Highland Malt
Speyside
CARDHU (1824 see also CARDOW
FRESH FRUITS, FLORAL, ELEGANT
Knockando, Morayshire. Licentiehouder: John Walker & Sons Ltd. Kilmarnock. Onderdeel van Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. (S.M.D.). De malt divisie van United Distillers Ltd. Eigendom van Guinness.
Cardow of Cardhu betekent zwarte rots en werd in 1824 gesticht door John Cumming een boer.
Het water en turf was ruim voorhanden in de nabij gelegen Mannoch Hills.
Werd aanvankelijk de whisky vooral verkocht in de directe omgeving, werd het afzet gebied met het gereed komen van de Strathspey spoorlijn veel groter.
John Cumming stierf in 1839 en zijn zoon Lewis volgde hem op.
In 1869 werd er 623 liter whisky per week gestookt.
Lewis Cumming stierf in 1872 en liet een vrouw, Elizabeth en drie jonge kinderen achter.
Elizabeth zou de distilleerderij gedurende zeventien jaar leiden.
Elizabeth Cumming huurde in 1884 een stuk grond nabij de distilleerderij en bouwde een kompleet niewe distilleerderij.
Zij gebruikte de naam Cardhu voor het produkt, maar de naam van de distilleerderij bleef Vardow.
De jaar kapaciteit was nu 1560 hectoliter.Highland Malt Speyside
Knockando, Morayshire. Licentiehouder. De malt divisie van United Distillers Ltd. Eigendom vanGuinness.
Cardow of Cardhu betekent zwarte rots en werd in1824 gesticht door John Cumming een boer. Het water en turf was ruim voorhanden in de nabij gelegenMannoch Hills.
Werd aanvankelijk de whisky vooral verkocht in de directe omgeving, werd het afzet gebied met het gereed komen van de Strathspey spoorlijn veel groter.
John Cumming stierf in 1839 en zijn zoon Lewis volgde hem op .In 1869 werd er 623 liter whisky per week gestookt. Lewis Cumming stierf in 1872 en liet een vrouw, Elizabeth en drie jonge kinderen achter
Elizabeth zou de distilleerderij gedurende zeventien jaar leiden. Elizabeth Cumming huurde in 1884 een stuk grond nabij de distilleerderij en bouwde een kompleet niewe distilleerderij.
Zij gebruikte de naam Cardhu voor het produkt, maar de naam van de distilleerderij bleef Cardow. De jaar kapaciteit was nu 1560 hectoliter.
In 1887 werd de kapaciteit vergroot, en weer in 1897.Elizabeth Cumming verkocht de distilleerderij in 1892aan John Walker & Son Ltd, te Kilmarnock voor £ 20,500.
Haar zoon John F. Cumming werd directeur bij John Walker en verantwoordlijk voor hun toenemende belangen in distilleerderijen.
Toen Buchanan - Dewar, John Walker & Sons Ltd enThe Distillers Company Ltd (D.C.L.) in 1925 fuseerden werd Cardow onderdeel van Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. (S.M.D.) de malt divisie van de D.C.L.
De distilleerderij lag stil van 1942 tot 1945.
In 1960 - 1961 werd er verbouwd, er kwamen twee ketels bij, er kwam electricteit die de stoommachine overbodig maakte die voor de energie zorgde voor de distilleerderij.
In 1971 werden de ketels omgebouwd van kolen gestookt- tot stoomverhit door middel van een met oliegestookte boiler.
Porceswater komt van de Mannoch Hills, koelwater van de Lyne Burn. De kapaciteit in nu ongeveer 1,5 miljoen liter spirit jaarlijks.
Guinness nam Arthur Bell & Sons Ltd in 1986 over en in 1987 The Distillers Company Ltd.
In 1988 werden beide groepen van bedrijven samengevoegd en de nieuwe naam werd United Distillers Limited (U.D.). Op 12 Mei 1997 werd de fusie aangekondigd tussen Guinness en Grand Metropiltan (GrandMet).
Op 16 Oktober 1997 staakt de Fransman Bernard Arnault van L M V H zijn verzet tegen de fusie voor een afkoopsom van ƒ 800.000.000
De nieuwe naam van de gefuseerden zou aanvankelijkG M G Brands worden, maar op 22 Oktober werd bekend dat de naam Diageo zou worden, afgeleid van het Latijnse woord voor dag en het Griekse woord voorwereld.
Diageo wordt het grootste drankenconcern ter wereld, groter dan Allied Domecq en Seagram samen en met een omzet van 40 miljard gulden.
Op 28 Maart verkoopt Diageo het whiskymerk Dewar'sen het ginmerk Bombay voor vier miljard pond aan Bacardi Martini. Het afstoten van de twee drankenmerken was een voorwaarde die door deAmerikaanse mededingings autoriteiten was gesteld om goed-keuring te geven aan de fusie tussen Guinnessen Grand Metropolitan.
Dewar heeft een omzet van ruim één miljard gulden en een marktaandeel van 10 %. Het merk in marktleider in de Verenigde Staten.
Ook de distilleerderijen Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie en Royal Brackla worden het eigendom van Bacardi Martini.
Cardhu heeft een Mash tun van 7.2 ton, de Wash backs, acht stuks, hebben een inhoud van elk 37000 liter.Cardhu heeft zes met stoom verhitte ketels, drie Wash stills van elk 12000 liter en drie Spirit stills van elk 10,500 liter.
Juli 2003 wordt de naam van de distilleerderij veranderd in Cardow de naam die tot voor twintig jaargeleden ook werd gebruikt. De reden hiervoor is het grote succes van de malt Cardhu en de Johnnie Walker blends, waarvan Cardhu de belangrijkste malt whisky is. Cardhu wordt nu uitgebracht als vatted malt.
Malt whisky distilling began, and long continued, as a domestic craft practised by farmers. They made whisky from the water and barley on their land and sold it for cash in the nearest market. The early history of Cardhufollows this pattern.
The distillery takes its name from the farm of Cardow(pronounced "Car-doo") in Upper Knockando. John Cumming, the son of a hill farmer and grazier, became the tenant round about 1813, some time after his marriage. Until then he had helped his parents in looking after their farm and in the surreptitious production of whisky. Now he began to apply the knowledge acquired from them on his own account. The remote location of the farm on the uplands overlooking the Spey afforded a degree of protection from the attentions of excise officers, and the neighbouring Mannoch Hill provided an abundance of soft spring water and peat.
John Cumming's wife Ellen was a woman of spirit and enterprise, and in her capacity to the surveillance of theExcise no one was equal to her. There were no inns for many miles, so officers on a visit to Knockando used to lodge at the farm. As soon as Ellen Cumming had prepared their meal and set them down at table, she would steal into the backyard to hoist a red flag over the barn. This was the sign warning smugglers to hide their distilling apparatus before the authorities searched their premises.
The product of John and Ellen Cumming's labours was carried over the Mannoch Hill to Elgin and Forres where a market was found for it. After John Cumming took out a licence in 1824, much of it was taken by horse and cart to Burghead and shipped to Leith. The opening of the Strathspey Railway in the 1860's provided a fast and economic link with Aberdeen, Perth and the South.
