Cutty Sark Twitter Tasting

My second Twitter tasting event hosted by @TheWhiskyWire

I distinctly remember the classic Cutty Sark label on whisky bottles in my Dad's drinks cabinet, so was particularly excited to receive my invite to this event. However, apart from the Cutty Sark label I recalled I didn't know anything about their whisky, so decided I ought to do some homework before the event.

Cutty Sark is a range of blended Scotch whisky produced by the Edrington Group of Glasgow whose main office is less than 10 miles from the birthplace of the famous tea clipper ship of the same name.

Francis Berry and Hugh Rudd originally created Cutty Sark on March 23, 1923 when the market at that time was dominated by the heavier, coarser blends. Cutty Sark challenged existing scotch whisky standards by producing a smooth, softer blend (akin to Cognac) based on the finest single malts, those from the Speyside region, with the home of the blend considered to be at The Glenrothes distillery.

Although single malts from all over Scotland are used in the Cutty Sark blend, with Islay providing 'freshness', the Highlands 'smokiness' and the Lowlands 'fruitiness', at its heart lies The Glenrothes Speyside Single Malt. This malt contributes elegance and complexity, as well as some heathery honeyness.

The samples arrived in time for the event and this time all bottles arrived intact.

The Cutty Sark Whisky Samples

The event was hosted by Steve Rush @TheWhiskyWire and Kirsteen Campbell, Master Blender at Cutty Sark Whisky @cuttysarkblend and started promptly at seven.

In order to follow the action we all had to make sure we were following each other and to use the hashtag #CuttyTT within each tweet. I was a little better prepared for this Tweet Tasting and was a little better at keeping up with all the action this time!

The pre-start banter revealed that many of the tasters had never tried any of the Cutty Sark range, so it would be a new experience for many of us. To get myself in the mood for some nautical whisky drinking I dialled up 'Rogue's Gallery' Pirate Ballards, Sea Songs and Chanteys on itunes - this is normally reserved for 'International Talk Like a Pirate Day'

So once we got started Steve and Kirsteen walked us through the four expressions, beginning with the Classic Blend and running through the range before finishing with the recently released Tom o'Shanter.

The quality of the whisky was simply stunning. Having just read Richard Paterson's 'Goodness Nose' I had a much greater understanding of the art of blended Scotch whisky and so this event seemed to be timed perfectly for my journey!

Although not ordinarily seen on our UK supermarket shelves, all of the the whiskies tasted are easily available from the on-line whisky stores. Top markets are Spain, Portugal and Greece. It's got a good presence in the US as well.

There was a great deal of tweeting going on and to see what happened search on the #CuttyTT on twitter for the full story!

Another great experience and another highlight of my whisky journey, and registering another four ‘discoveries’.

The dram list for the evening (with links to separate posts):

• Whisky Discovery #71 Cutty Sark Original 
• Whisky Discovery #72 Cutty Sark 12 Year Old 
• Whisky Discovery #73 Cutty Sark 18 Year Old 
• Whisky Discovery #74 Cutty Sark Tam o'Shanter

A massive THANK YOU to Steve Rush at @TheWhiskyWire and Kirsteen Campbell, Master Blender at @cuttysarkblend

For more information see: http://www.thewhiskywire.com/ and http://www.cutty-sark.com/