Cardhu Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Cardhu is a Speyside distillery near Archiestown, Moray, Scotland, founded by the whisky smuggler John Cumming and the first batch brewed by his wife Hellen in 1824. The distillery is currently run by Diageo and the distillery's Scotch whisky makes up an important part of the famous Johnnie Walker blended whiskies. The word "Cardhu" derives from the Scots Gaelic Carn Dubh, meaning "Black Rock".
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 Helen Cumming.
The stills from the old distillery building were sold to William Grant who set up Glenfiddich 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. Cardhu distillery kept working under these conditions until the onset of the Second World War 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 to supply the increased production of the distillery.
Thus an old Scottish Proverb, “Today’s rain; tomorrow’s whisky”.
References
1. http://whiskycast.com/resources/other-resources/scotch-distillery-names-pronunciations/
2. Scottish Whisky: Cardhu
3. Bottle label
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