Cardhu 16 Special Release 2022 // Raise the Red Flag

Happy Whisky Wednesday!

In honor of International Womens Day, I finally popped the cork on my bottle of Cardhu 16 Special Release 2022, which I picked up during a visit to the distillery in October.

Women have always had a place in distilling, but whisky has a reputation as a boys’ club nonetheless. I should know—I’ve surprised a bartender or two in my time with an order of Scotch whisky, neat.

Cardhu proudly stands out as a symbol of both powerful women and really good whisky. According to legend (and the lovely book Women of Moray), it was founded as an illicit still in the early 1800s by a man, John Cummings, with the help of his wife Helen. After John’s death, Helen took charge, and the management of the now-legal distillery eventually passed to her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth.

It was these women who led Cardhu Distillery (then Cardow Farm) into such prominence that it caught the attention of Mr. John Walker, a name that every whisky enthusiast knows well. Walker used Cardhu’s spirits in his eponymous blends and even purchased the distillery in the late 1800s. It remains in the Johnnie Walker family (now under Diego) today, one of the brand’s “four corners.”

The thick stone walls built by Elizabeth still stand proud on a hill in Speyside. The distillery’s logo—a woman raising a crimson flag—pays homage to Helen, who cleverly used a red flag to alert nearby distillers of the presence of excise men, come to collect.

And the whisky continues to flow.

In my glass today is a dram of Cardhu 16, a 2022 limited edition finished in pot still rum casks and bottled at cask strength.

For a whisky distilled and aged in the Scottish Highlands, it’s surprisingly fruity and tropical. Sweet and tart, notes of banana, grapefruit, pineapple, and even something like lime burst onto the front of the palate, fading toward the back. Some sips taste sugary, almost manufactured, like a handful of Runts Candies all crunched together. But overall it’s a sweet, bright, and unexpected dram—perfect for a warm summer’s day (soon!) and/or dreams of escape.

Sláinte, y’all!