slightly vegetal on the finish with earthy and woody accents of spice.

Finish: Medium to long with dried autumn leaves, sandalwood incense, and burnt candle wick.

Score: 7

Mental Image: Pineapple Cakes and Tea by the Sea

Narrative & Notes: The aroma was sweet and mild with dried persimmons and tangerine shortbread cookies; snacks for a seaside stroll around an old cedar wood temple. Hints of sandalwood incense and burning candle wicks appeared between tea leaves, dried pine nettles, and mineral-rich sea shells. Medium-bodied, the palate opened with sweet honey and more subtle notions of cedar wood, salt, and minerals. Pineapple shortbread cakes and winter melon interplayed with shyer Parma violet and pomegranate. A mild medicinal spice, herbal and earthy like a traditional Chinese medicine shop, appeared on the mid-palate with the underlying minerality of dissolved limestone in salty tide pools. Tea carried through to the back with cinnamon, orange peel, earthy kava, and ginger. Medium to long on the finish with dried autumn leaves, sandalwood incense, and burnt candle wick.

Adelphi puts together some unique blends, and the Glover is no exception. There are a few different editions and age statements of this blended malt, and they are not all quite the same, but this 18-Year edition combined malts from Glen Garioch, Longmorn, and Hanyu. That last distillery is particularly special as Hanyu is a ghost distillery in Japan. It shuttered in 2000 along with Karuizawa. Hanyu was partially resurrected when Ichiro Akuto, grandson of Hanyu distillery Isouji Akuto, opened Chichibu in 2007. In fact, some younger editions of the Glover feature malt from Chichibu and Adelphi’s own Ardnamurchan distillery.

One of my earliest whisky reviews was of a bottle of Hanyu. I enjoyed it quite a bit though I had no idea how special it was then. There is not a lot of Hanyu in the world, and Ichiro released a good deal of it when starting operations at Chichibu, so it is a pleasant surprise to encounter the malt in any form.

I know someone is wondering how much Hanyu is present in this blend, and I have no idea. We could take the total number of bottles, 1406, and theorize about how many casks were used— certainly some hogsheads and a butt or two— to try to make a guess. I was never really concerned with the question as to whether it was a thimble or a barrel, as I adore Longmorn and Glen Garioch. The presence of mature malt from those distilleries was enough to entice my interest.

Overall, a delightful blended malt with fascinating historical connections: from the shuttered Hanyu Distillery to SWA regulations requiring the blending to be done in England due to the inclusion of non-Scotch whisky. I also appreciated the inclusion of a short history detailing the exploits and life of Thomas Black Glover, the “Scottish Samurai,” for whom the bottle is named.

Image Credit: Whisky Exchange