(Portrait of Charlie Jacobs, Charlie's Tavern, New York, N

Cutty Sark is a brand of blended

Scotch whisky Scotch whisky (; sco, Scots whisky/whiskie, whusk(e)y; often simply called whisky or Scotch) is malt whisky or grain whisky (or a blend of the two), made in Scotland. All Scotch whisky was originally made from malted barley. Commercial distil ...

produced by

La Martiniquaise La Martiniquaise is France's second-largest (after Pernod Ricard) spirits group, founded in 1934, by the father of the current head, the billionaire Jean-Pierre Cayard. History After the Second World War the company decided to diversify into d ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. The whisky was created on 23 March 1923 as a product of Berry Bros. & Rudd, with the home of the blend considered to be at The Glenrothes distillery in the

Speyside Speyside can refer to: * Speyside, Ontario, a settlement in Ontario * Strathspey, Scotland, the famous whisky producing region by the River Spey ** Speyside single malts, the type of whisky produced in Strathspey * Speyside, Trinidad and Tobago ...

region of

. The name comes from the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

-built

clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "C ...

ship ''

Cutty Sark ''Cutty Sark'' is a British clipper ship. Built on the River Leven, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period of ...

'', whose name came from the Scots term " cutty-sark", the short shirt kirtprominently mentioned in the famous poem by

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

, " Tam o' Shanter". The drawing of the clipper ship ''

'' on the label of the whisky bottles is a work of the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

artist Carl Georg August Wallin. He was a mariner painter, and this is probably his most famous ship painting. This drawing has been on the whisky bottles since 1955.

The Tall Ships' Races The Tall Ships Races are races for sail training "tall ships" (sailing ships). The races are designed to encourage international friendship and training for young people in the art of sailing. The races are held annually in European waters and c ...

for large sailing ships were originally known as The Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Races, under the terms of

sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...

by the whisky brand.

US distribution

Cutty Sark was originally distributed in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

by Buckingham Co., which was acquired by

Allied Lyons Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent but has been acquired by Pernod Ricard. Th ...

(later

Allied Domecq Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent but has been acquired by Pernod Ricard. They ...

) in 1989.

Skyy Spirits Campari America is an American spirits maker. It was launched in 1992 by founder Maurice Kanbar in San Francisco, which is also the headquarters for the company. SKYY vodka was introduced as its first product. Its majority shareholder is the Campar ...

bought the distribution rights from Allied Domeq in 1999. After Edrington acquired the brand, it switched US distribution from Skyy to

Rémy Cointreau Rémy Cointreau is a French, family-owned business group whose origins date back to 1724. The group has an international portfolio of spirits (cognac, liqueurs and spirits): Rémy Martin and Louis XIII cognacs, Cointreau liqueur, METAXA Greek spir ...

US. Edrington launched its own distribution unit in the US in 2014.

Bottlings

The most popular member of the range, Cutty Sark Original Scots Whisky, is sold in a distinctive green bottle with a yellow label. The range also includes other blends, and premium blends, currently identified by the age of the youngest whisky in the blending

Reviews

Cutty Sark has received modest reviews from international

spirit ratings With a growing number of offerings, such as those produced by an increasing number of microdistilleries, various mechanisms have arisen to provide reviews and opinions of individual varieties of spirits. These events generally use expert panels ...

organisations. In 2008, 2009, and 2011 for example, the

San Francisco World Spirits Competition The San Francisco World Spirits Competition was founded in 2001 by Anthony Dias Blue as an off-shoot of the San Francisco International Wine Competition. It assesses hundreds of entrants annually (1,407 in 2013 from 63 countries) with tastings inv ...

awarded the Cutty Sark blended scotch bronze and silver medals. The Beverage Testing Institute gave Cutty Sark modest scores of 85 and 87 in 2008 and 2011, respectively.

Notes

External links

* {{Official website 1923 establishments in Scotland Products introduced in 1923 Blended Scotch whisky

US distribution

Bottlings

Reviews

Notes

Further reading

External links