200 years of Cardhu
The Cardhu distillery is one of those few that boasts a significant contribution of women to their development, and thus to the success of Scotch whisky as a category in general. Cardhu was one of the oldest legal whisky factories in the region now known as Speyside, and was co-founded by Helen Cumming, who was involved in illegal whisky churning long before the conditions for legal operations were in place. As the news goes, Helen flew a red flag high on the mast whenever inspectors appeared on the farm. This served as a warning to other moonshiners in the area to hide their equipment and obliterate traces of their activities at the earliest opportunity.
Today, Helen Cumming flying a red warning flag is the main theme of a new anniversary edition of whisky from the Cardhu distillery. Lo and behold, when the British legislature finally created the conditions for fair and legal whisky production in the form of The Excise Act of 1823, Cardhu (then Cardow, after the name of the village where the Cumming family lived) was one of the first distilleries to purchase such a license. This was in 1824, which means that we are just now entering the period of celebrating the bicentennial of Cardhu's activities.
Cardhu 12yo 200 Anniversary Limited Edition is a whisky matured entirely in wine casks, the first such edition in the distillery's history. Maturation in wine barrels resulted in notes of fresh berries and currants in the aroma, and accents of cinnamon, cane sugar and dark chocolate in the taste.
In the bicentennial history of the Cardhu distillery, another woman, Elizabeth Cumming, daughter-in-law of Helen, has played a huge role, Elizabeth Cumming. It took over the distillery in 1884 and completely rebuilt it. It was thanks to her efforts that Cardhu single malt whisky was known and available in London as early as 1888.
The Cardhu distillery has been associated with the Johnnie Walker brand for years, with its Visitor Center serving as the brand's headquarters in the Scottish Highlands. This relationship formally began in 1893, when Cardhu was sold to John Walker & Sons. Sold, however, under several significant conditions. The Cumming family has reserved the right to run the distillery, as well as a seat on the board of John Walker & Sons. Let the stature of the distillery and its products be evidenced by the fact that Cardhu was the first single malt whisky from the DCL (now Diageo) portfolio to be marketed under its own brand, and in the 1960s the CEO of DCL was the great-grandson of John and Helen Cumming, Sir Ronald Cumming.
A little known fact, but worth recalling, is that when Elizabeth Cumming set about modernizing her distillery in 1884, she sold the alembics previously operating there to a certain William Grant. In this way, admittedly only indirectly, she contributed to the Glenfiddich distillery (zał. 1886) and the creation of one of today's largest and best-known single malt whisky brands.
Today, the Cardhu distillery is one of four centers, four malt whisky plants, owned by Diageo that have undergone a powerful transformation in recent years as producers of the building blocks of the world's best-selling Scotch whisky brand, Johnnie Walker. The thoroughly modern Visitor Center welcomes visitors from around the world for unforgettable experiences, tours, tastings and workshops related to both the Johnnie Walker brand and Cardhu itself. The other three are Clynelish (northern Highlands), Glenkinchie (Lowlands) and Caol Ila (Islay).
The current offerings of the House of Whisky Online include a whole range of whisky editions from the Cardhu distillery, including the described Cardhu 12yo Anniversary Limited Edition. Or at least it was at the time of preparing this material.
[11.03.2024 / photo: House of Whisky Online]