This month Charles MacLean celebrates the arrival of The Cardhu 12 Year Old to the World of Whiskies.

A gentle nose, with scents of violets and fresh fruits (melon, white grapes, fresh pears) - some sweety malty notes to start, but these disappear. Even fresher with water. a soft mouthfeel and a crisp taste - sweet and slightly acidic, with a trace of milk chocolate in the aftertaste.

A supremely 'accessible' malt - light and easy to drink, simple in structure, friendly and unchallenging. A perfect introduction to malt whisky.

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Cardhu – pronounced ‘Cardoo’, and for a long time Anglicised as ‘Cardow’ – is probably most famous as the ‘heart’ of the Johnnie Walker blends, although it is so popular (particularly in Spain) that I wonder how much makes its way into them.  

The distillery’s colourful history goes back many decades before 1893, however, when Walkers bought it.  

It is situated on high ground above the River Spey – a remote spot on the edge of moorland until modern times. John Cumming took the tenancy of a farm here in 1811, and soon turned his hand to illicit whisky making – and was convicted three times in 1816 alone for this, although sympathetic magistrates let him off lightly.  

It is said that his wife, Helen, was an expert distiller. There is a charming story about her being visited late one winter night by a small creature, shivering with cold, while she was distilling. Asked where she came from, the creature replied; “Seean o’Mannoch” (i.e. ‘the Fairy Hillock of Mannoch’). Helen gave her a dram of new whisky in a wooden bowl, and after the fairy had drained it she threw the bowl in the fire, saying: “Brew, wifie, brew, for you and yours will never want”.  

And so it came to be. John went legal in 1824, and by the early 1830s was being assisted by his son Lewis. The distillery was tiny, but this did not bother Lewis, who believed in the quality of spirit to be had from small stills. However, the fame of his whisky travelled south; by the mid-1840s he was making 200,000 litres a year [today’s output is over ten times this], and most of it was being sold in Edinburgh.  

Just as his father was helped by his mother, so Lewis was assisted by his wife, Elizabeth, who took over the farm and distillery on Lewis’ death in 1872. She was a remarkable woman, and soon became a legend in the whisky trade. By now demand for ‘Cardow’ far exceeded supply. First she persuaded her landlord to grant her a charter (or perpetual lease) of a site not far away, then, in 1883/84 she built a new a larger distillery, using the same source of water and peats. She sold her old stills to William Grant, who would soon build Glenfiddich Distillery. The annual output was now three times that of ‘Old Cardow’.  

The late 1880s and 1890s are know as the years of the ‘Whisky Boom’. Blended Scotch was king and demand for it was insatiable. In order to maintain their supplies, blending houses bought or built distilleries all over Scotland – although Speyside was the style they favoured most: sweet and elegant, it was often described as having ‘finesse’.  

Elizabeth Cumming received several offers to buy, but resisted them until John Walker & Sons, already one of the leading blending firms, approached her in 1893. She agreed to sell on condition that her son, John, who had been managing the distillery for his mother for some time, was made a director of Walkers, with a minimum salary of £200 a year and £5,000 worth of shares in the company. He built himself an attractive mansion outside Aberlour village on the other side of the River Spey – ‘The Dowans’,  now a good hotel. His son, Ronald, would in time become chairman of Walker’s and (now Sir Ronald Cumming) of the mighty Distillers Company Limited (DCL), which Walker’s joined in 1925.  

Cardhu/Cardow is ranked ‘Top Class’ by blenders. As a result, only a tiny amount was bottled as a single malt until 1981 when, under pressure from Sir Ronnie, the DCL packaged it in the distinctive bottle it has today and began to support it with advertising. This was the first time the company promoted any of its whiskies as a single malt. Its fortunes lay with blended Scotch – household names like Dewar’s, Haig, White Horse, Black & White, Buchanan’s and Usher’s, were all part of its stable as well as Johnnie Walker – and the directors saw no reason to change this.  

At the same time, Cardhu Distillery became the showcase for visitors – not the general public, but VIPs and journalists, by invitation. This was a dramatic change in policy for the DCL, which at that time was so secretive that even its distillery managers were not encouraged to talk to one another! Times were changing, and the Age of Malt was dawning.