John Cumming died in 1839 and was succeeded by his son Lewis. The distillery was still part of the farm. There was no title to the buildings except the farm lease which expired every nineteen years. Weekly output was only 240 gallons (623 litres) in 1869.
Lewis Cumming died in 1872, leaving a widow and three young children. Mrs. Elizabeth Cummingpersonally supervised the 'conduct of the business for almost seventeen years. In the year she took over, a brewer was engaged and undertook to work the distillery with two other men.
Alfred Barnard, a London journalist and magazine publisher who visited the distillery in the 1880's, wrote that the buildings were "of the most straggling and primitive description and although water power existed, a great part of the work was done by manual labour. It is won-derful", he reflected, "how long this state of things existed, considering the successful business that was carried on for so many years".
In 1884 Elizabeth Cumming obtained a feu of a piece of ground close to the old buildings and built "an entirely new distillery... on the most approved plan, and with all the latest improvements and appliances". Annual capacity was increased to 0 proof gallons (1,560 hectolitres). Barnard was told that "the new make had been submitted to competent judges, who pronounced it to be similar in character to that made at the old distillery, which is of the thickest and richest description, and admirably adapted for blending purposes".
Mrs. Cumming used the unregistered trade mark"Cardhu" to describe the product. The name of the distillery continued to be spelled "Cardow" for the next hundred years or so. Its capacity was increased in 1887and again ten years later.
Mrs. Cumming sold the distillery in 1893 to John Walker & Sons Ltd., Kilmarnock, for £20,500. Her son, John F. Cumming, who had latterly managed it for her, was appointed a director of Walker's, with direct responsibility for their growing distillery interests. He also managed the farm for many years and, in his private capacity, was tenant of Kinermony, Aberlour,where he built up a celebrated herd of Aberdeen-Angus cattle. He was convenor of Morayshire County Councilfrom 1920 to 1929.
A trade journal stated in 1924 that the distillery was the only one in the Speyside district to omit the use of the suffix "Glen-livet" in the description of its product. There was another unique feature: the furnaces of its two larger stills were fired by "oil and steam pressure on the jet system". The main sources of power were a horizontal steam engine of 32 h.p. and a Vickers-Pottersemi-diesel engine of 25 h.p. A water wheel drove the switching apparatus in the tunroom, and a Cromptondynamo supplied electricity for the entire works, the manager's house and the workmen's cottages. "It is hardly necessary to add (the paper commented) that electric light in country cottages is extremely rare, and the privilege is greatly appreciated."
As a result of the merger between Buchanan-Dewar Ltd., The Distillers Company Limited and John Walker & Sons Ltd., the distillery was transferred to Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd., a DCL subsidiary, in 1930. John Walkerkept the distiller's licence.
The distillery was silent from 1942 to 1945, owing to war-time restrictions on the use of barley for distilling. When it reopened all incoming supplies came by rail toKnockando Station, where they were loaded on to the distillery's two eight-ton lorries. Deliveries of coal and barley were later undertaken by road haulage contractors, but whisky continued to be despatched by rail until 1967, a year before the Strathspey line closed.
A major exercise in replanning the entire distillery took place in 1960-61 when the stillhouse, mash-house and tun-room were rebuilt. The object was to install equipment that would result in improved convenience and economy of operation, without prejudice to the character of the make. The steam engine was replaced by electric power from the national grid, the number of stills was increased from four to six and their coal-burning furnaces, previously fired by manual labour, were converted to mechanical stoking. The stills were converted to internal heating by steam from an oil-fired boiler in 1971.
The site of the distillery occupies 8 acres (1/4 hectares). Process water is piped from springs on theMannoch Hill or is collected from the Lyne Burn near the source and piped to a storage cistern near the distillery. Cooling water is supplied by the overflow of the Lyne Burn, or by surface water on the Mannoch Hill, fed to the main distillery dam. All of these sources are owned by Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. The company also owns 16 houses for occupation by employees.
The farm covers about 150 acres (60 hectares). It is owned by Knockando Estates and is rented and managed by SMD. The main products are barley, sheep and beef cattle.
The licensed distillers are John Walker & Sons Ltd., Kilmarnock, blenders of Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky. They bottle the distillery make as Cardhu Highland Malt Whisky. The name of the distillery was changed from Cardow to Cardhu in 1981.
It would be wrong to go down the road of thinking that Cardhu malt is only a small percentage of the new product. It is mainly Cardhu with some whiskies of a similar profile added in.
The move from a single malt to a vatted version will anger purists, but is not the first time that such a move has been made, and Diageo says that it will not be the last.
The comapny admits that if this move is a succes, it will consider doing the same with other malts, though not with the likes of Oban or Lagavulin.
Dave Broom, said that he onderstood Diageo's logic. I have some reservations but if handled properly then it's not immensely damaging, he says.
Glenfiddich has done much the same for years. In all probability other distillers have been waiting for the precedent to be set.
And here's my fear - will every firm be as careful as Diageo has been explaining precisely what has happened to Cardhu to consumers?. I have my doubts'.
November 2003:
'Diageo heeft de vrede getekend in het whiskyconflict met de concurenten in de Schotse whiskyindustrie. Het zal zijn pure malt whisky Cardhu niet in dezelfde fles en met hetzelfde label verkopen als de single malt.
Schotse whiskyproducenten vonden dat Diageo de reputatie van de sector op het spel zette. Single malts komen van één distilleerderij, pure malts van verschillende.
October 2005
Diageo has announced that its 2005 Annual Rare Malts Selection will be the last.
The collection will consist of four cask strenght single malts from closed distilleries.
Dr. Nicholas Morgan, global malts marketing director commented: 'As the Special Releases are now well established, it makes less sence to continue selecting and promoting a parallel series of Rare Malts with hisown separate indentity'. In future, all premium and rare whiskies will be made available in the annual Special Releases series.
Diageo launches Cardhu whisky expression
February, 2014
Diageo is to add another expression to its Cardhu single malt scotch brand. Cardhu Amber Rock has been"double matured" in toasted American oak casks and it does not carry an age statement.
Official tasting notes announce that "the classic Cardhu notes of citrus and honey are deepened by fruit, spice and sweetness: superbly balanced and well-paced, with consistent intensity and texture and a tasteful mingling of silky tannins and clean, fresh vanilla flavours and aromas."
Master blender Dr Matthew Crow said: "The Bourbon nuances that develop from the second maturation in toasted casks seasoned with bourbon whiskey add an even greater silkiness and roundness to the already balanced and delicious Cardhu, bringing vanilla and spice notes along with hints of oak. We are very pleased with how this has turned out."
Amber Rock joins the family of Speyside single maltScotch whiskies, which was recently expanded with the addition of 15 and 18 year old expressions.
The new expression will be available in France and thenBelgium from spring 2014, and more widely in Western Europe [UK, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Greece & Netherlands] from late summer onwards. The launch will be supported by in-store publicity, advertising and promotion through digital channels.
