Cardhu distillery is a

Speyside single malt Speyside single malts are single malt Scotch whisky, whiskies, distilled in Strathspey, Scotland, Strathspey, the area around the River Spey in Moray and Badenoch and Strathspey, in northeastern Scotland. The two best-selling single malt whiski ...

distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

near Archiestown,

Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It was founded in 1824 by

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

smuggler John Cumming and his wife Helen. The distillery is run by

Diageo Diageo plc ( ) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It is a major distributor of Scotch whisky and other spirits and operates from 132 sites around the world ...

and alongside the single malt Scotch, the distillery's whisky makes up an important part of the

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. It was established in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire in 1820, and continued to be produced and bottled at the town's Hill Street plant, once the world's ...

blended whiskies. The word "Cardhu" derives from the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

''Carn Dubh'', meaning "Black Rock".

History

The distillery was established in 1824 by John Cumming, who had previously been a whisky smuggler. The distillery was sited high up on Mannoch Hill, above the

River Spey The River Spey () is a river in the northeast of Scotland. At it is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom and the third longest and fastest-flowing river in Scotland. It is an important location for the traditions of salmon fishing an ...

due to the

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

softening the water. It started as farm distillery working on a seasonal basis after the harvest had been gathered. It was mainly run by Helen Cumming who used to sell bottles of whisky to passers-by through the window of their farmhouse. Due to the hill the farm distillery was on, Helen could see the police coming and would throw flour on herself and say that she was baking bread to disguise the smell. She would then offer them tea and fly a flag outside so that the other nearby distilleries could see and take prompt action. In 1885, the distillery was rebuilt on a new piece of land but continued to stay in the hands of the Cummings, being run by Elizabeth Cumming, the daughter-in-law of John and Helen Cumming. The stills from the old distillery building were sold to William Grant who set up

Glenfiddich Glenfiddich distillery () is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery located in the Scottish burgh of Dufftown in Moray, Scotland. Is owned by William Grant & Sons. The name Glenfiddich derives from the Scottish Gaelic ''Gleann Fhiodhai ...

distillery. The new building and stills meant that Cardhu could produce triple the amount of whisky it had previously produced. These higher production levels led to Johnnie Walker and Sons buying much of Cardhu's output to put into their increasingly popular blend. In 1893, Elizabeth Cumming sold the distillery to Johnnie Walker and Sons on the condition that the Cumming family could continue the day-to-day running of the distillery. The company joined

Distillers Company The Distillers Company plc was a leading Scotch whisky company and, at one time, a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was taken over in 1986 by Guinness & Co. and is now part of Diageo. History The Distillers Company origins lie in a trade ...

in 1925. Cardhu distillery kept working under these conditions until the onset of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when wartime restrictions meant that it was harder to use barley for distilling purposes. In 1960, the distillery's still-house, mash-house and tun-room were rebuilt, and in 1970, steam coils were introduced to heat the stills and the number of stills was increased to six. Spring water from Mannoch Hill started to be mixed with water from the local Lynne

burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ionizing radiation (such as sunburn, caused by ultraviolet radiation). Most burns are due to heat from hot fluids (called scalding), soli ...

to supply the increased production of the distillery.

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

acquired The Distillers Company in 1986.

merged with

Grand Metropolitan Grand Metropolitan plc was a leisure, manufacturing and property conglomerate headquartered in England. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it merged with Guinness plc to form ...

in 1997 to form

Variants

* Cardhu 12 Year Old (40% ABV) * Cardhu 15 Year Old (40% ABV) * Cardhu 18 Year Old (40% ABV) * Cardhu Gold Reserve (40% ABV) * Cardhu Amber Rock (40% ABV)

Special Releases Series

*2014: Cardhu 21 Year Old (54.2% ABV) *2019: Cardhu 14 Year Old (55% ABV) *2020: Cardhu 11 Year Old (56% ABV) *2020: Cardhu 16 Year Old - Four Corners of Scotland Collection (58.2% ABV) *2021: Cardhu 14 Year Old (55% ABV) *2022: Cardhu 16 Year Old (58% ABV) *2024: Cardhu 12 Year Old 200th anniversary edition (40% ABV)

Scotland's Malt Whisky Trail

Scotland's Malt Whisky Trail Eight malt whisky distilleries and a cooperage form the Malt Whisky Trail in Scotland's Speyside. Seven of the eight distilleries are in production and operational, whilst the Dallas Dhu distillery is a historic distillery. The Malt Whisky Trai ...

is a tourism initiative featuring seven working Speyside distilleries including Cardhu, a historic distillery ( Dallas Dhu, now a museum) and the

Speyside Cooperage The Speyside Cooperage is a cooperage located in Craigellachie, Aberlour, Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, ...

. According to a BBC article, "Cardhu is a Scotch that may taste familiar because it is used in Johnnie Walker’s blended whiskies".

'Pure malt' controversy

In December 2003, parent company Diageo caused controversy by halting the production of Cardhu single malt and replacing it with a

blended malt A blended malt, formerly called a vatted malt, or pure malt, is a blend of different single malt whiskies from different distilleries. These terms are most commonly used in reference to Scotch whisky, or whisky in that style, such as Japan ...

which they labelled a 'pure malt' using the same bottle design and label as its single malt. The decision by Diageo angered both consumers and other whisky producers who were worried that the single malt image would be damaged. Diageo responded to the criticism by agreeing to change the label style and colour of their pure malt in order to avoid

consumer confusion Consumer confusion is a state of mind that leads to consumers making imperfect purchasing decisions or lacking confidence in the correctness of their purchasing decisions. Confusion Confusion occurs when a consumer fails to correctly understand o ...

. Sales of Cardhu pure malt dropped substantially due to the change. Cardhu recommenced producing a single malt in 2006. Cardhu single malt is 40%

ABV Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...

.Bottle label

References

External links

Cardhu's webpage
on malts.com
Discovering Distilleries webpage on CardhuWomen Behind the Whisky on Helen Cumming and Cardhu
{{Scottish Distilleries Diageo Distilleries in Scotland Speyside area distilleries Scottish malt whisky 1824 establishments in Scotland Manufacturing companies established in 1824 Food and drink companies established in 1824