Uploaded October 2021 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Cardhu 12 Year old whisky review:
Cardhu (which means Black Rock) was distilling long before licenses to do so arrived in the valley in 1824. From about 1813, records show that John Cumming was busy taking care of the farmlands while the wily Helen was equally busy running the household and distilling the whisky.
According to extracts from the insightful whisky encyclopedia by Alfred Barnard – published in 1893 – Helen was “a most remarkable character and a woman of many resources; she possessed the courage and energy of a man, and in devices and plans to evade the surveillance of the gaugers [those who hunted down illicit stills and the root of the word gauging], no man nor woman in the district could equal her.”
In short: she was rather good at hiding her work from the authorities.
It was not just her ability to hide her illegal distilling that made her a famous character. It was the fact she did it with such aplomb and respect for her neighbours. Stories go that when Helen
discovered the gaugers were on their way to do inspections, she would raise a red flag or hang out her washing to alert her neighbours and the prochahs, or boys who would run messages around the district, would see the signal and run to tell others. Then, she would invite the gaugers in, give them a bed for the night and wish them well on their way the next morning. You've got to admire her cheek!
Stories also go that she would walk all the way to Elgin – some 20 miles away – with bladders of whisky tied up underneath her skirts to sell on to willing consumers. The quality of her spirit was recognised early on so that by the time licences were being granted to distilleries such as Glenlivet (as it was known then, without a 'The'), she did not need to put that name before her product, unlike many in the region which would have used Glenlivet as a prefix to give their spirit more credibility.
Helen outlived her husband by 39 years, reaching the incredibly ripe old age of 98. Not only did she run the distillery but she also managed to have eight children and 56 grandchildren.
Source: alcoholprofessor.com/blog-posts/blog/2014/04/08/speysides-cardhu-the-extraordinary-story-of-the-women-behind-the-whisky
🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️
If you're a fan of the work I do here on Youtube and are interested in supporting the channel financially then you can! I have opened up memberships on Youtube which include neat perks such as exclusove emojis to use on the channel and exclusive content! If Patreon is more your thing I also have a support page open with benefits including monthly polls and channel update videos too!
If you are considering supporting the channel thank you very much! It really does mean a whole lot to me!
🎟️ Become a Member: bit.ly/2OsRUTO
💷 Patreon: bit.ly/3wzCfmR
🔗 Links:
📘 Facebook: bit.ly/2zLdnQz
🐦 Twitter: twitter.com/MxMannion
📷 Instagram: instagram.com/john_drinks/?hl=en
🥃 Whisky Ranking Sheet: bit.ly/39Sem0b
Cardhu 12 Year old whisky review:
Cardhu (which means Black Rock) was distilling long before licenses to do so arrived in the valley in 1824. From about 1813, records show that John Cumming was busy taking care of the farmlands while the wily Helen was equally busy running the household and distilling the whisky.
According to extracts from the insightful whisky encyclopedia by Alfred Barnard – published in 1893 – Helen was “a most remarkable character and a woman of many resources; she possessed the courage and energy of a man, and in devices and plans to evade the surveillance of the gaugers [those who hunted down illicit stills and the root of the word gauging], no man nor woman in the district could equal her.”
In short: she was rather good at hiding her work from the authorities.
It was not just her ability to hide her illegal distilling that made her a famous character. It was the fact she did it with such aplomb and respect for her neighbours. Stories go that when Helen
discovered the gaugers were on their way to do inspections, she would raise a red flag or hang out her washing to alert her neighbours and the prochahs, or boys who would run messages around the district, would see the signal and run to tell others. Then, she would invite the gaugers in, give them a bed for the night and wish them well on their way the next morning. You've got to admire her cheek!
Stories also go that she would walk all the way to Elgin – some 20 miles away – with bladders of whisky tied up underneath her skirts to sell on to willing consumers. The quality of her spirit was recognised early on so that by the time licences were being granted to distilleries such as Glenlivet (as it was known then, without a 'The'), she did not need to put that name before her product, unlike many in the region which would have used Glenlivet as a prefix to give their spirit more credibility.
Helen outlived her husband by 39 years, reaching the incredibly ripe old age of 98. Not only did she run the distillery but she also managed to have eight children and 56 grandchildren.
Source: alcoholprofessor.com/blog-posts/blog/2014/04/08/speysides-cardhu-the-extraordinary-story-of-the-women-behind-the-whisky
🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️🖍️
If you're a fan of the work I do here on Youtube and are interested in supporting the channel financially then you can! I have opened up memberships on Youtube which include neat perks such as exclusove emojis to use on the channel and exclusive content! If Patreon is more your thing I also have a support page open with benefits including monthly polls and channel update videos too!
If you are considering supporting the channel thank you very much! It really does mean a whole lot to me!
🎟️ Become a Member: bit.ly/2OsRUTO
💷 Patreon: bit.ly/3wzCfmR
🔗 Links:
📘 Facebook: bit.ly/2zLdnQz
🐦 Twitter: twitter.com/MxMannion
📷 Instagram: instagram.com/john_drinks/?hl=en
🥃 Whisky Ranking Sheet: bit.ly/39Sem0b
