Cardhu Distillery

Originally called Cardow, Cardhu’s story starts in 1811 when John and Helen Cumming rented a small farm on Mannoch Hill above the spey valley to produce small-batch whisky.

John was a known whisky smuggler, having been convicted three times for distilling without a licence. In fact it was Helen who was the bootlegger, selling bottles of whisky to passers-by. If the tax man visited she’d dust herself with flour and pretend to be baking to excuse the bread smell. She’d raise a red flag to warn other bootleggers in the area know that the government were on the lookout! As a fair lady she was never suspected of such criminal wrongdoing!

None of this deterred John and, taking advantage of The Excise Act of 1823, built a new distillery that had three times the capacity of his farm-yard enterprise.

By 1885 the new distillery was complete. The stills from the old distillery were sold to William Grant who established Glenfiddich distillery in Dufftown. Grant’s also acted as distributor for Cardhu.

The new increased output at Cardhu caught the attention of whisky entrepreneur John Walker. Much of the whisky produced was sold to Johnnie Walker and Sons for their increasingly popular blended whisky. By 1893 the distillery was owned by John’s daughter, Elizabeth Cumming who sold to Johnnie Walker for £20,500. Her only condition of sale was that the Cumming’s could continue to manage the day to day running of the distillery, however she died the year after and the agreement died with her.

The name changed from Cardow to Cardhu in 1981 to reflect its highland heritage. The word “Cardhu” derives from the Gaelic Carn Dubh or “Black Rock”.

Today Cardhu is considered ’the Speyside home of Johnnie Walker’ and it still produces whisky for the world-famous blend. Recognising the demand for single malt whisky from interesting distilleries, Johnnie Walker owner Diageo started to produce a Cardhu single malt again in 2006.