Cutty Sark 12 Year Old & Unaged

Attending John Lamonds Advanced Whisky Course gives me an opportunity to try out some whiskies that may not normally find their way into my Glencairn Tasting Glass.  Over the last 2 weeks John introduced the class to these two drams BLIND – he wanted our REAL tasting notes.

Created by the Berry Brothers way back in 1923, Cutty was one of the first Scotch Blended Whiskies to be made for mixing, a cocktails Whisky, it was also one of the first light coloured Whiskies to appear on the market.  For over 80 years the iconic yellow bottle of Cutty has been a firm favourite in Europe and USA, and John has now given me the opportunity to find out why it is worldwide success.

So below is what I thought blind about the two Cutty’s:

 Cutty Sark 12 Years | 12 Years Old | 40% Vol

Nose: Honey covered hay stacks, dried cereal, ball point pen ink, a small amount of gun cap, candle wax, scone dough, dried wicker
Taste: Sharp intense citrus notes, lemon honey, lemon lollies with the stick, dried wood character, sea salt spray
Finish: Dry and salty

Cutty Sark Blend | Unaged | 40% Vol

Nose: Long tall grasses, orange fondant, vanilla sugar, liquoice, lemongrass
Taste: Honied, full bodied, thick, eucalyptus, citrus burst, soft sweet fudge, lemon lockets
Finish: Dry and mentholated

Overall pretty impressed, both were well constructed and held great flavour to the end, balanced and worth a purchase.  I shall now endevour to try the rest of the range including: 18 year old, Cutty Storm and the Tam O’Shanter 25 year old.