Earlier this month (see your news edition) Cutty Sark, the well known Blended malt brand have released a very especial expression, called the Art Deco limited edition, aged 33 years old and presented in a very posh case with glasses and all. only 3,456 (nice number eh?) bottles were made, and each sold for a hefty £650. Not cheap at all, and I suspect most will be bought for “investment” by collectors (hope i am wrong). anyways, Cutty Sark were kind enough to spare me a review sample (cheers guys), and I very keenly went on to try it. I know this is probably not relevant to 99% of the people reading the blog, but Great whiskies have to be tried and reviewed, regardless of their price and even though the price does not fit (or is not proportional to) the dram at hand..
Cutty Sark 33 yo, ‘Art Deco’ edition, 41.7% , £650 (US$1,040)
Nose: Yes. This is what I was looking for. The older whisky aromas. Lots of old library benches. Wood lacquer, cherries and eucalyptus it’s very perfumed. Almost on the verge of being very perfumed (Parma violets) Hedonistically so. Very impressive.
Palate: lovely grapefruit notes up front then sugared pineapple , coconut and that old wooden benches again.white pepper, Clove and a touch of balsamic and sugared brazil nuts.
Finish : dried pineapple , red grapefruit , cherries and varnish.
Conclusion:
This is indeed a HUGE whisky. marvellous stuff, well aged, with enough of that “antique” whisky profile you all know I love so much. It’s complex, it’s very unique, and it displays everything you might expect from a very high end whisky, be it blended or not. I am sure that I would by no means recognize it’s a blend and not a malt if I tasted it blind. It’s so balanced, and I am pretty sure it’s got a high Malt content inside, but who cares, the blending is really exceptional here. Kudus to the master blender. Wow.
If you can spare the change, and you do not have money issues, go for it. I rarely give blended whiskies (or any whisky) a score over 91 but this i really a superb whisky, pricing aside, in the same league as Compass Box “The General” and other top notch whiskies.
Score: 93/100
Official sample provided by Cutty Sark