Cutty Sark Launches 33yo Art Deco Limited Edition

Cutty Sark have a great set of blended whiskies in their range, and they’ve recently announced their oldest release, the 33 year old Art Deco release. Below you’ll find my tasting notes and thoughts on the blend, but first, here’s the PR info:

This new 33 Year Old bottling has been released to continue the exploration of the rich history, heritage and origin of Cutty Sark, with a specific focus on the exciting Art Deco period of the 1920s and early 1930s. Celebrating a time when Cutty Sark found its way into America, flourished within the emerging cocktail culture and changed the pace of Scotch whisky forever.

The bespoke bottle, designed especially for this new expression, is decorated with sunburst and geometric designs in the style symbolic of this significant era. Presented in a piano black wooden box, the limited edition set also contains two decorated glasses and a 32 page book which provides an insight into the Art Deco period.

Commenting on the new release, Wendy Harries Jones, Senior Brand Manager for Cutty Sark, said: “Following on from our multi-award winning Tam O’Shanter Limited Edition released in 2011, this is the oldest blended Scotch ever released by Cutty Sark, hand selected and crafted by our Master Blender, Kirsteen Campbell.”

Bottled at 41.7% ABV and limited to 3456 bottles, Cutty Sark Thirty Three will be available globally for a RRP of £650.

And here’s my notes on the blend…

Cutty Sark 33yo – 41.7% abv

Colour: Classic deep rust. Orangy autumn tints.
Nose: A classic very old and quality nose, old leather, furniture polish, honeycomb, coconuts, old dunnage warehouse oak smells, hessian sacking and dry earth floors. It’s an amazing nose that you can smell for yonks. Warm your glass in your hands.
Palate: Fairly thick on your mouth, at this abv it could be chill filtered, but with the age and price as it is, it might well be at natural strength. It’s mouth coating with great flavours, packed with coconut, old tropical ripe fruits and generally amazing old flavours.
Finish: Rich, old sweetness, really long and alluring, gentle spreading warmth that keeps you going for ages, just what the doctor ordered for on a cold winters evening.
Thoughts: What an amazing dram, let’s hear it for the blends, whoop. I recently had a very old blend from another brand, one that walks, and it was nothing compared to this, it was over blended and came so a sum of something slightly boring. You can’t say that for this Cutty, it’s packed with interesting flavours that keep you going back for more. It’s very expensive, but at least it tastes expensive and is packed with quality and flavours.

Thanks to Cutty Sark for the sample.