Joining Mr Kennedy was Menzies Campbell, Mr Dewar's university friend, and the Lib Dems' foreign affairs spokesman, who walked beside former Tory minister and Tory MSP for the Lothians region, Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, another of Mr Dewar's lifelong friends.
After earlier securing the go-ahead from the European Union, on condition the combined group sells its Dewar's and Ainslie scotch brands, this week the group won approval from the US authorities, though it too demanded concessions - the sale of Dewar's and of Bombay gin.