Cardhu Amber Rock

Double matured in ex-bourbon casks, Cardhu Amber Rock is a wood-forward revival of a traditional Speyside single malt.

Cardhu is a Speyside single malt established in 1824 by John Cumming and his wife, Helen. Both had been Whisky smugglers since 1811, outwitting the Excisemen with sheer cheekiness. Helen would disguise the mashing and fermenting as bread-making. Then, while the officers drank the tea she made for them, she would fly a red flag from the barn to warn their neighbours that revenue men were around.

In 1874 Helen handed the distillery to another strong woman, Elizabeth, the wife of her son. Elizabeth, known as The Queen of the Whisky Trade, rebuilt the distillery and doubled capacity. She made Cardhu one of the malt Whisky leaders.


You may know Cardhu as the signature base-malt of Johnny Walker, but it was a single malt long before the blenders got the hands on it. Happily, Diageo has restored it to its former glory. For their latest expression of the Cardhu range, they have married vintages of the main-line single-malt and then re-matured them … allowing the flavour profiles to integrate in the barrel.

What emerges is an aromatic, wood-forward dram with plenty of spice and character. And all of that spice and wood is a great balance for your next Whiskey-based cocktail—try it in a Manhattan and you will see what we mean.

SmartAss Corner
In Gaelic, Cardhu means “black rock.” They call this new offering—released for the first time last year—Amber Rock to recognize the color of the dram and its relationship to the traditional Cardhu name.