WM Cadenhead

Scotland’s oldest independent bottler began when George Duncan established himself as a distillery agent in Aberdeen in 1842, and after 10 years he was joined by his brother-in-law William Cadenhead, who eventually acquired the business in 1858 and changed the name to the now well-known Cadenhead. After Cadenhead passed away in 1904, his nephew Robert Duthie took over the firm and developed the brand into what we recognise today. However, in 1931, Duthie was run over by a tram, and his sisters took over the business, though they had no knowledge of the trade and placed Ann Oliver, a long-term employee in charge. In October 1971 the business and all of its stock was sold to Campbeltown firm J & A Mitchell & Co. Ltd, who own Springbank Distillery. Until this time, Cadenhead’s was in the ownership of the same family, and in those 130 years the location never once changed from the site at 47 Netherkirkgate in Aberdeen.