Nik Keane, Diageo's global brand director for malt whiskies said: "Western Europe remains a major market for our single malts, including Cardhu."We are excited and confident that this very original new variant will appeal both to existing Cardhu drinkers and to whisky drinkers new to the category or the brand."The name Cardhu means "black rock" in the Gaelic language. RRP in the UK is £41
Diageo releases Cardhu Gold Reserve
November, 2014
Diageo has lengthened its Cardhu single malt line of expressions with Gold Reserve. The Speyside malt follows Cardhu Amber Rock, which launched earlier this year, is priced at £35 per bottle and also comes as part of a gift pack priced at £55 The new malt and pack is available in selected markets, with an emphasis onEurope. According to Diageo, Maureen Robinson,master blender of Cardhu Gold, has collaborated with three 'hosting experts' for the pack.
A fig-scented candle, gold-marbled chocolates and cocktail recipes are said to work in harmony with the new 40% abv whisky.
Former Calooh Callay bar manager and Diageo UK whisky ambassador Andrea Montague, created Honeyed Gold and Golden Delicious cocktails, the recipes of which are listed in the Cardhu Gold Reservepack.
Robinson said: "Carefully crafted in hand-picked toasted oak casks, this single malt has a warm toffee and fruity finish". Cardhu has a long tradition of creating generously flavoured malts and Cardhu Gold Reserve is a wonderful example of this."
Cardhu's character is quite a change from the original which was noted as being a heavy spirit from small stills. Only with the installation of new larger stills in 1897 did the
present Cardhu emerge.
One of the oldest distilleries in Speyside, Cardhu (at that point Cardow) started life as a farm whose ‘tack’ was taken by John Cumming and his wife Helen in1811. They soon started making illicit whisky – research suggests it was Helen who was in charge of operations – and operating the farm as an early warning station for the moonshiners in Glen Livet.Legend has it when the gaugers arrived at the farm, Helen would distract them and run a red flag up a pole alerting their cronies.
It is not surprising, perhaps, that Cardhu is also accepted to have been the first of the Speyside distilleries to take out one of the new licences after theExcise Act was passed in 1823.
On Helen’s death her daughter-in-law Elizabeth took charge of operations, expanding what was a pretty primitive setup in 1884, and selling the old stills and waterwheel to William Grant who was planning to build his family distillery, called Glenfiddich, in Dufftown. By then, Cardhu had established itself as a favourite of blenders, but was also available as a single malt inLondon as early as 1888.
In 1893, the distillery was sold to long-term customerJohn Walker & Sons on the understanding that the family would still run the distillery and have a seat on the Walker board. The distillery was expanded from two stills to four in 1897 and then up to six in 1960.
By that time Cardhu was seen as being the Highlandbase of Johnnie Walker, but as well as supplying liquid for the world’s top-selling blend, from 1981 it was also the first venture into single malt branding in the modern era for industry giant DCL (today known as Diageo) whose chairman from 1963-1967 was John andHelen’s great-grandson Sir Ronald Cumming.
Having a make which is both an important element of a blend and a single malt necessitates some tricky balancing acts. In 2002, this balancing act failed. Projected sales for the single malt in Spain and Francewere estimated to outstrip the distillery capacity – which also had to supply fillings for the growing Walkerrange.
The solution was to turn Cardhu the single malt brand into what was then known as a vatted malt [a mix of single malts from different distilleries] while retaining its overall character. Needless to say, this was deemed to be somewhat confusing to the consumer and after a somewhat farcical period when the distillery name was changed back to Cardow, the policy was dropped.
The fallout from the incident resulted in a complete overhaul of Scotch whisky labelling regulations and the creation of a new term, ‘blended malt’.
Today, Cardhu continues to act as ‘home’ for Johnnie Walker – complete with an impressive visitor’s centre – and bottlings of the single malt are once again increasing.
1811
John and Helen Cumming start
producing illicit whisky on their
farm, Cardow
1823
Cardhu distillery becomes one
of the first distilleries to obtain a
license
1839
John Cumming dies, leaving wife
Helen and son Lewis to take over
1872
The Cummings' daughter-in-law,
Elizabeth, assumes control of the
distillery
1884
Elizabeth moves the distillery and
rebuilds it nearby
1893
Cardhu is sold to John Walker & Sons,
although the family remain involved
1897
The distillery capacity is doubled
with two new stills
1960
Cardhu's capacity is increased further,
bringing its total number of stills to six
1963
Sir Ronald Cumming, John and Helen's
great-grandson,becomes DCL chairman
1968
The Maltings are closed
2002
Cardhu is transformed from a single
malt into a vatted malt to ease stock
constraints
2004
Cardhu Pure Malt is withdrawn following
a widespread industry challenge
2005
Cardhu 12 Year Old single malt is
launched and also a 22 year old
2009
Cardhu SC 1997 in the Manager's
Choice Series is released
2011
Both a 15 year old and 18 year old
are released
2013
A 21 year old rleased
2014
Amber Rock and Gold Reserve
released
2016
A Distillery Reserve is released
2019
A 14 years old released as a
Special Reserve
2020
Capacity: 3.400.000 Ltrs
Output: 3.400.000 Ltrs
An 11 year old Rare by Nature bottling released
2021
A 14 year old Rare by Nature and a 16 year old
Four Corners of Scotland bottling are released
2022
A 16 years old Rum finish is released 58 %
Hidden Paradise of Black Rock in the
Legends Untold Series
Capacity: 3.400.000 Ltrs
Output: 3.400.000 Ltrs
CONDENSER TYPE i
Shell and tube
FERMENTATION TIME i
75hrs
FILLING STRENGTH i
63.5%
GRIST WEIGHT (T) i
8
HEAT SOURCE i
Steam
MALT SPECIFICATION i
Lightly peated
MALT SUPPLIER i
Mainly in house
MASH TUN TYPE i
Lauter
NEW-MAKE PHENOL LEVEL i
Slightly peaty
NEW-MAKE STRENGTH i
71%
SPIRIT STILL CHARGE (L) i
10,500
SPIRIT STILL SHAPE i
Plain
STILLS i
6
WASH STILL CHARGE (L) i
12,000
WASH STILL SHAPE i
Plain
WASHBACK TYPE i
8 wood, 2 steel
WASHBACKS i
10
WATER SOURCE i
Mannoch Hill Spring
WORT CLARITY i
Clear
YEAST TYPE i
Creamed
Diageo
1997 - present
United Distillers
1986 - 1997
Distillers Company Limited
1925 - 1986
John Walker & Sons
1893 - 1925
The Cumming Family
1811 - 1893
Malt whisky distilling began, and long continued, as a domestic craft practised by farmers. They made whisky from the water and barley on their land and sold it for cash in the nearest market. The early history of Cardhu follows this pattern.
The distillery takes its name from the farm of Cardow (pronounced "Car-doo") in Upper Knockando. John Cumming, the son of a hill farmer and grazier, became the tenant round about 1813, some time after his marriage. Until then he had helped his parents in looking after their farm and in the surrep¬titious production of whisky. Now he began to apply the knowledge acquired from them on his own account. The remote location of the farm on the uplands overlooking the Spey afforded a degree of protection from the attentions of excise officers, and the neighbouring Mannoch Hill provided an abundance of soft spring water and peat.
John Cumming's wife Ellen was a woman of spirit and enterprise, and in her capacity to the surveillance of the Excise no one was equal to her. There were no inns for many miles, so officers on a visit to Knockando used to lodge at the farm. As soon as Ellen Cumming had prepared their meal and set them down at table, she would steal into the backyard to hoist a red flag over the barn. This was the sign warning smugglers to hide their distilling apparatus before the authorities searched their premises.
