Cadenhead

Claiming the title of Scotland's oldest bottler, Cadenhead is certainly one of the leading firms in the spirits world.

Cadenhead: reinvention since 1842

The firm was founded in Aberdeen in 1842 at 47 Netherkirkgate, where it remained for over 130 years.

Originally, George Duncan was a wine merchant and agent for distilleries. A few years later, he was joined by his brother-in-law, William Cadenhead. When the latter obtained the business in 1858 after Duncan's death, he renamed it using his name.

In 1904, William Cadenhead died and his nephew, Robert W. Duthies, took over. It was at this time that Cadenhead concentrated on spirits, bottling single malt and Demerara rum. It also developedblending with brands such as The Deluxe Putachieside and The Heilanman.

After the death of Robert W. Duthies, an employee, Ann Oliver, had the difficult task of keeping the business going until the 1960s. Having little knowledge of the subject, she did not develop the business, which eventually led to the sale of the company. The warehouse was full and this led to the biggest wine and spirits sale in British history on 3 and 4 October 1972 at Christie's.

J&A Mitchell, owner of Springbank and Kilkerran, then put Cadenhead back on track. The company is now based in Campbeltown and has shops across Europe.

Cadenhead: a motley crew of bottlers

While they offer a variety of spirits, including cognac, it is the whiskies and rums that are at the heart of Cadenhead's offering.

As far as whiskies are concerned, there are blends in the Cadenhead creations range (mainly small batches), blends and undisclosed distilleries (the name of the distillery is not revealed for this type of whisky) in the William Cadenhead range. We can also mention the single cask range, the small batch cask strength, the small batch 46 (reduced whiskies) and the exclusive ranges for Cadenhead shops(Authentic Collection, World Whiskies, Closed Distilleries).

Similarly, the rums are divided into the Cask Strength Rum range, Green Label (reduced to 46%) and Classic Blended Rum. Read less