The Glenlivet has introduced a new series, Fusion Cask, with a single malt finished in recoopered casks that mix wood used to age both bourbon and rum. 

Fusion Cask release will showcase “flavour experimentation” with batches of the Speyside distillery's single malt spirit that have been partly matured in bespoke casks. 

The first in the series is The Glenlivet Rum and Bourbon Fusion Cask Selection, for which single malt spirit was finished in recoopered casks that comprise wood from both first-fill rum and first-fill bourbon casks. The chosen casks were dismantled and rebuilt into new vessels that pair the heads of one cask type with the staves of the other – a method that The Glenlivet's owner Chivas Brothers claims as a first for the Scotch single malt category.

Tasting notes supplied by The Glenlivet say the Rum and Bourbon Fusion Cask Selection has aromas of orange, vanilla custard, and coconut, with palate notes of apricot, fresh apples, toffee-covered bananas, and cinnamon.

Chivas Brothers cask expert Kevin Balmforth said: “This category-first innovation continues our commitment and 200-year legacy of pushing boundaries in whisky. As a team of makers at The Glenlivet, we work closely with our partners at the cooperage to ensure the handmade casks are of the highest quality, and this intricate dismantling and reassembling process to create new bespoke casks ensures a distinctive and expertly crafted finish.”

The Glenlivet Rum and Bourbon Fusion Cask Selection will be available for purchase initially in the US from February 2024, priced from US$99.99.

The launch of the Fusion Cask series comes in the year that The Glenlivet celebrates its 200th anniversary. In January, the distillery announced the release of a limited edition of its 12 Years Old single malt to mark the occasion.