The product of John and Ellen Cumming's labours was carried over the Mannoch Hill to Elgin and Forres where a market was found for it. After John Cumming took out a licence in 1824, much of it was taken by horse and cart to Burghead and shipped to Leith. The opening of the Strathspey Railway in the 1860's provided a fast and economic link with Aberdeen, Perth and the South.
John Cumming died in 1839 and was succeeded by his son Lewis. The distillery was still part of the farm. There was no title to the buildings except the farm lease which expired every nineteen years. Weekly output was only 240 gallons (623 litres) in 1869.
Lewis Cumming died in 1872, leaving a widow and three young children. Mrs. Elizabeth Cumming personally supervised the 'conduct of the business for almost seventeen years. In the year she took over, a brewer was engaged and undertook to work the distillery with two other men.
Alfred Barnard, a London journalist and magazine publisher who visited the distillery in the 1880's, wrote that the buildings were "of the most straggling and primitive description and although water power existed, a great part of the work was done by manual labour. It is won-derful", he reflected, "how long this state of things existed, considering the successful busi¬ness that was carried on for so many years".
In 1884 Elizabeth Cumming obtained a feu of a piece of ground close to the old buildings and built "an entirely new distillery... on the most approved plan, and with all the latest improve-ments and appliances". Annual capacity was increased to 60,000 proof gallons (1,560 hectolitres). Barnard was told that "the new make had been submitted to competent judges, who pronounced it to be similar in character to that made at the old distillery, which is of the thickest and richest description, and admirably adapted for blending purposes".
Mrs. Cumming used the unregistered trade mark "Cardhu" to describe the product. The name of the distillery continued to be spelled "Cardow" for the next hundred years or so. Its capacity was increased in 1887 and again ten years later.
Mrs. Cumming sold the distillery in 1893 to John Walker & Sons Ltd., Kilmarnock, for £20,500. Her son, John F. Cumming, who had latterly managed it for her, was appointed a director of Walker's, with direct responsibility for their growing distillery interests. He also managed the farm for many years and, in his private capacity, was tenant of Kinermony, Aberlour, where he built up a celebrated herd of Aberdeen-Angus cattle. He was convenor of Morayshire County Council from 1920 to 1929.
A trade journal stated in 1924 that the distillery was the only one in the Speyside district to omit the use of the suffix "Glen-livet" in the description of its product. There was another unique feature: the furnaces of its two larger stills were fired by "oil and steam pressure on the jet system". The main sources of power were a horizontal steam engine of 32 h.p. and a Vickers-Potter semi-diesel engine of 25 h.p. A water wheel drove the switching apparatus in the tunroom, and a Crompton dynamo supplied electricity for the entire works, the manager's house and the workmen's cottages. "It is hardly necessary to add (the paper commented) that electric light in country cottages is extremely rare, and the privilege is greatly appreciated."
As a result of the merger between Buchanan-Dewar Ltd., The Distillers Company Limited and John Walker & Sons Ltd., the distillery was transferred to Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd., a DCL subsidiary, in 1930. John Walker kept the distiller's licence.
The distillery was silent from 1942 to 1945, owing to war-time restrictions on the use of barley for distilling. When it reopened all incoming supplies came by rail to Knockando Station, where they were loaded on to the distillery's two eightton lorries. Deliveries of coal and barley were later undertaken by road haulage contractors, but whisky continued to be despatched by rail until 1967, a year before the Strathspey line closed.
A major exercise in replanning the entire distillery took place in 1960-61 when the stillhouse, mash-house and tun-room were rebuilt. The object was to install equipment that would result in improved convenience and economy of operation, without prejudice to the character of the make. The steam engine was replaced by electric power from the national grid, the number of stills was increased from four to six and their coal-burning furnaces, previously fired by manual labour, were converted to mechanical stoking. The stills were converted to internal heating by steam from an oil-fired boiler in 1971.
The site of the distillery occupies 8 acres (1/4 hectares). Process water is piped from springs on the Mannoch Hill or is collected from the Lyne Burn near the source and piped to a storage cistern near the distillery. Cooling water is supplied by the overflow of the Lyne Burn, or by surface water on the Mannoch Hill, fed to the main distillery dam. All of these sources are owned by Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. The company also owns 16 houses for occupation by employees.
The farm covers about 150 acres (60 hectares). It is owned by Knockando Estates and is rented and managed by SMD. The main products are barley, sheep and beef cattle
.
The licensed distillers are John Walker & Sons Ltd., Kilmarnock, blenders of Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky. They bottle the distillery make as Cardhu Highland Malt Whisky. The name of the distillery was changed from Cardow to Cardhu in 1981.
CARDHU GOLD RESERVE,
GAME OF THRONES HOUSE
TARGARYEN
SCORE
78
Scoring explained >
ABV
40%
PRODUCTION TYPE
Single malt whisky
REGION
Speyside
FLAVOUR CAMP
Fruity & Spicy
NOSE
Classic Cardhu: soft toffee sweetness
and crumbly red apples with a touch
of poached pear. Soft baking spices
and lightly toasted oak add some gravitas
to an otherwise subtle nose, alongside
a hint of crunchy malt.
PALATE
Soft and very delicate.
More red apples and hard caramel,
like those shards you get on a fancy
dessert. Delicate spices – cinnamon,
cardamom – build along the sides of
the tongue, creating a little dryness.
FINISH
Dry, a touch of spice, and short.
CONCLUSION
An easy-drinker, but lacking in substance.
Best put it in a Highball or (especially at
this time of year) a Toddy. With winter
coming, you’re going to need to warm up.
RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME
Poor Daenerys. The Mother of Dragons
asked for fire and her Gorgeous Beasts
can barely manage a whimper.
In 1887 werd de kapaciteit vergroot, en
weer in 1897.
Elizabeth Cumming verkocht de distilleerderij
in 1892 aan John Walker & Son Ltd, te
Kilmarnock voor £ 20,500.
Haar zoon John F. Cumming werd directeur
bij John Walker en verantwoordlijk voor hun
toenemende belangen in distilleerderijen.
Toen Buchanan - Dewar, John Walker & Sons Ltd
en The Distillers Company Ltd (D.C.L.) in 1925
fuseerden werd Cardow onderdeel van
Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. (S.M.D.) de malt divisie
van de D.C.L.
De distilleerderij lag stil van 1942 tot 1945.
In 1960 - 1961 werd er verbouwd, er kwamen
twee ketels bij, er kwam electricteit die de
stoommachine overbodig maakte die voor
de energie zorgde voor de distilleerderij.
In 1971 werden de ketels omgebouwd van
kolen gestookt- tot stoomverhit door middel
van een met oliegestookte boiler.
Proceswater komt van de Mannoch Hills,
koelwater van de Lyne Burn. De kapaciteit in nu
ongeveer 1,5 miljoen liter spirit jaarlijks.
Guinness nam Arthur Bell & Sons Ltd in 1986
over en in 1987 The Distillers Company Ltd.
In 1988 werden beide groepen van bedrijven
samengevoegd en de nieuwe naam werd
United Distillers Limited (U.D.).
