Cardhu

History

The origin of Cardhu dates back to 1811 in Speyside, Scotland. John and Helen Cumming were a married couple who set out to take over a farm and start distilling in small quantities, as many people did in the Spey area.

John started distilling without the licences that were required, as they were expensive, which led to his conviction.

From 1824, the price of licences was reduced and John managed to obtain one. From this point onwards, the idea to grow went ahead by buying new stills for distilling.

In 1846, John died and his son Lewis took over the farm and distillery which he had been building up over the previous years. With two employees, a brewer and a maltster, they began distilling from autumn to spring.

Lewis died in 1872 and the distillery was taken over by his mother and his wife Elizabeth. Elizabeth took over the business and registered Car-Dhu as a trademark. Cardhu means "black rock" in Gaelic. From then on, and despite the World Wars, the distillery expanded several times to meet the growing demand.

In 1885 the business tripled its sales and led to Johnnie Walker and Sons buying up much of Cardhu's production for use in its increasingly popular blended spirit.

In 1960 several distillery buildings were rebuilt, and in 1970 steam coils were introduced to heat the stills. Water from the Mannoch Hill spring began to be blended with water from the Lynne Brook to supply the distillery's increased production.

In December 2003, the huge sales success of Cardhu, up to 1,200,000 bottles, meant that demand began to outstrip supply, mainly due to its success in Spain, as well as its use in Johnnie Walker.

Winemaking

Cardhu is a pure malt whisky, distilled in several batches through a slow production process, aged in oak casks for 12 years.

Its most outstanding characteristics is the water used for distillation, obtained from the glacial Spey River, giving a Scotch whisky with a strong identity.

The Cardhu process involves several stages:

Malting where the barley is cleaned, wetted and left to dry while it germinates and becomes malt. The germination process is stopped by spreading the barley on a perforated iron floor. A peat kiln is placed under this floor, the heat of which dries the grain and impregnates it with a slight peaty aroma.

This is followed by mashing, where the malt is ground and mixed with spring water, transforming the starch into a sugary liquid called worst.

This liquid is then mixed with yeast and put into vats where fermentation takes place. The sugar is converted into alcohol.

After fermentation, distillation begins, where distillation in copper stills (in the case of Cardhu in the shape of a swan's neck) influences the flavour of the whisky. Malt whisky is distilled twice in a batch process in large copper stills or Pot Stills.

And it is precisely in the second distillation, the secret and exclusive phase of Cardhu Single Malt, that this whisky takes shape and distances itself from other malt whiskies.

During maturation, the cask imparts flavours and aromas to the single malt whisky that will vary according to the cask's origin and previous contents.

Awards

The success of this brand has led it to win numerous awards over the years, valuing its quality and excellence.

The most notable are the gold award for "The Scotch Whiskey Masters" in 2014.

And in 2016 when it won the award for the best whisky in the world by "World whisky Awards".