Cutty Sark
Cutty Sark whisky is named after the Cutty Sark ship, which was built a mere 10 miles from the Cutty offices. The ship was built in 1869 and was among the last clippers built for the transport of goods. The rise of steam powered boats brought an end to age of the wind powered sailing ships, ushered out an era of beautiful sea faring vessels and ushered in the dominance of ugly but highly functional sea faring machines.
Description
Cutty Sark whisky is named after the Cutty Sark ship, which was built a mere 10 miles from the Cutty offices. The ship was built in 1869 and was among the last clippers built for the transport of goods. The rise of steam powered boats brought an end to age of the wind powered sailing ships, ushered out an era of beautiful sea faring vessels and ushered in the dominance of ugly but highly functional sea faring machines.
Berry Brothers & Rudd created the scotch whisky Cutty Sarkwas in 1923. However, is now owned by the Edrington group. Which means it should be no surprise that it supposedly contains both Highland Park and Macallan single malts. Their official documentation states that it’s “mostly Speyside” whisky. Then looking around the web the speculations about what else is in there, could support that claim with Glenrothes and Tamdhu being the most commonly mentioned. I’ve also seen Bunnahabhain and Glengoyne mentioned, but without the distillery saying. So it’s all speculation.
Tasking Notes
Nose: A light nose of Orchard fruit, honey candy, wheat thins, malt, frosting sweetness and a light bit of spice and citrus peel. Really not a bad nose. A little light, but definitely not bad.
Palate: Fruit, honey, vanilla, malt, light citrus, buttercream frosting and a touch of char. It really does remind me of a basic Speyside.
Finish: Short and malty with notes of fruit, honey and frosting.
Balance, Body & Feel: Good balance, medium body and a smooth easy texture.
Overall: Cutty Sark is a blend, but it’s definitely on the upper end of blends. For the most part, I’ve always considered it quite palatable. Not a world changer by any means, but its overall character reminds me of a basic no-frills Speysider. And it has a nice balance and sweetness to it. Yes it’s light, but it’s also cheap and for about 1/3 the price of an average single malt. This will do just fine as a mixer and a cheap, but tasty whisky to stretch the life of my more expensive drams.
What some of our whisky enthusiast friends have said about Cutty Sark
Quote 1 “I tried Cutty sark couple of weeks back. I found this bottle from the wine shop and it looked kind of interesting to me. Me and my brother tried it together and I must say the experience was nothing less than splendid. The scotch builds up slowly and feels great when it actually kicks in. The taste is one of the good ones that I have experienced and the length is commendable. It’s one of the good ones I have tried if not the best. A complete value for money product.”
Quote 2 “If one is seeking an experience with a complex, top notch malt, this isn’t it. This is just a very tasty, pleasant generic blended Scotch Whisky, not any particular regional type, blended to be as it states on the bottle “easy drinking”. Cutty doesn’t pretend to be anything else. Cutty is marvelous on the rocks, refreshing and satisfying. This is a great social drink perfect for sipping as one moves about and flits in and out of conversations at a party. Cutty makes a fine Rob Roy or mix with ginger ale for a tasty Scotch twist on the Highball.”
Do you have a different opinion? Add your comments below.
1 review for Cutty Sark
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dannylyons1000 –
I think that this is a minimum standard blended whiskey. It’s not perfect, and this is reflected in the price.
My 3 star review should be 3 1/2 stars, which is composed of five/5 stars for value and two/5 stars for quality.
The tasting notes on this page are very accurate, it’s a light and fragrant product, with an aromatic sweetness that isn’t too overpowering, and with just that little bit of depth of taste that will separate it from the one star whiskeys.
The best feature is that for such a low priced product, there is neither an aggressive initial taste, nor the dreadful aftertaste that one associates with the lower quality products.
I’m happy to drink it neat when I want to change from the higher-quality stuff, which isn’t often, but CS would be my go to in this instance.