Op 12 Mei 1997 werd de fusie aangekondigd
tussen Guinness en Grand Metropiltan (GrandMet).
Op 16 Oktober 1997 staakt de Fransman Bernard Arnault
van L M V H zijn verzet tegen de fusie voor een afkoopsom
van ƒ 800.000.000
De nieuwe naam van de gefuseerden zou aanvankelijk
G M G Brands worden, maar op 22 Oktober werd bekend
dat de naam Diageo zou worden, afgeleid van het Latijnse
woord voor dag en het Griekse woord voor wereld.
Diageo wordt het grootste drankenconcern ter wereld,
groter dan Allied Domecq en Sea-gram samen en met
een omzet van 40 miljard gulden.
Op 28 Maart verkoopt Diageo het whiskymerk Dewar's
en het ginmerk Bombay voor vier miljard gulden aan
Bacardi Martini. Het afstoten van de twee drankenmerken
was een voorwaarde die door de Amerikaanse
mededingings autoriteiten was gesteld om goed-keuring
te geven aan de fusie tussen Guinness en
Grand Metropolitan.
Dewar heeft een omzet van ruim één miljard gulden en
een marktaandeel van 10 %. Het merk in marktleider
in de Verenigde Staten.
Ook de distilleerderijen Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie
en Royal Brackla worden het eigendom van Bacardi Martini.
Cardhu heeft een Mash tun van 7.2 ton, de Wash backs,
acht stuks, hebben een inhoud van elk 37000 liter
Cardhu heeft zes met stoom verhitte ketels, drie Wash
stills van elk 12000 liter en drie Spirit stills van elk 10,500 liter.
Juli 2003 wordt de naam van de distilleerderij veranderd in Cardow de naam die tot voor twintig jaargeleden ook werd
gebruikt.
De reden hiervoor is het grote succes van de malt Cardhu
en de Johnnie Walker blends, waarvan Cardhu de
belangrijkste malt whisky is.
Cardhu wordt nu uitgebracht als vatted malt.
Malt whisky distilling began, and long continued, as a domestic craft practised by farmers. They made whisky from the water and barley on their land and sold it for cash in the nearest market. The early history of Cardhu follows this pattern.
The distillery takes its name from the farm of Cardow (pronounced "Car-doo") in Upper Knockando. John Cumming, the son of a hill farmer and grazier, became the tenant round about 1813, some time after his marriage. Until then he had helped his parents in looking after their farm and in the surreptitious production of whisky. Now he began to apply the knowledge acquired from them on his own account. The remote location of the farm on the uplands overlooking the Spey afforded a degree of protection from the attentions of excise officers, and the neighbouring Mannoch Hill provided an abundance of soft spring water and peat.
John Cumming's wife Ellen was a woman of spirit and enterprise, and in her capacity to thwart the surveillance of the Excise no one was equal to her. There were no inns for many miles, so officers on a visit to Knockando used to lodge at the farm. As soon as Ellen Cumming had prepared their meal and set them down at table, she would steal into the backyard to hoist a red flag over the barn. This was the sign warning smugglers to hide their distilling apparatus before the authorities searched their premises.
The product of John and Ellen Cumming's labours was carried over the Mannoch Hill to Elgin and Forres where a market was found for it. After John Cumming took out a licence in 1824, much of it was taken by horse and cart to Burghead and shipped to Leith. The opening of the Strathspey Railway in the 1860's provided a fast and economic link with Aberdeen, Perth and the South.
John Cumming died in 1839 and was succeeded by his son Lewis. The distillery was still part of the farm. There was no title to the buildings except the farm lease which expired every nineteen years. Weekly output was only 240 gallons (623 litres) in 1869.
Lewis Cumming died in 1872, leaving a widow and three young children. Mrs. Elizabeth Cumming personally supervised the 'conduct of the business for almost seventeen years. In the year she took over, a brewer was engaged and undertook to work the distillery with two other men.
Alfred Barnard, a London journalist and magazine publisher who visited the distillery in the 1880's, wrote that the buildings were "of the most straggling and primitive description and although water power existed, a great part of the work was done by manual labour. It is won-derful", he reflected, "how long this state of things existed, considering the successful business that was carried on for so many years".
In 1884 Elizabeth Cumming obtained a feu of a piece of ground close to the old buildings and built "an entirely new distillery... on the most approved plan, and with all the latest improvements and appliances". Annual capacity was increased to 0 proof gallons (1,560 hectolitres). Barnard was told that "the new make had been submitted to competent judges, who pronounced it to be similar in character to that made at the old distillery, which is of the thickest and richest description, and admirably adapted for blending purposes".
Mrs. Cumming used the unregistered trade mark "Cardhu" to describe the product. The name of the distillery continued to be spelled "Cardow" for the next hundred years or so. Its capacity was increased in 1887 and again ten years later.
Mrs. dimming sold the distillery in 1893 to John Walker & Sons Ltd., Kilmarnock, for £20,500. Her son, John F. dimming, who had latterly managed it for her, was appointed a director of Walker's, with direct responsibility for their growing distillery interests. He also managed the farm for many years and, in his private capacity, was tenant of Kinermony, Aberlour, where he built up a celebrated herd of Aberdeen-Angus cattle. He was convenor of Morayshire County Council from 1920 to 1929.
A trade journal stated in 1924 that the distillery was the only one in the Speyside district to omit the use of the suffix "Glen-livet" in the description of its product. There was another unique feature: the furnaces of its two larger stills were fired by "oil and steam pressure on the jet system". The main sources of power were a horizontal steam engine of 32 h.p. and a Vickers-Potter semi-diesel engine of 25 h.p. A water wheel drove the switching apparatus in the tunroom, and a Crompton dynamo supplied electricity for the entire works, the manager's house and the workmen's cottages. "It is hardly necessary to add (the paper commented) that electric light in country cottages is extremely rare, and the privilege is greatly appreciated."
As a result of the merger between Buchanan-Dewar Ltd., The Distillers Company Limited and John Walker & Sons Ltd., the distillery was transferred to Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd., a DCL subsidiary, in 1930. John Walker kept the distiller's licence.
The distillery was silent from 1942 to 1945, owing to war-time restrictions on the use of barley for distilling. When it reopened all incoming supplies came by rail to Knockando Station, where they were loaded on to the distillery's two eight-ton lorries. Deliveries of coal and barley were later undertaken by road haulage contractors, but whisky continued to be despatched by rail until 1967, a year before the Strathspey line closed.
A major exercise in replanning the entire distillery took place in 1960-61 when the stillhouse, mash-house and tun-room were rebuilt. The object was to install equipment that would result in improved convenience and economy of operation, without prejudice to the character of the make. The steam engine was replaced by electric power from the national grid, the number of stills was increased from four to six and their coal-burning furnaces, previously fired by manual labour, were converted to mechanical stoking. The stills were converted to internal heating by steam from an oil-fired boiler in 1971.
The site of the distillery occupies 8 acres (1/4 hectares). Process water is piped from springs on the Mannoch Hill or is collected from the Lyne Burn near the source and piped to a storage cistern near the distillery. Cooling water is supplied by the overflow of the Lyne Burn, or by surface water on the Mannoch Hill, fed to the main distillery dam. All of these sources are owned by Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. The company also owns 16 houses for occupation by employees.
