In terms of whisky backstory “The Glover” is like a Marvel superhero. Where to begin? I suppose we should begin with the legend himself Thomas Blake Glover aka the Scottish Samurai. Not really sure who coined that name for him but it is both pretty awesome and crass. Hollywood will probably jump on this story soon.
Mr. Glover was born in Aberdeenshire to an English coastguard and a Scottish mother in 1838. So I guess he’s only half Scottish? He’s credited with playing a vital role in the industrialization of Japan. He brought the first railway locomotive to Japan, which was name the Iron Duke (again with the awesome monikers). He took part in commissioning one of the first Japanese warships, the Ryujo Maru, which was built in Aberdeen. And he developed Japan’s first coal mine. Pretty impressive, especially since this was during a time when foreigners were not looked well upon in Japan.
So what better way to pay homage to such a man than to create a whisky that is the marriage of Scottish and Japanese whiskies? So that’s what Adelphi has done! They’ve made two blended malt whiskies which have, confusingly, both been named “The Glover”. The more expensive of the two is a 22 year old which is a vatting of just 3 casks from Hanyu, Longmorn, and Glen Garioch and resulted in 390 bottles. Clocking in at just over £1000 this expression was just a bit out of our price range. No doubt the high cost is mainly due to the inclusion of the highly sought after Hanyu whisky.
The Glover 14 year old, however, was priced at a much more affordable £100. With only 1500 bottles produced it’s quite a rare treat. We were able to acquire a sample from the good folks at Whisky Auctioneer. The exact composition of the 14 year old was not released, but it contains both Scottish and Japanese whiskies.
The 14 and 22 year old were released at the same time and lauded as the first Scottish-Japanese whisky ever launched. However, this is not quite true. Nikka uses the whisky from Ben Nevis Distillery (Nikka owned) in many of their blends and blended malts, especially the Nikka Black 8 year old. They don’t really advertise this however so it never got the special attention it deserved. Regardless, the Glover is a unique and rare whisky and has deservedly received quite a bit of attention in the whisky industry.
Bottler: Adelphi
Type: Blended Malt (Scotch and Japanese malts)
Age: 14 Years Old
Cask: Unknown
ABV: 44.3%
Price: £95.00 at the Master of Malt
TheMadVatter
Nose
Juicy fruit gum, new shoe rubber, wisp of smoke, slight moth balls, cedar wardrobe. Pinch of cinnamon and a teaspoon of nutmeg. The new shoe rubber and juicy fruit gum dominates.
Taste
Very round and soft fruity texture which evolves into a mix of flavours like tart toasted oak, red wine, touch of smoke, red fruits and berries with this hickory bark backbone. Has this smoking wood chip note to it. Very bright and spritely with zesty berries and a slight red licorice twist.
Finish
Red wine oak and ash smokiness. Stays on the tongue a long time. Makes me think of smoking a small cigar and drinking red wine.
Rating
8
Afterthoughts
This certainly has some depth to it. All kinds of layers like an underwater cave. It’s really enjoyable to pick it apart and it seems you can find something new with each sip. Oddly, it has this definite smokiness to it that just seemed to be sitting in the background the whole way through. It reminded me of BBQ’s and camp fires. It also reminded me a lot of the Longrow Red Pinot Noir. It has that same twist of red fruits and smoke and licorice. I’d say this is a thinking man/woman’s dram. Lot’s to think about. Lot’s to ponder. And well worth it too. Please sir! Can I have some more?
AliceInWhiskyland
Nose
Leathery, tack room, moving to a floral sweetness.
Taste
Sweet cooked peaches, black tea, moving to BBQ, peat and burnt marshmallow.
Finish
Peat lingers on the tongue.
Rating
7
Afterthoughts
Peaty dram with more to offer – complex and rich.
For other reviews/tasting notes on The Glover 14 Year Old, see here:
Image at top from:
https://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/adelphi/the-glover-14-year-old-whisky/
Adventures in Whisky Land 