Cardhu Distillery

Scotland is a beautiful country – and one of its most precious natural corners is Speyside. Indeed, the area between Inverness and Aberdeen is renowned for two things – it’s stunning scenery encompassing rolling glens, crystal clear rivers and stretches of greenery, and its whisky.

It’s here, amongst the rise of the hills and the lows of the glens that Cardhu, the Speyside home of Johnnie Walker, creates a legendary whisky. Built with the mood of adventure and in the face of incredible danger, Cardhu is Scotland’s whisky story in miniature.

Their newly opened visitor experience centre tells of Helen Cumming and her husband, whisky smugglers who founded the distillery. Nearly 200 years ago, when distilling was still a criminal offence, she would raise the flag to others to warn them when the authorities were coming. Her daughter Elizabeth would take over through the 19th century until the distillery became the first acquired by Johnnie Walker in 1893. Now, this historic space is warm, welcoming, and multi-sensory, centred around a homely Tasting Kitchen.