The farm covers about 150 acres (60 hectares). It is owned by Knockando Estates and is rented and managed by SMD. The main products are barley, sheep and beef cattle.
The licensed distillers are John Walker & Sons Ltd., Kilmarnock, blenders of Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky. They bottle the distillery make as Cardhu Highland Malt Whisky. The name of the distillery was changed from Cardow to Cardhu in 1981.
It would be wrong to go down the road of thinking that Cardhu malt is only a small percentage of the new product.
It is mainly Cardhu with some whiskies of a similar profile added in.
The move from a single malt to a vatted version will anger purists, but is not the first time that such a move has been made, and Diageo says that it will not be the last.
The comapny admits that if this move is a succes, it will consider doing the same with other malts, though not with the likes of Oban or Lagavulin.
Dave Broom, said that he onderstood Diageo's logic. I have some reservations but if handled properly then it's not immensely damaging, he says.
Glenfiddich has done much the same for years. In all probability other distillers have been waiting for the precedent to be set.
And here's my fear - will every firm be as careful as Diageo has been explaining precisely what has happened to Cardhu to consumers?. I have my doubts'.
November 2003:
'Diageo heeft de vrede getekend in het whiskyconflict met de concurenten in de Schotse whiskyindustrie. Het zal zijn pure malt-whisky Cardhu niet in dezelfde fles en met hetzelfde label verkopen als de single malt.
Schotse whiskyproducenten vonden dat Diageo de reputatie van de sector op het spel zette. Single malts komen van één distilleerderij, pure malts van verschillende.
October 2005
Diageo has announced that its 2005 Annual Rare Malts Selection will be the last.
The collection will consist of four cask strenght single malts from closed distilleries; Glen Mhor 28 years old, Millburn 35 years old, Glendullan 26 years old and Linkwood 30 years old.
Dr. Nicholas Morgan, global malts marketing director commented: 'As the Special Releases are now well established, it makes less sence to continue selecting and promoting a parallel series of Rare Malts with his own separate indentity'.
In future, all premium and rare whiskies will be made available in the annual Special Releases series.
Diageo launches Cardhu whisky expression
February, 2014
Diageo is to add another expression to its Cardhu single malt scotch brand.
Cardhu Amber Rock has been "double matured" in toasted American oak casks and it does not carry an age statement.
Official tasting notes announce that "the classic Cardhu notes of citrus and honey are deepened by fruit, spice and sweetness: superbly balanced and well-paced, with consistent intensity and texture and a tasteful mingling of silky tannins and clean, fresh vanilla flavours and aromas."
Master blender Dr Matthew Crow said: "The Bourbon nuances that develop from the second maturation in toasted casks seasoned with bourbon whiskey add an even greater silkiness and roundness to the already balanced and delicious Cardhu, bringing vanilla and spice notes along with hints of oak. We are very pleased with how this has turned out."
Amber Rock joins the family of Speyside single malt Scotch whiskies, which was recently expanded with the addition of 15 and 18 year old expressions.
The new expression will be available in France and then Belgium from spring 2014, and more widely in Western Europe [UK, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Greece & Netherlands] from late summer onwards. The launch will be supported by in-store publicity, advertising and promotion through digital channels.
Nik Keane, Diageo's global brand director for malt whiskies said: "Western Europe remains a major market for our single malts, including Cardhu.
"We are excited and confident that this very original new variant will appeal both to existing Cardhu drinkers and to whisky drinkers new to the category or the brand."
The name Cardhu means "black rock" in the Gaelic language. RRP in the UK is £41
Diageo releases Cardhu Gold Reserve
November, 2014
Diageo has lengthened its Cardhu single malt line of expressions with Gold Reserve.
The Speyside malt follows Cardhu Amber Rock, which launched earlier this year, is priced at £35 per bottle and also comes as part of a gift pack priced at £55.
The new malt and pack is available in selected markets, with an emphasis on Europe.
According to Diageo, Maureen Robinson, master blender of Cardhu Gold, has collaborated with three 'hosting experts' for the pack.
A fig-scented candle, gold-marbled chocolates and cocktail recipes are said to work in harmony with the new 40% abv whisky.
Former Calooh Callay bar manager and Diageo UK whisky ambassador Andrea Montague, created Honeyed Gold and Golden Delicious cocktails, the recipes of which are listed in the Cardhu Gold Reserve pack.
Robinson said: "Carefully crafted in hand-picked toasted oak casks, this single malt has a warm toffee and fruity finish". Cardhu has a long tradition of creating generously flavoured malts and Cardhu Gold Reserve is a wonderful example of this."
CLYNELISH AND CARDHU REVAMP PLANS REVEALED
March 2019
Plans for a ‘major transformation’ of Clynelish and Cardhu’s distillery visitor centres have been unveiled.
Rural footfall: Clynelish’s ‘comprehensive upgrade’ is set to bring more tourism to Brora
The plans, revealed this week to the distilleries’ stakeholders and neighbours, have been proposed as part of spirits giant Diageo’s £150m investment in its whisky tourism facilities.
Clynelish distillery, which is situated north of Inverness on the Sutherland coast, will receive a ‘comprehensive upgrade’ to its visitor centre, including the installation of a new bar and tasting area alongside ‘enhanced landscaping’ on the land surrounding the distillery.
Jacqueline James-Bow, Clynelish distillery brand home manager, said: ‘Scotch whisky tourism is one of the major attractions driving economic growth in rural communities such as Brora.
‘We are bringing investment and creating exciting new economic opportunities for the community.’
Clynelish is situated adjacent to silent distillery Brora, which is set to reopen in 2020 as part of a separate £35m investment by Diageo.
Meanwhile, Speyside distillery Cardhu, located near Knockando, will receive a revamped visitor experience championing the story of Helen and Elizabeth Cumming, the women who established and ran Cardhu distillery in the 19th century.
The plans also include the creation of an orchard for visitors to enjoy, as well as improved access to the distillery itself.
Cardhu distillery brand home manager, Laura Sharp, said: ‘The investment we are making here at Cardhu will add another jewel to Speyside’s whisky tourism crown.’
Work on both distilleries is scheduled to commence later this year, subject to planning permission being granted.
Plans for renovations to Caol Ila on Islay and Glenkinchie in the Lowlands were also revealed last year, as Diageo intends to use all four distilleries to represent ‘regional flavour varieties crucial to the art of whisky blending’.
The four redesigned visitor centres are to be linked to Diageo’s planned seven-storey Johnnie Walker Experience in Edinburgh, encouraging visitors to the Experience to travel to Scotland’s rural communities in a ‘unique Johnnie Walker tour of Scotland’.d
February 2019
Johnnie Walker Experience plans revealed
The Edinburgh experience is designed to be ‘one of the greatest whisky attractions in the world’.
Grand plans for former Walker bottling site
CARDHU RENOVATION GETS
PLANNING APPROVAL
August 2019
Diageo’s £150 million investment in Scotch whisky tourism has hit a milestone as plans have been approved to upgrade Cardhu distillery in Speyside.
New dawn: Work will soon get underway to transform Cardhu distillery in Speyside
The green light given by Moray Council today (8 August) means planning permission has been granted for all five of Diageo’s key Johnnie Walker tourism projects.
