Malt Mission 2007 #63

Cutty Sark 12yo
Blended Scotch Whisky
40% abv
£28

I love a keener, so thanks for giving me a hard time ANONYMOUS. I encourage comments, but that doesnt mean I will always post them!

It was pointed out in a comment that my statement that Berry Bros & Rudd had been at the same storefront since 1698 was inaccurate (Malt Mission #61). So let me clarify for the other nerdy fact-checkers out there (feel no shame, I am also one, and EVERYONE gets like this about crap they are interested in):

Widow Bourne opened a grocers shop where coffee was ground, hence the coffee mill image on the shop sign, in 1699. In 1731, the business was taken over by William Pickering. His descendents, the brothers Berry painted their name above the shop in 1810. A century later Hugh Rudd, a wine expert, joined the company and became a junior partner after the Great War and it was Rudd who had direct involvement in the development of Cutty Sark whisky.

Noting that Canadian whisky seemed to be finding success in America in spite of that 'noble' experiment, prohibition, Rudd, Francis and Walter Berry decided to create a light coloured, caramel-free, lightly flavoured grain and speyside themed blend. With the help of Captain William McCoy in the Bahamas, Cutty Sark literally became the real McCoy.

The whiskies in this blend are AT LEAST 12 years old, and in fact, most are 14 and 15. I tasted this before dinner at the City Cafe over a game of pool. We were waiting for Kebab Mehal take away, and as amazing as the food is, the waiting game can kill a stronger man than I. Enter Cutty Sark 12yo.

TASTING NOTES:

Firm grain, but a laid back nose overall. Salt, cocoa, and cinnamon. Some jelly beans.

Again, grain leads, tasting of apple pie and vanilla ice cream, then some gentle waves into tropical fruits and the sea and then tightening up to a dry, grainy/woody(sauna? cedar?) finish.

SUMMARY:

Easy. Gentle. With character, but nothing obtrusive. A very good summer dram.

Malt Mission #61
Malt Mission #62
Malt Mission #64
Malt Mission #65

Malt Mission HOME