In the latest of his monthly installments, Charles Maclean gives us his thoughts on the Old Pulteney WK499: Isabella Fortuna.

Charles also provides a fascinating history of the Old Pulteney Distillery.

The colour, which is full gold, suggests maturation in American oak ex-Bourbon casks, and this is borne out by the aroma and taste. In spite of the high strength, the nose is gentle, possibly slightly cooling. The first scents are warm and reminiscent of Eve’s Pudding – vanilla sponge and baked apples – with a hint of mandarin behind.

Water opens it up and freshens it. Now there are some lemon notes, fresh coconut, vanilla fudge and an elusive scent of the sea.


In the mouth, the texture is soft, the taste lightly sweet to start, then both acidic and salty – not for nothing is Old Pulteney referred to as ‘The Manzanilla of the North’! Deliciously crisp and clean, with a spicy, shortish finish.

Occasion: The perfect aperitif!

Comment:
An excellent example of traditional Old Pulteney – both ‘The Genuine Maritime Malt’ and ‘The Manzanilla of the North’: crisp and salty.

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My son thought WK499 might be an abbreviation for WKD or ‘Wicked’ when he saw that the bottling strength was 52% Alcohol by Volume. Actually, the name has nothing to do with this: WK499 might also have been named ‘Isabella Fortuna’ – gentler, more feminine, more appropriate to the style of this exclusive malt…

Let me explain. WK499 is the registration number of one of the last herring drifters in existence. She was built in 1890, named ‘Isabella’, and based at Wick – hence the ‘WK’. For 86 years she fished the waters of the North Sea and the German Ocean, as it used to be called. In 1919 she was fitted with a 15hp Kelvin engine, upgraded in 1928 and again in 1932, at which time here name was changed to ‘Fortuna’.

In 1976 she was retired, refurbished and re-christened with both her previous names; twenty-one years later she was acquired by the Wick Society as a lasting monument to the town’s long and distinguished fishing tradition. The reverse of the bottle of WK499 is embellished with a stencil of the Isabella Fortuna.

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The port of Wick is named Pulteneytown. It was built between 1803 and 1820 as a ‘model village’ by the British Fisheries Society, an organisation devoted to ‘Extending the Fisheries and Improving the Sea Coasts of the Kingdom’, and in Scotland to creating new communities in remote areas, exploring new farming methods, improving communications by building roads and bridges, and founding ports at Ullapool, Tobermory, Lochbay (Skye) and Pulteneytown, Wick.

Between 1796 and his death in 1805, the Society’s Director General was Sir William Pulteney and on his recommendation a thirty-three year old engineer named Thomas Telford was appointed Surveyor General and instructed to tour the North-East coast and report on any small harbours worthy of improvement.

Herring was used merely as bait for white fish until 1768, when “three local men fitted out two sloops and fished for herring with great success”. During the 1770s and ‘80s the ‘success’ continued, with great shoals of herring visiting the north-east coat during the summer months. But fishing for them was “greatly hampered for want of a good harbour… The coast being very open and dangerous, fishermen will not venture out in small boats but in very promising weather”.

There were other problems, apart from the lack of a harbour. Most of the fishing from Wick was done by summer visitors, “from different parts of the kingdom, during the season of herring fishery only”. The indigenous fishermen were part-timers, having other jobs than fishing. Duties on salt and coal were high. There was an acute shortage of curing and storage facilities. By the end of the century there were upwards of 200 boats fishing out of Wick during the season, but they still had no harbour.

The two priorities were bridging the river and building a harbour. The first was soon achieved. The old wooden bridge was demolished and a new stone one built, to Telford’s designs, by a local architect/builder, George Burn, completed by 1807. By 1811 the harbour was completed and attracting fishing boats from all over the British Isles. In parallel with the harbour works, and also according to Telford’s design, Burn laid out and built the model village, with curing sheds and storehouses on the lower ground adjacent to the harbour and the river, and two-storey dwelling houses on the upper terrace, in a grid-pattern of streets with a large oval plaza at its heart.

Although Pulteney was dead before the work was completed, Telford named his new village after him. Today, Thomas Telford is recognised as ‘The Father of Civil Engineering’; had it not been for his patron, Sir William Pulteney, this honour would not have been his.

