Cutty Sark ‘Tam o’Shanter’

Cutty Sark Tam o’ Shanter is a new variant of the existing Cutty Sark 25yo blend created by master blender Kirsteen Campbell. According to the press release, it adds a distinctly darker, wilder side.

It comes in an elaborate wooden box with a book featuring over 50 illustrated scenes based on the famous Robert Burns poem which gave the whisky its name. It’s limited to 5000 bottles.

Cutty Sark 25 yo ‘Tam o’Shanter’
(46,5%, OB 2012, 5000 btl.)

Nose: a rich and sherried nose which has a malty profile rather than a blended one. Very nice roasted nuts and tobacco. Sandalwood. Plenty of spices: aniseed, cinnamon, sweet ginger. A little wax and leather. Ripe fruits (plums and figs). Very light smoke in the background. Pretty wonderful.

Mouth: starts sweet and sherried again. More nuts. Clearly also vanilla from the grains (which are more noticeable now). Then the bitter notes move forward, a combination of herbs, slightly stingy oak and citrus zest which is maybe a tad too loud. Evolves on cloves and pepper with dark chocolate.

Finish: long, mostly on drying oak and spices now. Whiffs of eucalyptus in the end.

A great achievement as a blend, that’s for sure. The nose alone deserves a near 90/100 score and hardly shows blend characteristics. A lot of good whisky was used to create this, and the result is a quality collector’s item. Around € 240.

Score: 88/100