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| Cutty Sark Blended Scotch Whisky |
I am always on the hunt for a reasonably priced blended scotch. Cutty Sark occupies a spot on the shelves of liquor stores around the world that is devoted to 'economy blends.' In other words, bottom shelf scotch.
We know some of the suspects occupying space on the bottom shelf are bad characters . . . Ballantine's Finest, J&B and Bell's. Horribly sweet swill suitable only for lighting your hibachi barbecue!
You also know that there are some great economy blends: Teacher's Highland Cream, Black Bottle, Islay Mist, White Horse and a few others. The question for us to consider today is what camp does 'Cutty Sark' fall into? The Good? The Bad? or the Ugly? Inquiring minds want to know. C'mon, let's see what it's like . . .
Nose (undiluted)
Malty, ale, apples and dandelion. Not offensive in the least. I'm surprised.
Palate (undiluted)
Certainly is sweet. Malty. Fruit cocktail in heavy syrup. Honey Crisp apples. Vanilla is lurking in the background.
Finish (undiluted)
The vanilla sweetness becoming more of a gently spiced malt. Warming too. You are also left with a teensy weensy puff of smoke. The finish is very short (meaning the flavors do not linger very long) and so I suppose the serious whisky critic would take some points off for that attribute of this whisky. I am willing to overlook that small deficiency in light of the cheap price for a bottle.
General Impressions
I am quite surprised by this blend. I like it! It is not the best of the economy blended scotch whisky category. That title is reserved for Teacher's Highland Cream. That being said, Cutty Sark is a good, everyday sipper that meets the basic needs of decent scotch. What are those basic requirements? They are: (1) no nasty bite; (2) no taste of unadulterated rubbing alcohol; (3) not bitter, and (4) not grainy.
What is worthy of note is how it is so sweet, yet not cloyingly so. Cloying sweetness is the failure of many economy blended scotch whiskies like Ballantine's Finest, J & B and Bells. To succeed, a blend has to do something with the sweetness and Cutty Sark has managed just that. Sweetness has to go somewhere. It cannot build indefinitely, otherwise it will become overwhelming by the finish.
Cutty Sark, by the time of the finish, transitions to lemons! Lemons as in lemon meringue pie. There's a puff of smoke too. Real pleasant and very quaffable. The bottle just disappears because it is so easy-drinking.
If I were to summarize the Cutty Sark flavor profile in a brief line, something that would be acceptable to Twitter (I don't have an account . . . probably like the only living soul on the planet) I would say: "a sweet, light malt experience, serving up fruit cocktail, with a finish of drying vanilla and lemon with just a touch of smoke."
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| Cutty Sark on ice! |
Cutty Sark on Ice?
I don't recommend it.
If you are just putting your little toe in the lake of scotch whisky, I can understand your preference to add ice to blended scotch whisky. You want your whisky to be smooth, avoid that bite, and certainly tone down the graininess and alcohol taste that is typical of many bottom shelf blended scotch whiskies. Cutty Sark is one of those blends that actually does not need ice added to it for the scotch newbie. It is smooth enough, gentle enough, that you can sip neat. Yeah, newbie, neat. I said neat. You can do it. Just take a little sip and evaluate it. If there was ever a blended scotch whisky to cut your teeth on for the purpose of sipping neat, this is the one!
I find for the serious whisky fan, adding ice will add no benefit to the tasting experience. Ice tends to bring out a raw alcohol and grainy flavor that is not present when enjoyed neat. Ice? Like the Reagan era public advertisement on drugs: "Just say no!"
Value for Money?
Absolutely! A lot of the reviews online, I am told by readers, are negative on Cutty Sark. You know what? I don't care what they think. I happen to like Cutty, but you have to appreciate that a lot of my appreciation has to do with the price point. I am getting great value for money. Some reviewers online tear this blended scotch apart, but are their comments fair? To be fair, please compare apples to apples. To compare Cutty Sark to a single malt and say it misses the mark is like saying a Mercedes handles the road better than a Hyundai. That's not rocket science! When I compare Cutty Sark to other bottom shelf blends in its price point, I am mightily satisfied that I am getting good value for money.
I do not care what the critics think of my affection for Cutty Sark! I like it. It is a simple, straight forward blend that delivers a pleasant lemon/marmalade flavor at a reasoable price that I have no reservation with shelling out for as I sail around the lake this summer.
Cheers!
Jason Debly
Copyright © Jason Debly, 2009-2011. All rights reserved. Any and all use is prohibited without permission except for the image of US dollars which can be seen at the flickr account: Tracy Q.