They include the renovation of Caol Ila, Clynelish and Glenkinchie distilleries, as well as the construction of a three-storey Johnnie Walker visitor experience in the centre of Edinburgh.
The upgrades are in anticipation of next year’s celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of the Johnnie Walker brand.
David Cutter, chairman of Diageo in Scotland, said: ‘Together these locations will create a unique Johnnie Walker tour of Scotland, encouraging visitors to the capital city to also travel to the country’s extraordinary rural communities.’
The upgrade to Cardhu’s visitor experience will see the distillery highlight the story of Helen and Elizabeth Cumming, the women who ran Cardhu in the 19th century, as well as its connection to the Walker family.
Laura Sharp, Cardhu distillery brand home manager, said: ‘This is an important step forward on our journey to transform Cardhu’s visitor experience… Speyside is a hugely important part of the Scotch whisky tourism map and we are very excited to bring new visitors to the region.’
Diageo’s £150m investment will also be used to fund upgrades at the whisky producer’s eight other single malt distillery visitor centres, with a further £35m invested in reopening the closed Brora and Port Ellen distilleries.
THE CUMMING FAMILY, CARDHU
From illegal distillers to pillars of the establishment, the Cumming family’s saga mirrors the modern history of Scotch whisky, with two remarkable women to the fore.
Elizabeth Cumming
Astute businesswoman: Elizabeth Cumming’s decisions secured the family fortune
The saga of the Cumming family of Cardow, renamed Cardhu in 1981, traces the timeline of the modern Scotch whisky industry. Within three generations, illegal distillers became figures of wealth and influence, with a Cumming knighted and appointed chairman of The Distillers Company (DCL). None of this would have happened, however, without the efforts of two remarkable women: Helen and Elizabeth Cumming.
In 1811, John and Helen Cumming took out a 19-year lease on Cardow Farm at Knockando on Speyside. A remote spot with easy access to water and peat, it was the perfect place for illicit distillation.
In 1816, John Cumming was convicted three times for malting and distilling ‘privately’, but it was probably Helen who was operating the stills – and who had to outwit the local excisemen. As Brian Spiller recounts in Cardhu: The World of Malt Whisky:
‘On one occasion, when brewing, she was warned that they were approaching. There was just enough time to hide the distilling apparatus, to substitute the materials of bread-making, and to smear her arms and hands with flour. When the knock came at the door, she opened it with a welcoming smile and the words: “Come awa’ ben, I’m just baking.”’
In those days, the Knockando area was littered with illicit stills. When the excisemen arrived at Cardow Farm – they were often billeted there while conducting their local investigations – Helen Cumming would cook them a meal and, while they ate, slip out of the back door and raise a red flag to warn the neighbours of their arrival.
In time, the excisemen grew rather frustrated, according to Ronnie Cox, brands heritage director, spirits, at Berry Bros & Rudd, and Helen Cumming’s great-great-great-grandson. ‘They were fed up with not finding any illegal stills, so they decided to offer her a bribe,’ he says. At first, Helen Cumming refused, but eventually she gave in, telling the men to return in a fortnight.
‘But within those two weeks, she told everybody what her plan was,’ says Cox. ‘She would go to the cave behind the big black rock [Cardow/Cardhu comes from the Scots Gaelic for black rock] and they would discover what looked like a still. But it would be the old, worn-out parts of a still. Then she would split the bribe with the neighbours and they would use it to buy new equipment.’
As a result, Cox adds, everyone was happy. ‘The Customs & Excise people won, in that they went away with the still parts as evidence – and everyone else went back to distilling again because they could now afford new parts.’
When the 1823 Excise Act made legal distilling viable, the Cummings were among the first to buy a licence, accepting advice and assistance from George Smith, founder of The Glenlivet, and John Grant, of Glen Grant. In the early days, Smith bought and sold on much of Cardow’s output while the Cummings found customers for themselves.
Elizabeth Cumming registered the Car-Dhu trademark in the 1890s
John and Helen Cumming soon handed on Cardow’s operations to their son, Lewis Cumming. As other Speyside distilleries expanded, he made great play of Cardow being ‘the smallest distillery in Scotland’, extolling the virtues of the ‘sma’ still’ and winning a growing reputation for his whisky. Lewis told a Portsmouth wine and spirits merchant in 1832:
‘The quality I have no doubt will please, my still being of the smallest kind. I use no other fuel but peat, which is a great thing for making good whisky. I have hitherto sold my spirits in small quantities and have had fully as much demand as I could supply. Yet I would no doubt prefer a customer who could take a puncheon occasionally and give me ready payments.’
Nonetheless, there were Cardow critics – most notably, his brother James Cumming, a wine and spirits merchant in Edinburgh, and a regular customer. In a letter to Lewis dated 31 December 1847, he writes:
‘I wish very much you would if at all possible make your aqua [spirit] with less flavour and a great deal less soap; it tastes of nothing but soap and although I can not say so here Glengrant whisky is worth a shilling per gallon more than yours for this part of the county, if you cannot use less soap you should put a higher head on your still … If I did not mix yours with Buchans I could not sell a gallon of it.’
The response to this trenchant criticism – with its allusion to an early example of the technique of blending – is not recorded.
New owner: John Walker & Sons made great play of the quality of Cardow’s whisky
Lewis Cumming died in 1872, aged 69, survived by his 95-year-old mother Helen, who died two years later. Tales of her exploits persist to this day, with one Knockando resident of the mid-1980s recalling his grandmother describing how ‘Granny Cumming’ would sell whisky through the kitchen window of Cardow Farm at a shilling a bottle.
To say that Lewis Cumming’s death left his widow Elizabeth, 45, with a few challenges would be an understatement. Apart from running the farm and the distillery, she had two young sons to care for, a five-year-old daughter who died suddenly three days after her father, and she was pregnant at the time with a third son.
Nonetheless, the changes that Elizabeth Cumming wrought over the next two decades, among them the registering of the Car-Dhu trademark, were remarkable. By this time, Cardow was becoming antiquated, so Elizabeth secured a ‘feu’ or tenure over adjoining land and, in 1884-5, set about building a new distillery.
Distillery chronicler Alfred Barnard, who visited at this time, was able to observe Cardow past and future. The old buildings were, he wrote, ‘of the most straggling and primitive description’, whereas the recently completed new distillery was ‘a handsome pile of buildings’.
The spirit, he added, was ‘of the thickest and richest description, and admirably adapted for blending purposes. Our guide told us that a single gallon of it is sufficient to cover ten gallons of plain spirit, and that it commands a very high price in the market’.
John Fleetwood Cumming: Cardow’s whisky made him a wealthy and influential individual
Elizabeth’s decision to build a new distillery was prompted by more than the need to modernise. As Barnard implies, Cardow’s spirit was highly sought-after by blenders, so it was imperative to increase production (from 25,000 gallons to 40,000 gallons a year, according to Barnard, although Spiller says production trebled to 60,000 gallons). The old stills were sold for £120 in March 1886 to William Grant, who was building a distillery of his own in Dufftown called Glenfiddich.
One of Cardow’s chief customers was the newly-formed DCL, which was keen to secure its supply in the best way possible – by buying the new distillery. The company approached Elizabeth Cumming in 1886 through her merchant brother-in-law, James, but she wrote back to him that she ‘could not possibly entertain such an idea’ as it ‘would not be justice to my family’.