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With such a rapidly growing population during the 1820s, both resident and seasonal, it would have been surprising had a whisky distillery not been built in Pulteneytown!

Among the petty-gentry of Caithness at the time was James Henderson of Stemster, whose farm was located some fifteen miles to the south-west of Wick. Between 1821 and 1826 he held a license to distil there, but in the latter year he established, first a mill, then a brewery and distillery on the western edge of Pultneytown.

There was a ready local market for ‘Old Pulteney’. By the middle of the nineteenth century over a thousand boats were using the harbour, employing 3,800 fishermen and 4,000 associated trades. Wick had become the leading herring port in Europe. A local minister noted sourly that “there is a great consumption of spirits – not less than 500 gallons of whisky a day when the fishing is successful – there being 22 public houses in Wick and 23 in Pulteneytown… seminaries of Satan and Belial”.


James Henderson’s descendants owned distillery until 1920, when they sold to the well-known firm of blenders, James Watson & Co of Dundee. The sale might well have been influenced by the fact that there were strong anti-drink pressures in Wick at this time, culminating two years later with the town voting to go ‘dry’.

“There has never been a day like it in Wick’s electoral history”, wrote a local historian. Rowdy meetings were held in packed halls. A vigorous ‘No-Licence Union’ had been established to counter the local branch of the Licence Holders Defence Association, and nothing would satisfy them but a complete ban. The Wick Salvation Army Group (led by the appropriately named Captain Dry!), paraded, as did the Boys Brigade – more than a hundred of the latter, bearing umbrellas inscribed: ‘VOTE NO TO LICENCE. AS I HAVE NO VOTE WILL YOU VOTE FOR ME?’!

The License holders made the fatal mistake of reducing the price of drink on the day, as a result of which many of their supporters stayed in the pubs! The result was a landslide for the antis.

Prohibition remained in place until 28th May 1947. To mark the fiftieth anniversary of repeal, a 12YO bottling of Old Pulteney was released by the distillery owners (the first proprietary bottling). The sixtieth anniversary was marked by a charity ball at the distillery, in aid of the local R.N.L.I station. This has since become an annual event.

In the latest of his monthly instalments, Charles Maclean gives his thoughts on the Malt of the Month: The Macallan Whisky Makers Edition.

Charles also provides us with an intriguing interview with Bob Dalgarno, Whisky Maker for the Macallan.

The label describes it as ‘exceptionally elegant…with a lingering finish’. We can do better than that!

The colour is polished rosewood, indicating the use of European oak casks, and setting up the expectation that this will be a ‘traditional’ Macallan. We were not disappointed! An early aroma of walnuts and chocolate spreads to include apple tart, over-ripe oranges, dried herbs and camphor (if you sniff deeply!).

In the second of his monthly installments, Charles Maclean gives his thoughts on the Malt of the Month : Hakushu 12 year old and its Distillery. Japanese Single malts have been doing exceptionally well in blind tastings recently, and Hakashu is no exception.

Soft and fruity on the nose, with tinned peaches, lychees and mandarins. Behind this a cosmetic aroma of cold cream and Lux soap flakes. A hint of smoke. Water freshens it: fresh laundry, green apples, wild mint. A soft texture, with apples and a short, fresh finish.

This month Charles MacLean celebrates the arrival of Laphroaig Triple Wood in World of Whiskies.

Unlike many other well known brands of malt whisky, Laphroaig only releases new expressions occasionally.Laphroaig proudly presents itself as “the world’s most richly flavoured Scotch whisky”. It is heavily peated (unusually, the distillery has its own maltings) - smoky, medicinal, seaweedy, even tarry, but with an unexpected sweetness to start with.

Charles MacLean has spent almost thirty years researching, writing and lecturing about Scotch Whisky. In his new monthly column he is here to celebrate the release of Glen Garioch Founders Reserve from Aberdeenshire. Charles has been researching the history of the distillery and provides his thoughts on this whisky.

Deep amber in hue, the first scents are reminiscent of nutty muesli, with chocolate chips and steamed cream. Behind this a hint of Elastoplast, gradually becoming faintly smoky. Very spicy to taste at full strength, spritzich and warming; dark chocolate lingers in the after-taste. Water settles it down. The nose now gains a fruity dimension (dried orange peel?), but overall it remains dense.