Posts
Hey Jason,
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, I am a wee bit surprised that you marked this one positively. I will also admit, I have never tried a dram, as I have been swayed by legions of negative comments who would echo words of paper-thin flavor and such, and also that a bottle by me runs around $22-25. For less I could pick up a bottle of Teacher's, Black Bottle, Islay Mist 8,save for a single malt, or perhaps a quality bourbon. I might feel the urge to experiment with this blend now, as your tasting notes sound rather nice. Cheers, bud!
-Yochanan
Yochanan, I am surprised that I like Cutty Sark. I know that all the critics rip this blend to shreds. However, I think that just because a whisky is light or even thin, does not necessarily mean it is horribly flawed.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that Cutty Sark is light tasting, but for me it works. Very light, quite malty and lemony that works. You have to remember this is in the economy blend area of the market place. Sometimes too, I tire of the heavy flavors of the likes of Teachers and others. In any case, all I can say, is give this a go sometime with an open mind. You might surprise yourself too!
Thanks for commenting!
Jason,
ReplyDeleteJust bought my first bottle of Cutty, after a bout of wondering if I should follow through with the experiment, or just purchase a blend I'm familiar with, or perhaps a single malt. I must say, in the category of economy blended Scotch, this isn't bad.
I don't know if it's the power of persuasion, but I get some of the notes you picked up yourself. I think I'm also getting some pepper on the finish- which lends itself alright with everything else going on. No peat to speak of. I'd recommend this to the newbie as an intro. Not bad.
-Yochanan
Well, Yochanan, you and I are about the only two people on the world wide web that seem to think this is a decent economy blended scotch. Everyone seems to pan it as being terrible. Not terrible. Quite quaffable, and as you say, a great starting place for the scotch newbie!
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Jason,
ReplyDeleteAs much as I respect your opinion and knowledge about whisky I think I am going to steer clear of Cutty Sark. Not for the fear of being ridiculed by scotch nerds. My concern is the sweetness. I was told that this blend is a really sweet one, and I cannot stand sweet blends unless it is balanced and not over the top. From my experience sweetness in blends and single malts alike only means one thing... hiding the flaws in a malt/blend (irons out the wrinkles if you will). Teacher's is as cheap as I am willing to go, thats only because you spoke highly of it and a few others as well.
Do you know which single malts are used in Cutty Sark by the way?
-Marius
Hi Marius,
ReplyDeleteCutty Sark is a guilty pleasure of mine. Its super cheap and just a sweet little malt when you just want a little scotch taste but dont want to be distracted from conversation with friends of meandering around the bay in your tiny sail boat.
That being said, I doubt you would like it. Matter of fact, most serious scotch fans would not like it.
As for Teachers, buddy, its gonna blow you away, and I expect to hear from you what you think!
By the way, I have no idea what malts make up this blend.
Cheers!
Jason
Jason,
ReplyDeleteI have to say when I first read this review last year I thought you had gone off the deep end - I had this once at a bar (not on a clean palate) and found it sweet and bland. But I recently saw it on sale for $15 in PA ($20 here in NC) and decided to give it another try.
I am surprised to say I agree with you that although there is nothing very interesting about it, there is nothing objectionable either. I would call it the Glenlivet 12 of inexpensive blends.
That said I doubt I will buy it again, as I can get Teacher's or White Horse for the same money - but I don't regret having tried it, as I do J+B rare.
Cheers,
Scott
Glad to hear your thoughts on this super cheapie blend.
DeleteI agree that Teacher's, White Horse and Black Bottle are all better blends, but none of those serve up a sweet malt, glass of sunshine quite like Cutty Sark.
I am a hardcore Scotch guy, but last month I bought a Cutty Sark 1.75 l. bottle from a Safeway store, and to my surprise the flavor and texture were awful, the colour of the spirit too was lighter, this left me wondering if I got a fake cutty sark deal, how do I find out???
ReplyDeleteSam, I do not know where you live, but if you are in North America or Europe, you likely bought a "flawed" bottle rather than a fake or counterfeit bottle.
DeleteFrom what I understand, counterfeit bottles tend to appear in China, Hong Kong and India. Usually the labelling is a dead give away with typographical errors.
If you are not in Asia, you may have gotten a flawed bottle. What I mean by "flawed" is maybe the bottle underwent severe heat or cold temperatures that adversely affected it. That could have happened in transport. My brother gave me a bottle of Royal Salute 21 yr blend. I tasted it and damn, it was poor. Bad. Later I found out from him that it sat in a liquor store on top of a refrigerator and in direct sunlight. Well, it got heated and damaged in my opinion. It was bad, the flavors were off big time.
If you are very familiar with Cutty Sark and you are of the opinion that you got a 'bad' bottle, then what you should do is walk that bottle back to the store and tell them you want to exchange it for another bottle of Cutty. Most reputable retailers will not object because they take your bottle and hand it back to their sales rep and demand a credit, and get it!
Cheers!