Seven years later, Elizabeth’s mood had changed. Her eldest son, Lewis, had died suddenly, so second son John Fleetwood Cumming had been forced to give up his medical studies in Aberdeen and return to the farm.
In September 1893, Elizabeth agreed to sell Cardow to blender John Walker & Sons for £20,500 (excluding stocks), plus 100 shares in the company (worth £5,000) and a seat on the board for her son John, who would be paid a minimum annual salary of £200 plus expenses.
The rebuilt Cardow of 1961 was given its current name, Cardhu, 20 years later
JF Cumming was now a wealthy and influential man. Or, as his daughter put it rather more colourfully: ‘He was on the pig’s back.’ In 1888, he moved into a palatial new home at Aberlour overlooking the Spey: Dowans House, later an orphanage and now The Dowans Hotel.
Selling Cardow secured the future of family and distillery alike. Under its new owner, Cardow was able to survive the downturn following the Pattison Crash in 1898; a year later, Walker spent £7,000 on doubling its production, adding shell-and-tube condensers in 1902. A proper road, part-funded by Walker, now led from the distillery to the new Knockando station on the Strathspey line.
The sale was also one of Elizabeth Cumming’s last actions at Cardow; a year later, she died suddenly at the age of 67.
‘She was obviously quite a character,’ says Ronnie Cox. ‘She was remembered in Knockando as one of the most generous and loving people in the community – a kind of general factotum, a banker, a judge of family squabbles.’ And, added the local newspaper, ‘a true friend of the poor’.
Meanwhile, Spiller quotes a local journalist of that time:
‘…she had herself, by her wise and far-seeing management of her affairs, put the business in a position that had secured for it success. Her own hand was in everything … Nothing better could have been made of it, even by a man who was constantly before the world.’
In 1961, Sir Ronald Cumming was named chairman of DCL
The following decades saw further expansion at Cardow, and the public flotation of John Walker & Sons in 1923, followed shortly afterwards by its absorption, with others, into DCL.
JF Cumming died in 1933, the same year that his son, Ronald Cumming, became Walker’s export director (he later became DCL chairman and was knighted); and that George Thomson, a former trainee clerk at Cardhu, was appointed Walker’s production director.
From humble, illicit beginnings, Cardow was now a force in the larger world of whisky, and the transformation of its fortunes – and of those of the Cumming family – was remarkable.
‘The story goes that, in the early 1900s, JF Cumming bought himself a motor car – one of only three in Morayshire,’ recounts Ronnie Cox. ‘One day, when he was driving along the single-track road to Cardow, he met Wally, the odd job man, coming down the other way on his bicycle.
‘Wally was “full”, as they say, and had never seen a motor car before, so he wasn’t quite sure what side of the road he should go. Anyway, he took fright and drunkenly wobbled off into the ditch. Great-grandfather applied the anchors, got out and said: “Wally, ye’re a darned disgrace to ye family; ye’re a darned disgrace to Cardow. What’ve ye got to say for yeself?”
‘And Wally replied: “Wonderful stuff, fine stuff, this whisky, Mr Cumming. It puts some people in fine motor cars... and others in the ditch.”’
Cardhu celebrates 200 years with limited edition anniversary whisky and Pioneering Women event
Whisky
Cardhu celebrates 200 years with limited edition anniversary whisky and Pioneering Women event
A limited edition Cardhu whisky has been released, to celebrate 200 years of the distillery.
Published 6th Mar 2024
Cardhu distillery in Speyside is marking its 200-year anniversary with the release of a limited edition 12 year old whisky and a free event this International Women’s Day (8 March).
Attendees to the free event, A Celebration Of Cardhu's Pioneering Women, will be treated to a guided tasting featuring the 12-year-old anniversary dram.
Ticketholders will also hear from a panel of experts, including members of the team who distilled the 200-year anniversary dram, as well enjoying a welcome drink, a cocktail masterclass and music from a local artist.
The anniversary expression is a first-of-its-kind for the distillery having been matured solely in ex-wine casks, a process which was led by Diageo whisky specialists and the Cardhu distilling team who will be a part of the expert talks on 8 March.
The team at Cardhu said: "Created to reflect the bold spirit, innovation and courage which is threaded through Cardhu’s history, most prominently by its original female pioneers, Helen and Elizabeth Cumming, the unusual maturation of the anniversary dram mirrors a tale of defying traditions and pushing boundaries, just as the Cumming women did over two centuries ago during the days of illicit distilling."
The subtle cinnamon spice of Cardhu is balanced in this new bottle by bold bursts of red berries and blackcurrant from the wine casks, while maintaining a smooth, silky and roundness of palette, creating a brave and unexpected twist on the liquid which has been enjoyed for 200 years.
On the nose you might find fresh berries and blackcurrants along with warm baked apple and icing sugar. Swirls of dark chocolate come through after a few moments which slowly progress into velvety toffee, a nod to the sweet and caramelly dram people expect from Cardhu.
On the palate, you'll get sweetness, red berries, cinnamon spice, demerara sugar and dark chocolate. Gentle oak spice and vanilla become more pronounced giving an extremely silky mouthfeel and a strong warming finish.
Guests to A Celebration Of Cardhu's Pioneering Women will have a chance to pick up this special anniversary bottle for £58, as well as enjoying the live music, guided tastings, and talks from Diageo Whisky Specialist Eve Murphy, Cardhu Distillery Manager Roselyn Burnett and Diageo Archivist, Jo McKerchar.
Further celebrating the distillery’s key part in Speyside whisky history, the packaging of the 200-year commemorative edition depicts the iconic image of Helen Cumming waving the red flag she used to signal for neighbours to hide their illicit stills from the approaching authorities.
Perthshire auctioneer to host world's first auction dedicated to women in whisky
Cardhu 200 years limited edition whisky
The bright red and golds of the box and bottle mimic the deep colour of the wine-cask whisky itself, sure to be a favourite for whisky enthusiasts and collectors.
Roselyn Burnett, Cardhu Distillery Brand Home Manager and speaker at the event, said: “Cardhu has a history of pioneering women at its forefront, something unheard of when the distillery began 200 years ago.
"It took innovation and courage to go against the grain in the way the Cumming family did, and with this in our heritage it was only right we did something bold to celebrate such an anniversary.
“As a perfect example of the Speyside style of whisky, it was exciting to work with our blending and distilling experts to create an adapted iteration of what people expect from our distillery, while perfecting the liquid to ensure it retains those classic notes which people look for from Cardhu.
"As one of the few places in the world to stock this limited release, we’re looking forward to welcoming guests who have made the journey to visit us and buy a bottle, be that from Elgin or Ecuador.”
Port Charlotte unveils first 18 Year Old single malt Scotch whisky
Eve Murphy, the whisky specialist who led on the development of this special release and panel expert, added: “Myself and the team at Cardhu have worked hard to make the 200-year-anniverary bottle something which speaks to the inspiring example which Helen and Elizabeth set two centuries ago.
"Never afraid to test boundaries, the women who were, and remain a huge part of Cardhu have once again achieved something special with this beautiful red-wine-cask edition.”